Three Little Joneses

Girls Camp

2011-11-04T06:17:00.001-07:00

This year we spent girl's camp with our stake up at the Heber Valley Camp.

It was the last year that I will be at camp with both my girls. It's kind of sad to think that Courtney won't be going up with us next year.

We had tons of fun, the weather was perfect and other than a bear in our cabin on the first day, nothing really exciting happened. (One of the rangers took a picture of it, I am not sure where the picture ended up... it was just a baby bear... apparently you are supposed to close your cabin door before going down to the pavilion.)

Our theme was: Daughter of a King, Your happily ever after. Our princess was Ariel. Here is a picture of our flag... apparently SOMEONE didn't listen when they were giving out dimensions of the flag. Okay, so that someone was me but we totally had the biggest flag up there, it was awesome!

We ate tons of food, hiked some pretty big mountains, canoed all over the big lake and crafted our little hearts out!

Me and my BFF - Jana and I have been camp directors for 4 years now. We have had such a blast together. I love her to pieces!

Here is a picture of all the leaders that were able to come to camp.

I was thinking that this would be our last year, but that is apparently not the case. I think I have another year in me ... We're going out with a bang Jana.

Senior photos

2011-08-14T13:12:00.000-07:00

I took Courtney, and her friends, Kadee and Bayleigh over to Murray Park a few months ago to take their Senior pictures. Here are some of my favorites.

I am really developing a passion for taking pictures. Sean bought me a really nice camera a few months ago. I mostly wanted a good one so I could take decent pictures of the girls during soccer games, but I find myself pulling it out more and more often.

These pictures are at Gardner Village, of Courtney, Katie and Hana.

A letter from Courtney

2011-08-07T13:00:00.001-07:00

I was going through some boxes the other day and I ran across this letter.

It reads:

Mom,

I think that I should be able to go to the movies tomorrow. I didn't do anything wrong last night. Katie just started kicking me because my feet were in the way, even though I told her to stop and I admit that I shouldn't have said it so loudly that I woke you up, she still kept kicking and crying and telling me to stop because she didn't want to be grounded. I think that grounding us until 12:00 tomorrow is enough punishment. Plus, remember how good we were when dad forced us to go on that 5 hour hike? We were miserable, but we still behaved! Please let me go to see that movie tomorrow!

PS. Please!

Love Courtney

PSS. WWJD?
(What Would Jesus Do)

I wish I could remember what movie she wanted to see so badly, and if I un-grounded her in time to see it. Knowing me, I probably did. I am a big softie when it comes to my kids. I imagine the only reason she was grounded in the first place was because my sleep was disturbed. You don't mess with the few hours of sleep I get.

And, just a disclaimer, we never forced the kids on a 5 hour hike. I am sure the 20 minutes it took them to climb up that little mountain seemed like 5 hours, but it wasn't!

PS. Nice job on the coloring Courts, I love all the different colors you used. The flower on the top is especially pretty.

Cruise

2011-07-17T15:15:00.000-07:00

For Courtney's graduation, we took her on a cruise. She invited her two best friends to come along. We all had a blast.

We drove to Vegas on Sunday and stayed at the Stratosphere that night. We did a little sightseeing and of course, a lot of picture taking...

My girls LOVE having their picture taken.

We left Vegas at 5am Monday morning, met up with Cadee and Baileigh, and boarded the cruise ship.

Dinner the first night.

Funny story: Right after dinner ended on the first night the girls all decided to go back to their room and take a little nap. It was about 7:30 pm. They all snuggled up in their cozy little beds and slept for THE NEXT 12 HOURS!!

I walked out of my room at 7:30 the next morning and they were all coming back from a jog on the outdoor track. That is when they told me what had happened. They just couldn't believe that they had slept through the first night of the cruise! We all had a good laugh over it.

Our first stop was Catalina Island. The day started off a little cloudy and overcast, but by noon it was sunny and beautiful.

This was just a little boat tied up to the dock, the girls thought it would be fun to climb in it and have their picture taken.

We booked an excursion to go kayaking, so, after a little sight seeing and a lot of shopping, we headed down to the beach.

This is Frog/Gorilla rock. I didn't get a picture of it from the other side, but one side looks like a frog and the other looks like a gorilla. If you look really close you can see Sean standing on the head of the gorilla getting ready to jump. He jumped off twice! Crazy guy!

Our second stop was Ensenada. The girl's had a blast shopping, taking pictures and bartering. Katie said that that was one of the best parts of the trip. She loves to barter.

They took a break from shopping and did the "Cupid Suffle" right in the middle of Ensenada.

We had to take a picture with this construction worker. He wanted to know why an athletic, buff guy like Sean would ever wear a shirt that says "I Love Unicorns". Sean explained that his daughter bought it for him for his birthday as a joke. (Earlier in the year, Sean decided to tell the girls a unicorn joke everyday for two weeks - that's a story for another time.)

Here is a picture of the girls sporting their new outerwear.

We had such an amazing trip. I love cruising with my kids!

Graduation

2011-06-28T17:31:00.000-07:00

Senior Awards Banquet

2011-05-30T14:34:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, Courtney got an invitation to the Senior Awards Banquet along with a message from her counselor urging her to go.

They had an amazing dinner followed by a few speakers from the faculty and staff.

Courtney received a letter in English and Soccer, a Diploma of Merit, and Outstanding Academic Performance in Reading.

She was also awarded a $1000 scholarship from the Reese Family. Every year this family awards both captains of the soccer team a scholarship in honor of their daughter who passed away when she was captain.

We are so grateful for the unbelievable generosity from this family; Courtney and I were both very touched.

Courtney has had such a wonderful high school experience. She has worked so hard this year and will graduate with her CNA. I am so, so proud of my girl!

Spring Fling

2011-05-30T13:26:00.000-07:00

Spring Fling is a girl's choice dance and was the last dance of the year!

Woohoo!!!

Katie asked her BFF Inoke and Courtney asked her good friend Lo.

The date started at Apollo Burger for lunch...

Then it was back to our house to watch Kung Fu Panda.

After the movie, the girls and their dates met up with their group at Chili's.

I am not sure what the glasses are all about. Courtney just thought it would be cute to get some 3D glasses, punch out the lenses and paint the rims to match their shirt...

For some reason, it's the "in" thing to put your date's last name on your shirt...

After the dance they had a paint fight. Yes, you heard me right, a paint fight. They went to a field, put paint in buckets and placed them around said field and then ran around scooping up paint with their hands and throwing it at each other.

Looks like tons of fun! NOT! I am so glad that I am not in high school any more!

Jr. Prom

2011-05-06T11:01:00.000-07:00

I have to hurry up and blog about Jr. Prom because Spring Fling is right around the corner!

Katie went to Jr. Prom with her friend Austin.

She informed me a few months before the dance that she wanted a full-length dress. I informed her that there was no way I was going to pay for a full-length dress and wished her luck. Let's just say that "luck" is Katie's middle name.

Her friend's mom knows a lady, who knows a lady, that has beautiful full-length prom dresses that she lends out. Needless to say, Katie got her full-length prom dress, for free might I add, and looked more beautiful than ever.

The only thing that actually cost us money was the boutonniere, the diamonds I twisted into her hair, and her sparkly tennis shoes.

Maddie, Katie and Bri.

Dinner at Trio.

Oh, my baby girl is growing up a little too fast!

Sweethearts

2011-03-18T13:48:00.000-07:00

Sweethearts was Katie's first official date. She went with her best friend, Elijah.

I don't know when school dances became an all day affair. Way back when I was in high school we went to dinner, then to the dance and called it good. (Oh yeah, except for that one time when we decided to watch a movie afterwards, then go toilet papering (sorry Leo), then drag State Street. Have I ever blogged about our first date?) Anyway...

They started out at the laser tag arena that morning. After a few hours of running around and shooting each other, the girls came home and got ready. Instead of going out to a restaurant, the girls asked if we could reserve our clubhouse and have the dinner there. We had James' parents cook the meat, I made manicotti, and the rest was potluck.

Dinner for 28 anyone?

The girls looked so beautiful.

When we went to pick out dresses, Courtney grabbed this dress of the rack and tried it on as a joke. Once she put it on, she fell totally in love with it. It was only $25, I love Ross Dress for Less!

After dinner it was off to the dance, then back to Amanda's for a movie and dessert.

They had such a great time. I love that my girls are so close and love to hang out with each other!

Sweet 16

2011-03-14T14:47:00.000-07:00

My baby turned 16 a few months ago. It is still hard to believe that she is working and driving and dating, but she is and she's loving every minute of it.

