Annalisa's Blog

It all began ten years ago today...

2012-01-24T11:20:00.002-07:00

Let me start at the beginning. I was the blind date queen and I liked it that way. Blind dates were the best way to go. If I didn't like the guy (and there was always something wrong with him) I could say goodbye at the end of the night and know I wouldn't run into him in day to day life. Anyway, this particular weekend I had a date with John on the 25th and a blind date with guy #2 on Saturday the 26th. I had spent quite a bit of time talking to both of them on the phone and I knew I definitely preferred John. Just by talking on the phone I knew I really liked his personality. The other guy? Not so much. He seemed pretty full of himself and spent too much time talking about how much money he made which is just tacky. Even though I was pretty sure I wouldn't care for guy #2 I figured a date wouldn't hurt, especially if John turned out to be a no go.

John scored big points when he called me Wednesday night and asked if I wanted to go out for shakes on Thursday (the 24th) to get to know each other before our date on Friday. So we set up a time and I spent too much time thinking of what to wear so I'd look great. I still remember when the doorbell rang my mom answered it (yes, at this point I was a loser living at home again) she opened the door then turned and gave me a look that said he wasn't too shabby. I saw him and I was screaming in my head "It's about time I get a hot one!" I had gone out with so many guys and either they had the personality or looks, but never both. This guy had the looks and I knew he had personality from talking with him on the phone for hours. Yes!!!

My heart dropped when we walked to the driveway and I saw he had a beautiful shiny Blazer with leather interior. I thought he had driven his dad's car, which meant I would definitely NOT be going out with him again. I mean, at 22 a guy should own his own car. He told me we'd go to Hire's, which was just a couple minutes away. As we pulled into a parking space I got the nerve and said "So, is this your dad's car?" When he told me it was his I literally had to keep myself from jumping up and down. So far he had the looks, personality and owned his own car. Now I just needed to see if we clicked in person like we had over the phone.

I remember I ordered a Strawberry shake. I don't remember what John ordered, but I do remember that we sat and talked and talked. Our ice cream slowly melted and even after we had slurped up the ice cream juice, we still sat and talked. At one point after we had been sitting for an hour or two my legs started shaking because I realized I really, really liked this guy. He was so good looking; he had the blonde hair, the blue eyes, the height, the body, the athleticism, AND the personality. Conversation just flowed and while we didn't have a whole lot in common, our personalities just meshed so well. When it was finally time to call it a night I was sad to leave him, but I was so excited to go back and tell all the women in my Culinary program about John. In fact our love life became the hot topic for the rest of the year and they were all so excited to be invited to the wedding when we returned to school in the fall.

After our date on Friday I called and cancelled my blind date with guy #2 for Saturday. After two dates I knew I could stop looking for the time being. I had found my wonderful John and I had a good feeling we would have a future. I love you John and every single day I realize how lucky I am to have found someone who loves me as much as you do. Here's to another amazing ten years-I hope they don't pass as quickly as the first ten.

My Bread Maker

2012-01-24T11:17:00.000-07:00

For years and years I was a purist. I believed in making my bread the old fashioned way, either kneading it by hand or using the Kitchenaid John bought for my birthday when we were dating. Bread maker's were only for people who didn't know how to make bread and to be honest, I looked down on them.
Several years ago I began making my own honey whole wheat bread in order to feed my kid's healthy bread, and it was so delicious. In fact my boys don't remember me ever buying store bought on a regular basis. To them it is unnatural for people to buy bread. On more than one occasion recently I've overheard my boys asking women why they don't make their own bread.
I love making my own bread but the biggest problem I encountered was my oven heating up my house in the summer, so in the warmer months we frequently were without bread or I'd grab a loaf from the store to get us by until I made more. Well, I'd had enough of that so I swallowed my pride and decided to grab a cheap bread machine from the DI just to see if I even liked the idea of a bread machine. While I didn't care much for the used bread maker I bought- because the loaves were oddly shaped and the crust was thick and tough, I decided it was so nice to throw in the ingredients, push a button or two, and have a steaming loaf of bread in a few short hours. I did my research and found the cadillac of bread machines. The Zojirushi. It was pricey but I don't cut corners in my kitchen conveniences and knew it would be well worth the cost. I was so right! It not only makes regular bread shaped loaves, it has a homemade setting where I custom set it to preheat, mix, rise, mix, rise, beat down rise and bake to where I believe I have the perfect loaf. It took many tries to adapt a recipe to closely match my handmade bread, but after a lot of tweaking I finally came up with a recipe that was pretty close. I cannot adequately express how much I love my Zojirushi. It has saved me so much time making bread, it doesn't heat up my house when it's hot, and we never run out of bread. On the occasion we eat the last slice in the evening, I simply throw in the ingredient and set the time so we wake up to a steaming, wonderful smelling, loaf of bread. I truly believe there is nothing in the world better smelling than a fresh loaf of bread. Mmmmm. I'll put my own recipe at the bottom of post.

My Own Honey Whole Wheat
1 c. + roughly 3T warm water
just under 1/4 c. honey
2T. butter melted
1 heaping tsp. salt
1/4 c. ten-grain
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1 1/4 c. bread or all-purpose flour.
1-2 tsp. wheat gluten if using all-purpose
1 1/2 tsp yeast-whatever I happen to have on hand

Just Because...

2012-01-19T16:25:00.000-07:00

On Monday I was having one of those days. Absolutely nothing was going right and I was having a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day! So what does my wonderful husband do? That's right! He showed up after work with flowers and took us all out to dinner. It was the perfect cure for a lousy day.

Massive Fail!

2012-01-10T19:36:00.000-07:00

Well, I've already failed at the picture a day thing, but that's okay because it would've been a huge pain when I did my next blog book anyway.
Today Landon and I went shopping and I got a new cold weather running shirt and tights. I used to run in tights all the time BC-that's before children. I've never had the body for running tights and I absolutely do not have the body for them now, although my husband thinks I look hot. How priceless to be married to someone who thinks I'm hot, even when I have a few too many dimples and jiggle a little too much when I walk. I can hide the imperfections pretty well under clothes, but once I get into tights, phew, very little is left to the imagination, but these are by far the most comfortable tights I've ever owned. They're made by Nike and have a thin layer of fleece inside. My current favorite running shirt, which I've owned for I don't know how many years, has a layer of fleece inside and I am kept so warm even though the shirt is super thin. When you buy quality gear you just know it and I am so excited to get out tomorrow morning and test out my new shirt and tight! In fact I think I just may find myself hanging around the house in tights on a lazy Sunday. Hmmm, maybe that's taking it too far but wow, I've never owned anything so comfortable. What a boring post, but just wanted to let you all know not to hang around for the picture a day thing.

My dog can run!

2012-01-09T11:05:00.004-07:00

(insert picture of dog here...when I want to)
We have loved Sunny. She has been an exceptionally good dog, and was potty trained very quickly. Really, she has (for the most part) been a dream dog. She's accompanied us on countless camping and hiking trips and never runs away. When the boys wander in the trees around our camp she stays right with them, never leaving their side unless we call her. She stays in the yard and has no interest in escaping. We've just enjoyed having her and knew a lab would fit into our active lifestyle better than any other dog. We were correct.
So I like to run. I like to run outside. My treadmill is not a close second and does not keep me in shape for road running. Two years ago we bought our beautiful yellow lab and named her Sunny. I was so excited to run with her, but alas you cannot do distance with dogs until they are a minimum of two years old...bummer since she was only 8 weeks when we got her. Well lately I've been sick of the treadmill and sick with a chest cold. I strictly follow the rule of "if it's below the neck don't run." One time years ago I ran on Christmas Eve with a cold and I got a nasty case of bronchitis. Lesson learned. Well my cold finally cleared up enough to run but I wanted to run outside and I have no one (unless I want to hop in my car and drive to meet people) to run with at five am. John doesn't like me running alone in the dark so finally the lightbulb went on in my brain. SUNNY!!!! She's 25.5 months old now so it is on! I put on a running belt, attached her leash with a carabiner and we were out the door about 5:05 am. I love running alone in the dark. No traffic and no one to bother me. I felt completely safe with Sunny. At first I worried that starting her with 3.5 miles might be a bit much but I wanted to give it a try. I figured about half way through she'd be dragging behind me. HA! I couldn't have been more wrong. My wonderful dog kept her brisk pace for the entire run! In fact she even pulled me just a bit going uphill which was nice. My pace has definitely slowed and I just know I'll get faster if I run with her in the mornings. There is no way I can express my excitement for having my new running partner. She even became cautious when we ran past a man in dark clothes, walking kind of creepy. Although I'm sure he was harmless, Sunny was ready to pounce at the slightest indication from me. What a great morning. Now that I know I like running with her "hands free" I need to invest in a hands free leash.

Random things about the boys

2012-01-07T22:16:00.000-07:00

Have I ever mentioned that Landon learned to whistle when he was 4? He wanted to whistle so badly. For weeks he practiced and practiced until it finally came and he has been whistling ever since. Before this Carson had wanted to whistle but he doesn't have the sticktoitiveness of Landon and didn't really work hard at it until he realized his little brother could do something he couldn't. So a few weeks after Landon-Carson finally learned how to whistle. Now I randomly hear whistling during all hours of the day. I love it.
Carson is doing very well with reading and spelling. He's currently reading on a 4th grade level-although his comprehension isn't up there so his teacher makes his stick to book lower than 4th grade. His spelling is fantastic. It's rare that he doesn't get 100% on his spelling tests, and really the day he brings his list home he already knows how to spell the words so all we do is a quick review most afternoons. Math he has struggled with, but I think it's because they've been doing story problems and his mind just doesn't think like that, but neither does mine. I struggled with story problems through high school so it's doesn't surprise me. What did surprise me was that he brought home double digit subtraction last week where he had to borrow and he caught on so quickly. Makes me breathe a little easier. He still sweet and cute, but he's learned a lot from school to where we've had plenty of talks on what is and is not appropriate. He's such a good kid and genuinely wants to make people happy, almost to a fault. I love having him around and talking with him about who has a crush on who and who said what bad things at school. He's so into the social scene.
Landon loves preschool, especially teacher Lexi. I love Landon's personality, but it seems that people either adore him or they get annoyed by him and teacher Lexi loves him. At first I was hesitant about sending him to a pre-school run by high school kids, because heck, I took that class 14 years ago and we weren't super organized, but he has a great time! He's so bright and independent, he loves to be a goof, he reminds me so much of me, and he just does his own thing and marches to the beat of his own drum. Landon is unbelievably social and doesn't hesitate to talk to anyone about anything. Really, his talking is nonstop and while sometimes I tell him he needs to stop for awhile, I just adore him. He seems to have a math brain because he is catching on so quickly I'm shocked, but only time will tell. Reading he's doing pretty well, but I sure don't work with him as much as Carson. Before Christmas break he would read me book after book and was doing very well, but we haven't done anything since. I think we'll jump back on board Monday. He is ready for preschool, but I imagine he teacher will have a tough time getting him to sit quietly.
One thing we've noticed over the past couple years is that our boys do not like change of any sort. They don't like new cars, they don't like new furniture, they just don't like things to change. My dad put in new counter tops for us last week and the boys are not thrilled about it. Landon especially wants our old counters back. It's not a big deal, and he only mentioned he wishes we didn't have new counters when I asked him if he likes the new ones, but they both really like things to stay the same. I asked Landon if he wanted to move to a bigger house with a pool just to see what he'd say, and he was very clear he wants to stay in our house but when he's a grown up he'll build me a pool with a waterfall.
I think they get this from me. While I like to change up the furniture and paint in our house, I really like things to stay familiar. I like my neighbors to stay the same, I like my house to stay the same, I just like predictability. Sounds a little boring, but we enjoy life plenty without dramatic changes.
Our next big step is to have the talk with Carson. He's been asking a lot of question lately so we're going to sit him down and have a big Q&A session led by him. We'll answer his questions but won't give him more than he needs to know at this point. Open communication is the ticket. The boys come to me about everything-even things I think they'd be embarrassed about, and I really want them to always come to me. HA! We'll see how comfortable they feel talking to me when they're 16 and dating. Oh, heaven help us...

