The Good Stuff

2011-01-06T19:17:00.005-07:00

It's been so long I didn't even remember the last time I posted. It looks like it's been a while so I'll try and quickly catch up.

Halloween

Extreme makeover Mike edition

Face painting (done at a b-day party Michaela went to)

Christmas Bliss

A visit from Santa

Michaela made the Olympic Developmental Program in soccer in November

A trip to see the temple lights with the YW

Every day life at my house

Fifteen

2010-11-13T16:42:00.003-07:00

It's so weird for me to say I have a fifteen year old kid, but I really do. In September, Dallon turned 15. He is now taller than me and tells me how short I am every day. Does he not remember that for the last 14 years, I have not told him how short he is? I'm hoping he gets taller than Mike soon, so he can be the focus of Dal's short jokes for a while. He's such a jokester and sometimes so funny and sometimes so irritating.

He received his learner's permit a week or two after his birthday...only because Mike forced him to. He has no desire to drive and didn't study for the driver's test, but passed anyway. I guess he's fine with us just driving him around for the rest of his life. That's not going to happen.

He loves to hang out with his friends and be really loud while we try and sleep. It's great times. He loves his bird Jerry. His other bird, Zorro, hasn't grown to love Dal yet. He tries to bite his finger off if he gets too close. I'm a little scared of birds and so Dallon has a great time trying to get me to like them.

Anyway, this kid is growing up. He's as smart as a whip and amazes me with some of the stuff he can figure out. Our house would definitely not be the same without this crazy kid.

August

2010-09-14T16:55:00.009-06:00

Where did August go? It was a busy, fun month that ended way too fast.

Here's a few things that stood out.

Michaela's soccer team took first place in the Adidas Cup

Soccer Tournament. This is a huge tournament in West Jordan.

Can you see the look of joy in their faces as they come through the tunnel?

They were beyond excited after taking 2nd place in two other tournaments this summer.

These girls rock! They played great team ball.

I worked on this little project and turned these 20 year old

end tables into something a little more stylish.

I may have gone a little overboard on the distressing, but it was my first try.
Football is in full swing along with soccer for R & M.

This poor little thing had her tonsils out. She was so brave until they had her dress into the hospital pajamas and then she realized it was really going to happen.

It's amazing how much better you feel after talking to your big sis.

Somehow she got her bravery back. She did great until a week after

surgery. For some reason she started throwing up and scared

the bejeebies out of me. By day 14 she was back to her old self.

We only made it to the reservoir once for fishing and craw-dad hunting.

No luck on either.

It looks like someone may have borrowed my camera for a self portrait.

Love the freckles and the surprised look on her face.

Seven

2010-08-15T19:24:00.007-06:00

My cute baby girl turned seven a few weeks ago. I really shouldn't call her my baby girl, but she always will be. She's my little sweetheart and it's hard to see her grow up. She's a little social butterfly and thinks she needs to play with friends every day. She figures she should be allowed to do anything Dallon and Michaela do. She loves to draw and go to nana's house to eat ice cream. She gets away with more than she should and she's a mama's girl. She's been known to give her dad some lovin' when I'm not around, though.

She was so excited for her birthday.

She got to have a friend party at Ken's Gymnastics. They had a bounce house, obstacle course, balance beams, and lots of other fun stuff, but the big hit was the foam pit.

Yeah for birthdays!

Summer so far

2010-08-05T19:12:00.009-06:00

Call me lame (behind my back, not to my face), but I am having a hard time blogging even once a month lately. This is my sad attempt to catch up on the summer fun we've had so far.

4th of July:

The big highlight of this day was Reagen got to ride on the gymnastic float. She was so excited to get to throw candy. She was even kind enough to share her candy with her fellow float riders. That's big because in this family, we have a hard time sharing our candy.

Soccer:

Believe it or not, Michaela is playing on a girls soccer team. She is absolutely loving it. They have played in two tournaments this summer, taking 2nd place in both.

Girls Camp and Youth Conference:

We had girls camp and youth conference back to back weeks in July. Do I get an award for that? We actually had a lot of fun playing at the lake, watching girls flip their canoes, and riding the zip line. We went to a camp in Heber and it was beautiful.

We went to Schofield Resevoir for Youth Conference. We stayed in a cabin and the kids impressed me how well they got along. We rode four wheelers and played at the lake. Note to self - don't ride the four wheeler in the dust when you are wet from the lake. It wasn't pretty.

Last, but not least, Debbie had a fun family water day at her house. All her kids and grandkids were there. She rented this big water slide and we made our own slip and slide.

Steve fractured some ribs on this attempt. I'm not kidding.

Welcome to the family

2010-08-05T18:48:00.004-06:00

Introducing the newest members of the family.

Dallon recently became fascinated(obsessed)with birds. He spent hours on the computer looking at different birds. He asked if he could have a bird. We told him that if he could pay for it, he could get one. We didn't think he had any money so that was a good answer. Well, he had money hidden away from his birthday last year. That put us in an awkward position. We had to let him buy a dang bird. He went with a love bird. Right away this love bird seemed lonely. They are love birds so I guess they need someone to love on. I don't know what we were thinking, but we told him he could get another bird so Zorro wouldn't be lonely. I don't know how it happened, but we ended up with a total of three birds. That lasted about 48 hours and then there was the incident in the backyard with the tom cat (don't ask because I'll probably cry). Anyhoo, we now have two birds and we know that we can't let them glide around in the back yard...lesson learned. This is one of the birds and Zorro is in the nesting box and wouldn't come out for his/her picture.

The kids must be wearing us down because we also decided to get a kitty. Reagen has been asking for a kitty and so we surprised her for her birthday. This is Mr. Whiskers. He is so cute and playful.
He is a little bit crazy, too, but that helps him fit right into this family.

Run Forest, Run!

2010-08-03T19:02:00.005-06:00

We have enjoyed some track and field this summer. The girls ran in the Hershey meet in Salt Lake. Yes, Reagen is wearing jeans and converse tennis shoes. We didn't know that she was old enough to compete, but when we got there they let us sign her up. She was looking quite hillbilly compared to everyone in their track shoes and little running shorts. Despite the great running gear she was in, she took 2nd place in the 50 and 3rd place in the 100.

Michaela placed in the 100 and 200. She took first in one and 2nd in the other, but I can't remember which was which.

At the end of June, we travelled to Cedar City for the Summer Games. Reagen had caught the "run as fast as you can" bug and was so excited to get to race again. This time we even let her wear shorts and regular tennis shoes.

Dallon ran the 200 and this is him at the starting line of the 400. He and some friends also ran the 4x100 relay. They got disqualified because they stepped out of the hand off area, but they would have smashed the current record. The four of them did set a new district record for our county at the Jr High track meet. I can't wait to see them run in high school.

Remember when I had legs like this? Oh yeah, I never did. Dang.

Michaela did great, also. She ran the 100, 200, and the 4x100 relay with some girls she met at the meet. That's what's fun about track, you make so many friends. No one's goal is to kick you in the head or tackle you.

It was a really great, relaxing trip.

Spring Stuff

2010-06-12T20:19:00.006-06:00

I'm playing catch-up today trying to get some of our crazy life recorded before I forget it. Reagen is now missing two front teeth and two bottom teeth. I guess I need to take more pictures, too, because this one's now outdated.

School is now out, but we had lots of "fun" projects during the end of the year. Dallon had to draw up a house plan and then construct walls from cardboard. I was impressed with all the work he put into it. He spent hours measuring, cutting, and gluing.

Michaela had to get this solar system done when I was out of town. I thought for sure it wouldn't happen, but Mike helped her finish it up. Except for the Modge Podge incident (spilled all over the table chair, and floor), there were no problems and it turned out awesome. I guess everyone can survive when I'm not there. Who knew?

Soccer is now over, but we spent several nights a week watching this girl play hard.

And others just played. This is called see how long you can stand on the ball before someone kicks it out from under you.

When it was too cold for soccer, which has been most of the time, there's a lot of this going on. Reagen found Michaela's old Magic Tree House books and loves to read.

We have a lot of stuff planned this summer and hopefully I'll have it posted before Christmas!

mama's day & 5 x 12

2010-06-12T10:01:00.005-06:00

What's better than sweet homemade gifts from the kids? Thank goodness for teachers at school and primary teachers that take the time to help the kids make cute mother's day gifts. They melt your heart and make all the crazy days of motherhood so worth it. The little hand-print poem always makes me tear up. A good reminder that there won't always be little hands around making messes and leaving fingerprints on everything.

I didn't get a picture of the family for the month of May, but I got this picture of us with my cute grandma Jane on Mother's Day. She's everything a grandma should be. She never forgets a birthday or anniversary, she is super nice to EVERYONE, and she always has ice cream or cookies to offer to anyone that comes to her house.

Finally Twelve

2010-06-12T09:09:00.004-06:00

In April, Michaela finally turned twelve. She had been counting down the days for several months. She invited a few friends to go to "Jump On It" in Lindon. It's a great place for tweens and teens to get out some of that crazy energy they seem to have. Although, based on the ride home with these girls, they still had plenty left over.

Michaela is not doing the birthday dance here, she is actually trying to follow the fishing line that was wrapped around every tree in the yard to lead to her present. She got an ipod touch.

She requested a cake with cherry and chocolate frosting and she's such a

chocolate lover that we decided to add a few extra sweets to it.

Michaela has grown up so much in the last year. Here's a few highlights:

She buys her clothes from the girls section now...well, mostly, she still loves the long basketball shorts.
She got to graduate from Primary at church and come into Young Women's. I think she was most excited about that.
She has so many girlfriends and loves sleep-overs, going to the movies, and playing night games with these friends. She texts like a mad woman keeping in touch with them all.
She's a big sweetheart and almost always has a big grin on her face. (there are those moments she's a little pouty, but I guess that comes with the age)
She inherited my chocolate gene.
She did awesome in school this year and LOVE'S to read.

Spring Break

2010-05-14T14:06:00.000-06:00

Spring Break was over a month ago and I felt pretty guilty because Mike and I had to work almost every day they were out of school. To try and make up for it, and to keep them from doing stuff like this, I took the kids into the Living Aquarium one day.

Is this a hillbilly sleighride or what?

They loved feeding the sting rays.

2 Down, 10 to Go

2010-05-10T16:40:00.002-06:00

Remember how I am taking one family picture a month, for a year? Well, I am and I haven't failed yet. Here is our April picture. It was on Easter at Debbie's house. Yes, Mike has on his ugly crocs, Michaela doesn't even have shoes on, Dal needs a haircut, and no, we don't match, but we did it! (I'm not sure why I feel the need to point out everything wrong.)

Easter 2010

2010-05-10T16:30:00.000-06:00

The Hunt!

And they're off and running.

Monster eggs.

The annual "kids on the porch" picture.

Nana and the cute little girls.

The Baird Fam.

The Durfee fam.

20 mph club

2010-05-10T16:26:00.002-06:00

I'm proud of this kid, er... I mean young man. In April, he joined the 20 mph club at TOSH. He can definitely out run me now. He had to maintain 20 mph on the treadmill for six seconds. When he was done, I think I was sweating more than he was. I was just imagining him getting flung off the treadmill and his skinny little body flying through the air. He was also chosen as athlete of the month for April for his hard work ethic.

This is the awesome group that worked with him each week.

They made Dallon pose like this. It's sooo not like him.

This Week

2010-03-13T16:41:00.009-07:00

This past week has been full of adventure.