Her party was a huge success. I stressed for months wondering how I was going to pull off another surprise party. She knew it was coming, but I threw her off by throwing it 3 weeks before her actual birthday. (I am soooo sneaky!) She had no clue, it was awesome!

I don't think we have ever had that many kids in our house at one time.

We had everyone from football players to computer geeks. Katie is best friends with all of them. She comes home everyday and tells me about this "new kid" she has met and then she says, "Yeah...he's my best friend!"

I just love my little girl. You can't get much sweeter than my
Katie Bug.

Cottonwood Soccer

2010-12-10T09:22:00.000-08:00

The girls had a fabulous season. They both played well, scored a few goals and had a blast with their teammates.

Courtney was team captain and loved getting to know the new girls. She took pride in being a "nice" captain. Apparently the seniors and captains weren't so "nice" when she was a sophomore and Junior.

Katie was interviewed by The Tribune and was mentioned in a few articles. She got a kick out of seeing her name in the newspaper.

I crocheted hats for the team. It took me the entire summer and most of the fall, but I got all 33 finished before it got too cold. I know 33 doesn't sound like a lot, but when it takes almost 2 hours to comlete just one, it is huge. The girls loved them though, so it was worth it!

This photo was taken at their last home game. The parents got together and got the seniors a little gift and presented it to them.

Courtney wrote personal letters to all the girls on the team and handed them out at the soccer banquet. Needless to say, there were a lot of hugs and even more tears!

I am still in denial that Courtney is a senior! She is so independant and mature. If anyone figures out how to make time go by a little slower, let me know...

Rrrroberto's Rules

2010-10-22T07:01:00.000-07:00

I went down into the kitchen yesterday morning before work and saw this sitting on the counter.

Before I go any further, I need to explain a few things.

First of all, Courtney has named her car Roberto. When asked why, she said, "Because Rrrroberto from the bachelor is hot and so is my car."

Secondly, Courtney takes Katie and her friend Nani (pronounced
Nah-nee) to school every day.

Rrrroberto's Rules:

1. No eating in me unless you are granted permission from Courtney, in which case you must immediately clean any spills that may have occurred and throw away your wrappers. The use of spoons will not be tolerated; you must always use a fork.

2. Be respectful to Courtney. She is a wonderful, (and might I add) beautiful person.

3. Never leave your stuff in me. EVER

4. If you bring a sack lunch, you must take it into the school with you and if there are any leftovers or tupperware they are to be taken into your house as I drop you off. (Nani)

5. I am not a trash bin. If you have any trash in me please take it out as you are exiting. Do not say you will do it later... because I know you won’t.

6. Another major problem that we seem to be having is leaving shoes and clothes in me. I am not a hamper or a shoe-holder thing... so stop leaving them in me!

7. No shouting “Courtney you don’t know where you’re going!”

8. No taking me for a joy ride. The only person allowed in the driver’s seat is my beloved Courtney Joyce Jones.

9. Courtney is my master and the captain of my radio.

10. If Courtney says she’s not taking you to Wendy’s, then, SHE'S NOT TAKING YOU TO WENDY'S!!"

11. Don’t lock the keys in me or leave any of my lights on.

12. Do not hit, pinch, slap, punch, spit on, or hurt Court in any way including name-calling.

13. No spitting out your toothpaste until the car has come to a complete stop.

These rules at their essence should convey the following thought: keep me clean and happy! If any of these rules are broken, you will owe Court $1 for each act of cruelty. If #7 is broken at any time you will owe her $5 each. I am not lying. Abide by these rules and nobody gets hurt. Thanks ugly children!

Love,

Rrrroberto

Number 7 and 13 are my personal favorites.

By the way girls, if I ever find out who took Rrrroberto for a joy ride, well, let's just say that Rrrroberto will enjoy a nice week long siesta in the garage! :)

Reid Ranch

2010-10-11T15:21:00.001-07:00

This year girls' camp was at Reid Ranch again. And, once again, we had a blast.

Here we are all ready to leave on our adventure!

Waiting in front of our cabin to get our wrist bands.

Sorry Kerry, I just had to put this picture in. We had been up at the ranch for a total of 5 minutes when Kerry snagged her pants and ripped a hole in them. In the picture Jana has just finished putting a piece of duct tape on her butt. We all had a good laugh over it.

Here is a picture of the leaders after finishing with our skit. I think that we thought we were funnier than we really were. Alicia is the one in yellow, she was the sun.

Here is our bishop, what a great sport!

It has become a tradition to make bananna boats up at girls' camp. Everyone shaped their foil into an easily identifiable object. Courtney's was the phone and Jenn's the receiver.

Cute pictures around the fire...

90% of our time was spent around the craft tables, though we did make it outside eventually.

I have to admit I got just a tiny, itsy-bit obsessed with the horses. We had certain times that we were scheduled to go and I went every single time. Granted, I couldn't walk for a week, but it was worth it.

The girls had a blast flirting with the boys-I mean going to the archery post.

There was a lot of swimming, paddle boating, KSB squared (kick soccer bum ball), hot tubbing, and eating. But apparently some of us didn't get enough sleep at night.

Here is a picture of our amazing camp directors...

Jana and I are going on 3 years now. I couldn't have asked for a nicer, sweeter, kinder, make you laugh until you cry...friend. I love you Jana, I can't wait for next year!!

Bryce Canyon

2010-09-25T15:45:00.000-07:00

This summer we went to Bryce Canyon with the Jones side of the family. We had never been before, so we were pretty excited to go.

It was such an incredible place. I had heard a lot about it and seen a lot of pictures, but I don't think you can really appreciate the beauty until you have been there and seen it for yourself. We went on some of the most amazing hikes and saw some pretty spectacular views.

The kids were real troopers they went on a some really long hikes with us and didn't even complain when we woke them up at 5:30am to go and see the sunrise.

We had an amazing time. I have to thank Alisa for coming up with the idea and making all of the arrangements.

Here are some of my favorite pictures.

Spudman 2010

2010-08-16T14:53:00.000-07:00

The Spudman this year was extremely exciting to say the least! After 5 years of running, swimming and biking his butt off (literally). Sean finally potatoed! He came in 3rd in his age group and finally, finally got a Spudman trophy.

Sean trained this year with two of his good friends from work. His goals were to (in order) be in the top 3 in his age group, be in the top 20 overall, run the race in 2:05 or less, and beat both of his friends' times.

Here is a picture of Sean and Adam before the swim. They started in the same wave.

This is Sean at the bike transition. And Adam! That was NOT supposed to happen. Sean is a faster swimmer and thought for sure he would be long gone before Adam got out of the water.

Here is the best picture of all. Sean is in the front, and if you look really closely you can see Adam not far behind him.

They both came in 3rd in their age group. Sean came in at 2:03:32, and Adam came in at 2:03:46!

Although he beat Adam, he did not beat Todd. Todd is in a younger age group, and his time was better than both of theirs (2:02:44). Here is a picture of Sean, Todd and Adam's brother after the race.

Unfortunately, Katie and I were witness to a horrible accident during the race. We were standing watching the bikes come in with Adam's and Todd's wives (who are sisters) and their children. A female biker came around the corner and crashed right in front of us. Adam's wife was the first one to run over and see if there was anything she could do. She came back to get something to wipe up the blood and then ran back out. In the course of running back to help, she was struck by a bike and knocked unconscious. Her sister ran out to help her while Katie and I stayed with their children.

Luckily, the ambulance was right there and the paramedics were able to get her to the hospital quickly. The minute Adam finished the race, he got on his bike and rode straight to the hospital. A few hours later she was flown to IHC in Salt Lake and later that day we found out that her skull had been fractured in two different places. She is out of the hospital now and expected to make a full recovery.

I have never witnessed anything like that before and hope that I will never have to again. It has taken me a while to even be able to talk about it. Of course I am leaving out a lot of details, like the amount of blood on the scene and the fact that I actually thought that the impact had killed her.

It has really made me realize how precious life is. In the blink of an eye everything can change. I find myself cherishing all the moments I spend with my family and telling them I love them constantly.

Sean has been so good to comfort me through all the tears and to listen to me talk through it.

I am so proud of him for getting a trophy this year. I may even forgive him for spending all that time away from me while he was training. :)

Dixie

2010-07-16T14:41:00.000-07:00

At the end of June, Sean and I went down to Dixie with Cottonwood's girls soccer team. They needed a mom in each condo, so I volunteered along with another lady named Diane. Since Sean has been helping to train the girls this summer, the coach asked if he could come down with me.