Perfect Saturday morning.

2012-01-07T10:11:00.000-07:00

How is this for a peaceful Saturday morning? John slept in while I had hot bread ready at 9:05 courtesy of my wonderful/fabulous/priceless Zojirushi! In fact I should do a post on just how much I love it. I fed the kids hot bread with butter and honey then sent them upstairs so I could relax and wipe up. I went upstairs to find my kids doing the thing that makes me most happy....sitting in their bedroom, surrounded by superhero books and reading. They continued this for a good 45 minutes. Great start to the day!

Nice and calm.

2012-01-05T20:51:00.000-07:00

John was working tonight and after spending the entire day cleaning the house from top to bottom, getting rid of all the construction dust, I wanted to relax with the boys. We pulled out the Udraw for wii they got for Christmas and we spent the evening drawing. Surprisingly it kept the boys very entertained and they were disappointed when I shut it off. Oh, the nice, dark quiet evenings of winter.

Plumber minus the crack.

2012-01-04T17:58:00.000-07:00

Plumbing is the bane of John's existence. For the third evening in a row he is working on plumbing under the sink....problem is there's a slooooow leak he can't quite get rid of. As soon as he stepped away Landon crawled in looking for a leak. What would it be like to hire guys to do it for us???

Out with the old in with the new...

2012-01-03T13:56:00.000-07:00

Finally my new concrete counter tops have been installed. Oh happy day! The highlight of my day? The sink and faucet I purchased 1.5 years ago. Next...paint and tile.

New Idea...

2012-01-03T13:53:00.003-07:00

Since today is only the 3rd of January I thought it might be fun to try and document my year by at least one photo each day. Will I do it? I don't know, but it'd be fun if I did.

New Year's Eve

2012-01-01T15:49:00.000-07:00

I didn't pull out the camera but we had an uneventful but enjoyable night. My parent's came over and we made our usual pizza, except this year John didn't feel like grilling it and convinced me to cook it in the oven. I used my barely touched pizza stone I got for a bridal shower, and this pizza was by far the best pizza I've made yet!
We had plenty of treats and watched Captain America, then at ten o'clock yelled "Happy New Year!" and turned on the midnight celebration in NYC...the boys didn't know any better, and truly believed it was "tomorrow." John then put them to bed while my dad took off to Beat the New Year and I turned on a couple of DVR'd sitcoms to pass a little time. My mom took off just after eleven and John and I waited out the New Year, watching Jaws for the upteenth time.
I'm not a big New Year's fan and always feel a little melancholy kissing the old year goodbye. 2011 had it's good and bad, but overall it was a great year. We're still thankful John is employed, I'm still able to stay home with my boys, and we are all healthy and happy. I just feel a little sad knowing another year has passed and my boys are a year older. In a few years they'll be out celebrating with their friends and won't give much thought to what mom and dad are doing at home alone. We are at a point in our lives that I am thoroughly enjoying. The boys are old enough to think for themselves and be fairly independent, but not old enough that I'm the bad guy. They still love hugs and bedtime stories, and they love to be with mom and dad. They don't yet realize how uncool we really are. Oh how I dread the teenage years. At this point the boys and spending as much time as possible with them is #1 priority. Not money, or success-we can work on those once the boys are grown, but for now we just enjoying being together. When they're grown they aren't going say "Boy, I'm so glad dad worked all the time so we had money." Nope. They will remember the time we spent at the park, throwing the football in the front yard, and going on our little weekend vacations. Hopefully one day they will realize they were our first priority and we did the very best we could for them.

Open blog

2011-12-31T12:02:00.002-07:00

I've decided to open my blog back up. I was hoping to shake off some of the anonymous readers I get so we'll see how it goes. If I get too much traffic coming in I'll turn it back to private. That's not a threat, but our privacy and the safety of my family come first. Hey, at least you don't have to sign into your account to have access right?

Lucky girl

2011-12-31T11:54:00.000-07:00

While 2011 didn't have the end result I was hoping for, all in all it was a good year. We took the boys to Disneyland, Zion's, St. George, and a multitude of camping trips. I do have some hopes for 2012 but I don't do resolutions, no need to disappoint myself if I don't follow through.
John and I are still so happy and we understand how fortunate we are to have a home and two healthy boys. We also realize how lucky we are to be married to someone, that we not only love, but actually like. It sounds cliched, but we really are best friends and love spending time together. How lucky are we to have found someone we each haven't gotten tired of after ten years? Sure, we go through ups and downs. Sometimes we annoy each other to no end, but for the most part we love being married. We're so different but we compliment each other so well. I never imagined being so happy spending day after day with the same person...I couldn't ask for more.
The boys are doing great. They get along better than I could have dreamed, although they do have arguments more often than they used to. They are both doing well in school and love the social aspect more than anything. I am so thankful for them, they are my greatest joy (and greatest challenge for that matter) and I could not imagine life without them. When they sleep at grandma's I miss them and cannot wait to pick them up in the morning. They are funny, sassy, smart, and bring so much life into our house. I love you boys!
Here's to hoping for a fabulous 2012!!!

Christmas Day

2011-12-31T10:46:00.001-07:00

Hard to believe another Christmas has come and gone. Thankfully it was another great Christmas for all of us. It was a bit different than any other Christmas because this is the first year the boys have woken before us. I was so tired when I heard the boys talking in their beds and I was just praying they'd go back to sleep. I do have to admit that it was fun laying in bed hearing the boys talking about getting up because Santa had come. They got out of bed and ran downstairs and it was heartbreaking when Landon said "Oh, I only got one present." Ouch. They did get fewer presents this year. Together they got a Wii, then Carson got Star Wars Lego for Wii, and Lego set. Landon got a Zsu Zsu game for Wii and a Lego set. That's it. We decided that the boys do not need a mountain of presents. They have plenty of toys and Santa would rather do quality than quantity. Besides, every year they get so many toys I have to find homes for, and it was refreshing to give them only a Lego set they will actually play with.
Anyway to get back to the morning. We got out of bed and headed downstairs. Typically I like to get pictures of them coming down, but since they beat us to it this year it didn't happen. I turned on the video camera, looked at the clock and saw it was only 4:45!!! Ugh, too early! We've been spoiled with our kids letting us sleep in every Christmas. In fact, we usually have to wake them up to open presents. Although the boys didn't get tons of presents they were thrilled with the wii and couldn't wait to play. John got: Pants, new shirts (we always shop together at Nordstrom Rack for new clothes), wallet, yummy cologne from Macy's...I've been trying to find a scent that seemed like him for over a year and finally found one I love. Pricey, but worth it-I love my husband to smell nice when we go out! The boys also got him a new Chiefs hat.
I got: New pants, sweater, two pairs of shoes which John picked out on his own and I LOVE!, purse I picked out at Macy's on black Friday, reading light for my Kindle, mini leatherman for my purse and a mini LED light for my purse (things I hinted at from Brookstone so I'm glad he listened.) It was a little sad we had twice as many presents as the boys, but John and I don't shop much for ourselves during the year so we make it up on Christmas.
This year Christmas was on Sunday and we were too exhausted for church so John set up the wii and they all played for a few hours while I dozed on the couch. Finally we got up and made it to my mom's for breakfast. We had the usual breakfast casserole and opened presents. My parent's were very generous like they are every year and I got a new set of stainless steal pans. I passed my old wedding set down to Preston and he was happy with his nice "new" pans and I now have beautiful, shiny new ones.
I do have to say that the hi-lite of my day was when Carson fell asleep on my lap while watching a movie. It was just like holding my sweet baby again. It was probably about the last time I'll ever have him sleep in my arms and I fully enjoyed it. Oh, and Carson passing out his presents to everyone was awesome...wonderful how excited Carson was. What a great Christmas!!!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-31T10:17:00.000-07:00

As usual we spent Christmas Eve with my family at my mom's house.

Landon pigging out on the chocolate/caramel marshmallows. Hideous pictures, but wow, did he have his mouth stuffed full!

The boys both got Transformer's from grandma Betty.

Carson decided he wanted to sing a song for everyone (shocked me.) He stood up and sang his school song. It was about the cutest thing ever, and so out of character for Carson. He actually is a good singer and can hold a tune pretty well. John and I were so proud of him!

Krumkakes with a sugar cookie for John's sister thrown in. FYI: Santa ate the Krunkakes and a bite of the sugar cookie. When the boys woke up they said "Ope, guess Santa didn't like the sugar cookie."

John reading the Night Before Christmas. This year John's mom made the boys jammer pants so we didn't give them their matching Christmas Eve jammers. I regret it. From here on out they will always get new Christmas eve jammers.

The boys note to Santa. Notice the reindeer pulling the sleigh. I LOVE IT!

Christmas Lights

2011-12-31T09:55:00.000-07:00

On the 21st we took the train uptown to see the lights. We met my family at Blue Iguana for dinner. This is the first year since we've been married that we opted out of Gandolfo's for another place. Kinda sad, but the food was so delicious. We walked around temple square, then chose to walk to Gateway to look around a bit. Before heading home we were all perfectly cold so we bought hot chocolate from Rocky Mountain Chocolate and drank it by one of the heat-less fires they had burning outside the shops. While looking at lights a light snow was falling which made the evening almost perfect. The only thing that would have made it better would have been snow on the ground. What a dry Christmas season this was, but fun nonetheless.

Random Christmas Pics

2011-12-31T09:27:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to post a couple pictures of things the boys made at school. The first is the gift bag Carson colored which held the ornament he made for me. Ornaments from the boys are my most favorite of all!
The next two pictures are from Landon's projects. He made this gift bag in preschool, and the ornament he brought home made my day! It's the first ornament with his picture on it he's made for me. It's made of paper so I have to pack it up extra carefully because if anything happened to it I'd be crushed.
Forget those boring trees with with coordinated colors and decorations. I love my mismatched tree with all sorts of ornaments-store bought and homemade. The more memories on my tree the better!
The last picture is a letter Carson received from an elf at the North Pole. In school they wrote letter's to Santa, but he was too busy to reply so an elf named Bouncy wrote him back. Carson was so excited to get this letter and just knew it came from a real elf. Seeing his innocent side around Christmas was so much fun. I understand I don't have too much of those Christmas' left where he just believes without question. We fully enjoyed our boys and their belief in Santa this year.