I was a witness to a very rare occurrence in the Didericksen household. Two kids, one 6 one 14 sitting quietly together playing the x-box. No one told the other that she was annoying or loud and no one complained that he was mean or stinky. It didn’t last for more than a half hour, but it was sure nice while it lasted.

Reagen sparred for the first time on Saturday. She was so cute and we were so proud of her. She made it through a two-hour workout and didn’t complain once. She was like the energizer bunny; she just kept going and going. I thought for sure she’d sleep all the way home, but she came home, ate, showered and then went and played at a friends house.

Dallon decided he won’t become a burglar because the mask is way too hard to remove. He is such a dork and no, he didn’t ask for permission to use my nylons.

She also decided she wanted bangs. My girls have never had bangs (except that one time nana decided to give Michaela bangs when she was two and that did not turn out good).

One of my photography heroes, Tara Whitney, is doing something fun and if she’s doing it I guess I have to do it, right? She is taking one photo of her family per month. Since our last family photo was taken when Reagen was one, I decided that I am totally going to try this. Even if it’s just a shot on the bed in terrible lighting with three sweaty kids and a hairy cat. Even if one of them is sticking her tongue out at the other.

Lately

2010-03-09T17:12:00.004-07:00

Life has been good. I have been busy with Young Women activities, meetings, meetings, and even more meetings. I had no idea there were so many meetings going on at church until this calling. Holy cow! I'm grateful for all the help I have in this calling and I found out that it won't actually kill me like I thought. Life goes on.

Mike had a birthday and we celebrated with family at Applebee's. He's been working quite a bit at the post office, which has been a blessing. He really likes it and gets to hear all the town gossip first hand from the little ladies that work there.

I had my first experience (that I remember) with laughing gas. Because I didn't want to get numbed, the dentist must have thought I needed to be really relaxed because he jacked up the gas to extra high. I had no idea if my mouth was even open. At one point I could not open my eyes although I was awake, I think. I kept telling myself I was still in control because I could tap my finger, but I think I was past knowing what the crap I was doing. That was some weird stuff.

Michaela has 6th grade maturation this week. She doesn't want me to go because I didn't make it "fun" last year. I asked her how I could have made it fun and she told me that I could have told her that maturation was all a lie. She gets asked every once in a while to be a body guard to someone that's been picked on. You'd never know looking at her sweet little face that she can kick the crap out of the bully on the bus.

We meet with Dallon's school counselor Friday to plan his high school classes. I'm so not ready to have a kid in high school. He's already moody, onery, and annoying. That's my job.

Reagen started taking TKD a couple weeks ago and she loves it. (I know, all I need is another kid in TKD) She's doing great in school and gets 100% on her spelling every week despite us forgetting to practice the words. She's very social and thinks she has to call a friend over to play every day. She informed me tonight that she is getting bangs. She's always has been the rebel. I have no idea why this is underlined, but I don't care enough to try and change it. :)

Vegas

2010-03-09T16:30:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, February 10th, we headed for Vegas. Dal and Kayla were competing in the US Open in tkd. Here are a few highlights from the week.

Reagen was sick the whole week before with stomach flu. I was sure she just psyched herself out because someone at school threw up right by her and she gets super freaked out about anyone throwing up. She was sure to tell me "I told you so!" when she started throwing up herself.

Our washing machine went kaput the day before we were to leave. And doesn't everyone wait until the last day to do laundry and pack? I do.

The ride to Vegas went surprisingly well until we got to Vegas and then the van quit at every red light. Vegas traffic is so fun anyway. The kids didn't fight and I didn't yell. (Of course we all made up for it on the way home.)

The hotel we stayed in had half naked ladies dancing on the tables. Who said the Luxor isn't family friendly? Mike turned it into a learning experience and told Michaela she better get an education or she would end up doing the same. Good advise, hon.

My dad came from Arizona and watched the kids compete for the first time ever. Michaela came home with a silver medal. Dal fought well, but got hit with a headshot in the last round and couldn't make up the points in time. He has only been training for a month so we were super proud of him.

Here's a few pics of the trip.

Progress

2010-02-05T13:30:00.001-07:00

We're seeing a lot of it in Michaela's mouth.

Catch Up

2010-02-05T13:03:00.007-07:00

Where does the time go? I've been terrible at documenting our lives lately. I have good intentions, but they just don't seem to work out. Blogging seems to be falling lower and lower on the priority list. Here's a quick re-cap of what's been going on in the last couple months.

We survived Christmas and everyone seemed to be happy with what Santa brought them.

We rang in the new year by staying up until 10:00 pm. We must have still been exhausted from all the Christmas fun. Michaela let us know what big party poopers we were. I didn't even get the camera out.

January brought Jr. Jazz. Michaela is the only one that wanted to play and it's been really fun watching her. Dal and Michaela have been training for the US Open in TKD and Dallon has been doing the Tosh program so life has been busy. I've been busy trying to learn all that's involved with the YW program. The girls are wonderful and I'm learning I CAN do this calling (I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...that's my mantra).

Now bring on the next holiday. Reagen and her nails are ready.

And Then It Was December

2009-12-08T11:22:00.003-07:00

Ready or not, here it comes!

The tree has been decorated, thanks to two very willing

participants. They did a very thorough job making sure that

any ornament that we've ever owned, made, inherited

or given to us was hung on that tree.

The letters to Santa have been written.

There will be NO fighting over stockings this year!

And we're trying hard not to get caught up in too much of the

holiday hoop-lah and remember the real reason for the season.

Happy Holidays to everyone!

Seasons Come and Seasons Go

2009-11-21T01:00:00.000-07:00

Since I've last blogged, a few sporting events have come...and gone. Dal played his last year of little league football. It was sad to see this part of his life come to an end. It's been fun to watch this group of boys grow up together and to learn to win and lose together.

Michaela's soccer team moved up a division after finishing in the top two during Spring season. This was their toughest season. They've always had an easy time winning and it was hard to see them start the first half of the season with more losses than wins. It also made them grow and work harder and they ended the 2nd half of the season with some exciting wins that kept them in this division. I love watching this girl play.

Reagen wanted to play soccer again and surprised us by her speed (when she felt like it).

She's also doing gymnastics and loves it. She practices her handstands over and over at home. Usually in front of the tv when we are trying to watch it, but at least she's practicing.

What a Difference a Year Makes

2009-11-21T00:45:00.001-07:00

This kid has grown up so much over the last year. It's hard to believe that only a year separates these two photos. Dal turned 14 on September 13th. He's such a young man. His voice is lower with the occasional crackle and he's shot up like a weed. He's gotten so strong and thinks it's hilarious to grab mike by the ankles and pull him off the couch. Mike gets so frustrated, all he can do is laugh. I had to add texting to our phone plan because all of a sudden he has a social life. He's even attended two school dances. It's fun watching him grow up and mature (well, maybe it's a stretch to call it maturing!)

Gap Tooth Grin

2009-11-21T00:35:00.001-07:00

She's been wigglin' this tooth for months, so anxious for it to fall out, but a little afraid to actually get it out. A couple of weeks ago she came running over from Nana's house with it wrapped in a kleenex. She had finally wiggled the thing right out while she watched cartoons. She was so excited to finally get a visit from the tooth fairy.

Halloween 2009

2009-11-21T00:30:00.000-07:00

Alien. That's what she is. I know my face painting skills aren't the best, not to mention my hair doing skills, but believe me, it's better than the plastic mask that came with the costume that she wanted to wear. I convinced her that she wouldn't be able to breathe through the tiny little air holes just because I was embarrassed of that plastic mask. Does that make me a bad mom?

Regardless, we had a fun Halloween. The kids loved carving pumpkins and it was the first year that I didn't have to actually do all the carving. Michaela took Reagen around trick or treating and Mike and I sat on the couch and ate Halloween candy. Does that make us bad parents?

There are no pictures of Michaela because she wore the same mask that she's worn for the last 3 or 4 years so just refer back to last years pictures. There are no pictures of Dallon because he's a little old to be trick or treating.

New Calling

2009-11-21T00:11:00.005-07:00

What do you do when you get called as the YW President and you feel overwhelmed, under-qualified, and a little clueless? You surround yourself with strong, wonderful, and very qualified women. I'm excited and nervous for this new calling and so grateful for these awesome ladies that already have made my job easier. It's going to be a fun, crazy ride.

BTS

2009-08-24T09:37:00.017-06:00

A special thing happened last night. At 9:15 p.m. the house was silent, except for the rustle of an oreo package. The kids were tucked in bed and Mike and I celebrated quietly with cookies and milk because school was starting in the morning.

It was lovely. No one doing cartwheels in front of the TV (Reagen). No one playing Spore on the computer (Dal). No one eating Grandma Sycamore's bread on the couch (Michaela). Did I mention it was lovely?

First day of school outfits were laid out. Fancy hairdo's were planned. Showers were all taken. It's a night we had been anticipating. We've enjoyed summer break, but these kids are ready to have someone besides us tell them what to do for several hours a day.

Morning came and the kids hopped out of bed and got ready in plenty of time. I quizzed Reagen about her bus number several times until I was sure she'd get home ok. Just to be safe, I wrote it on her hand. We took pictures in front of the house and the kids filled their backpacks with supplies.

I took Dal first and dropped him off in the back of the school. It's not cool to have your mom walk you in to jr. high. Michaela and I walked Reagen to her class and she was happy that one of her little friends was just two desks away. Last was Michaela. We made sure she could unlock her combo and then got her to class.

As I walked back to the car, I thought about our celebration last night. We were giddy as we ate the soggy oreo's, but we got a little sentimental as we talked about Reagen being old enough to be in school all day. How Mike will miss meeting her at the bus stop at noon and spending a couple of hours with her before the other kids got home. How Dal has gotten so tall and changed so much in the last few months. How Michaela didn't buy one shirt from the boy's department this year (we're making progress). We talked about how fast they are growing up and how they'll be gone before we know it. It all rushed back to me as I walked down the hallway back to my car. A tear may have been shed, but I wiped it away quickly before the janitor saw me.

After all that excitement, I went home and did what any other sensible mom would do...finished off the oreo's.

Reagen in Mrs. Jenning's 1st Grade class.

So excited for school to start, she's doing the happy dance.

Back to school sisterly lovin'.

Dal wasn't in the dancing mood.

Look mom, no boy shirts! We're still working on the shorts

and shoes, but you've gotta start somewhere.

Shake your bootie!

Not sure what this pose is.

Note to self...

2009-08-11T17:33:00.005-06:00

I've realized a few things this summer.

Make a disclaimer to pin on Reagen's shirt that reads, "My eleven year old sister dressed me and did my hair today. She doesn't really care what I look like." Needless to say, she looks like a little orphan some days. The clothes I lay out are usually still laying on her dresser when I get home.
No excuse for Dallon. He's almost 14 and still can't match his clothes.
That cute summer skirt has a little cotton liner under it. When you pull it up to go to the bathroom, you have to make sure and pull it back down or it will be bunched up around your hiney at work for several hours before you realize it. I really don't need the extra volume in that area.
Young Women lessons given on Sunday should be prepared prior to Saturday night.
If they are prepared Saturday night, make sure and prepare the correct lesson.
Sleeping until 9:47 am on a Saturday morning is a little piece of heaven that doesn't occur more than once a year. Realize that if you sleep until 9:47 am, you may wet your bed. (I didn't, but it was kinda close.)
Remember what 9:47 am feels like when I'm getting up at 5:00 am for work. Be grateful for that once a year event.
And last, but not least, horses slobber like no other when they are eating apples. Stay clear.

Doesn't it look like a little heart on his head?

Six!

