12 YEARS

Tomorrow is our 12th, yes, 12th anniversary! I cannot believe it has been that long. We have had our ups and downs just like everyone. Lots of struggles to help bring us closer, is what I like to think of them as. We have also been greatly blessed, which I sometimes have a hard time remembering. I am so grateful for Mike and our little family we have created. I am also very grateful for my family and his family (that is mine now too) for all the love and support from them.

Here are just some of the reasons I love Mike so much:

-He is the best daddy around, he loves our kids and so many others (and all babies like him too)

-He will do (almost) anything for anyone, he is very giving

-He can make me smile and laugh even when I am in the worst mood

-He holds me when I cry, and just lets me get "it" all out

-He works hard to support our family, he's one of the hardest workers I know (most of the time)

-He also knows how to play and have fun, which I tend to forget

I LOVE YOU MIKE!!!!!!

What the...

So lately Jenna has been spending extra time on the pot. Not sure why, but she has to go in and take off most if not all of her clothes and then she sits there for at least 10 minutes (even just to pee). She also keeps saying she has to go and then sits forever and a few minutes later goes back and sits and "tries" again. Whatever! Anyway, we were joking yesterday that she was like an old man, (really any man, right!?!?). So today when I walked in and saw her totally nude and just sitting there I handed her the paper and snapped this hilarious pic! Isn't she soooo cute, even if she is a little strange!

Christmas Trees

Our tree from "Santa"
Grandma helping the kids decorate "their" Christmas tree at her house
The kids and the tree they decorated at Grandma Carol's

Mike's mom has a nice Christmas tree upstairs that she decorates beautifully each year. She usually does another, smaller tree downstairs for the kids. We were still out of town for all the traditional Christmas decorating on Thanksgiving and the day after so she saved the tree downstairs for our kids to decorate. They were sooooo excited! We went over Monday night and they had a blast decorating the tree with Grandma Carol while Grandpa Bob made them toast. (That is another story entirely that I will have to post on some time).

Since then they have been complaining to Mike and I that we hadn't bought our tree yet. We told them we would in a week or so. I am having a really hard time getting into the Christmas Spirit this year (another long story as well). Anyway, I am trying to overcome the "mood" that seems to have overcome me. So yesterday morning when the kids got up they were all excited about something......They told us that there was a nice fresh Christmas tree in our living room and they wanted to know who put it there. We told them we didn't know, maybe it was Santa. They were trying to figure out how Santa got a tree into our house and all set up in our stand without us knowing. We had to remind them that Santa is "magic" and can do almost anything. Seeing their faces light up and be soooooo excited about the tree (even without lights and ornaments) helped lift my mood some. Tonight we are going to take them to the annual light parade (which we've never done) and to pick out their new ornaments(which we do every year) and come home and drink hot chocolate and decorate the tree. I think that will help my mood even more.

Devon

Here are a couple pictures of Devon the day after his surgery. We were able to go to the hospital and see him on our way home. The doctors say he is doing very well, and were impressed with how far he is walking already. He is a tough kid with a good attitude so he should heal quickly.

The Dogs

Jenna and Rylee with Cleo. She is a 10 year old pit bull that is the calmest sweetest dog.
Mike & Jack, Cole & Russ, and Jenna & Cleo
One day while we were there Jenna found a quicker way to get in the house and continued to use the doggy door for the rest of the trip.

Cheryl & Jon have 3 dogs so we brought Truman with us this trip. They loved "playing" together. The kids all loved the dogs as well and wanted to bring them home with us.

Skateboarding

Mike was very excited when he learned of a great skatepark that was only 10 minutes from his sisters. We all went one day and since school was still in for the kids there we had the place to ourselves. Mike spent time teaching the boys to skate and even the girls wanted lessons. Actually, Jenna seems to be the most "natural." Mike was very patient and they were all having a great time and no one got hurt so it was even better. After a few lessons Mike was able to enjoy the park himself. He was also able to visit this park a few other times during the trip plus a few others.

Riding the Quad

Cheryl & Jon have 20 acres and a 4 wheeler which makes for a fun time. We took turns taking the kids on rides, they loved it!

Peaches and Bailey, aka the cows

The kids loved living on a "farm" for a week. They fed the cows each morning and even got brave enough to get real close.