Christmas Eve Day

2011-12-24T12:42:00.001-07:00

I'm exhausted. We're all exhausted. Last night I woke up at some ungodly hour to hear Carson lying in bed saying "Ow ow ow owie, ow ow ow..." I called out and asked what was wrong. He told me his throat hurt. In my exhausted state I groaned, told him there wasn't much I could do and that I'd give him hot orange juice in the morning. Well, I dozed back off but again heard Carson saying his owie chant. When I asked if he was okay he climbed out of bed and started crying. He walked into my room and said his throat really hurt. I tried the easy fix and told him to get his pillow and blanket to sleep on my floor. Didn't work. Awhile later he woke me again saying his ear and head hurt. I pushed John out of bed and told him to get the Tylenol and told Carson I'd take him to the doctor in the morning. After dozing off again Carson informs me he doesn't want to wait and wants to go now. I convinced him to wait until morning and I fell back asleep. Not too much later Landon comes in crying because he had a nightmare. I asked him what it was about but he didn't want to talk about it. Sooo, I had him get his blanket and pillow and sleep on the other side of the floor. I once again fell back asleep. Bright and early Carson is standing next to me, poking my side to inform me he wants to go to the doctor now because he didn't sleep all night. I sent him to watch cartoons while I finished waking up. I finally pulled myself out of bed, grabbed one of John's sweatshirts, my jeans with holes and brushed my teeth. We got to Instacare before they opened...luckily I thought they opened at 8 rather than nine because if we hadn't arrived until nine we would have had the longest wait. I would rather wait out in the fresh cold air for them to open than wait in a waiting room full of sick people. The number of people filing into the waiting room was insane. Really, it was NUTS! They only had one doctor on staff because they were expecting a slow day. Ha! I've never seen so many people at Instacare We were seen quickly and Carson has a raging ear infection, a headache from the congestion and a wheezing chest. It was all fixed with one stop to the pharmacy. Amoxicillin for the infection, Tylenol for the headache, and an expectorant for his congestion. After drugging him up real well he's doing great and I'm about to put both boys down for a pre-party nap.
Last night Carson decided he wanted to take his own money to buy presents for everyone...even extended family. John took him out and let Carson pick out whatever he thought the perfect gift was. Some of them make me chuckle, but Carson is more excited to give his gifts than I've ever seen him. He is really being so cute. Landon bought John two candy bars and Carson a pack of 3x5 cards with his own money, but wasn't really into it so we didn't force the issue. I just hope he doesn't feel bad on Christmas when he doesn't have a present to give me.
Here is what Carson bought:
Grandma and Grandpa: Palmolive dishsoap
Tyson and Mavell: rated R movie from the dollar store, Silver City I think it's called.
Preston: Chocolate Santas
Gina: A candle
Rhett: Licorice
Coen: a velvet coloring picture
Landon: matchbox cars
John: microwave popcorn
Me: I *think* shampoo
Grandma Betty: 30 cents in change and a candy cane.

Carson put so much thought into his gifts and he is sure he bought everyone the perfect present. Whatever he gives me will be my favorite just because there is so much heart that comes with it. Can't they stay young and sweet forever? Their excitement is what I'll miss about the holidays when they're older.

Christmas Party

2011-12-23T14:04:00.000-07:00

On the 17th we celebrated Christmas with John's family. The church we typically hold it in turned out to be triple booked. Irritating, but we did find a church which was open for the even so we relocated our party. The food was so good and tasty. Rather than sit around all evening I headed into the gym and played basketball and had a great time. The kids all ran around being wild and stuffing their faces with dessert. We draw family's and spend $50 on them. This year Barbara had us so I told her to spoil the boys. She bought Carson a Wii game and gave Landon a Toy Story Mini Lego set. The boys couldn't have been happier with their gifts!
The kids played the pipes and acted out the nativity while John read the story. It was our typical Christmas party. I used to think John's family gatherings couldn't get any crazier but every year we grow by at least a couple people and now they are just nuts! It's great for the boys because they have so many other kids to play with. Good times.

Carson's 8th Birthday

2011-12-23T12:39:00.002-07:00

For his 8th birthday I gave Carson the choice of going to the "fun place" of his choosing or having a friend party. I was hoping he'd opt to go someplace fun as a family because I just didn't like the thought of entertaining a house full of eight years old boys for a couple hours. Lucky for me he chose to go out to eat and then to Boondock's for the evening.
Before leaving we let him open his present...more Lego's of course. Then he chose Panda Express as his restaurant of choice. Hey, at least it's cheap. Then we went a spent a small fortune for unlimited passes at Boondock's. We didn't do the boats, mini-golf, or go-karts because it was freezing. But we did do plenty of video games, ride simulators and Laser tag. I just knew Carson would love Laser tag and I was right. He was so much fun. The boys are at such a fun age where we can really talk with them and play with them.
Carson and I went on a simulator that mimicked a roller coaster with plenty of loops. Half way through I was feeling awful. We went upside down and around and in every direction. Carson loved it but I was so glad when it ended. It was a fun night and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We finally drug the boys home after nine and ate ice cream cones before sending them to bed.
It's hard to believe my first-born is eight years old. It been a fantastic eight years. Happy Birthday Carson!

Carson's 8th un-Birthday

2011-12-23T12:11:00.000-07:00

Landon and Carson have taken to celebrating a birthday on any day other than the actual birthday a pretend birthday. So we had Carson's pretend birthday on Sunday Dec. 11th. Carson was so excited for his party. We made peppermint cupcakes dipped or drizzled with chocolate...SOOOO yummy! We fixed Mondues which are super messy but so wonderful. When it was time for presents Carson could not contain his excitement. He was excited for uncle Tyson's present because he just knew it would be something cool...it was socks. I knew that Carson so so disappointed but he played it off so well. He said they were the best socks ever, he could use them for a pillow, blah blah blah. He was trying to convince everyone how excited he was for new socks. As his mom I just knew he was crushed, but I was so proud of how he acted. Every once in awhile you have a moment where you think 'Okay, I'm not doing too bad at this mom thing.' This was one of those moments when everything I've taught him came out and I just wanted to squeeze him so tight. Of course, I also knew Tyson was joking and a moment later Mavelle appeared with his real present-Ninjago Lego's. Carson was thrilled! He earned it. He also got $10 from Grandma Betty, Star Wars Legos from Grandma and Grandpa, and Alien Conquest Lego's from aunt Gina. Is it super obvious what Carson is into these days? All in all it was a fun little party.

Award Nov 16.

2011-12-23T11:46:00.000-07:00

So this is a post I completely forgot about. Carson received an award at school for turning in 100% of his homework. I am very proud of Carson for doing his homework everyday. Sometimes he'll work on homework for two hours straight without complaining. He just understand it's something he has to do. Otherwise I kind of rolled my eyes at this awards assembly. I guess if he had received the award for some great academic achievement I'd have been a little happier, but as it stands, at this age the kids do their homework because it's something their parent's make them do. And the few kids in Carson's class who didn't get the award? Well, it didn't surprise me in the least because the way the kids act reflect what they're taught at home and sad as it is, these kids will probably grow up to be loser's just like their parents. So sad. Way to Carson, I am proud!

Horse Riding

2011-12-19T14:13:00.002-07:00

A few weeks ago John's friend and co-worker offered to let us bring the boys out to ride his horses. The boys have mentioned they would like to take riding lessons and I wanted them to at least sit a horse to see if they were scared or not. Keri rode around with the boys and let John and I ride alone. I'm not a horse fan. Don't trust 'em , don't care for 'em. On the other hand, the boys loved them. Landon especially loved riding and feeding them hay. In fact, Landon was a little too comfortable around horses. I haven't decided whether or not to find riding lessons, mainly because they are not cheap and I still need to pay for occasional sports and piano. Hmm. Maybe time I look for a job? Nah.
After riding horses Keri's wife made the boys hot chocolate. It wasn't too cold indoors away from the breeze, but once you stepped outside it was terribly cold! Utah just isn't he place for outdoor riding in the winter.

So Ridiculous

2011-12-08T19:45:00.000-07:00

Today I was talking with John and told him that if I was a man...I. Would. Be. Gay. Seriously. I don't know what it is about women but I just can't stand 'em. Individually women are fine, but really as a whole we are just ridiculous.
Now, let me tell you what fueled this post and let me say that as I type I laugh because it is just that silly!
The second graders were going caroling so I volunteered to walk with them and help clean up after hot chocolate and cookies. Simple right? Yes. It was adorable and I enjoyed watching Carson and Landon sit across from each other in the lunch room dipping their cookies in the hot chocolate. Anyway, after the kids were done and back in class, the volunteer mom's had to clean up in the lunchroom since the janitor had already scrubbed it down after lunches were finished. I grabbed a rag and was wiping the mess. Naturally, my rag became dirty so I walked back over to the bucket to rinse it. Another mom walked up and grabbed the bucket from in front of me. I said "Let me just dip this rag really quick..." She ignored me and kept walking with the bucket like I didn't exist. So I reached over and dipped it as she walked-still not acknowledging me in the slightest. I just did my thing, wiping the tables while Landon folded the benches so I could fold the tables and put them against the wall. Well, he accidentally folded a bench that shook the water bucket off...so a few inches of water splashed onto the floor. Most of the mom's laughed and understood that he was just helping. Not the beast of a mom. She didn't say a word and wouldn't even look at me. After I put the last table away I turned and saw two other mom's (including beastly mom) mopping up the water (we had to mop the floor anyway because of all the chocolate that was spilled) I offered to take a mop, but once again, as far as this woman was concerned...I just didn't exist. It's that simple. At least the other mom was polite enough to decline my offer. I put my rag away, grabbed our stuff and left.
I literally laugh about this experience because WHO DOES THIS? Who ignores another person they don't even know? I know, I know...a strange, hormonal woman. I just figure she must have a miserable life and wants to take it out on someone else. Go figure. Add to that all the great fun I have with eight sister's in law and I have more women in my life than I care for. (DON'T SAY ANYTHING IF YOU KNOW THEM!!!) Makes me extremely happy to have two BOYS!

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-29T14:45:00.000-07:00

I am so thankful for my boys...all three of them. They are sweet, funny, loud, and at times annoying-I love everything about them!
John spent the morning playing football while I readied myself and the boys. We did dinner at both our families this year (as always.) You can never have too much pumpkin pie!

First Snow Day

2011-11-29T14:40:00.000-07:00

We had our first real snow of the year November 5th. The boys had outgrown all their snow gear so we headed out and bought new boots, gloves, and snow pants. It was a nice chunk of change but well worth it when we looked out the window and saw the boys building a little snowman together and throwing snowballs. John suited up and joined them for awhile. I, on the other hand, stayed inside where it was warm.

Halloween

2011-11-01T17:37:00.000-06:00

We began our day with Carson's Halloween parade. When Carson came around he was wearing his coat???!!! I had John chase him down and take it off. Later I asked why he was wearing his coat and he simply said he'd forgotten to take it off. Such a boy. Afterward I helped with his class party while John took Landon to preschool. I'm disappointed I don't have any pictures of Landon from preschool but I had committed to help with Carson's party before I knew Landon would be parading around the high school, trick or treating at the classroom doors. He had fun nonetheless and I'm excited to see him in the parade next year.
Anyway Carson's class party was super fun. They decorated cookies, made necklaces, played bingo, pin the nose on the pumpkin, and scary stories. To end it all they played a massive game of musical chairs. Carson was one of the last ones standing and it was so much fun to see him dancing around the chairs.
In the evening Mavelle brought baby Marsha over to trick or treat with us. I did a few homes with everyone then went back home to pass out candy. Later they came home and Carson and I headed back out for more loot. They both ended up with tons of candy!! Successful night!

Pumpkin Carving on Landon's Birthday

2011-11-01T17:10:00.001-06:00

Carving pumpkins this year was interesting to say the least. Actually we only bought one pumpkin because John hates carving pumpkins and I really didn't want to do two pumpkins. Anyway Landon opted to carve sans clothes and ended up HATING the guts. I shouldn't have teased him so much on his birthday but I thought it was so funny he was making such a stink about touching the guts.
After pumpkin carving we took Landon to the restaurant of his choice which just happened to be Burger King. John dropped us at Burger King so I could get the boys situated with their burger's, while he ran down to Chipotle to grab us a couple Fajita Burrito's. Being Sunday we were the only people in Burger King so the entire time the boy's had the playground to themselves. The perfect birthday for Landon!

Landon was SO MAD when I tried to make him reach into the pumpkin...this is not like Landon at all. He's been acting strange lately so I'm hoping it was just the excitement of his birthday and Halloween.

We FINALLY got him to scoop some out with a spoon.

Mom-hard at work. Isn't this supposed to be dad's job?!

This was a truly repulsed reaction to the guts. I couldn't believe he was acting this way.

