Thoughts!

You know it's not to often I feel like being "thoughful" in my blog. But with the holiday season and recent events I thought I would be a little mushy.
I haven't been in the Christmas spirit this year. Maybe it was the fact that it snuck up on me so stinkin' fast, or the fact that I haven't had time to do anything. Including blog.
This past Tuesday my cousins 4 year old daughter past away. Her intestine twisted and she bled to death. The Dr. told my cousin and his wife that she should have been in tremendous pain. She was not. I believe our Heavenly Father needed her to come home and helped her to do so with as little pain as possible. When I heard the news my heart just broke. In no way should a parent have to go through something like that. My cousin and his wife are troupers though. We traveled to Mountain Home Idaho on Thursday night and went to the funeral on Friday, which would have been her 5th birthday. Her parents did a beautiful job on the Life History. I am so very grateful that my kids are healthy and here where I can hold them and tell them I love them.
This this was the start of me getting the Christmas spirit. Not the death of a child, but the realization that it doesn't matter what is under the tree, or how many presents we need to buy, but what matters is family. Whether it's immediate or extended. When they hurt so do you. When they lose you lose. And when they love, so do you. It made me realize how important it is to tell the ones you love how much they mean to you.
Saturday morning I went with Jeff to Cops, Kids and Christmas. Lehi Police take about 35 kids to see the lights at Thanksgiving point, with lights and sirens blairing, and this year Texas Rhodehouse provided us with our breakfast. After breakfast we take the kids to Smith's Marketplace where each child gets a $100 gift certificate to spend on whatever they want. It was so fun to watch all these kids shopping for things they would normaly never get.
During our shopping trip one gentleman came to Jeff and donated $50, while another lady came to Chief and asked if she could donate a Guitar Hero game for the Xbox. This my friends is what finally clinched it for me. The generosity of some people astounds me. This is another aspect of what Christmas is about. Giving. Not for the glory, or the pat on the back, but because it makes someone else smile. Or in my case, cry. So with this all being said, I wish you all a Merry Christmas, and make sure you tell your family members how much you love them.

Yes, We are still alive...

We have been very busy. I don't know where the time goes. One day it's Kinzie's birthday, then it's Thanksgiving, and before you know it your tree is up and Christmas is right around the corner. We haven't even been doing very much, just everyday things. Gymnastics 4 times a week, piano, acheivement days, Young Womens, Young Mens, piano, orthodontist, dentist, and gymnastics meets.
Jaycie just finished competing Level 4 and did very well. Just as Jaycie finished Kinzie started her first season of Level 7. Kinz had her first meet on the 5th and did very well. We are proud of all our kids, and in case you don't hear from me before Christmas, we hope you all have a wonderful holiday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KINZIE!

Holy Cow, how the time flies. It seems like yesterday I was holing this cute little baby in my arms and now she is 12 and growing up so fast.
There are so many reasons we love Kinzie but these are our favorite :

She loves her family a lot.
She is quick to help out when it is needed.
She loves her Heavenly Father.
She is very quick witted
She is a smart aleck. Sometimes it gets her in trouble, but mostly we just laugh.
She is a great gymnast.
Inside her tough exterior, and smart mouth lies a very soft, mushy girl with a big heart.
We found out at parent teacher conference that she includes kids who normally don't get included. That made us proud.
She is funny, loud, and boisterous.
We are so glad she a part of our family.
WE LOVE YOU CHINZ. HOPE YOU HAVE A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Dear Winter,

I hate you!

October, Where did you go...

Holy Cow! I can't believe how fast October flew by. We really haven't been doing much, but have been extremely busy. Everyday is work, and the kids have school, and after it is run kids to gym, or piano. Then home to fix dinner, do homework, and then shower and bed. Then the same thing again the next day. It doesn't seem like much, but I am having a hard time fitting in house cleaning, grocery shopping, and blogging.
Jen and Doug came out to visit for a week. We spent almost every night with them and we had a really fun time. (pics to come later) We sure do love when they come to visit and we miss them tons when they leave.
Here are just a few things we have done this month:

Jaycie is now competing level 4 gymnastics. She is doing very well for her first season. Every Saturday is spent at one gym or another. Here she is waiting for her turn.

Doing her bar routine.


I have been bugging Jeff for years to take the kids out shooting. We really didn't think they would enjoy it to much, but we loaded up one Saturday and took the kids out west. We supplied them with guns and ammo thinking they would be bored in about a half hour. Well they surprised us. We spent four hours killing bottles, blowing up targets and using all the ammo. The minute we loaded up to come home, they asked if we could go next Saturday. Looks like we all have a new hobby.


The little "sharpshooters".


We didn't forget Halloween, I just haven't uploaded my pics yet. That will be the next blog. Hopefully before Christmas :)

Ode to Natilie......

She is sweet, smart, sassy and flirty,
Today she is turning thirty......three.

She loves the church, her family and fun,
in our book she is number 1.

She does canning, and sewing, and crafts galore,
I don't think I can rhyme anymore.