Thanksgiving Trip

We spent the last week in northern California with Mike's sister Cheryl, her husband Jon, stepson Devon (17), and the rest of their family (3 dogs, 2 cats, 2 tortoises, a bird, 2 cows). We use to go visit them at least once a year but have not been to their house in over 3 years. The kids were very excited which made for a long, noisy drive. It was nice to get there and not have any real plans. Over the week we went skateboarding, visited friends, did a little outlet shopping, and just spent time with Cheryl, Jon, & Devon as well as each other. The trip got a little "exciting" on Thanksgiving went Devon got hurt playing football and ended up with a broken neck. He was ok, very lucky actually, but spent the rest of our time their in the hospital. He had a 6 hour operation to repair his neck and will have a couple months of recovery ahead, but should be back to new in a few months.

High School Musical

The other night we went to see my niece, Eliza, play "Taylor" in the High School Musical play done by Farmington city. It was fun! She did a great job, they all did!

Overheard...

The boys and Jenna were playing in the boys room earlier and this is what I overheard:
Jenna: "whining..."
Cole (in a somewhat harsh voice):"Jenna, don't ever say you can't do it".
Noah: "Yeah, Jenna, you know you can do it!"

I guess they are listening to me about somethings. I wish Rylee would listen to this advice. She keeps struggling with her cartwheel on the beam at gymnastics. She can do it and has many times, but some days she thinks she can't and can't. I feel like I am saying "if you think you can't you can't" a lot lately.

WEEN in California

Mike & I went to CA this weekend with some friends to see WEEN! We left early Friday morning (4:45 a.m. one of the downsides of flying standby) to catch a flight. We flew to Oakland, picked up the rental car, ate some breakfast, and then headed to Livermore, Mike's old stomping grounds. We visited a couple of his old friends and saw his sister for a few minutes. Then we headed back near Oakland to check in to our hotel and rest a little. Then we headed to Santa Cruz for the first show. We had plenty of time to hang out and did a variety of things to kill time: Mike skated for a few minutes at the local skatepark, we ate at a yummy little Italian cafe, we went to the famous Santa Cruz Boardwalk (more on that in a minute), played games at the arcade, and just drove around seeing the town. Almost everything at the boardwalk was closed because it is the off season. We were bummed, we were hoping to ride the roller coasters. We (everyone except Mike who hates the ocean because it is so cold) took of our shoes and shocks and walked in the water. It was soooooooooo COLD! We didn't care it was fun! The one picture is of my footprint next to Mike's shoe print (we convinced him to at least come down to the water). Mike was glad he came down because while we were by the water he looked up and saw someone familiar walking toward us. It was Dave aka Mean Ween, the bass player for WEEN. We talked to him for a few minutes so that was cool. Anyway, the show was at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium and it was awesome! There were seats all the way around and a huge floor area in front of the stage. It was packed! They played for almost 3 hours and played a good mix of brand new and way old with a little of everything in between.

The next morning we slept in, ahhhhhhhh! Then we headed to The Cheese Steak Shop, one of Mike's favorite places to eat. We have to go everytime we visit. They do make the yummiest cheese steak sandwiches! Then we headed into San Francisco to do the touristy thing before the show. We drove down Lombard St (steep, steep brick street, see above pic) which Mike had never done. Then we headed to Pier 39 one of our favorite spots (Mike proposed to me there almost 13 years ago) to shop and eat. We were hoping to go to Alcatraz but all the boats were sold out. We visited the aquarium there, saw the sea lions, and ate clam chowder. We checked out the water in the bay (there was an oil spill there last week and they were busy cleaning up, but you could see it in the water) and tried to show our friends Alcatraz Island and the Golden Gate Bridge, but it was too overcast. It rained the whole day and we were all pretty wet by the time we headed to the show. Ween played that night at the Warfield, which is an old big theatre/opera house. It was really neat, but Mike was bummed because our seats were up in the balcony and he couldn't go down on the floor by the stage. Oh, well the show was even better that night then the night before. They played about 3 hours again and only played a few of the same songs. They started off with an acoustic set that was incredible! They finished the night with one of their great rock songs, Dr Rock! It was a really fun show! I'd have to say out of the 10 times (yes I know that seems a little extreme) I've seen them this show was my favorite so far! Just to let you know Mike has seen them 13 times now and most of the shows for both of us have not been in UT. We are hoping they come to UT again in the spring though.