Carson didn't have a problem with it.

John calls this the "look of death" Apparently I do it all the time when I'm upset.

Landon chose to hang out in the playroom with his trains.

If anyone could see the full body shiver he did after putting this down they would be in hysterics. It took so much coercing to get him to touch the guts.

Carson always has to one up his brother and put the guts in his mouth.

I was the ONLY one who wanted to pose with our pumpkin.

Halloween Party

2011-11-01T16:38:00.000-06:00

Yep, we had it again. John's annual family Halloween party. We ate Sloppy Joes (as usual), took pictures, trick or treated at various doors, and played games. Like always the kids had a great time. John went as a Puerto Rican Police Officer, I was the convict, Carson was the Grim Reaper (I made his costume BTW-WITHOUT a pattern) and Landon decided to use a costume we had and go as Iron Man.

Landon's 5th Birthday

2011-11-01T15:55:00.000-06:00

We celebrated Landon's birthday on Saturday the 29th. He invited quite the group and only two kids couldn't make it. We began the party by playing with balloons. I may only have two kids but I've thrown enough birthdays to know that having the kids throw balloons around is the best way to start a party. Once all the kids had arrived we played the classic favorite; duck duck goose. After duck duck goose, I took the kids to the backyard to play some games while John ran out and grabbed a couple pizzas. While they ate John entertained them with a magic trick. I wondered if the kids were too young for it, but nope it was a HUGE HIT! I don't even know how many times John did the trick for them and they never could figure it out. We ate cupcakes then headed out for the pinata...full of candy. Just what the kids need right before Halloween. I just prefer my kids to bring home candy than a bag full of junky little toys I eventually step on before they are thrown away. After the pinata we came in, opened presents then tossed around balloons while we waited for the parent's to come. Overall it was a successful party and 1 1/2 hours is PLENTY for a house full of 5 year olds. Can't believe my youngest is 5. *sniff* Happy Birthday Landon! I'm so glad you were born!

John and the kids talked to Dino while we ate. He was so great at entertaining the kids and keeping them laughing.

Trick or Treat at work

2011-11-01T14:39:00.000-06:00

Every year John's employer puts on a big Halloween/ Trick or Treat hoopla at work and the boys look forward to it every single year. This year for various reasons John's sister wasn't taking her girl's and of course they found out about the T or T from my boys so naturally I had to bring them along. They were all really good and well-behaved so it wasn't a problem...just very strange doubling the number of kids walking with me.

Fishing for prizes. Afterward Landon tried his hardest to get under the partition.

This picture doesn't capture it but Carson looked like a creepy little creature hunched over his pumpkin.

I LOVE Landon trying to stick his tongue out of his mask!

Landon's "Pretend" Birthday Party

2011-10-25T09:25:00.002-06:00

On Sunday we celebrated Landon and Ty's birthdays. My mom and dad are going to be in Washington DC on Landon's birthday so we just opted to do it a week early, which actually is good since we have so much candy and junk coming our way next weekend.
Landon is such a little stinker because as soon as he could do it, he would secretly open his presents when no one was looking, then he'd bring it out and show us what he got. The only present he didn't open ahead of time was Ty's, and that's because he kept it in the car. Landon got two big sets of small Lego's...I remember when he was 8 or 9 months and he would constantly crawl into Carson's room to play with his big Lego's. Can't believe he's ready for the little Lego's now. He also got one of those annoying Nerf dart guns. I only say annoying because it is so annoying trying to keep track of those lousy dart's. He's already lost a couple, but I figure I'll find them when I clean. Although, he found one in the freezer this morning...I don't clean out my freezer often so I think it would've been there for awhile.
We lit a fire in the backyard and roasted hot dogs. Let me tell you it was the perfect evening for a wienie roast. Landon and I made Candy Corn Cupcakes Sunday morning. We looked at hundreds of pictures of cupcakes and these are the ones he just HAD to have. They turned out pretty good, but if I were to do them again I'd slow down on the decorating since some of them are a bit lopsided. Tyson brought Play Dough Ice Cream and the kid's thought it was the best. They actually asked if it was real ice cream.
Most of us also dressed in costumes. Overall it was a fun little party.

Leave me alone!

2011-10-20T15:23:00.000-06:00

It's no secret that I am not a big people person. Once in awhile I like to get together with friends or other adults, but for the most part I like people to stay out of my way and out of my business. Believe or not i prefer to keep to myself and hang out with my little family. You know what really bugs me? Unsolicited advice. If I don't ask for your advice I obviously don't want it. If I wanted it, I would ask. I don't care if you think John and I should be doing this or that, it is not your place to say so bite your tongue and leave us alone. Ugh! Okay, I'm talking about John's dad. He became branch president and suddenly he feels the need to advise us our how we could improve our lives. NO, in YOUR eyes that's how we can improve. In MY eyes I think we're doing a pretty great job of living our own lives. Bite me!
I also cannot stand obnoxious, loud-mouthed people. Over a year ago we met the grown daughter of some of our neighbor's at a campout. Immediately she bugged me. She just didn't ever shut up. Sometimes I would look at her and think "you are unbelievable." Some people just don't realize that not everyone cares about everything that's on their mind.
Anyway, she bugged me, end of story...or so I thought. Turns out we have mutual friends...or had mutual friends, because these particular friends cannot handle her for more than five minutes anymore. Anyway so recently loud-mouthed woman got together with our mutual friends for a moment and made this stranger than hell comment. "So are you good friends with John and Anna?" Yeah. "Oh. Well, nevermind." Which she apparently said with serious attitude.
Now what does that mean? I AM THE ONE WHO DOESN'T LIKE YOU (or your annoying children.) What in world could you have against me since I couldn't tolerate you enough to even talk to you??? Thinking about it I probably came off as a snob like I typically do. Funny, because that couldn't be further from the truth. I keep to myself and don't do a lot of small talk, but unless you are overly loud and obnoxious I'm a fairly non-judgmental, accepting person. Oh well, I just thought it was funny because apparently neither of us cared for the other. Or maybe she didn't like a comment I made about something. Sometimes people seem so down to earth but as soon as I make an off the wall comment they view me in a different light. I'm not a prude. I'm not embarrassed to talk about so many topics that are taboo to so many in this strange state. (although I love it) Oh well, just another reason I don't have many women friends I guess. BUT I do have to add that the friends I do have are pretty stinkin' great and down to earth...just like I like my friends to be.

Last Camping Trip of the Year.

2011-10-19T09:42:00.002-06:00

Our last camping trip of the year was great, but was not what we were hoping. Originally we had planned for a big group with lots of fall colors....but then it snowed so we scratched that plan since we didn't know what to expect. Katie did email us and ask if they could come along on the trip, but on the drive up I could see the uncertainty on her face. The drive was a little freaky. The snow turned the roads to mush and a couple times I thought our trailer was going off the side of the cliff. Thankfully our beast of a truck didn't get us stuck, but it was still a bit scary. Our big challenge was finding a somewhat dry spot...which we FINALLY did. We were the highest campers on the mountain by far.
We parked next to an old sheep coral, which the boys thought was awesome. They spent hours climbing and playing-to them it was like a big maze. There was even a dead rotting sheep left behind...ewe. There was a lot of snow so we had a few small snowfights, but overall it wasn't terribly cold and we enjoyed ourselves. We would be going back out this coming weekend but we have a crazy busy weekend ahead.

John and the boys piled on to take a (slow) ride through the coral.

They went through the loading chute and they just couldn't fit all the way through.

Our spot high on the mountain.

The stream was frozen over so we spent a lot of time breaking the top layer of ice...sounded like breaking glass.

Carson hiked up his pants to walk through the water.

Landon just walked right through-hence, the wet clothes.

Nothing like a cold IBC in a bottle. Why is it so much fun to drink out of a bottle?

The boys clean and ready for bed. They were freezing so I let them huddle around the heater for awhile.

It doesn't get any better than drinking hot chocolate on a cold morning.

John spent so much time keeping a fire burning.

Landon hauled this log in to make a "No whistling tree house" with Katie. FYI: Landon learned to whistle a few weeks ago so he is constantly walking around whistling.

The many face of Landon.

Katie was teaching Carson how to ski...too bad I'm too cheap for us all to take up skiing.

Sunday on the way home we stopped at Dick's for burger's and shakes. SOOO yummy!

Swimming in the tub

2011-10-19T08:44:00.000-06:00

Our house has been stress central lately. John took me to Park City for our anniversay and it was fabulous to get away and be together. We contemplated taking the boys, but are so glad we didn't since the hotel pool was closed. We walked the factory stores-even though we didn't feel like shopping, walked Main Street, ate at Blue Iguana, then finished off the evening with a heath bar caramel apple from Rocky Mountain Chocolates. It was so great just to relax together, but as soon as we got home the stress hit me again. (Let me clear up that it is not relationship stress or job stress, just so you're not all getting all these horrible thoughts in your head!) Anyway so Thursday afternoon I just decided to check out for awhile. I filled up the bath, grabbed my Kindle and sat in my blissfully quiet house to read. Landon played in the playroom but eventually decided he wanted to swim in the bath...so I hopped out and filled it with fresh water. Landon pulled on his swimsuit, picked out a few toys and went to town. He was in there for quite awhile and had so much fun.

Grand Daddy Basin

2011-10-11T12:13:00.001-06:00

September 23-25 John, my dad and Preston went on a backpacking trip to the Grand Daddy Basin. Three or four years ago for his birthday I bought John just about everything he'd need for a backpacking trip they were planning over Labor Day. Problem is, Labor Day weekend is when John's family does their annual camp out and he was guilted like no tomorrow for not going...so he went. Since his original trip was canceled he has been dying to go. Finally they just picked a weekend and decided to let nothing stand in their way.
John said it was the greatest backpacking trip he's ever done. He wants to bring me and the boys but I feel like they're just a bit too young. I don't know though, because they're great hiker's. Maybe in a couple years. When they arrived at their camping site John's feet were killing him. He took off his boots to see that his heels were shredded! He was in so much pain that he knew he could not hike back down the mountain. So what'd they do? They only thing they could do. My dad pulled out his Leatherman and he proceeded to cut the entire back of his boots off. While it looks pretty uncomfortable John said it was awesome. Nothing to rub his raw feet and he made it down the mountain on Sunday.
John spent the entire weekend fishing with not a soul to disturb him. In John's mind I think there's not much that can beat undisturbed fishing time. Now that he's married with kids he just doesn't get in the amount of fishing he'd like. He hates to eat fish, but said they cooked some up for dinner and it was the best tasting fish he's ever had.
While he was gone I took the boys to Chuck a Rama one night, McDonald's the next and we watched a movie with junk food. It was a good weekend for everyone.

On their way up they ran into a herd of sheep crossing the road, along with a dog fight. Literally all the sheep dog teamed up against one dog and were trying to tear him apart.

The beginning. I love how they are all dressed warm except P. John said it was cold. John lugged his float tube up the entire mountain...he said the looks he got from other campers all weekend were great. I bet he's about the only person to ever carry a float tube on a long backpacking trip to the basin.

Camp.

John on his float tube. He was in heaven!

A couple of the many, many fish he caught.

Grandpa Bill with his dinner.

Packing up to leave.

Preston

A dear in their camp

This little stream/ water fall ran right through their camp.

The infamous boots.