2009-08-05T17:00:00.001-06:00

Five is a great age. It's the age where you figure out how to laugh like sponge bob (it's trickier than you think), you get to be a picky eater, it's a time when jumping on the trampoline and playing with stuffed animals consumes most of your day. With just a quick yelp, you can get your big brother or sister in trouble in 2.5 seconds.

Although five is great, Reagen was excited to turn six. She gets to go to first grade and eat school lunch, something she's been looking forward to all through kindergarten. She couldn't understand why they sent her home at lunch time instead of feeding her.

She's still my baby and the little sis, but man, she's gotten so tall with those long legs and big feet, it's hard to deny that she's growing up. She's learned how to tease her dad from the older two and she loves, loves, loves doing that. She'll torment him and then run to the "safe couch" where he can't get her.

She sings in the tub, in her room, while she's eating, everywhere we go. No song in particular, just little sing songy noises. She's a dancing fool, too. She's got some swing in those little hips. Don't know where the moves came from because they're definitely not from my side of the family. She'll spend hours drawing and coloring. She's decided it's ok to like Hannah Montana regardless of what Michaela says. She's our little sunshine, making us smile constantly.

Michaela helped me with a treasure hunt for R's birthday.

She drew pictures of places all around the house for Reagen to follow until she eventually found her new stuffed Cheetah.
I tried a new dessert called cake pops found on bakerella.com. They were so nummy, it's a new fave with the fam.
We had family over for cheesecake brownies, cake pops, and sheet eclairs. Thanks to everyone that made R's day special.

2009-08-04T18:14:00.000-06:00

I had to laugh when I saw this picture on my camera...

Dallon snapped it of Mike the other day after Mike got home from the post office. He just wanted to get on the computer for a minute, but just couldn't keep those eyes open...or his mouth shut.

2009-08-03T18:04:00.002-06:00

With 3 kids, 2 parents working, and no school, this place is a zoo!

Pipe cleaner animals courtesy of Martha Stewart crafts clearance price at WalMart. I thought it would give Reagen hours of craftiness fun, instead I spent a half an hour listening to how I was making them all wrong.

The Fourth

2009-07-12T13:02:00.007-06:00

In order to have a great 4th of July, you need to do several things:

1. Get up really early and run a mile in the Ray Barrus Annual 5K Run. Actually, you make your daughters run in this instead of you. You don't want to be embarrassed when you are beat by a bunch of kids.

2. Eat a nice cold popsicle afterwards to cool off.

3. Discuss the strategy of your run with your good buddy Ian.

4. Give the only willing participant a holiday hair-do. It's supposed to be a star.

5. Go to the 4th of July Parade.

6. Make sure you smile and wave at everyone in the

parade so they'll throw lots of candy at you.

7. Have a barbeque in the afternoon under the shade of the trees with family.

8. Eat until you can eat no more.

Austin- Not what I expected

2009-07-07T16:54:00.001-06:00

I envisioned cowboys in wranglers and big belt buckles, steak houses and barbecue joints on every corner, polite people with strong accents. Instead, as I looked out of our 14th floor hotel window, I was a little scared for our safety. I saw a city that I would be a little hesitant to walk down the street alone after dark, maybe even during broad daylight. Old buildings, dirty streets, seedy bars, and not one cowboy. We ventured out into the city on foot and thought we'd eventually end up on the nicer end of town. Sweat dripped down my back and my flip flops gave me a blister and we never found a cleaner, less scary Austin. We got in the car and drove hoping that if we drove far enough things would get better. Not so. It made Salt Lake look bee-u-ti-ful, which it is, but even more so and squeaky clean. We even witnessed a lesbian fight in front of Wendy's that turned our stomachs (nothing against lesbians, just crackhead lesbians that hit each other in the face).

I know it's hard to believe, but it wasn't a dream of ours to go to Austin. The nationals for tae kwon do were being held there and we thought it would be an interesting place to visit. Although it wasn't the awesome place I thought it would be, it was still fun to spend 3 days with the middle child even though she had a bad day and lost her first fight. We spoiled her with eating out and even dessert afterwards. She drank enough Coca Cola to make up for the years of going without. I think she'll always remember this trip (and probably won't want to go to Austin again).

Traveling with Mike is like having another kid there.

Flying just took it out of her.

Zilker Park - a tourist stop...that smelled like a dead animal.

Summer

2009-06-24T18:04:00.007-06:00

Summer is in full swing, except for all the rain that we've had. It actually feels like it's in fast forward without a pause button. I used to think that summer flew by when I was in school and now it's just ridiculous how fast time skips by. We've been trying to do a lot of fun things with the kids while they're out of school and I have to admit I haven't been very good at taking the camera along which was nice at the time, but makes it kind of hard to blog about it.

Me and some good friends started summer early with an escape to St. George in May. We always have the time of our lives when we are together and this was no exception. We sat around the pool (I know you are just dying to see those pics, but ummm..no way), watched movies, ate yummy food, laughed too much, and went to a day spa and got a 70 minute pedicure. My little piggies had never been treated so well. They used a chocolate hot paraffin wax to soften our feet and I can honestly say I could have licked my feet, it smelled so good. Holy cow.

A couple events where the camera was absent was the Deseret Peak Rodeo. It was a lot funner than I expected and made me reminisce about my cowboy boot days. I did snap a few pics with my camera but I am nowhere close to being computer literate enough to know how to get pics from my phone to the computer.

We also spent four nights in Park City at my friend's time share. She couldn't stay the whole time and was nice enough to offer it to us. The weather was pretty crappy, but we had one nice day and we spent the whole day riding the Alpine Slide and Coaster. We had never been on the coaster and it so much fun. I was laughing all the way down the mountain. Again, no camera to prove we were there.

I did take the camera with me to Cedar City last weekend for the Summer Games. The kids wanted to try track this year and we all loved it. They got to run on SUU's track. D & M both ran the 100 meter dash, D ran the mile and M ran the 4x100 relay with some girls she met down there. This is definitely something we'll be doing next year.

After the prelims on Friday, some of our friends invited us over the KOA where they were staying to ride these pedal go-carts.
Reagen was about a foot too short to reach the pedals but she was bound and determined she was going to ride them. We wadded up M's hoodie and stuck it behind her and then we'd push her down a hill to get going. She was fine until she turned to come back up the hill and then me or M would have to go push her back up the hill. She finally let me take her for a ride and it was quite a sight. They are meant for one person, but we sat her on my thighs and she bobbed up and down as I pedalled. I was laughing so hard, I almost crashed.

Tae kwon do was going on at the same time so as soon as the kids finished running on Saturday, they both went to the middle school to fight. This is Michaela in the red helmet. I missed Dal's fight because I was waiting for M to finish running. He had just finished running the mile and his legs were noodles. He wasn't too sure about going and sparring. He ended up having one of his best fights. I think he was too tired to get nervous and tight. We told him we're going to make him run a mile before every fight. He didn't think that was too funny.

2009-06-06T16:58:00.007-06:00

Man, it's really hard to blog when you haven't done it in ages. Life speeds by so fast and the thought of getting it all documented is a little overwhelming. I'll just try and be brief (yeah, right) and get some pics of some of the things I've missed lately.

Reagen and Michaela started and finished fun soccer seasons.

Reagen is no longer the only five year old in town still sporting training wheels on her bike. It's funny how with the last kid your in less of a hurry for them to grow up.

Two school programs. Dancing through Kindergarten.

I love America 5th Grade Program. Yes, this was months ago, but it never got documented.

Reagen had her first ever trip to Build-A-Bear. This may not be a big deal to most of you, but she counted down the days with so much excitement. When I first told her that she got to go, she told me the next day when she woke up that she smiled all night because she gets to go to Build-A-Bear.

This girl got her braces on May 6th. Her teeth have already moved quite a bit. Making room for those two snaggle teeth that are hiding above.

She also had a birthday and turned eleven and we of course had to make her earn those presents. She acts a lot older than she is and is so easy to be around. I'm trying to enjoy these moments before she hits those teen years. I love this girlie.

I had a birthday too and look at us dorky dorks with our 3-D glasses on waiting for Aliens vs. Monsters. I think I deserve some type of award for letting the kids pick the movie on my b-day.

That's just a small percentage of what's been going on in our lives and I don't have time right now to get everything down, but since I've had a few emails wondering if I had dropped off the face of the earth (thanks Keysha and Chelsea), I thought I'd better get something posted out here. I'm failing miserably at documenting our lives and I'll try to do better.

The Nerve Center

2009-04-11T16:29:00.005-06:00

Two tennis schedules, two soccer schedules, one taekwondo schedule, one reading calendar, several unredeemed reading awards for pizza, two old grade school program schedules, 30 kindergarten reading words, one key to funky mouth contraption, one orthodontist appointment reminder, three haircut coupons, one walk/run schedule, one calendar to jot down everything else down, two picture orders, one grocery list, a picture of Jesus and a partridge in a pear tree.

If I got my fridge in order, maybe my life would follow. Maybe.

Some Craftiness

2009-04-04T10:28:00.001-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, I got an email from Scrapbooks Etc. (i think) and it had cute gift ideas and I saw this and really liked it and thought it would go good in the girl's room. I bought a 16x20 canvas at Walmart and then just used scrapbook stuff to put it together so it was really pretty cheap to make. Since I don't have a craft room and this was all over my kitchen table for a weekend, I was motivated to finish it quickly. Normally, it would be one of those projects that gets stuck in the closet half done for years to come.

My thoughts on walk running.

2009-04-03T21:11:00.004-06:00

I've never been a runner, more of just a walker, but I really haven't been doing anything lately and I had been feeling lazy and a little out of control with my love of food/dislike of exercise. When I saw this in the March Family Circle, I ripped it out and stuck it to my fridge because it seemed like something I could do and it says "lose 15 pounds". Who doesn't want to lose 15 pounds and how hard can it be to run one minute walk two? (yeah, that was a lot harder than I thought) I started it and believe it or not, I completed week three tonight. Tomorrow I will run 2.5 minutes and walk 2 minutes 4 times. Wish me luck.

We don't have one spare corner in our house for our treadmill so it's in nana's extra bedroom. It's a little pink room with a twin bed and matching dressers and night stand from the 70's and pinkish red shag carpet. The treadmill faces a large window with a clear view of our house right across the street. It's been too cold to run/walk outside so I've become a frequent visitor of the pink bedroom.

I try not to think about how slow time passes for those minutes running and how fast the walking minutes pass. I try and think of other things to distract myself.

I look out the window at my house and make a mental list of things that need to be done. Baseboards in my bedroom, closet and bathroom doors painted. New siding around the front door, pictures hung in my room, the list goes on and on, but I get bored with that.

I think I see someone in my kitchen window. I wave, but nobody waves back. It's actually just a little tree in front of the window.

I see my reflection in the big window in front of me and I think how if I ran naked on the treadmill and saw my reflection in the big window, I'd probably run faster and longer. That would really scare all the passerbys so I won't do that.

I think about how I used to hardly sweat when I was younger and how I really sweat a lot now. How I hate showering at night and going to bed with wet hair and how it makes me cold all night, but I don't want to go to bed all stinky so I shower.

I think about how I better not burp while running because that grape crush that I drank an hour ago may come bubbling up. And how if I wouldn't have drank that grape crush, I wouldn't have to spend so much time on the treadmill.

I think about how I desperately need new music on the ipod because if I hear Single Ladies one more time, I'm going to scream. I wish I could read on the treadmill without falling off.

I think about how I should have lost five pounds by now and I haven't, but I tell myself I'll keep doing it for 12 weeks and then if I haven't lost, I'll drink more grape crush and relax.