It is obvious a rhymer I am not
In this picture she looks smokin' HOT:








Happy birhday to the girl who loves:
Crafts
Campfires,
and Willy Wonka
We hope you have a great day. Happy Birthday we love you.

Mid-life crisis....

With my birthday coming up here soon I am struggling with getting old. I think I am having a mid-life crisis. I need something to make me feel young again. Notice I didn't say look younger. Since I can't get a boyfriend, for obvious reasons, I am thinking a nose piercing, a tattoo (just a small one on the top of my foot, thinking maybe a palm tree) or a new truck. Maybe if I'm feeling really bad, I will get all three. Yep I'm getting all three. I feel that old.

First day of school....

is finally here. I am very sad, and yet I am happy. Colton is in 9th grade and king of the school (or so he thinks), Kinz is in 6th and knows she is cool, and Jaycie is in 3rd. After a few tears over teachers and friends, our first day was a success.
Jeff took the 1st day of school pic since I had to be to work at 7. That is why each child does not have an individual picture. It is his first time, so don't blame him. He didn't know. I have since set him straight, but since he did everything else this morning I will forgive him. But next year they better have their own pictures.
Kinzie was okay with this though because she had to wear her "stupid, ugly, hot" student council shirt. That is why she is hiding in the back. But, her hair looks cute :)

Jaycie looking sweet and innocent. Kinzie happy to be hiding. And Colton in his "toned down" jeans. He also has blue that matches his shoe laces and red. Might have to do an 80's flashback post for those.

This summer...

We went to Lake Powell, camping, boating, and Lagoon,




We also did this:


this:


and this:


this:


and this:

and this:

We are sad the summer has ended. All in all we had a pretty good summer.

This is how we spent our 16th anniversary....

Camping with the family. Every year for the past 3-4 years we have spent our anniversaries camping with my family. This year was no different. We left on a Monday and went to Lodgpole with my mom, grandparents, Reed and Nat, and Jammie came and spent the night. I guess since they were all there on our wedding day, it wasn't to weird spending our anniversary with them.
Jeff bought me a camera for the big 16 so here are some fantastic pics of our week:


Hey there hottie.


Stailey had a ball. She was so dang dirty.


Reed feeding a pot-gut some breakfast. I can't believe how close he came.


This pot-gut was very friendly. We had pot guts and chipmunks coming right up to us.

Thanks honey for spending our anniversary with the family. I love you. Hopefully the niext 16 years will be as great as the last 16.

Happy Birthday Jen!!!!

You old bag! Happy Birthday to my baby sister who is now an old "bitty". She has finally reached the ripe old age of 30.
If only we could be young again. We were all a lot perkier back then.
Happy Birthday. Love Us.

Lake Powell - Part 3

We have so many picures I thought instead of reading about our fun, you can see how much fun we had. This is what we did for 3 1/2 days. It was awesome. Wish we could go back.

Cliff jumping. Always a favorite.

A couple hundred yards from our spot we found the perfect place to cliff jump. We had to haul everyone in the boats to it, but it was a blast.



We anchored a rope in the sandstone, so we could pull ourselves up the rock.


Beau, Jill, and Jaycie


Mike and Kinz


Jeff, Kelly and Colton


Syd and Gunner


We have had the molecule since last summer. This is the first time Jaycie would go on it. She had to ride with the little kids. She wanted to go really slow. She was so brave. She will swim forever, but the toys scare her so we were real proud of her. Ella wanted to go on the "molecube" with Jayce.


When this wasn't being pulled behind a boat, it was tied off to the houseboat. The kids climbed all over it.


Having fun, just being together.


Dancing


Campfires and glow sticks.

Lake Powell - Part 2

Our fun in pictures.


Mike


Brock trying to wakeboard. He went pretty far on his bum. His legs were to skinny to pull himself all the way up.


Jaycie, on a tube. The kids spent so much time in the water, I am surprised they did't grow fins.


Colton is getting really good and jumping high. Kinzie also wake-boarded but the camera was left in the houseboat (my fault). She did awesome.


All the girls had these lovely braids in their hair.


Colton's town. If you blink, you will miss it. Click on the picture and you will see what I am talking about.

Lake Powell - Part 1

We left for Lake Powell at 4:30 last Wednesday. We ate in Price and arrived in Lake Powell about 9:30 Wed. night. We were to pick up the houseboat Thursday morning at 8:00. The plan was to sleep in the parking lot. We made a square with the vehicles. Jeff and I slept in the truck and the kids slept in the boat. Andrea and Jill and their families blew up mattresses and slept on the ground. Russ pitched a tent and Jay and Joyce slept in their boat. You would think in a parking lot it would be somewhat quiet. Well it wasn't. We had a couple of drunk guys that thought it would be fun to talk all night at the top of their lungs and walk right through where Andrea was sleeping, barely missing stepping on the kids. They were loud and obnoxious. Needless to say nobody slept very well that night.
We were still awake when the sun came up, so we just ate breakfast and showed up early to pick up the houseboat. Jeff, the kids, and I launched our boat and went to find a spot for the houseboat to sit. Everybody else loaded the boat and were to meet us. After hours and $140 in gas we still couldn't find anything so we parked the houseboat in a crappy spot. Russ and Jeff took our boat and looked for a different spot and found this:

Someone had just left when they found it.