St. George Marathon 2011

2011-10-02T17:24:00.004-06:00

Let me begin by saying that I think I have ran my last marathon without properly training. Without training they just take too long and frankly I'm bored and tired of being out there by the time I'm finished. Having kids has just thrown everything off. I figure one day when they can be left alone safely I'll really train again, until then it's lousy training and slow times. That's okay because our kids are only young once and I'm not willing to give up significant amounts of time with them in order to train.
As usual we arrived in St.George Thursday evening. John volunteered at the expo Friday morning then came back to the house to retrieve his family. We spent a couple hours looking around and spending way too much money on running junk. Afterward we ate at Pizza Hut-veggie pizza is my favorite pre-race meal. We drove up and dropped some Ensure's off at mile 14 for a little boost mid-race.
Saturday morning was warm...way too warm. One of the warmest starts to a marathon ever. I didn't have high hopes since I did only a couple long runs-my longest being around 13.5 miles, which was a bad run itself. We've had so much going on lately that running is not our priority. Anyway the gun went off and I started running. I was doing the 4-1 method. In the beginning I made a conscious effort to run slow, so slow it felt too slow. The sun came out, but we had cloud cover so it wasn't bad, along with a breeze. All at once the breeze ended and the sun came out full force. This was the first marathon I've ever wondered if I would finish. I didn't feel terrible, but I was drinking 4 cups of water at each stop, and yet I was still unbelievably thirsty. My belly was so full I physically couldn't drink anymore. At one point I gagged and thought I would be sick. I was actually scared of heat stroke. Of course, my stubbornness would keep me going until I passed out on the side of the road.
At mile 18 there was a woman with little girl's passing out big fat Popsicles. I took one and walked the next mile, savoring my Popsicle and hoping it would lower my core temperature. In terms of endurance I felt pretty stinking great, even my muscles felt good. But, I stuck to my 4-1 and walked most of the hills. By mile 22 I was just bored and by 24 I was super bored and just wanted to be done. In fact I wanted to be done running so badly that I just walked. I was handed two bags of ice and I slowly walked and sucked down every single piece of ice. It was sooo HOT!!! Finally I saw the finish line, I didn't even sprint in like I usually do, just took it nice and slow. I crossed that lousy finished line in 5:19...WHAT?! Up until mile 24 I was on track to easily finish under five hours but I guess those lazy miles took their toll. I didn't even care. If I had trained with a goal I would've been disappointed, but it was so hot and I had promised we'd take the boys swimming at the rec center so I had to have energy to keep up with them...and I felt great and had tons of energy. In fact I'm not even all that sore. My back is the worst, then my quads. Otherwise every thing's great.
John and I are both anxious to really train one year. John ran 4:17, not bad for two long runs.
My mom said runner's looked pretty bad coming in. Every runner I spoke with told me how lousy they felt due to the heat, it was something else. It was blazing HOT! I was so glad to be done.
We had a great time swimming at the Washington Rec Center. It was a great pool with a fantastic lazy river and water slide. We were there for hours and had a blast! I also think it helped with the soreness. That evening we went to dinner at Red Robbin, followed by Heath Bar ice cream. Carson woke up in the middle of the night puking, luckily he ran to the kitchen sink so I had no mess to clean up. Yuck! Sunday morning we woke up, cleaned up and came home. Hopefully in a day or two I will be able to walk normally.

Me and JohnBoy. I think we look a little too good considering we just ran 26.2 miles.

Carson won this high-tech running shirt at the expo, he thought it was awesome. He made a request to wear his marathon shirt and rubber bracelet to school on Monday. I love it that he talks about running a marathon with me.

Me and my boys. I grabbed the rocket pops from the bull pen. I think the boys love marathons just for all the treats we get for them.

Mess-face Carson and John

What am I doing?

Carson and his Rocket Pop

John, Dad, George

2011-09-29T12:49:00.001-06:00

Landon is something else. He has a memory like I can't believe. His amazing memory is good and bad. Good because he remembers everything. Bad because he remembers everything, which means I cannot make any half-hearted promises I don't fully intend to keep. The one part of his memory that absolutely stinks is remembering where he puts things. He can put something down and two minutes later not have the slightest idea where he put it.
Anyway, last summer Landon and I went shopping for one of our camping trips...I think it was for a June camping trip. He asked for Caramel Marshmallows, which sound disgusting, but it makes him so happy to choose what he wants. Long story short, we got home and I had no marshmallows. I questioned Landon and he had no idea what happened to them.
Fast forward to today. I picked up Landon from preschool. He handed me his backpack to see his papers. I noticed a funny smell. I thought maybe there was an old sandwich or something in there. Nothing. So I checked the front pocket and noticed it was fat and fluffy. Guess what I found? Yup! The missing marshmallows. I KNEW I had paid for them, but I thought I was losing it and had put them back on the shelf. They're a little dry,they just expired two days ago, but the caramel smell is really strong. Yuck. Landon's happy as can be with his bag of old marshmallow though. I love this kid!

Stress

2011-09-24T21:46:00.000-06:00

Life is stressful. Life is also good, but very overwhelming right now. We have so much going on I can't think straight and I haven't had a decent night's sleep in nearly two months. As much as I don't want to miss living, part of me wishes I could just fast forward life about two or three months ahead to see the outcome of a big decision we've made. I am so lucky to have John with me every step of the way. He is so supportive, especially with my mood swings (due to lack of sleep). Every once in awhile he says a typical "guy thing" and I'm not one of those women who let's it go. If he says something thoughtless or insensitive I make sure he knows it.. Usually he knows when he's put his foot in his mouth as soon as he's done it, but other times he runs his dumb comment past his co-workers and by their reaction he can tell just how upset I am at what he's said. He's quick to apologize when he's in the wrong and is willing to forgive when it's my turn to shove my foot in my mouth. Overall though, I have no complaints. He is a fantastic husband-which I have to give credit to him growing up with eight sisters. Sometimes I can't help but compare him to other husbands around me and wow, as much as I hate to say it, many of them act as a big reminder to me of just how great John is. He loves to be home with his family, he hates to leave us, and is disappointed when I'm not around when he gets home. We meet for lunch every week just to be together and we cuddle at night after the boys are in bed. We are coming up on our nine year anniversary in two weeks and I can honestly say we love each other more than the day we got married and are happier than we ever imagined. Our life is nowhere near perfection, in fact I'd say we've had our fair share downs when nothing could go right for us, but boy, I sure am glad we're in it together.

State Fair

2011-09-22T13:30:00.000-06:00

Every year we go to the fair on opening day. We do this for two reason 1) opening day is cheaper 2) the rodeo-we like watching the sky divers with their flags. We met my family there and until everyone else showed up my boys were so well-behaved. What is it about adding extra children that makes them go bonkers? As soon as Coen showed up they were all over the place and would not listen to a word we said. So frustrating. I love my boys but wow, they were driving us nuts! We went through the little farm, went down the giant slide-we have to do the giant slide every year! We ate hot dogs, watched the first half of the rodeo, bought over-price, yet delicious Velo Chicken, various desserts including a fried Twinkie, John bought me a chair massage (lovely!) and we bought a toy I've been searching for, for Landon's birthday. All in all, it was a good time as always. To me the fair marks the beginning of fall-my favorite season.

Baby "B"

Coen scooping up Corn.

Baby Marshamallow and Tyson

Coen and Landon milking the (fake) cow.

C-Dawg milking.

He dropped the "too cool" attitude for awhile and had so much fun.

The boys.

Picking apples.

Carson acting too cool to be getting a hug from his mom.

Landon planting his veggies.

Carson picking his veggies.

Landon apparently looking at the ground. I don't know, I just put it in.

Driving the tractors.

Look at his cute round basketball head. Love round headed kids.

Now THIS looks like Landon. He's not making a goofy face, not trying too hard to give me a cute smile. This is my boy.

Cousins.

Landon beat everyone down the slide. He was FLYING!

Carson. He's done the slide every year since he was a baby and he looks forward to it.

Landon and John during the Star Spangled Banner.

Carson with his hand over his heart. Adorable.

Fruity Land Sept '11

2011-09-22T13:04:00.000-06:00

Once again, on Labor Day weekend we headed to Fruitland for John's annual family campout. We actually went up Thursday because John just needed a break from work. On Friday we took the kids fishing, Saturday we went to Starvation, Sunday we drove to Strawberry Pinnacles for a bit more fishing, and Monday we packed up and drove home. As always I was so happy to have our trailer. The nights were cold and I need a place to get away when the stress of so many people gets to me.

On Friday we went fishing in a river with the boys. We didn't have any luck, and yes, I wholeheartedly believe fishing is more about luck than skill. (I always say this to tease John)

Such a goof!

Playing in the sand at Starvation.

The water was actually pretty chilly but once you got in it didn't take too long to acclimate.

John just chillin' in our reclining chairs. It was the most beautiful/ perfect day! I wished we were camping here instead.

Carson throwing rocks in the river at the Pinnacles.

I don't know what to do with this little guy, he's goofier than Carson was at this age. I think I see many, many notes home from teacher's in his future.

Wow, did my boys need haircuts or what?! I was actually trying out the shag look for awhile. It looked cute when their hair was done, but we all know that about an hour after doing their hair they look like little homeless boys again.

The river was high and fast for September, but the boys wanted to go in so John held onto them for dear life and dunked them in. They got a huge kick out of it.

Carson was most nervous.

John and his dad ran down to Heber Friday morning and John brought me back roses. I took this as they were on their last leg. I had to cut them way down to stand them up in the cup. He's such a great husband!

A random picture of some pillowcases I made for our bed. They match the colors in our room perfectly and I LOVE them!

The "couch" in our trailer. I spent a huge chunk of time laying on the couch with a couple pillows, reading. Love my own space.

So sweet. For as crazy as they can drive me during the day, I sure love to watch them sleep. They look so innocent.

A picture of the cabin, our trailer, and everyone's tents. This is Monday as everyone was packing up.

Landon loves climbing the rocks. He still young enough that I won't let him go without an adult.

Zipline-where the kids spent the majority of their days.

Ahhh! I actually took to calling him Fluffy since his hair was so long and-well, fluffy.

Last Blast of Summer Aug. 27

2011-09-22T12:32:00.000-06:00

Our township does a little carnival in the park around the corner every Summer. Everything other than food is free. Blow-up slides, tunnels and bouncers, car show, train rides, fireworks; it's actually something we look forward to a little. The kids have a great time and as always we love standing back and watching them play. These are some lousy pictures of the boys, but the first two are the boys watching fireworks, I think Carson's eyes were red from him crying over not getting enough of our nachos...the first couple weeks of school he's always a little emotional from the change. The last two pictures are of the boys riding the train...the hi-lite of the night for L-Train.

Hmmm....