Although we have been to St. George quite a few times, it was never in the middle of summer and never when the temperature was over 100 degrees every day. Needless to say, it was very, very hot!

We had 18 girls to take care of. We split them up into two different condos and were responsible for breakfast, lunch, dinner and transportation.

They had two games each day. Luckily they only lasted an hour, so we were able to get the girls back into some air conditioning pretty quickly.

On Wednesday, their coach took them to the Pizza Factory for lunch.

I threw in this picture to show you the bread sticks. If you have never tried these beauties, you are missing out. (Insert image of Sean rolling his eyes.) They were so amazing, seriously, I have never tasted a more delectable piece of heaven. I am not going to admit how many I ate, but it was a lot!

Thursday they were each given a movie ticket and since Eclipse had just come out, there was really no question what movie they wanted to see.

The girls played really well and won most of their games during the week. Friday night they had an all-star game where each high school team got to pick a player to go and play in the game. They all voted and Katie was picked, she was pretty shocked and extremely excited.

Before the game they got some paint and decorated their faces with Katie's name.

I have to admit, it was pretty exciting sitting in the Hansen Stadium watching my daughter play soccer. I have to keep reminding myself that she isn't even 16 yet and I still have a good 3 years before she leaves me.

After the game we went back and had banana splits to celebrate.

It was an exhausting week, but I had the time of my life. There was very little drama, and it was so much fun getting to know all the girls a little better. Diane and I worked our tails off feeding, cleaning and chauffeuring. We would fall into bed exhausted every night. I can't think of a better way to spend a week of vacation and have already signed up to do it again next year!

May and June

2010-07-05T17:49:00.000-07:00

The end of the school year kind of snuck up on me and now summer is almost half-way through!

Spring soccer season was nothing short of a nightmare. It rained so much that 90% of their games were canceled. One would think that that would be cool for a stressed-out, over-worked mom, and while it was cool that I got to spend a few rainy evenings at home, it was NOT cool when it came time to make up the games. For almost 3 weeks straight we had a soccer game scheduled for every single night!

Here is a picture of Katie's leg when all was said and done. You can't see it very well, but her ankle is swollen and she has bruises from the tips of her toes to her upper thigh!

She not only had her games, but Sean double-rostered her so she could play on his team too, she literally had 5 games one week!

Next on the agenda was a trip to Cedar City for the Summer Games in early June. Sean took Courtney's team down and recruited a few of Katie's teammates to go with. Katie is on a Premier team, so her and her friends have no problem playing with girls a few years older than they are.

We rode down with Courtney and one of her best friends Maddie. Here are a few pictures from the 4-hour ride.

We had some very exciting games.

The girls played their hearts out and won every single game. It was very exciting to go to the finals and play in the Eccles Coliseum. We won 2-1 even though the ref made a horrible call on Katie's breakaway! Sean was "Justifiably pissed off!" That is what he yelled at the ref anyway. It has become one of Katie's favorite sayings.

Sean has worked so hard with his team, it was so good to see them get the gold.

Boston

2010-05-13T18:38:00.000-07:00

Sean called me up a month ago and told me that he had to go to Boston on a business trip. The minute that was out of his mouth, I informed him that I was going with him. He has been trying for years to get me to go to Boston with him, so he was pretty excited.

I flew in Friday after all the meetings were over. Sean met me at the airport where we caught a shuttle to our hotel. The driver asked if we were going to go to a Red Sox game. Sean told him no, that we had not planned on it. I looked at him and said, "That would be kind of fun, we should go." Sean was totally shocked that I would even think about going to a sporting event on my vacation. I am not really a sports fan (unless my kids are playing). It was one of the highlights of our trip!

We had a blast! I don't even like baseball and it was fun. I am not sure if I had more fun watching the game or watching all the crazy Red Socks fans. I was lucky enough to have this little jem sitting next to me.

She was crazy drunk, AND a Yankees fan. I spent the first half of the game afraid that she would spill her beer on me. Of course the second she finished it she promptly went and got another one. Luckily she downed the second one pretty quickly and was extremely excited that the Yankees won.

We only had two and a half days to get everything in. My calves are still hurting from all the walking we did.

We went on a Harbor Tour

A Duck Tour

We toured Paul Revere's home and the USS Constitution

The second night we went to a little Italian Restaurant in the North End called Strega. I had the most amazing meal of my life that night. Risotto Don Pietro, it had arborio rice, chicken, portobello mushrooms and baby spinach. It was to die for.

After dinner, we went to a busy little pastry shop called Mike's Pastry. There were about 60 people in line, but that didn't matter. We ate the desserts before I could get a picture. They were amazing. I love going on vacation!

On Saturday, after walking around all day, Sean decided that he wanted to walk the whole Freedom Trail, starting at the Bunker Hill monument.

We walked up the 294 stairs to a beautiful view of Boston.

When we got back down to the bottom (did I mention that there were 294 stairs?) we went into the little museum to look around. The museum was closing and the guard asked if Sean would help him fold the flag. Just as Sean started to help a guy with the local television station came up and started filming them. It was pretty cool.

It was by far one of the funnest trips we have ever taken. It was a little cold, some times rainy and a lot windy, but we didn't let that stop us. The only thing we missed out on was a bicycle tour. It was just a little too cold for that.

Next time Sean has to go to Boston, I hope it is in the summer, I will definitely tag along again.

Tyler's Birthday

2010-04-21T16:11:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know Tyler ’s birthday was only 2 days after Courtney’s, I also know that it has been almost a month since I blogged last, but I have 2 great excuses. Number 1, (Sean loves it when I number things), soccer season is in full swing. Number 2, our computer crashed AGAIN! Those are good ones, huh?

These past few months have been pretty exciting for Tyler . After months and months and months of searching, he finally found a job! Granted, it is at McDonalds, but he gets a regular paycheck and that is all that matters. He is not too thrilled about it and is still searching, but it works for now.

He turned 19 in March. I am actually okay with having a 19-year-old; I didn’t think I would be and I'm not sure how I will feel when he turns 20. I guess I will let you know in about a year.

Erin got him a huge basket full of fun stuff. She also made him a really cute scrap book.

A few days later Erin asked to him to Girl’s Pref.

They had a great time. They went with a huge group of friends to Boondock’s, and then Chili’s for dinner. After the dance, they went back to Erin ’s to watch “The Proposal” in her backyard.

When asked about his favorite part of the night, his answer was, “Aw, come on Mom!” To which I replied, “ Tyler in 10 years when your kids are reading this blog, they are going to wonder what the most favorite part of your night was!” His answer to that…silence.

Courtney's Birthday

2010-03-29T18:14:00.000-07:00

Courtney turned 17 on the 23th of March.

She was so excited all day long, she kept saying, "Guess what? It's my birthday!", over and over again.

We had to go up to Cottonwood for a soccer fundraiser that night, so she didn't get to open her presents until later that evening.

Katie can't stand to have a picture taken without her being in it.

Courtney got a purse, some new clothes, a princess coloring book, a box of colored pencils, some makeup and... A NEW CAR!!!

She was totally shocked. The big box you see in the first 2 pictures had the key in it. I weighed it down with a heavy brick. Of course when she opened it, she just found another wrapped box, and then another, after opening 5 boxes, she came to a little gift card box that had a ford key in it. Katie started freaking out, saying "No way, no way!" Courtney didn't even believe us. Even when she ran out and saw the car, she still thought we were joking with her. I looked at her and said. "Courtney, I would never do that to you!" She said, "I know you wouldn't, but dad would!" I think she is still in shock.

Walden Farms

2010-03-19T16:22:00.000-07:00

I usually don't post about food, but I have come across an amazing product that I have to share.

I was shopping at Harmons the other day and stumbled across the find of a lifetime. Walden Farms Calorie free salad dressing. Yes, you heard me right - CALORIE FREE! Sugar free, fat free, carb free, gluten free and cholesterol free. You would think it would be taste free, but you are wrong. I bought both the Ranch and Thousand Island. I didn't care much for the Ranch, but the Thousand Island is amazing! They have about 4 different varieties and are a little pricey at around $4 a bottle but they are calorie free!

I got onto the website http://www.waldenfarms.com and was amazed at all the calorie free products they have. Including a peanut spread and strawberry jam that I am dying to try.

Anyway, for those of you who love salads, and are watching your calorie intake, you will love this.

Happy salading everyone!

The Last Permit

2010-02-08T13:03:00.000-08:00

It is kind of sad to think that my baby just got her Learner's Permit.

It seems just like yesterday she was falling into tables, tripping on the sidewalk, and getting stitches.