Happiness

2009-03-17T17:40:00.006-06:00

Just sharing a few things that made me very happy this week.

1. If you know me, you know nothing makes me happier than a bargain. I got this sweet deal from Kohl's. Perfect Comfort Memory Foam king size pad for $37 delivered to my door. Regular price $179.99. It was such perfect comfort that we slept right through the start of Stake Conference. I did feel bad about missing church and being a bad example to the kids so I listened to Soft Sunday Sounds on FM100 to try and ease my guilt. :)

2. This just made me smile. My dad sent some cash in the mail for the kids, strategically hidden in a folded note. He must think I'm still a blond! Look at the very detailed instructions as you open the paper. (I know it looks like it's from "Frank", but it really says "Gramp".

3. Have you tried this stuff? It's hair happiness in a bottle. It helps your hair dry faster, makes it super soft and gives it a shine, but doesn't weigh it down or make it greasy. We've gotta have the big hair.

4. More bargains. More happiness. Two shirts at Old Navy for $2.80 each. And SCORE at Robert's! $150 worth of scrap booking stuff for $15. Rub-ons, stickers, and chipboard, oh my!

5. No explanation needed here. These cookies are simple to make and so yummy. I'll share the recipe below. (oops, picture is gone...refer to cookie in the banner.)

1 8oz. cream cheese, room temp. 1 stick butter, room temp.

1 egg 1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 box moist chocolate cake mix Powdered sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl w/an electric mixer, cream the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Beat in the egg. Beat in the vanilla. Beat in the cake mix. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours (or you can stick it in the freezer for 15 minutes) to firm up so that you can roll the batter into balls. Roll in powdered sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake 12 minutes. The cookies will remain soft and gooey. Cool and sprinkle more powdered sugar on top if you'd like.

It's easy to eat 12 and not even realize it so make sure you share...or not.

Especially for Ash

2009-03-13T14:52:00.004-06:00

Ashley (we'll keep your last name a secret to protect your privacy) - here is the answer to your prayers. If you only would have had this thing 9 years ago. Think of all you could have accomplished while pumping away. All those lost hours sitting in a bedroom or hiding behind a chalkboard in a scrapbook store. What a shame.

Straighten Up!

2009-03-11T17:45:00.005-06:00

I'm not just posting these pictures because they totally crack me up. I actually want to document Michaela's teeth getting straightened out. I didn't have braces and my brother and sisters didn't have braces (although we all could have used them). Amy, my little sis, did have some weird contraptions in her mouth, but I don't think she ever had braces. Mike helped pull her mouth to try and expose some of the teeth hiding in there in the first two pics.

Monday she had this cool little bridge put in. Every other day, we take a little key and turn in so that it slowly widens her mouth. After eight weeks, she will get the regular braces. She is responsible for making sure we don't forget to do this. She marks a little smiley face on the calendar on the fridge every time we do it. It does make her have a little bit of a lisp and she got part of a hotdog caught in it today from lunch, but she hasn't complained about it at all.

Are you kidding me?

2009-03-03T18:46:00.003-07:00

Did anyone watch The Bachelor? All three hours of it? I got totally sucked in and watched the whole season really hoping Jason wouldn't be "hurt" again, but after last night, I was just thinking, poor Ty. Melissa's going to be your new mommy...no wait, Molly might be your new mommy. As much as I hate to admit it, I'm going to have to watch again tonight to see what possibly could happen next.

Also, is anyone watching Biggest Loser? I love this season! Oh, and Amazing Race is great so far. Am I pathetic or what?

Don't let your kids learn to bake.

2009-03-03T17:00:00.002-07:00

I'm just giving you some advise from personal experience. It's not because of the mess, although that alone should be enough. The eggshells in the wrong side of the sink, the flour blown all over the stove top, the sticky spoons stuck to the counter top, 12 dirty mixing bowls...well maybe that is reason enough.

But the reason I was thinking of was that when I'm craving something sweet, 90% of the time, I am too lazy to get in the car and drive down to the store and 50% of the time I can't sweet talk Mike into driving down to the store. 99% of the time, I am too lazy to actually get up and make something. There's a pretty good chance that if it's up to me to come up with a treat, I won't be getting one.

However, now Dal and Kayla have decided they like to experiment in the kitchen and when they want a treat, they aren't so lazy. They make chocolate chip cookies ALL THE TIME! If that wasn't bad enough, Dallon figured out that he can make cheesecake. Dang his CSE class (what us old timers knew as Home Economics) for helping him get in touch with his feminine side and for teaching him to cook.) I am totally screwed here. I can no longer rely on my laziness as a weight loss program.

He made this yummy brownie cheesecake for Mike's birthday last week. I am in big trouble.

UNO

2009-03-02T18:06:00.006-07:00

The game of choice when me and her are home alone. She's surprisingly good. When she wins she chants, "Winner, winner, I want cheese for dinner." When she loses she glares at me. She's a little intimidating with the whole dilated pupils and the pursed lips look.

This beats the alternative of her other favorite passtime when we are alone. It's called mom tossing a stuffed animal high in the air over the couch with perfect timing as she runs across the front room and dives through the air to catch it and then slams head first into the couch, over and over a bazillion times. I'll take 20 games of UNO over that any day.

Recap

2009-02-25T20:38:00.012-07:00

A little recap since I've had a hard time remembering how to type lately.

1. January is usually a month that I get the blues from lack of sunshine, cold weather, and too much eating of food that has absolutely no nutritional value. This year, it just flew by and I didn't even realize I hadn't had the blues until it was February and then I thought what's the use of having the blues now, it's February.

2. The kids competed in the US Open in Vegas for TKD. Fifty-nine countries were represented. Kayla had 6 in her division, fought three times, and won gold. woo-hoo for her. Dal had 53 in his division, fought pretty darn good, but didn't bring a medal home. boo-hoo for him.

3. I remembered that I don't like to stay in hotels in Vegas. I hate trying to figure out who's long black hair is in my sheets. The women in thongs (or massive wedgies as the kids see it) plastered all over the streets makes me blush. The stay in St. George in a clean hotel was a lot better. no mystery hairs in the bed.

4. Reagen informed me that she'd like to be a garbage man when she grows up. She's been collecting cardboard boxes lately preparing so diligently. I wonder if she thinks the garbage men live in boxes. I'm so relieved she has high aspirations.

5. Dal has had a growth spurt and almost looks me in the eyes. Mike is worried that he'll grow bigger than him and torture him to pay him back for all of the teasing Mike does to him. I'm counting on it and looking forward to it.

6. Work is crazy and leads to migraines on a lot of occasions. It's not a good time to give up Mtn. Dew...again. Seriously, I'm very happy to have a job right now with things the way they are. I had my 12 year anniversary at Bard this month. Who would have known I could last this long?

7. Michaela gets braces on in March. I didn't think her teeth were all that bad and then she pulled her top lip up the other day and revealed some teeth I didn't even know she had. Whoa!

8. Last, but not least, Mike went postal on us. He got a job with the post office. He starts part-time next month. We are exicted about this and I know he's relieved to be done with the tests, training, and driving courses. (I drive with him quite often and I didn't think he'd pass the driving part.)

Some pictures to make this post a little more interesting.

This is Dallon in the red helmet fighting Mexico.

Three of our team members and one little sister.

I took these just to show some of the countries represented. Australia had a huge team and we met a nice Australian boy and I loved hearing him talk.

A couple team members from China.

The hung flags from all of the countries represented.

Kayla, Dal and Josh on the way back from making a snack run to the van.

If you look past the unhappy looking dude in front, you'll see a very happy coach throwing Kayla up in the air after she won her final match.

Random pic of Reagen with the cat that's not allowed in the house, let alone in her bed.

Taken

2009-02-07T20:37:00.004-07:00

My girls will not be leaving the country on their own, or with girlfriends, or even parental chauffeurs.

Not when they are in high school, not when they are in college, maybe not even when they are forty.

Not to Europe, not to Paris, and probably not even Mexico.

Well, maybe if Mike becomes a super secret agent with sweet killing skills like Liam Neason, but probably not. Mike and I saw the movie "Taken" and it totally freaked me out. I don't even want to leave the country and who would steal me? It was a very good, action packed, nail biting movie, but it makes you think twice about sending your young American daughters out of the country. I might not even let Dallon leave the country because I think he's kinda pretty in a manly way. Have you seen his eyelashes?

The Flour Game

2009-01-27T17:25:00.000-07:00

I had forgotten about this game for many years, but Sunday night we were playing Uno with the kids for the 78th time and it came to me. My aunt Retha taught us how to play when we were young and then in high school I remember playing it with some of my friends and having lots of laughs.

What you do is fill a small cup half way full with baking flour. Pack it down and then put a clean penny in it. You have to wash it with soap and maybe rub a little sanitizer on it if you are anal like me about germs. Then fill the rest of the cup with flour so that the penny is hidden in the middle. Place a plate over the cup and carefully turn it over so that the flour comes out on the plate in the shape of the cup.

Now to start the game, everyone slaps ther hands on thier legs twice and then claps once like what you do when you listen to the song, "We will, we will rock you." Slap, slap, clap. Got it. The first person says a subject like books, or colors or spongebob characters, or whatever you like. The next person has to name a book or color or whatever on the next clap and you keep going around the table until someone messes up. If they mess up, they have to take a knife and slice off part of the flour. You don't want to make the flour collapse though. Whoever makes it fall has to find the penney with only their face and pick it up. It is hilarious. Once they find the penney, you carefully pick out the slober they may have blown in there when they were laughing and pack it back in the cup again. Good times!

What a week

2009-01-26T17:28:00.005-07:00

Or at least half a week since all the fun started on Wednesday and ended on Sunday.

Wednesday was a good day. Dallon was nominated by one of his teachers to be Falcon of the Month (doo doo doo...hear the trumpets sounding). They give this award out not just for academics, but for kids that have shown kindness to others, leadership skills, or have improved somehow. Mike and I got to go down to the junior high library and they had a little program for the kids who were nominated. They read the letters out loud that the teachers had wrote.

I'll have to admit that I had one of those proud mom moments where you almost cry, but I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of a bunch of jr. high kids so I kept myself under control. I'm getting better at that. The cookies and chocolate milk afterwards topped off a great afternoon.

And then there was Friday. Glorious 5th Grade Maturation Program at the elementary school. Michaela kept telling me that I really didn't have to go. She said the only reason they invite parents is so that they keep the kids from laughing. Now, my kids live pretty sheltered little lives you have to remember. So do I, so I wanted to see if I could learn something along with Michaela.

They started the video and it was pretty cool and hip and everything until they cut to the drawings of our body parts. I seriously almost bit my tongue off trying not to laugh. You know, one of those nervous laughs that happen at church when you aren't suppose to laugh.

I would look at Michaela and she would shoot daggers at me. I knew she had no idea before this video about what her little tom-boy body was going to do to her in a year or two. I wasn't going to be the one to tell her and ruin her carefree love of life.

Finally, it was over and I had to force her to take the little prize bag that they give the girls as they leave. She wanted nothing to do with what was in that bag. As we walked to the car, I asked her if she knew any of this lovely information before today. "No! They are lying. That is NOT going to happen to me." (I'm glad she's not showing any signs of denial at this point.) I had to be the bearer of bad news and let her know that yes, it actually is going to happen. When we got in the car, she ripped the beloved prize bag open and threw the winged friends at me and told me that I could have them and she'd keep the deodorant and the granola bar. These are those bonding moments you look forward to as a mom.