2011-08-24T21:06:00.003-06:00

I can honestly say that I wish I was one of those women with strong maternal instincts toward all children, but to be frank...I'm just not. Depending on the child I can smile and enjoy someone else's child for an hour or two, but as soon as I'm put in charge for extended periods of time my attitude changes. Let's face it, every mom loves her own children, she has a routine, they know the rules, what is and is not acceptable, yada yada yada. When other children are introduced it seems everything goes out the window-after all if other children aren't following the rules , why should my boys? For the most part (at home) my boys are calm and quiet. In fact I had someone stop by a week or two ago and this person was shocked to see my boys sitting together, playing quietly with Legos. She commented on this and how loud her house was. I hated to do it, but I said that this was how it typically was at our house. Peaceful. Not always, but for the most part the boys are well behaved...at home!
Anyway a family (it's a long story how I know them) is in a pinch this week and their normal sitter can't watch their boys, who are the same ages as my boys, so I was begged to help them out by my SIL. I REALLY REALLY REALLY didn't want to do it, but they pay $13 an hour-for BABYSITTING! It would be silly to NOT do it. So I decided to suck it up and just do it because honestly we could always use a little extra money. BUT the situation is totally weird. Let me just say that they have money....LOTS of money, but their house is disgusting and their couch smells so strongly of urine I wanted to die. Plus the dad stays home all day, along with his 25+ year old son. Weird weird. The dad just chooses not to take care of his kids so he pays good money for other people to watch them. There was no way I was staying at their nasty home all day, with two men in the house. As soon as the 4 year old woke up I packed him and Landon in my car and said "I'll see you at six o'clock." And I was outta there. So all day I had another four year old who is a pain in the butt. He doesn't listen worth a damn and called Landon Jerk and Idiot. Now Landon is certainly not innocent. Landon is a well-behaved little boy, until he gets around another loud and crazy child. Plus I had to pick up his older brother, who is seven and have him from 3:30-6 as well. It was just a looong afternoon. To think I have to do it all over again Friday...on SHORT day makes me want to rip my hair out. I had had enough. The worst part? THEY DIDN'T PAY ME when I dropped off their kids. So I called my sister who used to babysit regularly for them and she said she had to ask for a check or she wouldn't get paid. How obnoxious! I HATE asking for money!
Anyway I was asking/venting to John why I don't just love all children and enjoy them. He told me that I like order and quiet. "You taught our kids to be quiet and respectful. Other people haven't taught their kids to behave this way." I guess he's right. I tell you what I have N.E.V.E.R wanted a large family. Don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing anyone who does have or wants to have a large family, it's just not for me. Just watch, now I'll find myself pregnant with triplets or something. I really wish I had more maternal instincts though. I try, I have good intentions, I guess I'm just too high-strung to deal with lots of children.
Now if it sounds like I'm putting my kids up on a pedestal I'm not. I'm just commenting on the fact that it is difficult for other children to come into my home, who have different parent's and different rules. My kids tend to act the same way their friends are acting and it drives me nuts. Plus I do have days where my boys alone drive me crazy. Okay, that's enough.

First day of SECOND GRADE!

2011-08-22T11:45:00.000-06:00

I've said it before and I'll say it a million times more before my kids are grown...but where has the time gone?! Second grade?!
Carson was so excited to start school this year. All three of his friends happened to be in his class and he couldn't have been happier. Usually I dread the beginning of school but Carson was ready and I was ready. It felt great to get up this morning and get back into our school year routine. Wake up, go potty, make beds, get dressed, eat breakfast, brush teeth, run out the door. Carson has the routine down pretty well.
Typically on the first day I dress him in pants and shoes, but I this year I got smarter. I realized it was just waaay too hot and there is no way I'd wear that many clothes so why would I make him go to school and sweat to death on the playground? So he wore his new sandals, new shirt and some shorts I bought during the summer. He loves his shirt. In fact I don't think how I can accurately put into words how much he loves that shirt and how "cool" he feels in it. It is a guitar that kind of branches into a tree at the top. He was also very particular about his hair and wanted it gelled and spike up just a bit at the front. I did my best.
Naturally I walked him to school this morning and he was so excited. We arrived at school just before the bell rang so all the kids were already lined up. Carson's hand relaxed in mine and I told him he didn't need to hold my hand if it embarrassed him...so he let go. Funny because in a couple more days he'll hold my hand, hug, and kiss me in front of his class and he won't be embarrassed at all. Guess it's just the first days jitters.
After we dropped on Carson we walked home, got Landon's bike and headed to the park so he can practice. A few weeks ago we took off his training wheels and he's got it down. The only thing he can't do is start by himself, but it'll come with time. He rode all over the park, around and around and around. Living so close to the park is about my favorite thing about living where I do. We spend so much time there and it is wonderful not to have to drive there. Landon has commented at least three times "Mom, we're having so much fun without Carson!" Not that he's happy Carson is at school, but he is relating to the fact that Carson gave us strict instructions not to do anything fun while he is at school. I think Landon has enjoyed having me to himself all morning. Right now he's out playing with cars in the sandbox...with no big brother to interfere. Now we just need Landon to start pre-school. He's just going to the high school this year and he couldn't be more excited!

Blow-Up Slide

2011-08-22T11:07:00.000-06:00

Last summer our blow-up slide bit the dust, but my mom happened to buy one which wasn't getting used near enough. She brought it over and told us to put it to good use, and while we've only had it at our house for a couple of weeks the boys have used it and loved it. It's just nice not to have to take the boys somewhere for them to have fun in the water. Next year we're either going to invest in another blow-up slide or a pool for the back yard. Sooo much fun!

Harvest Days August 6th.

2011-08-22T11:02:00.000-06:00

Once again we took the boys to the annual Harvest Days parade. It's kind of a ghetto little parade but the boys LOVE the candy. In fact getting their hands on as much candy as possible was their whole focus during the parade. John actually does not like parades but he comes anyway just to see the boys have a good time. After the parade we walked to the park for snow cones and that evening we took our blankets and met my mom and dad for fireworks in the park. Honestly it is one of the best firework shows.

Summer Storm August 2nd.

2011-08-22T10:55:00.000-06:00

We had the coolest storm roll through a couple weeks ago. The boys ran outside with grocery bags on their heads to stay dry, but when that didn't work they bagged it and went all out. The gutters were overflowing and it was heaven for them. Eventually they came inside, freezing. Sadly the storm ended. I LOVE thunderstorms!

John's Accident

2011-07-30T14:25:00.001-06:00

So what happens when teeth whitening gel consisting of 6% hydrogen peroxide explodes in your face? Well, read on.
Friday I was working hard to get my house cleaned so when John got home from work we could play when the phone rang. I thought it was the usual morning call from John to check in with me. He told me there was an accident at work and he was at Instacare.
Apparently John was working on a machine doing something he does every single day when it stopped working. He took off the hose and pointed it at the ground-a safety measure in case anything comes out. After a minute when nothing had come out he turned the hose up to look inside. He heard a pop and suddenly whitening gel shot into his eyes which were wide open at the time. Thankfully he turned the hose away when a plug shot out with enough force to kill him. The plug shot up 40 feet, hit the ceiling came down, hit a machine and bounced across the floor.
John's friend and co-worker was at his side in an instant and guided John over to the sink where he pulled handfuls of gel off his eyes. They flushed his eyes in the sink then took him to the eye rinse fountain where he held his eyes open for fifteen minutes. He said it felt like he had rocks in his eyes and was scared the gel was crystallizing. Apparently when your eyes are severely burned it feels just like sand in your eyes.
At Instacare they put cups over his eyes which held them open and ran fluid through for about twenty minutes. John then returned to work (his boss was driving) where he gave a report of what had happened. People were mad because this shouldn't have happened. John did absolutely nothing wrong and people are refusing to work on this machine until it something is done. After his quick report he came home so I could take him to an Opthamologist. Thankfully Worker's Comp covers everything because these will be some hefty bills. He examined his eyes and told John he had burned the top layer off both eyes. Apparently when you get base in your eyes it does more damage than an acid. Acid coagulates with your protein, whereas a base will continue to eat through your eye until it is completely rinsed out. John was lucky he had co-workers who reacted so quickly! The doctor told John the fastest way to heal his eyes would be to medicate them and pressure pack his eyes for 24 hours. John chose the quickest way so I left the office with a blind man. John has been so terribly bored for the past 24 hours. He's listened to t.v., listened to music, sat in the backyard, talked to me...there's only so much a temporarily blind person can do. I had the suggestion of just doping him up so he'd sleep the entire time. I think now he wishes he had listened to me.
We are both so thankful he still has his eye sight. When the gel hit his eyes he thought he'd lose his vision, how scary would that be? I tell you what, accidents happen so quickly. I'm happy he's home with me and healthy...aside from the temporary blindness.

Float Preview

2011-07-30T13:52:00.000-06:00

On July 20, I took the boys for a float preview. Honestly it was pretty neat and we didn't have to fight the insane crowds to see the parade. Carson's favorite was Kung Fu Panda, while Landon's was the little Train float. While we were there the boys had their faces painted and got balloon the shapes of a monkey and gun. It was entertaining and helped pass some time. This summer I've tried to keep the boys busy. I try to take them to new parks and such just to keep it interesting. We also have our waterpark passes and go about once a week. It's been a great summer and has passed too quickly, but Carson is asking me what he can do waaay too often. I think he misses the social life school provides. So glad I'm not homeschooling this year because I think I'd lose my mind.

Camping July 15-17

2011-07-30T13:37:00.000-06:00

We had quite the group who decided to go camping with us this time. John and I headed up before everyone else to find us a spot. EVERYTHING WAS FULL! Apparently more people are learning our area exists and we couldn't find anything accessible to a full size trailer. We drove higher and higher with no luck. Finally we unloaded the 4-wheeler and I took off to see what I could see. I found a spot on the north side of a mountain. Woohoo! I drove back as fast as I dared and guided John to the spot. I told him to stay there while I went to look ahead for something better. When I came back the trailer and truck were stuck in the mud up to their axles. Oh $#%&! I wanted to grab the camera but do you know what John would have done to me if I started taking pictures?! Finally we unhooked the trailer, loaded branches under the truck tires and eventually we got it out. John came back on another angle (on drier ground) and once again we shoved branches upon branches under all the tires. What do you know? We got it out. It was much more involved than that, and many unmentionable words were flying, but we were free. We drove quite a bit further and found a beautiful spot overlooking everything with a stream at the bottom of a hill. John took off on the 4-wheeler to find the rest of our group since they would never think to come up so high. He left me with instructions to set up the trailer. Problem is, he took the truck keys which I needed in order to pull the truck away and level the trailer. So nothing was done when he got back. The mosquito's were swarming and I came home counting 28 bites. I forgot the memory card in the camera so the only pictures I have were what the internal memory could hold. The kids had a ball, Landon had fun play with Hannah and we did some gorgeous 4-wheeling. Sunday morning we didn't hang around because all of us were fed up with the biters. Hopefully by August the mosquito's will be long gone.

Our spot. It looks open, but we were so high not many people drove by.

They got carried away with the paints. Good thing they don't get together too often, they would be trouble.

4th of July

2011-07-30T13:06:00.000-06:00

Although we were having a BBQ with John's family we opted to buy a few parachutes to light off at home. I We lit of six and the boys loved running to catch them. We also bought a few poppers, as well as a large firework to take to the bbq. At the BBQ we played a game of softball and Carson loved every minute of it. He's really getting into sports...thankfully. We had a couple of the aerial firework tip over and shoot at us and actually hit one of the kids. Those things are dangerous...but fun:)

A picture of our house with the new roof. We replaced it 4th of July weekend and it was a NIGHTMARE! Holly took the boys for a few days so I wouldn't have to worry about them. The ~~morons~~ previous owners of our home had three layers of shingles on the roof. Do you know what it takes to load three layers of shingles into a dumpster? Thankfully we had friends and neighbors who came to help. We felt so loved and couldn't have done it alone. Hopefully next time the roof needs to be replaced Carson and Landon can do it for us.

My Birthday Camping Trip- June 23-26

2011-07-30T12:48:00.000-06:00

I told John that for my birthday I wanted him to take a day off so we could camp from Thursday to Sunday. John informed me he would take care of the cake, which meant a huge Costco cake (yes, for the four of us!) We headed up the Uintas and found a great spot overlooking our pond. The frogs were so loud in the evenings, but we couldn't find a single one. Finally on Friday night Carson came back from the pond and showed me a frog he had found. I looked at the fros then told him I though it was dead. He touched it and it's mouth moved, so I guess I was wrong...even though a big string of slime came off the frog when Carson pulled his finger away. Carson spent the next two hours playing in a puddle with his frog (which WAS dead!) He made it hop around and even put pieces of birthday cake on the ground which he shoved his frog's face into. I walked over and watched him for a few minutes and said "Guess what? I think your frog's dead." Carson looked and pointed sharply at me and said "Guess what? He's s-leeping!" And that was that. He was having a great time and he was providing entertainment for us. That's the beauty of camping, the boys can be BOYS! Friday morning we drove up to our favorite camping spot to check it out- it was totally flooded. We dressed the boys in their swimsuits so they could play in the water while John and I relaxed on our favorite chairs. My mom and dad came up Friday afternoon and met us at Dick's for dinner. Afterward we helped them set up and ate birthday cake. Saturday morning Francie and Brian came up for the day. Once again we relaxed at our flooded spot and ate and looked for (live) frogs and rode the 4-wheeler and just enjoyed ourselves. We were so sad when Sunday came and it was time to leave. Sunday was my birthday so we took the boys out for Mexican at Chipotle Grill (so yummy!) John had ordered me a Zojirushi bread maker that didn't arrive until Monday. I was thrilled! For years I've made all my own bread but every summer I end up buying bread because it's just too hot. I've played around and have finally developed the perfect recipe that tastes almost like my handmade loaves, and it takes about five minutes to throw the ingredients in and I'm done. So typically I make a loaf every day or every other. I'm happy.