Pretty scary to think she will now be behind the wheel.

Luckily she has outgrown her clumsiness. In fact, having had to sit through us teach Tyler and Courtney how to drive, she is really quite good.

If you are wondering why she has her fingers over her picture, it is because her father told her that he would give her $5 if she pulled a funny face. She got the $5... Let's just hope that picture doesn't end up on her permanant driver's License!

GTI

2010-02-08T12:10:00.000-08:00

Courtney took a Medical Terminology class from the GTI (Granite Technical Institute) last semester.

When she grows up she wants to be a Pediatric Nurse.

I think she will make a wonderful nurse, she just needs to get past the nausea she feels every time she sees blood, or gets poked with a needle. (She actually passed out the first time she had to have an IV.)

She also has a very tender heart.

We were sitting at Desert Star this past weekend watching the play Twi-lite. Courtney told us a story about the last time we were there. She said that she looked over a few tables and saw an elderly couple, the man reach into his coat pocket and pull out a mint and handed it to his wife. She said that it made her cry because it was cute. Sean and I looked at her like she was just a touch on the CUCKOO side and then promptly burst into laughter because she was actually crying AGAIN just relating the story to us.

Anyway, on the last day they handed out awards.

The Dean Vaugh Perfection award was for passing the final test with 100% accuracy. 350/350!! Yes, that is 350 Medical terms that she had to memorize!

CTE was another test she took, she had to get above 80%, she got a 94%.

The last award was a test they had to pass from SLCC she had to get above an 80%, she got a 98%.

October - December

2010-01-02T10:52:00.000-08:00

It has been so long since I blogged last, I almost forgot my password. lol. Not really, but it was close. I apologize to my 10's of followers, I have been getting grief for not blogging more often.

October went by a little too fast for me, before I knew it, it was Halloween. The Spooktacular is always a fun event. Here is a picture of all the young women and leaders. Ketchup and Mustard was my favorite. I want your costume Karli!

James and Courtney went to Monster Mash and dressed up as "Genie and The Little Mermaid". Do not ask how they got James that blue. His mother is very creative!

November was a pretty exciting month. It started with the girls high school soccer banquet.

They always have a nice dinner, slide show, and awards. Katie got All Region 2nd Team. Pretty impressive considering she is just a freshman.

Tyler and Erin went to Bingham Ball and had a great time.

I am always excited when the end of November draws near. Katie's favorite restaurant is Texas Roadhouse, and that is where she picks to have her birthday dinner every year.

Katie turned 15 on the 22nd.

Here she is showing her Batman bag that was stolen the next day.

Oh, and here she is showing off her new touch screen phone... Yeah, that lasted for 3 days before it was broken.

At least she still has her "Twilight" books.

That night Tyler and Brandon's Court of Honor was held. I was really glad they were able to have it together. The only other Court of Honor I had been to was my brother's when I was 10 so I didn't know what to expect, but I was very impressed with the whole night. Thanks to all who helped put it together, especially Bro. Dallimore.

We rounded off November with a soccer tournament to Vegas.

December was full of lots of parties, lots of shopping and lots of fun. Here we are on Christmas Eve. I think our new tradition is to spend it eating my favorite food, chinese.

For a guy who has the flu, he still looks pretty handsome.

Grandma, I promise to blog more! :)

August and September

2009-10-17T09:07:00.000-07:00

Needless to say, I took a little break from my blog. I have been super busy this Fall season.

Courtney and Katie both made Cottonwood's soccer team. They had an amazing year. Their coach said it was one of the best teams he has ever coached. They won 9 games, lost 2 and tied 1. They ended up 2nd in their region, but lost to Layton in the first playoff game.

It was so great to watch them play on the same team this year. They both made Varsity. Here is one of Katie's amazing goals.

Tyler and Erin are still "going out", luckily she hasn't come to her senses yet. She got about 10 inches cut off her hair, so I made them pose for a picture.

Tyler finally got a job. He is working in the pizza kitchen at Desert Star Theater, and he absolutely loves it. A couple of weeks ago he purchased his first car. He was so excited when the title came in the mail with his name on it.

Katie finally got her braces off! Miracle of all miracles.

What a cutie!

James had to have surgery on his shoulder. He hurt it during a football camp this summer, and then hurt it worse in the second game of the season. Hopefully it will be healed by next year, that is if he doesn't fall down any more stairs! lol

Courtney is taking sign languarge and one of her favorite pastimes is drawing hands. In case you can't read hand drawn sign language, this says, "Courtney loves James".

As for me, I decided to go on the HCG diet and I lost 15 pounds! It was hard, but well worth it.

Hopefully things will slow down a little now that soccer season is over. Not that soccer season is ever over, they start practicing next week for the Turkey Shoot in Vegas :)

The Cruise

2009-07-16T16:45:00.000-07:00

As you can tell from my last post, Disneyland was awesome. I guess the third time really is a charm! I kept getting deja vu every time I walked past a bathroom, or a street that I remembered from our last trip. Every time I felt that way, I would get a huge smile on my face and announce to everyone, "This is so much fun!"

Courtney had bunion surgery 2 weeks before we left, so she was in the wheelchair this time. It was actually pretty sweet, we only had a 3-4 minute wait for most of the rides!

Sunday we drove to Hesperia and spent the day with my sister Trish and her family. Monday morning we drove down to San Diego, met Mike and his family and then boarded the ship.

First stop was Tiffany's to have a little lunch and then it was off to the pool.

They spent hours trying to push each other off this board.

There were tons of activities for the kids. Tyler and Andrew loved to play with the giant chess set.

I loved going to dinner. It was like going to a fancy restaurant every night where the food was delicious and free!

Here is the way all my dinners started:

One night, the servers pulled Jess, Andrew, and Bev up to dance with them.

Alisa has a sweet camera and got some great pictures, luckily she shared her photos with me.

Tuesday was a fun day at sea and Wednesday was a fun day in Cabo San Lucas.

The beach was beautiful, I could have stayed there all day.

We played for hours.

Mike is a master barterer. He speaks fluent spanish and the deals he got for us were pretty amazing. After talking for a good 30 minutes, we all boarded a boat and went parasailing. Thanks Mike, but you are probably going to have to accompany us whenever we go on vacation now ;)

Thursday was another fun day at sea. Friday we docked in Ensenada, it was a far cry from Cabo, but once again Mike worked his magic and we all went to the blow hole and did some shopping!

Sean was actually pretty good at bartering too. He doesn't speak as fluently, but he also doesn't take no for an answer.

We got some great deals. Do you like my New York hat?

Tyler was very proud of his purchases.

Mmmm... fish tacos!

By Friday night, we were all exhausted, and a little sad that our cruise was coming to an end. Sean and Courtney had to get in some karaoke before we left. They sang Twisted Sister's "Were not gonna take it".

We played one last game of cards, and stuffed our faces one last time.

It was so great having my kids to myself. No cell phones, not texting, no friends. They showed some signs of withdrawls, but luckily they all survived. This was one of the funnest vacations that we have ever been on. I am so glad Mike and Alisa were able to come with us. Hopefully more members of the family can come next time. Courtney graduates in two years, so start saving!

Disneyland

2009-07-14T23:14:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess named Julie (okay, she wasn't really a princess, but in this story she is). When Princess Julie was 4 years old, her parents took her and her brothers and sisters to Disneyland. Sadly, since she was so young, she had no memory of this wonderful place.

Princess Julie grew and grew and grew... stop laughing. When she was 19 years and 11 days old, she married a funny prince named Sean. They had 3 cute kids.

Princess Julie and her funny prince saved all their extra gold for years and years. The day finally arrived when they had enough gold to take their cute kids on a family vacation to Disneyland.

The night before their adventure began, Princess Julie started feeling sick. The next morning when the princess awoke, she was more sick than she had ever been in her whole entire life! She boarded the plane, and 3 agonizing hours later she was in Disneyland. The poor princess was so sick, she couldn't even go on any of the rides.

She was very sad.

Her funny prince was very mad.

Hours later, her funny prince finally realized how sick she really was. He quickly went and rented a chariot (wheelchair) for her, and that is where she spent the rest of that miserable day, praying for a quick and painless death.

Years went by and then one day, the princess' oldest cute kid graduated from high school. The funny prince thought it would be great to take the family on a cruise and celebrate this wondrous occasion. To start out their vacation he decided to take his princess, once again, to Disneyland. So they packed up their cute kids and on the very day that the princess turned 39 years old, they spent a glorious, fun-filled day at the happiest place on earth!

The princess was very happy.