Now fast forward to Sunday morning, 9:00am. My little family that tries to be real inconspicuous is sitting up front and center at the pulpit in church. Yes, that's right, we had to speak in church.

Everyone of us.

Even Mike.

Yes, I said Mike.

Don't fall off your chair for those of you that know Mike.

It actually went well. Mike did awesome and didn't seem nervous at all up there. Especially since he informed us after, that half way through the talk he got this monster cramp in his left butt cheek. He had all of his weight on one leg and was just a little tense. He said under normal circumstances, it would have dropped him to the ground. I'm so proud of him!

Reagen wanted to talk about Noah's Ark. Dal and Kayla both wrote their talks on their own. You couldn't hear my knees knocking...I think, so we'll consider it a success. My friend Kathryn, who besides looking like Miss America, is sooo musically talented, sang a beautiful musical number for us.

It was sure a half a week to remember.

It's good to have friends

2009-01-18T19:53:00.008-07:00

And even better to have friends with connections! My buddy Chelsea is friends with some developers in her neighborhood and therefore has access to 4 model homes that are really cute. I bribed Reagen into being our little model as we both worked on our "indoor skills". We've found that taking pictures indoors isn't that easy because of the whole lighting situation. It was really fun to have time to make adjustments without a family sitting posed and ready. Reagen had a lot of patience and I paid her well with a humongo frozen yogurt afterwards. Here are some of my favorite pics.

Reagen's version of Rockband

2009-01-16T13:18:00.001-07:00

I may be raising a nerd...

2009-01-07T20:38:00.000-07:00

...but I'm ok with that. He's already way smarter than me. I come home and find stuff like this on a regular basis. Little test tubes filled with who knows what. I don't even like to ask what may be in them. I'm constantly out of cornstarch because he makes experiments with it. He blew a fuse in his room last year because he wanted to try and make his own lightbulb and plug it into an outlet. I always sanitize my tweezers before using because I don't know what insects he's been inspecting with them. The internet history on our computer has interesting searches for things like inertia, surface tension, and nuclear fission. What the heck is this kid going to brew up? I don't know what most of that stuff even is, but I don't want to ask him because he might figure out he's smarter than his old mom. When he talks about sciencey type stuff, I just nod my head like I know what he' s talking about. I'm not sure where this kid got his brains, but I know at 13 I wasn't trying to make my own lava lamp, I was prank calling boys with my friend Mindy.

Resolutions?

2009-01-06T17:39:00.000-07:00

I usually don't make new year's resolutions because I hate to deal with failure so early in the year. I love the idea of having a "word" for the year, though. My good friend Ade explains it here. Last year my word was focus. I'm going in a little different direction this year. My word for 2009 is "enjoy". It sounds a little corny, maybe a little too easy, but I thought about it a lot and I want to enjoy 2009. I want to apply it in all aspects of my life. I want to enjoy my kids more and relax and have fun around them and worry less about what they are doing wrong or that they are annoying the crap out of me some times. I want to enjoy more time with Mike. The kids keep us running pretty steady and we don't make too much of an effort to make time to spend together. We're actually together a lot, but there's always three extra little people hanging out with us. I want to even slow down and enjoy my food. I guess I'm used to always being rushed so I notice that I don't even chew my food half the time. In I throw it and down it goes. Maybe that's why I eat twice as much so I can get to taste it a little longer. I want to enjoy my surroundings. I love nature and I don't make enough time for that either. I feel so much peace when I get out on a nice day and I usually give that up to plop down and watch Survivor or some other mindless show. So there you have it. Now I'm going to go and try to enjoy the Primary meeting I have at 6:00. Ha!

A New Year

2008-12-31T20:53:00.007-07:00

2008.

Goodbye.

Where did you go so fast?

My kids grew inches before my eyes.

I have a kid in jr. high. Wasn't I just in jr. high?

My baby's in kindergarten. She's not a baby. Wouldn't mind a baby, but it's not going to happen.

Another year of the ponytail. Someday I'll win this fight.

Some hard lessons were learned.

Lot's of laughter, usually at Mike's expense.

Nothing was more fun than watching the kids do what they love.

Blessed in so many ways that we wouldn't normally think of as blessings.

A lot of projects left undone.

A lot more on my list of things to do.

Grateful for friends in my life that make me smile and feel loved.

Grateful for family that I take for granted.

Grateful for a new year to try and do better, feel better about me, be nicer, more patient and loving. More sympathetic, not good at this one. A new year to look forward to.

We rang in the new year at home pretty quitely except for the singing and dancing from Kristin and Michaela. They sang a rendition of Bleeding Love that had the dogs in the neighborhood howling.

Mike made Cajun shrimp pasta and then we just ate way too many treats.

After that there was a lot of boxing on the wii. Amy got into it a little too much.

Reagen knocked Jeff out in round two.

Nana supplied the firecrackers so we ended the night with a bang!

Cupcake Date

2008-12-30T18:09:00.003-07:00

Reagen got a cupcake maker for Christmas and we hadn't tried it out, so Monday night, while Dal and Kayla were at TKD, we had a little cupcake party. Honestly, at the rate that this thing kicks out cupcakes, you could starve before you have two made, but we still had a good time. I was in charge of washing all the parts, putting it together and reading the instructions. She was in charge of stirring, filling the cupcake liners, frosting, sprinkles, and licking the bowls clean.

December

2008-12-29T21:08:00.000-07:00

December was a crazy month, but I got to do quite a bit of something I love. Photos. No, my kids didn't make it into many pictures, but I wanted to post some of the families I shot.

This is my cute friend Chelsea and her husband Chris. Chels loves to take pics, too so I'm going to get her to take some of my fam when it warms up. I think Reag was only one years old in the last family photo we have. Sad, huh?

The Rhoades Fam with 3 well behaved kids. I'm used to chasing little ones

around so it's weird to have someone sit still when you get them where you want them.

My friend Kass welcomed this little guy into her family on Nov. 29th

and I was lucky enough to get to visit and take some pictures.

She has waited a long time for him and she's such a cute little mom.

Freezing temps, but my sweet friend Angie's family were troopers. I think

by the end they had blue lips and a little frostbite.

My bro and sis-in-law's family. 4 kids and 12 grandkids...you have about 2 minutes until someone's crying or fighting over who gets to sit in the tree. LOL!

Look at these cuties! Nathan and Kambree. They braved the cold to have a couple pics snapped after the family wimped out and left.

Christmas

2008-12-29T19:07:00.007-07:00

I can't believe it has come and gone. It snuck on me this year, maybe because it was warm right into the beginning of December. In 2009, I am going to start preparing in July, seriously. The house didn't get decorated, the yard didn't have lights, and I was shopping right up to the day. I had a lot of anxiety and next year I'm hoping to avoid that and enjoy the season more. The kids love Christmas and started out the excitement at Debbie's Christmas party on the 19th. Santa came to make sure everyone had been good. Dallon was a little questionable. He seems to be getting a little of that teen 'tude.

Here are all of the cousins. We are getting to be quite the big, rowdy crowd. Little

Gabe was having a nap so he's not in the picture.

All though this looks like the seven dwarfs, it is actually the annual

re-enactment of the manger scene.

The kids slept in until 8:00 Christmas morning. I guess keeping them up late all week paid off. We got a Wii for the family and the kids love it. It is a great workout. Reagen takes her shirt off to box. It is the funniest thing. They're driving the Mario Cart here. Not quite as physical, shirts required.

Is this a happy Christmas morning face, or what?

Reagen wanted Biscuit, the interactive dog that wags his tail and moves his head. I couldn't see paying $159 for Biscuit, when you can get Spots for $30. He doesn't make noise or wag his tail, but we have a cat that lives in the garage that does all that.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Pigskin Tournament

2008-12-04T18:42:00.001-07:00

Mike and Dal went to Las Vegas for the Pigskin Tournament over Thanksgiving. This is the fourth year to go, but the first year that we haven't all gone together. Me and the girls stayed here and had the traditional dinner with family, watched lots of movies, and ate lots of pizza and junk food...good times. I'm officially back on my daily fix of Mtn. Dew and I became a brunette. They were the ones in Vegas, but me and the girls were living the wild life. Anyway, they won their first game against San Diego and lost their second game by one point in overtime to Dallas. Here are a couple of pictures that a friend emailed me. The first picture is with Randall Cunningham and no, I have no idea who he is, but Mike said that he will be inducted into the hall of fame eventually. He also signed Dallon's football, something Dal can treasure for years to come or come home and immediately want to sell on Ebay. No action shots because the girl with the camera was home admiring her Mtn. Dew belly. The second picture is of the team. Dal is #12.

Home Sweet Yummy Home

2008-12-02T18:24:00.005-07:00

On Saturday, Debbie had all of her grandkids and my kids over to make gingerbread houses. She has made this a fun tradition for the kids. They absolutely love it and they all make their own little masterpieces.

Doesn't Michaela look so excited?

Grammy Deb helping Landon...patience of Job.

Little Lincoln was dressed for the occasion.

Concentration.

Look at the grip on this girl.

Braxton working on the shingles.

I think Ky was sneaking a little frosting. The proof is on his cheek.

Kaeson trying to figure out how to get the frosting on the house instead of his hands.

I think Angie enjoyed this just as much as the kids.

Michaela's finished product.

Reagen's house. You know that I love my girls because I haven't eaten

their houses and that has taken real will power.

Border Warz

2008-11-21T09:42:00.005-07:00

Our football season ended with a couple of heartbreaking one point losses, but that wasn't the end of these seventh graders. We got entered into the first annual Border Warz tournament which includes three games against teams you don't play in your normal league. Last Saturday, we played a team from Pocatello, ID and beat them. Last night, the boys got to play Springville in the Rio Tinto Stadium where the Real soccer team plays. They got to use the locker rooms and run out through the tunnel as they announced our team. We had a 6:30 game so they got to play under the lights. We couldn't have asked for a funner, more exciting game. We won in overtime by one point. The boys were so excited. We were going wild in our seats. This is something the boys will always remember. This picture is of Mike and Dal walking off the field for half time. It's not easy being the coaches son.

This is the boys after the win. They all huddle together and jump up and down saying something. My tired brain can't even remember what they say right now.

I love to see them get emotional because most of our

boys don't show their emotions on the field.

This is my favorite picture and my kid isn't even in it. We have twins on the team, Alex and Nick. Nick hurt his knee the last game of the season (he is he one in the front of the pic with levis on and a brace). Alex got to play and Nick cheered from the sidelines. You can see Nick giving Alex a big hug here after the game.

So Busted!

2008-11-21T09:12:00.004-07:00

Do you see anything wrong with this picture? Look closely. Besides the dust and the sconce not being hung straight, look at the glass holding the little decorative pebbles and candle. I was vacuuming yesterday and noticed a few little pebbles on the carpet and went to put them back in one of the sconces. I looked at them both to see which one had more so I could even them out and I thought, what the heck. They aren't the same size. About a year ago, the kids broke one of the sconces throwing a ball in the living room and so I had to buy a new one from Home Interiors. For half a second, I thought, crap, I got the wrong size and never noticed it and all this time they haven't matched. As I looked a little closer, I noticed that if I turned the glass sconce it had a handle on it just like the little glass mugs I have in my cupboard. Oh, someone is so busted! I knew right away it was probably the oldest kid in this house because he is quite ingenious. I started laughing because he was pretty darn smart to use this mug and I could just picture him panicking when it broke and trying to figure out what to use so I wouldn't find out. If he wouldn't have left some of the pebbles on the carpet, I probably never would have noticed it because the handle was facing back so you couldn't see it. I couldn't wait for the kids to get home from school. I knew he had some partners in crime or someone would have tattled by now. When they got home, all at different times, I asked if they had anything to tell me about. Reagen wasted no time telling me that Dallon did it and gave me full details. The other two giggled when I asked them and they realized I knew. I tried to be mean, but I started laughing and then gave them some lecture about how not telling about something is just like lying. I don't know how seriously they took me. As for the mug, I just turned the handle back around and eventually I'll get another sconce or use another mug so I have a matching set up there.