THE cake.

You can still see Landon's burn on the left side of his face. It was deep.

The view from our camp site.

I've said it once and I'll say it again. Landon LOVES this chair!

Helping carry wood.

Landon's crying, probably because Carson hit him with that stick or John yelled at him. Take you pick.

The road into our spot.

Our favorite camping spot.

The roads were all flooded.


These pictures look like a natural lake or pond right? Nope. This area is typically 100% dry, this is all flood water from the snow run off.

I wish that stream was a permanent fixture in this spot.

We ended up chopping the cake in half and leaving half at home. Happy Birthday to ME!

Slightly chilly in the shade, but so beatiful.

We found a river we'd never seen before not too far from our camp site.

My mom.

Sunny watches the boys so closely when we camp. When they leave she's always right with them.

The boys built their own fire pit so John helped them get a little fire started. They were tickled! I was darker than it looks so I had a hard time focusing the camera.

My Blog Book!!!

2011-07-30T11:51:00.001-06:00

Here is the #1 reason I am behind on my posts. I logged on to do a simple blog post one day only to be greeted by a rude message stating I was out of space and could purchase more. No way. So I finally did what I have been meaning to do for years, but just haven't had the courage to start. I used Blurb, which I was very pleased with. I left out a few of the dumb/rambling posts, reformatted the rest and voila! My blog book. It's nearly 400 pages and looks so great. I want to order one for each of the boys to give to them when they're grown. I don't do scrap booking or journaling, or photo albums for that matter, so this takes away a huge amount of guilt. We now have a book of all our fun activities and vacations for the past 3 3/4 years.

Liberty Park June 15, 2011

2011-07-30T11:44:00.000-06:00

My mom and I took the boys up to Liberty Park to play in the Canyons water feature. It was a nice warm day and not too busy at all. The boys played for hours and had such a great time. I only caught a few pictures before my battery died...oops. The first three pictures are of the boys playing in the "Great Salt Lake" and the last picture is a random fountain at the top of one of the many streams. We definitely need to head back there again before school begins!

Camping out west June 10-12

2011-07-30T11:38:00.000-06:00

We took a camping trip out west with family in June. Let me tell you how nice it was to finally have some warm weather. It was a very relaxed trip. We played, rode 4-wheelers, but mostly sat around and read or talked while the kids played. We had a little accident on Saturday night, people had been throwing plastic water bottles and utensils in the fire pit all day long (literally a pile of them.) That evening Landon was standing next the the fire when it popped. He screamed and screamed, until I finally realized it wasn't a little pain from a hot ember. I had seen something hit his hand so I grabbed him and ran him over to the cooler where I plunged his hand into the ice water to stop the burn....and still he screamed. Then I saw it. His poor little face. I saw something black near his chin and pulled it off...except it was that damn plastic so I pealed his skin off. It was terrible and traumatizing. He also had melted plastic on his hand that I decided to leave alone. He cried and I felt helpless. Finally I used the bath tub my my parent's trailer and put some toys in it, which calmed him down and made him so happy. Landon has always had an incredible tolerance for pain so from then out when it would hurt he would just quietly say ow, ow, ow, while gritting his teeth. Now two months later he still has scars and I'm sure they'll shrink with time but I doubt they'll fully go away. When we got home I went shopping and stocked up our first aid kit with just about anything we'll ever need camping. Lesson learned. It's crazy how quickly things can happen. After we were home and I was doing laundry I realized how serious it could have been. His little shirt was covered in melted plastic. Whenever we go camping now we make sure to remind people not to throw plastic in the fire...Landon is actually best at reminding people. He won't let anyone so much as throw a plastic candy wrapper in the fire pit. Aside from the incident, it felt so great to be out.

One of the boys' favorite things in the whole world is for John to throw them up. He throws them so high it makes me nervous.

Another of Landon. John tell me I caught them on the way down so the pictures don't show how high they really go.

Carson's getting a bit too big, so it hurts when John catches him.

This is MY chair, but Landon claims it for his own. He absolutely loves to hang out in this chair. We have two a green and blue, but he insists on the green.

Our set up. Have I mentioned how much we love our E3?!

My dad with Carson.

This was the first time we'd used the canopy and it was wonderful.

The kids spent hours climbing trees.

My mom and Mr.C.

End of School Party June 3, 2011

2011-07-30T11:10:00.000-06:00

This year I told Carson he could invite a few friends over for an end of school party. He invited, Andre, Jorgen, Logan, and Levi. I really had no plans for this party other than buying pizza and renting a DVD. I had the kids stay for about three hours and told Carson they could do whatever they wanted. And wow, boys are boys. They ran wild. At first they played on the playset, then ate, then played video games, then watched about 20 minutes of the movie while they shoved a ridiculous amount of candy in their mouths, then decided they wanted to run some more, so they chased each other around the yard. At this point John decided to organize things a bit and played baseball with them. The boys all had a great time, and while originally Carson was adamant that Landon not be around, he was perfectly fine with him staying once the party began. Once the boys had all been picked up I sat in my QUIET living room, while my two boys played QUIETLY together in the playroom. I looked straight and John and said "At this moment I am so grateful we only have two kids..." He just smiled.

A day uptown, May 30, 2011

2011-07-30T10:59:00.001-06:00

Spring was really strange this year. We'd have a nice day here and there, but for the most part it was windy, chilly and rainy. Well, the day we picked to go uptown was more than just chilly, it was downright COLD! We were bundled more than was appropriate for the end of May, and it still wasn't enough.
Originally our plan was to ride the train, but we realized that with a Prius it was cheaper to drive. So we did. We parked at Gateway and let the boys play around the fountain for awhile then walked to the trax station to wait for the next train. I had a hunch and decided to check the schedule, and what do you know? The trains were not running on Memorial Day. HA! So we walked to Temple Square where we were immediately bombarded by missionary's who tried their darndest to get phone numbers out of us, finally after being stuck (literally it was awful) we got away and decided to run-not walk, away from there. At first I didn't mind a little friendly conversation, but my goodness. I want to enjoy a day with my family, not try to convert every non-member I know. They felt like high pressure sales-women and we really were so annoyed.
We walked around the old Hotel Utah, looking at old photographs and asking questions about original aspects that hadn't been changed much, and watched the latest movie. Afterward we slowly walked up and down the street and ended up at the food court eating lovely Panda. It was such a relaxing, enjoyable day...other than the bitter cold.

I love this picture of Bubrito.

Notice the flip-flops? I'm such a goo mom. Carson loves water fountains.

Didn't know John had snapped this until now.


View from the top floor. Beatiful...until you look too far out west.

Top floor of Hotel Utah.

My boys.

ALL of my boys.

Us-Carson's not bad with a camera.

Don't let the sunshine and tulips fool you, it was NOT that warm!

Gorgeous!

Thomas Train May 27, 2011

2011-07-18T20:28:00.000-06:00

Landon is a train nut! He absolutely loves trains. He loves riding trains, watching trains, playing with trains, and Thomas Train. John and I decided that one of the best surprises we could give Landon would be to take him for a ride on ~~the Heber Creeper~~ Thomas Train when it came to Heber. The tickets we a bit on the pricey side, but we knew it would mean so much to him. My mom and dad came and ended bringing Coen as well.

Coen and Landon upon entering in front of the picture. Notice the train whistle in Landon's hand.

Couldn't get the boys to look at the camera. Ugh.

Carson was being a pill at the beginning and refused to sit in front of the sign. Honestly I think he was a bit embarrassed until he saw how every child there, young and not so young, was having a great time. Once he realized no one would make fun of him he loosened right up.

First stop-tattoos

Landon chose Percy on his hand.

Carson chose Thomas on his cheek. I was so happy to see him have such a good time.

Landon and Coen looking out the open coach window.

Carson loved it so much more than I expected.

Landon blowing his whistle. Grandma Marsha gave it to him for Christmas and I was so glad I threw it in my bag.

They were so cute together.

Carson looking out the window.

Coen and Landon

My family.

Pulling into the station

Another pulling into the station picture.

My boys on the coach after everyone else cleared out.

Love, LOVE having two little boys!

Exiting the train.

Cute little corn maze for the kids.

Landon standing in front of an old locomotive. So cool.

And the star of the day? THOMAS!!!

The train was adorable and to Landon this was the REAL deal. Thomas took a boat from the Island of Sodor and traveled for two weeks to get to Utah.

Isn't this train fabulous?

The memories were priceless.

They had all sorts of fun activities for the kids, one of them was a funny little mini golf course. The boys loved it and spent a good chunk of time here.

The boys both want to learn how to really golf now.

They had wooden train sets for the kids and the boys played on them forever. You'd never guess Landon has a big train collection at home. Carson enjoyed them every bit as much as Landon. Plus the boys shared their trains every time they saw a child without a train. I was so proud. There are definitely some little stinkers whose parents have not taught them how to share.

The three boys.


My two. Love it...but of course Landon had to point out that this was NOT the real Sir. Topham Hatt, just a man in a costume.

We had a fantastic afternoon. I remember riding the Heber Creeper when I was little, and I'm hoping the boys remember this day forever. Sometimes you just feel like a great parent...this was one of those days.

1st Grade End of Year Program

2011-07-18T19:20:00.000-06:00

Carson's end of year programs was cute. I video-ed a bit of it and snapped a few pictures. They sang songs they learned throughout the year, including their school song. When they get to the line "we are the hope of tomorrow" I get a little choked up. He's my baby and to think of him growing up makes me a little sad. I hate it when they put up the banner "Class of 2022" To think of him graduating and starting a life where I am not one of the key players makes me teary eyed. Moving and and moving on is what he'll need to do someday, but for now I just don't need any reminders. For now he's my 7 year old little boy who loves Star Wars Legos and Sponge Bob. Let's just leave at that please.
After the program we went to his classroom and watched a slide show of the entire year and I couldn't believe how quickly the year passed. I love sending him off to school everyday, watching him walk down the street to meet up with his friends. I love sitting down to read every afternoon when he comes home, and I love climbing in bed to cuddle with him. All too soon he won't want me to kiss him goodbye in the mornings, or read with him, or cuddle with him. *gulp* I need my life to be on DVR so I can just pause and rewind when I see fit. Already they are heads above the kindergartners and look like it's been years since they were so small. Love you little man.

End of year programs.

2011-07-15T12:17:00.004-06:00

Carson's school does a big fundraiser for new computers each Spring. They call it the Grand Event. Iceburg comes and sells their burgers, there are all sorts of activities, a silent auction, and each of the grades take a turn performing. Carson climbed up on the bleachers and seemed less than enthusiastic while they waited to begin. As his mom I just knew something was not right. I kept my eye on him and by the second song I could see the panic in his eyes...he had to go potty!!! Immediately I had John run behind, grab him and get him to the bathroom before he humiliated himself. That would have been something he never would have let go of. Thankfully John ran quick and Carson was back up on the bleachers for the last song. He was cute, but I do have to admit that by the end of the school year he had developed quite an attitude. I don't stand for it, but I sometimes wonder what happened to my sweet little baby. Oh, that's right...public school. I knew it would happen, I just hoped it wouldn't. When other kids aren't around the sweet little boy who likes to watch Care Bears and play with Landon's trains comes out, but when his friends are around he would never admit to liking "baby shows." So sad.