Her funny prince was very happy too.

He even gave her a kiss on the cheek!

And they all lived happily ever after.....

THE END

Camping at Woodland

2009-07-14T17:28:00.000-07:00

At the end of June we decided to tag along with Sean's brothers and go camping. It had only been a week since girl's camp, so I was a little hesitant, but it was one of the only weekends we had available for the rest of the summer, so we couldn't pass it up.

We went to the Camperworld in Woodland. I love going up there, my mom was borned in Francis. (Lol, I had to throw in a little "Heber" humor.) I love driving through the little town and seeing the ancient houses and barns that are about to fall over.

I'm not really a huge "camper", but when there is grass, shade, showers, a trailer and a swimming pool, you can count me in!

We even got to take our Pam.

My favorite part of camping is sitting around the campfire and roasting hot dogs and marshmallows. Unfortunately we were lacking in our fire-building skills. The guys kept blaming it on the wood. I tried to pull out my 3 hour burning log, but they wouldn't let me. Eventually Jeremy got a pretty decent fire going.

Mike sure does love his older brother.

Alisa, Beverly and Mike

Courtney and Andrew

Bev, Morgan, Taylor and Tyler

Jess and Camryn

At night we would cuddle up in the trailer and watch movies.

During the day we played games and went swimming.

Andrew loves to play chess

Robyn and Camryn

Katie asked Camryn to smile at the camera, the sun was in her eyes, but she did her best. What a cutie.

We had such a great time. My kids LOVE their little cousins. It was so beautiful up in the mountains. I found myself wishing we could have stayed a little longer.

Young Women's Camp

2009-06-19T17:32:00.000-07:00

Camp this year was cold, wet, and muddy -- and we a blast.

It was a nice, sunny day as we pulled out of my driveway on Wednesday morning.

Look at how beautiful, warm, dry and clean we all are.

It was a fun ride up and would have only taken 2 hours if SOMEONE would have pulled out the map and watched for the exit while SOMEONE ELSE was driving :)

Luckily we were able to set up camp before the first downpour began. It would rain for a few hours and then stop for a few hours, and then rain for a few hours... you get my point.

The Stake had the girls paint picnic tables for their service project.

In between the storms, we made a lot of fun crafts,

ate some REALLY good food,

brushed our teeth with ashes,

(notice there are no leaders in these pictures)

made a few important phone calls,

played "Mafia" around the camp fire (sorry Bro. Dresser, no hard feelings about your multiple deaths, right?)

and laughed until we cried!

Each ward had to come up with a skit. We were given a bag of random props from another ward and had to incorporate them into our skit. The girls decided to make up a song and duct tape the props to themselves. It was pretty dang funny.

Our skit was the best. We had the most laughs and the loudest applause - not that it matters or anything, but we did.

Jana and Amy totally rock! We had so much fun laughing and talking all day.

Jenn was only able to come up and spend Thursday night with us (she's no dummy).

Saturday came and it was finally time to pack up and go home.

I can't even begin to tell you how much I love our Young Women. The girls were so great; I didn't hear one complaint the whole time we were there. Jana and Amy are the best, there's nothing like hanging out with your girlfriends 24/7. I can't wait for next year!

Camp photos

Graduation

2009-06-19T16:32:00.000-07:00

Tyler graduated from high school on Friday, June 5th, 2009.

I had mixed emotions waiting for this day to come. On one hand, I was very excited for him to leave high school behind and start college life. On the other hand, I struggle with the fact that he is an adult, knowing I need to loosen the (desperately tight) hold that I have had on him for the last 18 years.

I had to ask Tyler at least once a week if he was sure that he was going to graduate. He would just roll his eyes and say, "Yes MOM!" And then give me the famous exasperated look that always follows what he thinks is a stupid question.

It was definitely weird to see him in his graduation gown.

The school put on a very nice program.

And then it was over.

The proud parents

The proud grandparents

The proud girlfriend

Let's just call this one... May

2009-06-18T14:37:00.000-07:00

I thought that life got easier and you had more free time once your children got older...I guess that's what I get for thinking.

Here is where I spent most of May:

Cottonwood

USA U-16

USA U-14

Tyler still has a girlfriend - I know, shocking. I tell him at least twice a week that he better not do anything to make Erin break up with him. I really like her.

Mother's Day the girls baked me a heart shape cake and put trick candles on it. They were my first trick candles ever!

Funny story... You know how there is a picture on the back of the cake box showing the ingredients??

Well, Katie didn't read the part where you put three eggs in if you are doing the whole egg recipe, OR 3 egg whites if you are doing the egg white recipe. She added 3 whole eggs and 3 egg whites. As much as I don't like eggs, the cake was still pretty tasty! LOL

We celebrated Sean's grandparents 65th anniversary. We flew Sean's youngest brother Ben in from Alaska and surprised everyone that night.

It had been about 4 years since we had seen him. Everyone was shocked when he came strolling in.

Jeremy, Mike, Ben and Sean.

Have I mentioned that Sean doesn't like to be touched by other men? No? Have I mentioned that Mike and Ben like to touch Sean because they know Sean doesn't like it?

Here is Ben trying to get another little touch in. Notice Sean is ready to take off running...good times, good times :)

(Yes, Ben is aware that his belly is poking out and his zipper is undone. That's just Ben. Needless to say, we had a lot of laughs while he was here.)

Historian

2009-04-26T16:22:00.001-07:00

Katie came home a few weeks ago and announced that she was going to run for Historian at her Jr. High. I thought it was a great idea, I would never have dared to do something like that when I was her age, I am so glad she is such a confident person.

The campaigning began. Courtney came up with a perfect slogan for Katie to use -- JUST DO IT.

We made fliers, posters, and even a stamp.

Unfortunately she was up against one of her very good friends - Erin. They have been friends since we moved into this neighboorhood.

The Primary votes were cast, both Katie and Erin made it through.

That meant we had two days to put a video together. The video was due on Monday and would be shown to the 7th and 8th graders during an assembly the following day.

Katie worked hard all weekend. With a lot of help from friends and family, this is what she came up with.

Everyone loved her video, especially the crazy runner at the end.

Katie felt pretty optimistic, but wasn't quite sure if she was going to win. On Thursday, parents were invited to a reception where we found out who the winners were.

Sadly Katie didn't win. I was very impressed with the way she handled it. I could tell she was dissapointed, but there were no tears. Most of the kids that didn't make it opted to go home after the reception, but Katie wanted to stay at school and go to the assembly so she could congratulate Erin.

It was such a great experience for all of us. I am so proud of her!

18

2009-04-11T11:08:00.000-07:00

16 was no big deal, 17 I was sorta okay with, but 18. . . . . 18?!? Come on!! I just can't accept that I have a child that old.

Sean and I were married for about a year and a half before Tyler was born. Sean was a little hesitant to have a child before he graduated from college. I, on the other hand, thought it was a great idea. So a little begging and pleading (there may have been some tears in there too), followed by a little batting of the eyes . . . and . . . voila.

My doctor used to tell me that I was "boringly normal". I had no problems with my pregnancy and 9 months later Tyler was born weighing exactly 7lbs. That didn't last long . . .

He was a very chubby baby, but he quickly out-grew it.

Tyler was such a great kid, and boy did he love to talk. When he was little, I was worried that he had a stutter. I soon realized that he always had so much to say and his little brain just couldn't process his thoughts fast enough for the words to come out right.

No worries anymore though, Tyler is incredibly intelligent, you might not be able to tell by his grades at school, or by the stupid teenage trouble he gets into, but his CRT and ACT scores are amazing!

Tyler has really had a big change in his attitude lately. We came home from his game the other night and I asked him if he would help Katie with her algebra. I would have helped her, but polynomials and I just don't get each other. Anyway, he sat right down -- and for the next 45 minutes proceeded to patiently help her. That might not be a big deal at your house, a brother kindly helping his little sister with homework... but at my house it is HUGE!

His 18th birthday was not terribly exciting. He went to school, and then had a soccer game to go to. He didn't even get home until 8pm. He owed us quite a bit of money, so he decided to pay off some of his debt instead of getting gifts.

Luckily Aunt Trish was in town and gave him his favorite treat.

He got a few clothes,

a caligraphy set,

a homemade ice cream cake,

and a great big kiss from his favorite mom!

I sure love my boy!

Courtney's Surprise Party

2009-04-03T07:16:00.000-07:00

I always throw my kids a surprise party when the turn 16. I am so proud of myself for actually surprising them. I was so worried with both of them that they would find out, but so far I have been very successful.