Blessing Mix

2008-11-18T17:30:00.005-07:00

If you haven't done your visiting teaching this month, I found a cute idea for a "Blessing Mix" that is perfect for November on this blog http://chicnscratch.typepad.com, a most crafty lady. Actually, my friend Kass found it and shared the goodness with me.

You need pretzels, bugels, peanuts, candy corn, and orange slices. Mix them up and throw some in a cellophane bag and print up the tag. I think you can read the saying in one of the pictures. If not, let me know and I'll get it to you.

Hello...my name is Gail.

2008-11-18T17:00:00.005-07:00

I feel the need to introduce myself. I use to be a blogger, but lately I really suck at it. I can't even seem to squeeze in a "Thankful Thursday". Pretty pathetic. I wish I could say it's because I've been too busy, but that wouldn't really be the truth and I'm always asking my kids, "Is that the truth?", whenever I think they may be fibbing. I give them the look of death when I say it, like if I look really scary, they'll for sure tell me the truth. Anyway, I just haven't felt the mojo lately. I sit on the couch eating bon bons (not really, it's usually cheesecake) as my need for stretchy pants grows and my chance to write about what my kids are doing while it's still fresh on my brain passes me by.

Football ended and I didn't even post about the last three games. Michaela has become a little career woman and babysits at least a few times a week. Then there's Reagen. The other night when I told her that she needed to bath, she explained to me, "Mom, I don't mind smelling like trash". Priceless. I don't want to forget all these great times so I'm going to do better.

Proud of these three today.

2008-11-09T18:04:00.005-07:00

This one for getting up yesterday at 5:30 am to go to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. Not one complaint from him, he was actually excited to go. It may have had something to do with the all you can eat breakfast buffet after, but I'm still proud of him.

He also got set apart as the Deacon's President today. He's becoming such a young man...still goofy, but a goofy young man.

This one for memorizing her part in the Primary Program and being brave enough to do it.

This one for speaking on family today in the Primary Program. Of course we had to make a deal that the hair could stay in a pony instead of being down. She said if it was down, it would be in the way and she wouldn't be able to see her talk and that would be disaster.

A girl and her cat.

2008-11-03T19:50:00.002-07:00

Boo to you.

2008-11-03T19:34:00.003-07:00

Amy, Kristin, Michaela, and Reagen.

My little vampire. She said that next year she wants to be a cheerleader. (Yeah!)

There's a long story behind this, but the condensed version is

that this was pretty much a dare. I never dreamed as I pulled old

costumes out of the bin, that he'd actually wear them. The belly

shirt is from when he was a ninja at age 4, the red furry cuffs are from

a lady bug costume and his hair piece is from a Spiderella costume,

and to top it off, a pirate robe. This is soooo not Dallon. I guess that ended

up being the not so short version of the story.

When good Halloween costumes go bad...

2008-10-31T18:59:00.002-06:00

Thankful Thursday

2008-10-30T16:58:00.004-06:00

1. As the football and soccer seasons come to a close, I am thankful for coaches. These wonderful people volunteer to coach. No paychecks involved. They teach them the fundamentals plus all the extra stuff they need to know. Way more than I understand. I love to watch my kids come off the field and be given a high five and a big smile. I love that they are making friends on the field and learning how to win and lose with grace.

2. I know I've used this one before, maybe even twice, but I can't say how much I love this beautiful fall weather. It sounds like this is the last week of it so I am trying to soak in all of the sunshine I can.

Of course that's where it is.

2008-10-29T16:56:00.002-06:00

On Saturday, Reagen and I were driving into Salt Lake for Dallon's football game and I asked her where her missing DS (video game system like a gameboy) could be. It's been gone for over a month and we've scoured the house and still haven't found it.

This is what she told me without even thinking about it. "It's in no mans land. It jumped on the magic flying blanket and flew there."

Well, no wonder we can't find it. That explains where a lot of our missing stuff is.

Week in the Life - Day Seven

2008-10-26T16:14:00.000-06:00

Hip Hip Hooray, this is my last day! Posting this project has been the very toughest part of the whole thing. If I was a little more computer literate it would have helped.

Thursday, October 16th:

1. Finally Thursday, my last work day of the week. I start out with a breakfast of pretzels and peanut butter. I'm sure I had something for a snack later because that definitely wouldn't hold me over until lunch. 2. Me and my cute prego friend Kass riding to Cafe Rio for Boss's Day. We always look forward to an outing. It was not easy to get this picture. I used the self timer and put the camera on the dash. Again, I do not recommend taking self portraits while you are driving. 3. Cafe Rio sweet pork salad. I am normally not a salad person, unless it's a Cafe Rio salad. 4. Most of our contracts department enjoying our yummy lunch. My boss Kirk has his back to the camera. He is a good man to have to manage 14 women and never complain.

1. Since we are SO close to Michael's, we run in real quick to check things out and I need a birthday present for a party Michaela has been invited to. 2. Get back to work and need some help making it through the rest of the day from an old friend. It's been a couple weeks since I've done the Dew and I even resisted caffeine at lunch and had water, but I could resist no longer. 3. Rush home from work and Reagen has her last soccer game of the season. Mike has football practice so I'm on my own again tonight. She plays in Tooele again. It's been a fun season for her and she had awesome coaches. 4. Fill up the car on the way home.

The odometer on my 1995 Honda Civic. Thank goodness for this car and it's ability to just keep running. (Knock on wood)

1. Catch this dude eating my leftover Cafe Rio salad. Not really - I told him he could have it, but he sure looks like a deer in the headlights here. 2. Soccer in the house...yes this is my life. 3. Michaela had her first babysitting job. If Tiff is going to pay this well, I'm going to start babysitting. 4. Every time I look, my sink seems to be full of water jugs from soccer and football.

Week in the Life - Day Six

2008-10-25T10:54:00.007-06:00

Wednesday, October 15th:

Arrive at work at 5:42 am. Oh Joy! I tell myself I am halfway through the week. I can make it.

I start the day with a fairly healthy breakfast and I only go down hill from there. (don't know why this is underlining)

I'm a list maker. I usually have a list in my pocket and I'm always adding to it or crossing something off. It helps me feel in control. This week I have quite a list.

This is my wall of fame (and why I work). I am faced with tough decisions all day long...apple or chocolate.

This is what I usually see when I get home. Either backpacks or sports gear in the rocking chair.

I get home in time to change and then run to Reagen's soccer game. She has treats and of course I forgot about it until now so we have to make a couple of stops.

She runs fast and plays hard, but really enjoys the time on the sidelines comparing water bottles with her teammate.

Rush home from soccer and make visiting teaching treats for tomorrow. I think we sat and watched the end of Biggest Loser after that and then headed to bed.

Thankful Thursday

2008-10-23T22:23:00.002-06:00

I almost forgot about this because I'm in the middle of making cupcakes for the Pumpkin Walk tomorrow and it's 10:00 at night.

I'm so grateful that the price of gas is going down. It makes me feel hopeful. Now, if we can just get groceries to drop a little so we can quit living off of ramen noodles.

I'm grateful to have a job and for the friends I've made there and the whole social aspect of it all.

I'm grateful my last batch of cupcakes just finished baking so I can go to bed. Have a great Friday, everyone.

Week in the Life - Day Five

2008-10-22T18:49:00.006-06:00

Lots of pics on this one. If you'd like to see it larger, just click on it.

Tuesday, October 14th:

1. Up at 5:00 for work and this is the only little face I see in the morning before I get to work. He looks as tired as I feel. 2. Mindy has Halloween candy out on her desk. This is not good for someone with absolutely no willpower. 3. Try and drink lots of this during the day because for some reason when I'm home, I forget that I need water. 4. The only problem with drinking lots of water is that it leads to lots of trips here and I HATE public restrooms. 5. Work on my least favorite account for most of the day. Major spreadsheet and major headache. 6. On the road home. I spend approximately 4 hours a week on the road. **disclaimer - I would not recommend taking pictures while driving, but for some reason I took a lot today. 7. I think this rock would be a cool place to come and take pictures, but I've never done it. 8. Bored in the car so more pictures. 9. The exit I take everyday. I've been making this drive for over eleven years and sometimes I don't even remember driving home. 10. Welcome to Grantsville. 11. Check the mail. I love to get magazines, not so much love for the bills. 12. Check homework. 13. I got home right as Mike and Dal were walking out the door for football, but Mike had this yummy hamburger ready for me. I wolfed it right down. Michaela stayed after school to play soccer with her friends. 14. Reagen drew me a lovely picture. 15. Michaela home and I made myself go for a walk and when I downloaded these pictures, I realized that I don't exercise as much as I thought I did...hmm. Michaela watches Reagen while I'm gone. 16. Reagen wants to be a vampire for Halloween, no a witch, no a vampire...look through the Halloween costumes. When Mike and Dal get home, we all watch one our fav shows, Heroes. Then the nightly ritual of telling everyone to get ready for bed 10 times before they actually do it.

Week in the Life - Day Four

2008-10-21T20:11:00.001-06:00

Monday, October 13th:

1. Monday means back to work...argh. This is where I spend at least 8 hours a day, 4 days a week so your going to see a lot of work pictures. They may be a little boring, but this is my life. 2. Lots to do today. Monday's are always busy because I am off on Fridays. 3. It's nice to be appreciated. I received a huge planter from my Big East district for Customer Service Week. That almost made my Monday bearable. 4. This little instrument reminds me every day that I haven't walked enough. Some days I don't know why I keep wearing it. Maybe I like feeling bad about myself...ha! 5. Done with work and on the road to meet Mike and the kids at Flying J's to come back in to West Jordan for Michaela's soccer game. 6. Froze our fannies off a the game. I had told Mike to bring blankets and he brought the two littlest blankets that we own. With the wind chill, it had to be 10 below zero. 7. Drive to work in the dark and drive home in the dark. This is the sun setting over the lake. 8 & 9. This is what Mike does everyday without fail along with 100 other things. If it weren't for him, none of us would have clean clothes.

Week in the Life - Day Three

2008-10-21T19:29:00.005-06:00

I have to thank my friend Chelsea (photoshop princess) for giving me a crash course session in photoshop. I spent over three hours the other night trying to figure some things out with no luck. She spent ten minutes with me and taught me so much.

Sunday, October 12th:

"Is it church day?" This is Reagen's question every Sunday morning. Church doesn't start until 11:00 so we get to sleep in and still have plenty of time to get ready for church. Somehow, though, when it's five minutes 'til, we always have someone that hasn't combed their hair, brushed their teeth, or put their shoes on. We usually end up walking in a few minutes late. I am currently the secretary in the Primary and I love the job. After church, Mike took Dal to do his fast offerings. He's covering his chin because he's got a couple little pimples...bring on the teen years. Usually, on Sunday we have some type of roast, potatoes, gravy, corn, rice-a-roni, and rolls. Today, we totally went in the opposite direction and made pigs in a blanket. It was a nice change and the kids thought it was great.