The kids (what, we have kids?!?!) stayed with my parents and didn't miss us at all. They went to the park, the children's museum, the library, etc. They asked me this morning when we are going to go out of town again so they can go stay at Grandma and Grandpa's. It's so nice to be able to go and know they are being well taken care of and having a great time, not even missing us. THANKS mom and dad!

New Eyes for Ry

Ry has been bugging us about getting contacts for awhile now. I kept telling her she needs to wait another year or so and until she is a little more responsible. She kept bugging and when I realized (I guess I'm a little slow sometimes) that she has to take her glasses on and off for gymnastics all the time I changed my mind. So here she is at the Dr's office putting her contacts in for the first time. She did great! It only took her 3 or 4 tries for the first eye and 2 for the second. She is still having a little trouble getting them in and out each day, but for the most part she's doing wonderfully! I always thought she looked so cute and stylish in her glasses, but of course she looks great without them too!

Lost Tooth

I know what you are thinking, isn't she a little young to be losing her first tooth? YES!!! She was at the dentist a few months ago and the dentist told me she had a loose tooth and that it is really not too uncommom for a 4 year old to lose their teeth. She did get her first tooth before she was 3 months old so maybe... It makes me sad, my baby is losing her teeth already!

She told me she couldn't eat treats at the movies today (we went to see The Bee Movie with my mom and my sister and her kids) because her tooth hurt and was really wiggly. She ate some popcorn and licorice anyway (come on its the movies, you can't not eat popcorn and licorice, right?) but not as much as she normally would. Then we came home and she was playing outside, but came in crying and complaing that her tooth was stuck. I messed with it a little and it came right out.

She is not the youngest in our family to lose a tooth, Cole actually beat her by a couple months. The only difference is that his were knocked out and hers came out on its own. The tooth is soooo tiny!

I am dark slate blue

you are darkslateblue#483D8B

Your dominant hue is blue, making you a good friend who people love and trust. You're good in social situations and want to fit in. Just be careful not to compromise who you are to make them happy.Your saturation level is medium - You're not the most decisive go-getter, but you can get a job done when it's required of you. You probably don't think the world can change for you and don't want to spend too much effort trying to force it.Your outlook on life can be bright or dark, depending on the situation. You are flexible and see things objectively.

the spacefem.com html color quiz


A couple of my friends have put this on their blogs and I think they all seem to be pretty much right on. I decided to take the little quiz myself and think it is still pretty much right on. I definitely think I am dark slate blue.

Halloween

A Mummy(Cole), Hannah Montana(Rylee), A Ladybug (Jenna), and A Punk Zombie(Noah)

This year I felt like a real slacker! We didn't do any fun Halloween activities (visiting scary places, carving pumpkins, etc). I think school has me feeling a little burned out. The kids even had 2 days off school for UEA and I didn't do anything fun with them, sorry kids. Luckily my mom called and wanted to have them over to make & decorate Halloween cookies. So on Tuesday morning we went to Jenna's little preschool carnival, then Grandma Susie came and picked them up and took them to her house for the day. (I had class & had to go to the dentist to get my crown put back on). They had sooooooooooooo much fun! THANKS Mom/Grandma!!! I have realized lately how lucky/blessed my kids are to have all 4 grandparents close by. Not only do they live close, they love to spend time with the kids and do so on a regular basis. Jenna goes to Mike's parents house 2-3 days a week while I am at school and loves being there all by herself. Mike's mom spoils her (I've decided grandmas love to spoil because they had to be the "mean" disciplinarian to their kids now they can relaz and just have fun and be the nice one). Sometimes she'll call and have just the boys come over to play or just the girls, they love it! Sorry, I went off on a little tangent there, but I have been thinking a lot about our great parents/grandparent lately!

Now, back to Halloween: we always go over to Mike's sisters for dinner and trick or treating. They live only a couple blocks from my sister so we always stop there first and this year my parents were there to see the kids in there costumes. We ate hot dogs and yummy chili (Mike's brother in law Mike is a great chef). Then we headed out to trick or treat and didn't even really need jackets because it was so nice. There didn't seem to be too many other trick or treaters out and every house kept telling the kids to take 2 or 3 treats because they hadn't gotten many trick or treaters. I heard similar stories today from lots of other people. Can anyone explain? The kids of course got way to much candy and had a great time!My favorite part, besides watching my cute kids, was the homemade donuts. There is one house by my sister in laws that make them every year and they are the best donuts I have ever had! Anyway, it was a fun Halloween, next year I will try to make it more fun for my kids!