Of course it involved making up a reason to ground them from their phones, then writing all their friends numbers down and sending out mass texts to everyone.

Funny story... Courtney tried to be sneaky, she took her sim card out before she gave us her phone, then put it in an extra phone so she could still text. She didn't think she deserved to be grounded (which was probably true, I never have to ground her from her phone, but I was desperate). We never would have found out, but I needed her friends numbers, you can't get numbers off the phone without a sim card. We had a good laugh over it after the party.

It took months to plan. I would ask Courtney what she wanted to do for her birthday and she would tell me who she wanted to invite and what kind of food she wanted, thinking that she would have to plan it all herself.

I called Courtney's best friend Kayla and asked if she would help me out. She was very excited about it and told me that she would take her to a movie.

I was so excited when Friday morning arrived. I spent the whole day cleaning, decorating, cooking, and anxiously waiting for it all to begin.

It worked out perfectly, Courtney's friends all arrived on time and hid behind the door for her to come in. Courtney was totally shocked when she walked through the door. She was very confused and walked around in a daze for about 15 minutes until it hit her that I had thrown her a party.

Here is Courtney still in shock.

She has such great friends.

Here is my favorite decoration. We are all huge fans of "The Office". Courtney has even named her dog after Pam the receptionist. So a few months ago when they aired the episode where Dwight was in charge of making the birthday banner, I decided it would be funny to create a replica. (Only fans of "The Office" will appreciate this.)

Most of the girls from Courtney's soccer team came. Here is a picture of Jessica planning their defense (with tomatoes) for the game they had to play the next morning.

We had a fire going in the backyard,

pool downstairs,

and, of course, a ton of food!

Courtney's favorite foods: Hawaiian Haystacks, Pasta Pepperoni Salad, Costco's Mango Peach Salsa, and Pineapple Upside Down Cake.

I had so much fun planning this, I love to see my kids happy and having fun.

Happy Sweet 16 Courts!

Sweethearts

2009-03-20T15:13:00.000-07:00

"What?" You ask. "Another dance so soon?"

"Yup!"

On February 14th, Courtney, James, and a group of their friends went to Sweethearts.

Instead of going out to a restaurant to eat, the girls decided to make dinner themselves and have it at our house. I whole-heartedly agreed, greedily thinking of all the money I would save.

My luck was holding out when James announced that he had two rugby games to play that day. There was nothing left to do but cancel the "day" activity. (Unfortunate for them, very fortunate for my wallet!)

We spent the day curling hair, painting nails,

baking, decorating,

cleaning and cooking.

Luckily Courtney's friend Kristin came to help.

Big brother Tyler even got in on the action. We asked him if he would google a creative way to fold dinner napkins.

This is what he came up with...

Have I mentioned how much I love Google?

When 6pm rolled around, we were exhausted, but ready.

The dinner turned out great, everything was delicious.

After the dance, it was back to our house for cake and ice cream

and a few rounds of Mafia.

Courtney got the dance pictures back today.

Dress $19.99
Shrug $14.99
Pictures $30.00
Dinner and dessert $30.00

Smile on my daughters face...

Priceless!

Scrumptious Swiss Oats

2009-03-12T18:34:00.000-07:00

I am usually not one to blog about food, but I have become addicted to Swiss Oatmeal, so I thought I would share.

In my quest to cook and eat healthier food, I came across a television program one morning called Zonya's Health Bites. Zonya was a little over the top personality-wise, but she was cooking something that looked pretty healthy, so I decided to keep watching. We put her on Tivo and, although she is slightly annoying at times, she cooks some great, healthy meals. On one episode she made Swedish Oatmeal.

One Serving:

2/3 C. Old Fashioned Cooking Oats
2/3 C. Skim Milk
15 raisins (I just grab a small handful - Sean has to count out
exactly 15)
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. honey

Stir together and refrigerate for up to 2o minutes, or overnight. (Zonya put fresh fruit in hers, I haven't tried that yet, I am a raisin lover!)

I had never eaten oatmeal that was not cooked in some form or another, so I was very skeptical. We made it that night and had it for breakfast the next morning and the rest is history. Katie (my pickiest eater) even likes it. She came home from school the other day and said that she liked it because she was usually starving by
3rd period, and since she has been eating this oatmeal, she hasn't been hungry until lunch time.

I make it so much that I have started keeping the dry ingredients in separate containers in my pantry. At night, I will just add milk and honey, put it in the fridge, and we have breakfast waiting for us in the morning.

If anyone is interested, Zonya's Health Bites is on Saturday mornings at 10am, on Channel 11.

Jr. Prom

2009-03-05T19:10:00.000-08:00

Courtney and James went to Jr. Prom a few weeks ago.

Apparently Prom is an all-day event now. In the olden days (1987ish), you would go out to a nice restaurant, then go to the dance and then go home.

That is not the case anymore.

They started off the morning at the bowling alley. I sent my camera with Courtney so she could take some pictures. I have to say that I was a little disappointed with her picture taking skills.

Believe it or not, these were the best ones she took. I made her promise to take some action photos next time.

After bowling they went back to Bryan's house to hang out and play games.

Kristin and Courtney went to get their hair done, and then it was a race to get them back to Bryan's house for a photo shoot before dinner. Bryan's mother is a photographer and took some amazing pictures of them. I am still waiting to get my hands on the CD she promised to make, so I will post the pictures as soon as I get them. Here are the ones that I took:

They make such a cute couple.

They had a very nice dinner at one of Courtney's favorite restaurants, Texas Roadhouse, and then it was off to the dance.

They all had such a great time. I have to thank James' parents for driving them that night. Sean and I had a work party at our house and were not able to help as much as I would have liked.

The Eagle Scout Project

2009-03-01T18:47:00.000-08:00

For Tyler's Eagle Scout Project, he decided to make marker holders for Primary Children's Medical Center.

First, Tyler and his dad had to cut the pieces of wood, then he invited some friends over to sand

and drill.

We had a combined activity where the young men and young women painted and decorated them with stickers.

Here is Tyler quickly sending off a text before getting started.

The kids did a great job -- I was really impressed with their creativity.

Here is a finished picture of Tyler's marker holder:

We took them up to Primary Children's Medical Center last week. We ended up with 24 marker holders in all. Marie, the director, was very excited to see that we had so many.

A big thanks to all those who donated their time and money in helping put this project together. Especially our Scout Master, without him, I am not sure we could have accomplished any of this!

2009-02-04T17:22:00.000-08:00

Between a leak in the kitchen ceiling,

new tires on my car,

Courtney being asked to Jr. Prom,

dealing with a son who is about to turn 18,

construction and moving into a new area at work,

indoor soccer,

and helping my son complete his Eagle project,

sometimes it doesn't seem like I even have time to breath.

Then something happens that makes it all worth while. I was in my bathroom early one morning getting ready for work and I flipped my mirror around and this is what I saw.

"Mom, I love you so much, Katie"

I don't think she will ever know how much that meant to me! I never knew that raising teenagers would be this hard or this rewarding!

School projects

2009-01-12T20:03:00.000-08:00

In Katie's English class they have been given the assignment to write a poem about something they have lost.

Here is Katie's poem:

Once I lost something attached to my thumb
When I couldn't find it my mind just went numb
It wasn't a glove or a thimble or such
It had a screen and some buttons I'd touch
It was pink all over and no bigger than a mouse
I probably lost it somewhere in my house
I searched high, I searched low
I searched fast, I searched slow
I searched everywhere I went
I searched everywhere I go
Without my companion I felt so alone
I don't know what I will do if I can't find my phone!

By Katie Jones

______________________________________________________

Courtney's Animal Cell

I was pretty impressed. They used a styrofoam ball cut it in half, covered it in clay and then decorated it with Skittles, pom poms and foam shapes.

Courtney and Mackenzie hard at work.

Courtney's fake smile.

Courtney getting really tired of me taking pictures.

Enough mom!

A funny picture I found after the project was done!

Christmas Day

2009-01-12T18:38:00.000-08:00

So I'm a few days late - 18 to be exact, I've been busy!

Christmas this year was a blast.

Tyler got a (very badly needed) new phone.

Courtney got one of her most favorite things in the whole world - a mirror! (Her big present was a new coat and shoes, bought earlier in the week.)

Katie got a new camera, she is pretty rough on them.

Sean got a soldering iron and spice rack (for his lentils) and I got a nice warm blanket and a heart monitor. We also got a Kindle for both of us, but I use it 90% of the time, so I can't really count it towards one of Sean's gifts.

After unwrapping presents, we headed up to Grandma and Grandpa's to exchange gifts and play with cousins.