After we ate, Michaela showed us a really cool thing on you tube. You put headphones on and listen to a virtual barber shop. It is so awesome, if you close your eyes, you feel just like you are getting a hair cut because of the 3D sounds. Get on and try it. Reag was so cute listening with her little eyes shut the whole time, and yes, that is ketchup on her face from the pigs in a blanket. Red reader books are due on Monday so we read through the books again. Dal decided he wanted to make cookies, but somehow I ended up making them. Funny how that works. That was about it for the day. Another weekend gone.

Week in the Life - Day Two

2008-10-19T16:50:00.010-06:00

I told my friend Keysha she had to to this little project with me and she is totally kicking by booty at getting her pics posted and her story told. I can't let her get too far ahead of me and Sunday is one day that I'm not running around like a chicken with it's head cut off so here we go again.

Saturday, October 11th:

We woke up at 7:30 this morning to the smoke detector in our bedroom beeping every 10 seconds. I guess the battery was going dead. If I would have had something to throw at it, I would have because that was way earlier than I planned on opening my eyes. It rained and then even hailed a little. I really didn't want to get out of bed when I looked out the window.

Everyone up and going soon after. Mike gave Reagen this hat yesterday and I think she may have slept in it. She wants to wear it everywhere. No soccer for Michaela today and we found out Reagen's game in Dugway was cancelled due to the weather. She was bummed out because she was going to ride with her coach to the game.

Once a day, every day...sometimes twice a day. I'm so glad the kids are old enough to help load and unload. I wish my OCD wouldn't make me reconfigure everything when they are done.

Before we head off to football at Deseret Peak, I jump on the computer and Reagen colors me a picture. She won't allow me to peek at it until she is all the way done. Total hat weather for both of us. It's breezy and wet.

Even colder at the game. The wind is really whipping. I am sporting a sweater, my coat, baseball hat, and then a yellow rain slicker with the hood cinched tight enough that my eyes and nose are the only things showing. I am really looking like a hottie. Reagen stayed with Amy and Michaela went to TKD. We beat Tooele 42-0. They are our long time nemesis...and the Tooele coaches are really mean, screaming people so it was good to beat them again.

Right after the game, Dal and I went to WalMart for groceries. I usually don't like to grocery shop on Saturday and now I remember why. We are both starving so we split a foot long from Subway. It was nice to have just a few minutes to sit and visit with Dal alone.

$188.00 later and I'm sure in two days, everyone will be saying, "we don't have anything to eat."

Here's the church and this is the steeple...I had to do this with Reagen about 20 times this afternoon. I think I finally distracted her with some candy or something.

Noticed this today (bottom right corner). Who knows how long it's been here, but I consider it evidence that a five year old obsessed with stuffed animals lives here and decorates even my room with them. A lot of days I open the refrigerator and find a stuffed crocodile looking me in the eye.

One tired girl and her bestest friend. It's been a long, cold Saturday and so we all just lounged around for a while. Mike went to Bountiful to watch their game against Olympus and got home around 6:00.

Mike lost his sunglasses today (this is pretty much a daily occurrence, but today he lost them really good). Guess who found them out in the shed? Reagen! When she found them, she came in really proud of herself and had to call Mike right away and let him know that he owed her a frozen yogurt from Maverick. I helped her think of that because it sure sounded good. After the cold yogurt, we were all ready for a nice warm bed.

Week In the Life - Day One

2008-10-18T21:37:00.000-06:00

After 3 1/2 hours playing in photoshop (maybe I shouldn't call it playing because that implies that it was fun) and pulling my hair out, you are getting a plan old post. I had dreams of this neat 4x3 template from photoshop, but for some reason I can't get it to pull up in my blog.

Anyway, if I don't get this started, it's never going to happen, so here we go.

Friday, October 10th, 2008:

I slept right through the kids getting ready for school this morning. After getting up at 5:00 am all week my brain and body were just done. Thank goodness for Mike. I felt a little guilty because Friday is the only day I get to do Reagen's hair for school and we try and come up with something cute.

When I finally pull my butt out of bed, I start the Friday morning ritual of cleaning up. Spray all the kitchen counter tops, load the dishwasher, clean off the table, try and go through mail, grocery ads, and schoolwork that are strewn from here to tomorrow. Next, I usually shake the rugs and vacuum the living room. For some reason vacuuming is a little therapeutic.

A little after 10:00 I talk myself into going for a walk/jog (a lot of walk, a little jog). Michaela's ipod is required to help me keep moving. I've been taking the route down Clark Street to Soelberg's and then return on Main St. I think it's just under three miles. I'll do this route for a while and then get really sick of it and find a new one. Mike is hiking up the mountain the same time I'm walking...show off! I get back and stretch a little while I fast forward through a tivo'd Good Things Utah. I don't seem to have time to watch the whole show anymore so I just forward to what looks interesting. I love when they have a good crafty segment.

Every Friday I pay the bills. Mike made brownies while I paid the bills and cancelled out the little walk that I took this morning.

If you're going to eat bad you might as well go all out. How about a little homemade Boboli pizza for lunch? I met Reagen at the bus stop and she had left her coat on the bus so we ran home and made Mike go chase it down. Good dad. When they got home, we all ate pizza.

After lunch, we rented Reagen a movie and she took a little break on her bed. I still haven't showered. Is that bad?

After her movie, we read through the two books that come home in her little red reader bag. She is doing great at reading. I think a lot of it is that she has such a good memory and memorizes what is on each page. I have to hide the pictures to make it a little tougher for her.

Dal comes home with a friend and they play x-box for a while and then go and chase chickens in the field. Who needs x-box when you have chickens?

Reagen completes her 100 chart. She wants to take it back to show her teacher that she was able to do it.

I finally shower and then play on the computer for a while. The kids all watch a Halloween movie together and say it's too cold to go to the high school football game like they had planned.

Reagen is in her cowboy gear for the football game. The kids decide to go after all, but it's way too cold to let her go. Tears are shed, but she is ok when we let her lay in bed and watch TV with us.

Thankful Thursday

2008-10-16T17:00:00.002-06:00

1. I am thankful for my health and the health of my family. Over the last couple of weeks, I've had three friends that have been affected by the health of a family member. You don't realize how lucky you are to have everyone healthy until something happens. My prayers are still with you all.

2. I am thankful for Halloween and how excited the kids get over the decorating, dressing up and pumpkin carving. As you get older, some of the excitement of birthdays (especially your own birthday), Halloween, and other holidays is lacking. It's good to have little ones around to get you in the "spirit" and share their excitement.

3. I am thankful to have a home and as crazy as it may sound, I'm sometimes even happy that it's a small home. No matter where we are in the house, we are always pretty close. I can hear the kids playing (or fighting) in the other room. I hear little giggles and know whenever anyone comes in or out, and of course it's a little less to clean than most people.

WTH???

2008-10-15T05:57:00.003-06:00

I didn't know that I had such a following in China. I had two comments that I had to delete from my last post. One from "Andy Guo", and he told me that he marveled to see such a blog and that it was sparkling. (It's sure been a long time since anyone's called me sparkling) He's really looking forward and waiting with curiosity to know my innovation. He even had a profile picture of himself and I have to say he is quite a strapping fellow. Wow! I am flattered...HA! I also had a comment from "Learn Chinese", and he wants me to come on over to his blog and visit.

I thought the word verification field would stop some of my Chinese boyfriends from commenting on my blog, but I guess not.

**One a different note, I downloaded a bunch of the pictures for my "Week in a Life", but didn't quite get them posted yet. I am having a lot of fun with this and I'm not letting it stress me out. Last night I organized the pictures that I've taken so far by making a folder in iphoto for each day. I thought that would make it a little easier to manage when I start getting them posted and eventually printed. I'm still jotting down notes throughout the day. Realized that I sure spend a lot of time at work so you'll see quite a few work pictures and trust me that are not action shots. Reagen has soccer tonight and I have to get some visiting teaching treats made, but if I have time, I'm going to work on it again.

I know a few of you are going to give this a try and I can't wait to see some posts.

A Week in Your Life

2008-10-13T20:39:00.004-06:00

As I was hopping from blog to blog the other night, something caught my eye. The queen of crafty, Ali Edwards, was talking about documenting a week in your life through photos and words. I don't know why, but this really interested me. Maybe because I love photography and when I don't have my camera, I feel kind of naked. I'm always pulling it out for pictures of the kids and their sports and when Reagen has a cute little bow in her hair. Never to just document life in general, my life. So guess what I have committed to do for 7 full days?

This isn't easy because I am really good at starting things and not so good at finishing things, but I'm doing this and I would love for some of you guys to do it, too. Don't think that you don't have enough to document, snap pictures of what you have for dinner, playing on the computer, your messy kitchen, potty training.

I keep my camera out all the time so that I can see it and remember to take pics. I even took it to work today. The pictures aren't all great or real interesting, but my life isn't always real interesting either. I've kept a notebook out, too, so I can jot things down that I want to remember. I think it will be fun to look back in 10 years and see a whole week of our lives. Here is the link for Ali's website and more ideas if you want to try this. I will try and post some pictures tomorrow. My plan is to get the whole week in a little album, eventually.

I have completed a few days and it is actually turning out to be a fun little project. I hope you guys will try it and share...all of you.

2008-10-10T17:38:00.006-06:00

I'm a normal girl, pretty average in every way, but I have a group of friends that are just plain extraordinary. They make me laugh until I pee, cry like a baby, think outside the box, and teach me all kinds of new things, and this is all within a ten minute period. We can go without seeing each other for over a month and then pick up right where we left off. We try to get together twice a year for a long weekend in the mountains and we scrapbook, eat yummy homemade food (and a lot of junk food), watch movies, have "Music of the Frickin' Night", and talk, talk, talk. We have been doing this for close to ten years and I hope when we are in our eighties, we are still getting together talking about unmentionable things and laughing our guts out. Each one brings something special and unique to the group and it wouldn't be the same if any one person was missing. We all accept each other just as we are and it's a comforting feeling to be with them and so hard to leave them when the time comes. These girls mean the world to me and I don't know what I'd do without them. Here's to another 50 years together!

Left to right, starting with top row: Adrian, Erin,

Susan, Ashley, Amy, Kiley, Me

Thankful Thursday

2008-10-09T21:04:00.003-06:00

I love the weather we've had so far this week. True Fall weather.
I'm so grateful that Reagen doesn't tell time. I got her to bed early tonight and she was none the wiser.
I love seing peoples yards decorared with grave stones and skeletons for Halloween. The kids love to drive by at night and see them all lit up.
I'm grateful that Amazing Race has started again.

We Interrupt This Regularly Scheduled Program...

2008-10-07T17:33:00.000-06:00

...For Some Serious Bragging!

As most of you know, Michaela plays in an all boys competitive soccer league. This is her first year playing in the comp league and it has been so exciting to watch. There are seven teams in the league including Orem, Murray, Ogden, Roy, West Jordan, and Salt Lake. We've played nine games and have five left. The league has a website that keeps track of the stats and guess who is #1 in scoring??? My girl! Can't even tell you how proud I am. Here is the link to the website.

http://uysa.affinitysoccer.com/tour/public/info/scoring_leaders.asp?sessionguid=&flightguid={88F05C9B-3D9C-4ABC-ACB9-AE0712501D75}&tournamentguid={3AB6FCBE-B141-426C-A2ED-D36765DE0EBC}

A Few Things...

2008-10-03T13:42:00.003-06:00

1. Has it really been two weeks since I've posted and is it seriously October already?

2. I totally forgot Thankful Thursday, but starting next week, I'm on it.

3. I had the best time ever in Heber with my friends and I am "so seriously blessed" to have them. I will blog about the trip soon.