View from the entrance to "our" cove. We had it all to ourselves. It was really fun.


Colton in the boat.


View of our spot from the top of the mountain that is behind Colton in the above picture.


Kinzie going off the slide.


The houseboat looking in from the back. There were 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, TV/VCR, stereo, microwave, stove, sink, and a table and couch. All the comforts of home.

Goodbye June...

We have had a busy summer so far. The first part sucked, because it rained, and rained, and rained, and rained. Then it rained some more. 3 of the 5 of us have had the "influenza". Some worse than others. We have played at the pool, had gymnastics meets, and been boating once. Colton went on his first scout camp out without his dad. He went canoeing down the Green River for 4 days. He had a really good time, even though he came home with about 50 mosquito bites.

Kinzie finished her gymnastics Level 6 and is now moving on to 7. She is really excited. Jaycie is working on Level 4 and hopes to compete this fall.
This year for the Round-up Sherrie ( Victim advocate at the Police Dept. and friend), and I were in charge of the baby contest. Sherrie did the work and I just helped her. She did an amazing job. Little did we know that because we did this we were also on the parade committee. So we were quite busy during this week. We helped at the BBQ, the movie, and we had to help get floats situated Saturday morning. Sherrie and I were put in charge of the intersection at State and Center. We were put there because we are mean. (I don't know where they got this idea) I only got flipped off twice. It was a good day. Next year I hope to get flipped off at least 5 times. I don't feel I was mean enough. We then went to the rodeo with Grandpa Kerry. Thanks for the tickets and taking us every year. We love it. This is the first year Jeff didn't have to work the rodeo, so he got to sit with us. He was sooo happy about that to. The rodeo was great as always and this year, the Canadian Air Force motorcycle guys did a back-flip off the ramps. The kids loved it. We also went to the rodeo on Friday night, but about 1/2 hour into it, it started to rain. We were soaked so we went home. Hopefully next month we could have a lot less rain, and a lot more fun. Goodbye June, HELLO July.

New Background

What do you think? I was sick of choosing a background that everyone else had. Jammie helped me do this one, what do you think. In a couple of days I will change it to the other one, and you can all (meaning those 4 who read this) vote and tell me which one is better.

Happy Birthday Jeff!!!

Happy 37th Birthday Jeff. We hope you have a wonderful day.
Why we love Jeff:
He is an amazing dad.
He is an incredible husband
He cheers us up when we are sad or ornery.
He loves to make us laugh, and we love for him to make us laugh.
He excels at everything he does.
His boss thinks he is a genius.
He loves to take us camping, boating, and riding.
He loves to spend time with his family.
He makes us feel like we are the most important thing in his life.
He loves the ocean, and the outdoors.
He is a good rider, and wakeboader.
He is very handy, and can do anything. If he can't then he will research until he can.
He is an amazing man and we love him

Happy Birthday to my best friend. I love you with everything I am.

Memorial Day

I decided since we didn't get to go camping, I was not going to sit home all day. I had a bright idea to relive my past. We used to go to Cascade Springs, walk around and then we would go to the Timp Freeze in Midway for some shakes. Well, the Timp Freeze is closed, so we decided on Granny's for lunch.
We called Nat and Reed and headed up Provo canyon for some fun times. We made it up to Sundance only to find that the "Loop" was still closed. The nice ranger told us we could go the back way up from Midway. So we headed that way and decided to eat at Granny's first. It is a good thing we did.
After burgers, fries, and shakes we headed to Midway. As we traveled we hit a dirt road. We wound higher and higher up the mountain. Beautiful scenery, big pot holes, water, mud, snow. We were re-living our youth. Digging in the mountains. Fun Times. Higher we went. Big snow drifts. Bigger snow drifts. Reed got stuck. We pulled him out. Reed got stuck again. We pulled him out again. Reed got stuck again. And again, we pulled him out. Backwards. From the same snow drift. This time though he went further down the hill for a "running" start, only to be denied by his lovely daughter Torey. She feared the next Memorial day would be spent at her graveside. She didn't find the fun in "digging" like the rest of us did.
So we backed down the mountain into a nice clearing, where the kids all proceeded to use the outdoor facilities. Well, except for Taylor. She had some stage fright, but eventually she was able to go. The kids climbed up a big hill and we communed with nature. The kids decided to they had had enough and we decided we probably weren't going to make it to Cascade Springs this day. So we headed home. On our way home we saw a sign that said "Cascade Springs" 7 miles. What the !@#$. We had taken the wrong stinking road. So off we went up this new, nice, less frightening and somewhat smooth road. After 5 hours in the car, we reached our destination.

Woohoo. We finally made it.


Stinkin' cute kids.


Scenery picture by Jaycie.


Unlike, Nat and Reed we didn't have any strangers in our pictures.

The kids took a lot of scenery pictures.


Apparently Jaycie was bored in the car, because when we put the pics on the computer we found this:

And this:

And about 15 more. They were all pretty funny.
We had an amazing day. Thanks for coming with us Reed and Nat.