Jessica, Tyler, Courtney and Andrew.

Jessica and Katie dancing.

Tyler calling all his friends and telling them about his new phone!

Tyler loves playing grandma's piano.

On the way home we started playing "I'm going on a trip", the game ended at "F" when Courtney said she was going to take a fart. Sean hates that word and does not allow it in our home. Apparently Courtney thought it was okay to say it in the car. Tyler and Katie thought it was hilarious. I should have taken a picture of Sean's face. He did NOT think it was funny!

We usually go up to Heber to my brother's house, but with the storm coming in, we decided to have Christmas dinner at our house.

It was a long day, but filled with tons of fun. Thank goodness it only comes around once a year!

Christmas Eve

2009-01-02T19:53:00.000-08:00

The day before Christmas, my mom took us up to see my Aunt Laverne who is in a care center. (Laverne fell down the stairs when she was a child and hit the back of her head on a coal-burning stove -- she has been living at the center since she was 16.)

As you can tell by her face, she is very animated. She loves to tell us stories about her childhood. Her long term memory is unbelievable. She can tell you where she grew up, the names of all the children in her school class, and the exact year that something happened. Unfortunately, her short term memory is not very good. She couldn't remember any of our names no matter how many times they were repeated.

While we were there, Santa stopped by for a visit. Laverne wasn't very excited to see him.

However, she was excited to see Wilson...

Laverne loves men. Every time we go to visit she has a new boyfriend. This is her latest. She insisted that he come over and talk to her. She repeatedly asked him to get a little closer and give her a kiss, but he pointed out the security cameras and told her that he could lose his job if he was found kissing any girls at work.

We all brought gifts for her. She was the most excited about Michelle's gift - 3 King size bars of chocolate.

It was sad to leave, Laverne started crying when we told her it was time to go. The nurses took over and consoled her as we left. We are so grateful for the loving care she has received over the years. We are not sure how much longer she will be with us, but we know she will have a special place up in heaven when it is her time to go.

After leaving the care center, we decided to stop at Subway for some lunch.

Katie and Courtney love their Aunt Trish!

Oldest to youngest. Trish, Me and Michelle.

We had such a fun time, it has been a long time since we have been able to get together, just us girls.
__________________________________________________________

We like to spend Christmas Eve together as a family, since Christmas Day is usually spent traveling to our grandparents and other relatives. We always try to go out to dinner, this year we decided on one of my favorites - Chinese!

It was delicious!

After dinner it was home to unwrap pajamas and then up to bed, the long awaited day was almost here.

Batmantopia

2008-12-16T18:50:00.000-08:00

Katie has a school project due tomorrow in Mr. Saltas' U.S. History class. Their assignment is, "Make your own colony".

Katie has spent the last few weeks working on it with three other classmates.

The first item on their agenda was to come up with a name. Katie, being the outspoken member of the group (and having a fascination with Batman), came up with Batmantopia.

The next item on the agenda was to come up with a founder. Katie quickly decided on Bruce Wayne.

This is how the story goes:

In 1650, a sailor named Bruce Wayne was on his way to South America when his ship was blown off course. They were shipwrecked on an island that was sunny and pleasant. When they dug into the soil they struck gold. (Imagine that.) Bruce Wayne was so happy that he claimed the land and called it Batmantopia.

I had Katie lay all the papers out on the counter so I could take a picture.

Courtney saw that we were taking pictures, so she had to get in on the action. (She is a very needy child.) Katie is not flipping her off, she is holding her fingers in the shape of an "L", which stands for "Courtney" -- I mean "loser".

This is my favorite ...money. On Batmantopia, their money is in the shape of the batman symbol. The caption at the top of the page says, "The bigger the batman symbol is, the larger amount it is worth."

Here is Katie holding up a picture of their weather. The caption at the top reads, "Climate is sunny, pleasant with average rain fall. The winters and summers are average length." (Once again, Courtney needs to be included.)

I love projects like this. I also love teachers that give the kids in their classrooms the opportunity to use their imagination. I hope Mr. Saltas is ready.

James

2008-12-12T15:54:00.000-08:00

Courtney has a boyfriend.

She has had a boyfriend for a few months now. I guess I was hoping that it was just a phase that she was going through... It's not.

Isn't it illegal for a 15 1/2 year old girl to have a boyfriend? No? Well...it should be!

Not that I don't like James. He is very nice and handsome and very, very, very tall.

I just don't think I am ready for my Courts to grow up yet.

But if she is going to do it anyway, I don't think she could have picked a nicer guy.

The first time he came over he brought me flowers. He really is a sweetheart.

James is a sophmore (no... seriously, he is!) and plays varsity football and basketball. His parents are super-nice, too. In fact Courtney is with his mom right now at a "girls night out".

Hopefully having a boyfriend means that she will start keeping her room clean. I'm not sure how, but wouldn't it be cool.

Thanksgiving Weekend

2008-12-02T19:27:00.000-08:00

This year we had Thanksgiving at my sister Michelle's house.

It was delicious. My mom makes the best stuffing in the whole world!

We didn't have a whole lot of time to visit because we had to leave for a soccer tournament in St. George

Emily getting hugs from Nana.

Sean and Ryan were able to squeeze in a little football watching.

This is my little sister Michelle and her family.

Here is my brother Steve and his family, the tall one is Landon. His older brother, Justin, is standing next to him with his girlfriend.

We had a few minutes to relax...

and then we hit the road.

We got rained on a little while driving down, but the next day the weather was beautiful and sunny. The girls played really well.

We went to a sports bar called "Players" for dinner Friday night. Here is Sean with his team.

Here is Tyler sitting on the sidelines. He kept bugging Pam by pretending to bite her ear. Everytime he did it, she would turn and try to bite his chin. She got him a few times.

Courtney's team ended up losing in the semi-finals, but Katie's team took second.

It's always a little crazy around the holidays and this makes it even more so, but I wouldn't change a thing. I love spending time with my kids and watching them play sports. I am thankful for every minute I have with them.

The Denver Broncos

2008-11-24T16:13:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning, Sean and I flew with Matt and Aimee to Colorado to see the Denver Broncos play the Oakland Raiders. It was the first time Sean had been to a real live NFL football game, so you can imagine how excited he was.

Here we are at the airport waiting for the bus to take us to the Marriott.

That night, Sean and Matt wanted to watch the BYU/Utah football game, so they went and stood in line at ESPN Zone while Aimee and I went shopping.

We found some really great deals. Denver has a walking mall on 16th street that covers 16 blocks, and there are buses that take you up and down the whole length of it.

We only spent an hour, but we sure had a fun time. By the time we got back to ESPN Zone, the boys had just been seated in a booth with their very own TV screen. Aimee and I chatted for the next 2 1/2 hours while they watched their little game.

The big day finally arrived. Matt surprised Sean with a Broncos hat right before the game! He's such a nice guy!

What cute boys.

It was finally time to go, so we piled on our warm clothes and headed for the stadium.

We got to the game 2 hours early, just so we wouldn't miss anything (like the cheerleaders running out on the field).

Here is Sean at a small museum that they have inside Invesco Field.

I had Sean pose for me, even his shoes have the Bronco's colors.

Sean and I before the game started.

These two looked happier than a kid in a candy store.

I have to admit, I am not a huge football fan, but it was pretty exciting to be there with a kajillion Broncos fans, cheering the players on.

It was a beautiful day and the weather was pretty nice until the sun went down, then it got downright cold! Aimee and I had to run down to the sports apparel store to get warmed up.

The Broncos didn't play as well as Sean and Matt had hoped they would. Here is the final score.

We promised the boys that if they were good, we would buy them some cheesecake after the game. That cheered them up a little.

All in all it was a fabulous weekend. Good food, good friends, a little alone time... Maybe the next time we go, the Broncos can pull out a win!!

Happy Birthday Katie

2008-11-24T16:05:00.001-08:00

My baby turned 14 on Saturday.

I feel old!

We had to celebrate her birthday on Friday because we left Saturday morning to go to Colorado with some friends.

Here is Katie with all her presents.

I left her in good hands, Taylor's mom took them to the mall, and then to get a pedicure and manicure.

Bennion Jr. High Volleyball

2008-11-20T22:10:00.000-08:00

Katie made the volleyball team again this year. I am so proud of her, she is such a great athlete. It is so much fun to go back to my old Jr. High and sit in the stands and watch my daughter play. They have had some pretty exciting games this year.

It is a welcome relief from soccer. Not that I don't absolutely love soccer, because I do, I am just saying that it is a nice little break.