4. I posted the first pic ever of myself in the sidebar. I really hate pics of myself so this was a big deal. It's my obituary picture (I'll explain that in my blog about my Heber trip) and no, I'm not planning on using it any time soon, but if something does happen, you know to use this pic and not the ones Mike takes of me without make-up, hair not done, and wearing pajamas.

5. I will be emailing you all your obituary pics soon. I keep trying and the file is too big so I'll figure it out.

6. As soon as you have your obit pics, you have to put your favorite one on you sidebar for all to see.

Thankful Thursday (yes, I'm a day late)

2008-09-19T08:36:00.002-06:00

1. One week until I'm in Heber, in the mountains, in a cabin with the funnest friends ever doing a whole lot of nothing.

2. That I finally got my hair cut and colored last night. I was seriously starting to look like Courtney Love, minus the smeared black mascara.

Sold

2008-09-17T12:51:00.004-06:00

I just took the post about the slide/play center down because it sold. I had three women racing to see who could get to my house first from Herriman, Lehi, and Draper. All I can figure is that there must be a shortable of kids play equipment in this area. That totally stressed me out because they all wanted it and I had to tell two of them that it had been sold and they thought if they got out there before the other person, I would give it to them. I should have posted it here first because my cute niece Angie wanted it, too, but emailed me after the lady from Lehi had already left her house to come and get it. Sorry, Ang. :)

Thirteen years ago today...

2008-09-11T19:09:00.010-06:00

Mike and I dodged pedestrians on North Temple that were going to the state fair to get to the hospital to have this little dude. My contractions were two minutes apart and I told Mike just to run them all over or he'd be delivering Dallon in the back seat of our car.

Well, thirteen years have gone by in the blink of an eye and I am now the mom of a teenager. He's such a good kid that he's made it easy. It's been fun watching him grow into a young man.

Here's 13 facts that make Dal, Dal.

He has an amazing memory and remembers facts out of books, things he's heard on tv, or things that people have said.
When he was little, he loved to watch infomercials. He also loved to watch the history channel.
Women would pay big bucks for his long eye lashes. Man if I could just have half the lashes that boy has.
He is super smart in math and science.
He is very generous. If he has earned money, he buys everyone a treat with it.
Since he was little, he's loved to get into small spaces. If he came up missing, we would usually find him hidden under the cabinets or in the entertainment center cupboard.
He will not go without a shirt. It took him until he was 10 or 11 to even swim without a t-shirt on. As a baby, he wouldn't let me even hold him if I had a tank top on because my arms were bare. Weird!
He loves super sour stuff. (I craved lemon heads the whole time I was prego with him.)
He has a huge baby toe nail. Not long, just a big nail.
For the first four years of his life, he called his cousin Kristin, Dot Dot.
He hates to talk on the phone.
He's always been an early riser. I'm hoping the teenage years change that and he starts sleeping in a little.
He does a really good impression of Napoleon Dynamite.

Dallon had to hunt for his birthday present when he woke up this morning and then he got the good ol' birthday spankings. This is one of those stupid traditions that just doesn't go away in our house. These are Dal's legs, but I really couldn't tell you where the rest of him went.

Oh, there he is.

Happy Birthday, bud!

Thankful Thursday

2008-09-11T17:00:00.003-06:00

Once again it's Thursday so here we go:

1. I'm thankful for a yard. I love to sit out in the shade under the trees. I love having a place for the kids to play,run, and terrorize our cat. All that good stuff.

2. I am thankful that I found out today that I can save 15% on our Family Plan with Verizon through my work. Wish I would have known six months ago, but thankful I know now. Little things like this just make my day.

3. Thankful for the relationship my girls have. Last night Mike and Dal were gone and I just enjoyed listening to them play and color together. Michaela was teaching her the song/chant, "We're Going on a Bear Hunt", and that's the only line she knew so they were making it up from there. (We are not musically gifted in my home.) There's a five year difference between them, but Reagen just thinks Michaela is the best sister in the whole world and will do anything to please her big sis.

Sharing the Joy

2008-09-10T15:00:00.003-06:00

You know how when you experience something really great and you just want to share that with someone else? Well, I thought Mike would like to experience O.P.A.Y. (one project a year). He would really rather not experience that, but I really wanted to share that joy with him so I've been encouraging him (a.k.a. - nagging him) to work on a little project.

We have had wainscotting for Michaela and Reagen's room for over a year. Of course it's been sitting out in the garage and then the shed, unopened this whole time. I've been thinking that if we, meaning Mike, doesn't get it painted real soon, it will be sitting there for another year.

Imagine my happiness when he called me at work today and told me that we are going to need at least six more boxes. I wasn't happy that we obviously don't know how to measure a room, but that he had gotten it out of the shed and was working on it. He remeasured and cut for one wall. Once I get him going, he's pretty good about completing something, but we're right in the middle of the football season so I'll be encouraging him lots.

I took some before pics tonight and as soon as we, again meaning Mike, starts making some progress, I'll take some more pics and post the before and after shots.

If you have an unfinished project, I challenge you to get someone else to finish it for you and then let's hear about it and see some pics.

Tagged

2008-09-09T15:00:00.004-06:00

Thanks for the tag, Ade. Better late than never, right?

4 Things I Love About Mike:

1. He's an awesome cook.

2. He'd sacrifice anything for our kids.

3. He makes me laugh.

4. He cleans the toilets.

4 Movies I Can Watch Over & Over:

1. Home movies

2. Shawshank Redemption

3. Finding Nemo

4. Lonesome Dove (this was a tough question. theres not too many movies I watch over & over)

4 TV Shows I Watch:

1. The Office

2. Survivor

3. Heroes

4. Amazing Race

4 Places I've Been:

1. Cabo San Lucas

2. Jackson Hole

3. Florida

4. Erda (don't be jealous)

4 People Who Email Me:

1. My scrappin sistas

2. Kassy

3. Keysha

4. My sis, Amy

4 Favorite Foods:

1. Chocolate or cheesecake or anything sweet

2. Pizza

3. Steak

4. Olive Garden bread sticks w/Afredo sauce

4 Places I'd Like to Visit:

1. Italy

2. Hawaii

3. Holland

4. Australia

4 Things I'm Looking Forward to Next Year:

1. Getting some stuff done around the house, remember O.P.A.Y.?

2. Warm weather. (I'm w/Susan on not liking winter)

3. Any retreats with my friends.

4. A secret trip that Mike is planning for just me and him (this isn't really happening, but hint-hint, Mike)

4 People to Tag:

1. Whoever

2. Wants

3. To

4. Play

Thankful Thursday

2008-09-04T16:30:00.006-06:00

I forgot to do this last week, but I'm going to try and do better.

1. For this cooler weather. Even though it means that winter is around the corner (yuck), I love fall and I can feel it in the air.

2. For laughter. Last week while Mike rested/slept in the recliner, Reagen clipped his toenails (what was he thinking?). A couple of times I heard him jump and say "owww!", but he didn't pay much attention to what was going on down there. When she finished it looked like someone had taken a weed eater to his toenails. Some of them looked like they had fangs on the sides. We laughed and laughed and laughed. It was quite a chore to get them evened out again because some were right down to the skin. I really wish I'd taken a picture. Poor Mike. It seems like laughter often comes at his expense in our house. This world would be a better place if everyone had a Mike to laugh at. :)

And I live to tell about it.

2008-09-01T11:09:00.003-06:00

So, I had to speak in church yesterday. It's been years since I've had to do this, and trust me, I was totally ok with that. I'm really not one that longs to do that sort of thing. I'd rather just sit near the back of the chapel and take in what everyone else has to say. They say that this is right under being attacked by sharks, as far as people's fears go. Hey, I'd rather take my chances doggy paddling around in shark infested waters than get up in front of a bunch of people I kind of know and talk. I had five weeks to prepare and I don't know if that was a blessing or a curse because it gave me five long weeks to worry about it and wake up with that panicked feeling over and over. It may have been better if they would have sprung the news on me the day before.

I was asked to speak on prayer and I decided to narrow it down to family prayer. After writing this talk in my head for five weeks and going 10 different directions with it, I actually started writing a few thoughts down the week before. Finally, on Friday I pretty much had it prepared. I just had to clean it up a little and time myself. There were three people speaking including myself. I locked myself in my room and piled some pillows up on the end of my bed like a pulpit and timed myself with Mike's stopwatch. What a dork I am. It took me exactly 15 minutes and that's what they wanted so I was good to go...all except the nightmares to come that night.

Sunday morning came and we were suppose to meet 15 minutes before church. I found out one of the speakers wasn't going to make it. That's REALLY not what you want to hear! I'll just speak a little slower, right? I was so glad to see Janet Cook, a spirtual giant and a lady I look up to so much, was speaking with me. If my talk didn't go well, I knew she'd do great and she was speaking after me so everyone would remember her talk. Her talk was amazing and I really don't remember much about my talk. I was just so glad that my knees didn't buckle and my mouth worked for the most part. I'm pretty sure I only teared up twice. Once when I talked about my kids praying for Papa when he was sick and then when I talked about Reagen's bedtime prayers. I was proud of myself because usually all it takes is me stepping in front of the pulpit and the tears start falling. (I think my practice run with the pillow pulpit really helped.)

Anyway, I felt such a sense of relief when I sat back down and my heart stopped pounding. I was going to have one of the members of the bishopric sign my talk and excuse me from talking for the next five years, but I thought that they might think that was a little weird. I did gain a greater testimony of family prayer by doing this because in those five weeks that I had to prepare, I made sure that every night we had it and I felt the subtle blessings that came from doing this. I guess the Lord knew that this was something we needed to work on a little harder.

Fall is just around the corner...

2008-09-01T11:04:00.004-06:00

...and life is in full swing again. I love this time of year. It's hard to keep up with everything going on, but I love seeing these three busy with the things they love.

The Good Stuff

Fifteen

August

Seven

Summer so far

Welcome to the family

Run Forest, Run!

Spring Stuff

mama's day & 5 x 12

Finally Twelve

Spring Break

2 Down, 10 to Go

Easter 2010

20 mph club

This Week

Lately

Vegas

Progress

Catch Up

And Then It Was December

Seasons Come and Seasons Go

What a Difference a Year Makes

Gap Tooth Grin

Halloween 2009

New Calling

BTS

Note to self...

Six!

The Fourth

Austin- Not what I expected

Summer

The Nerve Center

Some Craftiness

My thoughts on walk running.

Happiness

Especially for Ash

Straighten Up!

Are you kidding me?

Don't let your kids learn to bake.

UNO

Recap

Taken

The Flour Game

What a week

It's good to have friends

Reagen's version of Rockband

I may be raising a nerd...

Resolutions?

A New Year

Cupcake Date

December

Christmas

Pigskin Tournament

Home Sweet Yummy Home

Border Warz

So Busted!

Blessing Mix

Hello...my name is Gail.

Proud of these three today.

A girl and her cat.

Boo to you.

When good Halloween costumes go bad...

Thankful Thursday

Of course that's where it is.

Week in the Life - Day Seven

Week in the Life - Day Six

Thankful Thursday

Week in the Life - Day Five

Week in the Life - Day Four

Week in the Life - Day Three

Week in the Life - Day Two

Week In the Life - Day One

Thankful Thursday

WTH???

A Week in Your Life

Thankful Thursday

We Interrupt This Regularly Scheduled Program...

A Few Things...

Thankful Thursday (yes, I'm a day late)

***Sold***

Sold