Landon's end of year program was quite entertaining. Landon fully understood that this was the official beginning of his summer and he was wired! He was so enthusiastic during his performance that his teacher kept trying to calm him down. There is a reason I'm not sending him to this preschool next year. He hasn't learned much (aside from what I've taught him) and his teacher wants quiet little robots. He wasn't out of line, just very happy and excited. He's a good kid whose mind is always running. Most people seem to overly love his personality, but I think the ones that don't just keep quiet. All I can say is hopefully he has a teacher who appreciate personality because Landon has personality gushing out his ears. He has so much to say and just needs someone who knows how to listen and encourage him, but also keep him focused. I am thoroughly enjoying my little Bubrito before he enters public school!

I also just have to point out how tall Landon is. He is a full head above the other kids his age. Funny, because he looks like me, but has John's height.

Little Cottonwood May 7, 2011

2011-07-15T12:03:00.000-06:00

This summer we have a goal of staying active and getting the boys outside. We are determined they will not waste their summer playing video games and tv...except when mom needs a bread, of course. So Saturday afternoon we found ourselves in need of entertainment so we piled the boys in the care and drove up the canyon. One thing I love about our location is how close we are to the mountains. The river was running incredibly fast so we had to keep a close eye on the boys, but overall it was a good time. Funny how kids can be entertained for hours simply throwing rocks in the water. They love to pick out the biggest rock they (or John) can carry and see how big of a splash they can make. At one point a ranger yelled at us to keep the boys away from the water. This upset Carson because he thought we were in trouble but I had to explain that it's his job to keep us safe, plus he had to yell since he was on the opposite side of the river and wouldn't be heard otherwise.
Funny, because even though I know he was just doing his job it still irritated me. I am their mom and I can keep them safe. Funny how we can be offended so easily when we feel someone is questioning our quality of parenting. Basically we just told the ranger "okay" and went right back to what we were doing. We didn't allow the boys to even touch the water so I felt we were being very safe as it was. Oh, fiddle dee dee. What a great way to spend a warm Spring evening.

Dead Frog

2011-06-30T09:33:00.000-06:00

So this is out of order but when I finally post the pictures from our latest camping trip I'll move this into there, I just can't forget about it.
Me: Carson, guess what? I think your frog is dead.
Carson: Guess what?! He's s-leeping! (as he points a finger at me)
FYI: the frog was most definitely dead and slimey, yet he played with it for hours. That, my friends, is what free-unstructured playtime is all about. Last time he ate a tadpole from this same pond to see if they tasted like blueberries. 100% boy through and through.

Easter 2011

2011-06-27T14:38:00.000-06:00

Easter was the usual this year. The Saturday party/ Easter egg hunt with John's family. Easter with my family.
We lectured and lectured our boys about running and grabbing as much candy as they can, but they just don't seem to hurry fast enough. Once again they came out with much less candy than all the other kids. That's okay but to be honest, I can't keep my grubby fingers out of their baskets. So really, the less they get the better off I am.
Sunday the boys woke up to find their baskets. We're still using the baskets I made a few years ago, which I still love just as much as the day I made them. We spent the afternoon with my family. Far less kids, so it was different, but a holiday is a holiday and anytime there is good food, it is a good day.
Pictures of the hunt at Grandma Holly's.

Zion's April 2011

2011-06-21T16:49:00.001-06:00

March 31-April 3 we headed to Zion's with Katie and Kurt. Katie and Kurt had driven down earlier in the day to reserve a camping spot and we didn't arrive until after ten. We hadn't planned on arriving so late, but once we were in the car, in the middle of nowhere, we remembered several items we had forgotten to pack, including our camping chairs. Luckily Cedar City had everything we needed. The biggest advantage to arriving so late was the guard/fee station was closed so we didn't have to pay to enter the park. Honest? No. But still, a great way to save some money.
While we used to visit Zion's frequently when I was younger I hadn't been since they had implemented the shuttle system and I had actually avoided Zion's purely because it seems like such a pain. I was completely and totally wrong. We parked our truck in the campground parking lot and didn't touch it until it was time to go home. The campground was next to the shuttle stop so we walked for two minutes, hopped on a shuttle, and got off wherever we felt like hiking. It was so relaxing. No driving, no traffic, no parking issues. Wonderful!
On Friday we hiked to Upper, Middle and Lower, Emerald Pools. It was the hottest day we'd seen since last fall and it was wonderful. The boys did great and had such a fun time splashing in the water. After our hike we stopped at the lodge for ice cream and cokes. We didn't feel our day was complete yet, and did the little walk back into the Grotto where cairns were the "in" thing right now. We added a few to the collection then caught the shuttle back to camp. That night John took the boys for a bike ride on the trail while I ran behind them.
The next day we decided to do Angel's Landing. We knew it wasn't smart to take the boys past Scout's Lookout so Katie and Kurt said they'd watch the boys while we went up to Angel's Landing. John had never been there so I was excited to show him one of the most amazing views he'll ever see. I had previously hike Angel's Landing a couple times, but this time it seemed much more treacherous than I had remembered. I'm not afraid of heights, but the idea that one wrong move could be the end for either of us, and the thought of our two boys waiting behind made me watch my footing little more closely. While we were heading down the woman behind John slipped and was lucky enough to catch the chain with one hand. Literally she was hanging down a cliff. I'm just glad she didn't fall, if for no other reason it would have ruined our vacation.
After hiking we once again stopped for ice cream and cokes. That evening I hung around camp, relaxing with the boys while John, Katie, and Kurt rode the shuttle to the top of the canyon, bikes in tow, and biked back down. We spend the evening hanging out around the fire, talking, and eating s'mores. It was by far one of the most enjoyable, relaxing, fun, camping trips we've ever done. We lucked out because Sunday was forecast to be cold and nasty. In fact, it was snowing on the drive home. Hope we're just as lucky with the weather next year.

I love how Landon points with his middle finger.

So it may seem strange that I didn't put captions by the pictures, but when putting my book together those captions proved to be a pain the butt.

Shot

2011-06-05T10:35:00.000-06:00

A couple weeks ago I took Landon over to the mall. When it's a nasty day and we have nothing else to do we head to the mall, buy highly over priced candy from the candy store and play on the Dinosaur Playground. Well, my mom and grandma had nothing else to do so they met up with us. When lunch rolled around my grandma decided to treat us to Hot Dog on a Stick. While we were eating Landon said to my grandma:
Landon: Grandma Betty...did your husband die?
Gma: Uh huh.
Landon: Did he get too old?
Gma: Nuh uh.
Landon: He was actually shot?!

Duh, if he didn't die because he was too old then of course he was shot. What other way is there to die?

Stinky Toilet Paper

2011-05-29T19:35:00.000-06:00

This morning Carson was lying in bed with us. He said he needed a tissue so he ran into the bathroom and semi-closed the door. After a few minutes, when I began to think he had been in there too long for just a tissue, he came out.
Carson: Um, when I was getting a tissue, um the toilet paper...
Me: It fell in the toilet
Carson: (ignoring me) it fell in the toilet...
Me: Just throw it away.
Carson: Just the top part got wet and I didn't want it to smell like pee so I put soap all over it so then it won't smell like pee...
Me: Just throw it away.
Carson: I put it back on...
John: Carson, just throw the whole thing away. Once it's been in the toilet it's done.

Just had to remember how funny it was that Carson tried to save the toilet paper by washing it.

Oh my FLYING PIG!!!

2011-05-23T20:26:00.000-06:00

I did it, I finished my blog book! Tomorrow I'll upload it and then I should have it in about a week or so. I can't wait for my blogging life to return to normal. I have so many pictures on my camera to upload it overwhelms me to think about. Let me just say that I really need to make my blog into a book on a yearly basis. Cramming the past several years into one big fat book was just too much work! I'm sure it'll be worth it.

Internet Break

2011-05-19T23:05:00.000-06:00

I need a relaxing weekend so I'm banning myself from the internet. This means blogs, no news, no facebook, in fact I temporarily disabled my account in order to help resist. I'd love to shut down FB for good, except that's how I keep in touch with everyone. So, until Monday...everyone enjoy their weekend and I'll see you back online come Monday morning.

Tree Hugger

2011-04-28T09:21:00.002-06:00

Lately John has been teased at work for being a tree hugger. I told him that no matter what changes we make, that anyone who drives a big truck that gets the gas mileage his does cannot, under any circumstances be called a tree hugger.
I smile because John has been so open to the little changes I've been making. It started a few years ago when I quit using cleaner and started cleaning my entire house with vinegar, although I refuse to get rid of toilet bowl cleaner because nothing cleans as well as a toilet full of harsh chemicals. I also use bleach once in a great while just to feel like I'm killing all the bad stuff. Recently we got rid of paper towels and began using unpaper towels, which we both love more than I ever thought we would. We've also quit using ziploc baggies, so John and Carson both take lunch in the homemade snack and sandwich baggies I made. Add on top of that we sold my Jeep (OUCH!) and bought a Prius (the biggest perk of having a small family is being able to fit into just about any vehicle!) ...which John will drive to work unless I'm planning on running errands. So basically his truck will stay parked unless we are both going separate ways or camping. So while I wouldn't call him a tree hugger (even though I love it that he is labeled as one by the "guys" at work) I'm happy about the small changes we're making to do our part. If it's not easy I wouldn't stick with it so I try to pick the small things that wouldn't make a huge impact on our lives, but in the long run can make a small difference.

Landon and his TEN kids.

2011-04-28T09:08:00.000-06:00

Landon is a thinker-always has been. Well yesterday we were driving and he said to me.
"Mom when I grow up I'm gonna have ten babies."
ME: Wow, ten babies, that's a lot.
I've been thinking about this for a lot of days, even when we were at Zion's.
ME: Wow, you have been thinking about this, you like to think.
Yeah, I'm gonna have a girl, a boy, a girl, a boy, a girl, a boy...
ME: Oh so you want them to be boy-girl boy-girl. Are you going to have the babies or is your wife going to have the babies?
We'll have them together.
ME: (again) That's a lot of babies.
Yep, and they're all going to get along.
ME: They are?!
Yeah, and if they don't I'll put them in the garbage can.
ME: Hmmm...probably not the best idea.

I just have to say...

2011-04-10T20:41:00.000-06:00

that I don't mind getting older, but genetics and slowing metabolism really bites. Apparently running doesn't solve everything. That is all.

I'll be back later.

2011-04-05T11:23:00.000-06:00

I have a bunch of pictures from our trip to Zion's last weekend, as well as a review of my unpaper towels. Problem is, I'm out of storage space on my blog. Soooo, while I spend the next week or two turning my blog into a book (and then deleting old posts *sob*) I will not be here much unless it is to post without pictures. What a bummer. Can't believe I used all that storage space!

Babies

2011-02-09T12:20:00.000-07:00

Carson: Mom I know how babies get in your (meaning women's) tummies
ME: Oh yeah. How?
C: The boy kisses the girl and he puts medicine in her that makes a baby grow and her tummy gets big.
M: Hmmm. How does he put the medicine in her?
C: When they kiss she puts medicine in him and he puts medicine in her and then a baby grows.
M: Wow, you're not too far off but I'll tell you when you're eight.
C: Mom, just tell me now. Please.
He then whispered to me a couple more times throughout the evening, trying to persuade me to give him details. Oh dear. Carson sure has grown up fast. Can't we go back to the toddler years when he was happy with a simple answer and a popsicle?