For some reason, my camera doesn't like taking pictures in a gymnasium, so they are all a little fuzzy.

Katie's Birthday Dinner

2008-11-20T21:49:00.000-08:00

Every year we celebrate the kid's birthdays by going out to dinner. Katie always chooses Texas Roadhouse! Their rolls are amazing and the honey butter that gets slathered on them is even more amazing.

Katie's friend Taylor came too.

We all had a great time!

Here is Katie listening to Fergalicious on Taylor's phone. She really is a good dancer.

I usually don't lie to my kids, but if she knew she was being recorded then she would have stopped. I also lied and told her that I wouldn't post this on my blog. Hopefully she won't see it, she doesn't check my blog very often.

The Young Women

2008-11-17T18:25:00.000-08:00

As most of you heard on Sunday, our Young Women's Presidency has been through some major changes. I have been called as the Camp Director along with Jana. (I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am to work with her. She is so much fun to be around.)

I am still going to be acting as Secretary for "a little while" as the Bishop put it. Who knows how long that will be, I told Jen that I would stay in as long as they would have me.

There were tears of sadness and tears of joy on Sunday as we said goodbye to the old leaders and welcomed in the new.

Courtney got this great idea to make cookies for the leaders, all those leaving and coming in. We had cookies all over the place.

Luckily she invited Tara and Tierney over to help, along with little sister Katie, we had enough cookies in no time.

They decided to leave their aprons on and put some flour on their faces, just to be funny!

Here are the girls with Ann. We are truly going to miss her and her sarcastic sense of humor. You knew you were always going to have a great time when Ann was there.

And then there's Amy. Luckily she is just "getting a promotion", she is first counselor now. We still had to take cookies to her just to let her know how much we love her!

Here are the girls with Amy D. (Former President). We are really going to miss her. She always had a huge smile on her face and made everyone feel so important!

And here is Jenn. She is such a sweet lady. I am lucky enough to be her visiting teacher and have gotten to know her since she moved in. She is such a friendly person, I am not sure that I have ever met anyone nicer. She is going to make an awesome Young Women's President!

Thanksgiving with the Joneses

2008-11-16T19:08:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving is always celebrated early with the Jones family. We have to do it early because someone (named Sean) always signs his team up for the Soccer Tournament down in St George. The first game is early Friday morning, so we have to leave the day before, which is Thanksgiving Day.

It has actually been this way from day 1. I am not sure Sean, or his brothers, ever spent a Thanksgiving day at home growing up. At least we don't have to go as far as Las Vegas anymore.

Here are Grandma and Grandpa Peel enjoying the Thanksgiving feast.

Robyn, Jeremy and Cameron

Karen and John

Mike and Sean

Katie's birthday is coming up this Saturday, so we celebrated her birthday with her favorite cake - Snickerdoodle. (Notice Mike in the background - he loves to get his picture taken!)

Katie opening presents

I am not sure how Sean ended up on the floor. He will pretty much do anything to get the nieces and nephews to play with him.

Christian couldn't get enough ice cream!

Courtney and her goofy Uncle -- No, she didn't get glasses, those are Mike's, but she sure looks cute in them!

We had a great time, it is so fun to get together with family around the holidays.

Spooktacular

2008-10-31T12:55:00.000-07:00

Every year the Young Men and Young Women in our ward have a Halloween activity for the Primary kids called "Spooktacular". Since I am the secretary in Young Women's, I have had the opportunity to attend and help out for the last few years.

There was cookie decorating.

Coloring

Story telling

and Bingo.

Poor Courtney had to come dressed as a soccer player since she had just finished soccer practice.

There were some really fun costumes. Here is a picture of Amy and I. 70's Babe and Biker Chic.

Biker Chic and Batgirl

Katie, Tyler and TC.

I tried as hard as I could to get Tyler to smile, but every time I turned the camera on him, he gave me this dorky blank look!

He is such a character... remind you of anyone?

Even Tyler and his friends made an appearance. Here are Tyler, Maggie and Brandon coloring.

Brandon and his cute girlfriend Brandy.

We had such a great time. I love being in Young Women's. We have the best girls and leaders, it is so much fun to hang out with them.

Learner's Permit

2008-10-28T03:03:00.000-07:00

Just a warning to all of you who live in the Salt Lake Valley: Courtney just got her learner's permit!

UGH!

Whoever passed the law that lets a 15-year-old child get a learner's permit without ever having stepped foot in a Driver's Ed class needs to be shot!

Courtney looking cute holding her learner's permit and Spider-Man wallet.

Courtney holding her learner's permit and kissing her Spider-Man wallet.

Courtney kissing Pam while holding her learner's permit.

My Three favorites

2008-10-27T19:58:00.000-07:00

I have been tagged twice now, so I thought I'd better get it done. The first time was during soccer season, and I was too busy to get to it -- my friend Jen just tagged me again a few days ago, so here goes...

What are the last three things you purchased?
1. Gas at Costco
2. Corn at Costco (I love Costco corn!)
3. Socks at Costco

What are your three favorite movies?
1. A Knight’s Tale (I am still mourning my Heath)
2. The Count of Monte Cristo
3. The Last of the Mohicans

What are three things you have not done yet?
1. Gone to Hawaii
2. Iron Sean’s dress Shirts
3. Bought vegetables for the baby shower on Wednesday

What are three things you can't live without?
1. My family & friends
2. My cell phone
3. Chocolate and peanut butter together or separate, but mostly together.

What are your three favorite dishes?
1. Ensalada from Bajio, (formerly known as Flauta)
2. Manicotti
3. Any Chinese dish

What are your three favorite TV shows?
1. Survivor
2. The Office (Last week's episode was one of the funniest I have ever seen!)
3. My Own Worst Enemy (My new favorite)

What are the last three places you have traveled to?
1. Florida
2. St. George
3. California

What are your three favorite desserts?
1. Peanut Butter Fudge (Stop laughing Catherine!)
2. Pie (Apple, Cherry. Pumpkin -- any kind of pie will do.)
3. Vanilla ice cream with peanut butter and chocolate swirled into it

What are three things you would buy if money was not an issue?
1. 4 brand new cars with great gas mileage
2. A 2-week cruise to Hawaii with Sean and the kids
3. A speed boat

Batgirl

2008-10-17T09:59:00.000-07:00

Katie has really been into super heroes lately. Mostly Batman, she absolutely loved the latest movie, "The Dark Night".

She has been telling everyone for months that she is going to be batgirl for Halloween. Every time she said it, I would just roll my eyes and think "Good luck with that!"

I took Thursday off so I could spend some long-awaited time with my kids (since they were off of school for UEA). Katie had been telling me about this party that she wanted to go to, but didn't tell me until Thursday morning that it was a Halloween party, and she had to dress up.

So, first thing Thursday morning, we went to the Halloween store. Here is the costume that she wanted. It was $50! Yeah, that wasn't going to happen.

Though she promised to pay me back, and begged and pleaded for me to get it for her, I just couldn't spend that much money on a cheap plastic costume. I finally convinced her to let me make it for her.

So one trip to Savers and the fabric store, $20 and 3 hours later, this is what we came up with.

Not too bad -- a little less shiny, but she got real boots out of the deal! Here are Katie and her friend Taylor before the party.

Friday night and French Toast

2008-10-11T15:56:00.000-07:00

Since we have been so busy this fall, my girls haven't been able to spend a whole lot of time with their friends, so Friday night I told them that they could both have friends over. Courtney and her friends went to the Cottonwood Football game and Katie and her friends stayed home and watched a movie. Around 10:30 the all got hungry, so I fixed them french toast. I fed Katie's friends first and then Courtney's gang showed up not too long after.

I was patiently waiting for them to finish, and go downstairs so we could watch the latest episode of Survivor, but Sean had other ideas. He loves an audience...

Somehow the subject of his "parents" came up and since none of the girls had heard the story of his life growing up in Paragonah, he had to share.

This video is a little over 7 minutes long, he tends to go on and on and on...

Unfortunately I didn't have enough memory for the whole story. His mother was flushed out of the plane's toilet, into the ocean, they didn't find her until years later when they discovered the Titanic. She was miraculously found at the front of the ship, hands in the air (rigor mortis), right where Jack was standing when he yelled, "I'm king of the world!"

By the way, his mother is NOT named Mi'ling and is NOT Chinese, and his father is NOT named Nicko and also NOT Greek.

Sorry Ross and Claudia...

Fall Soccer

2008-10-11T12:07:00.000-07:00

It is finally coming to and end. Okay, not really, but at least it won't be as hectic as it has been for the last 2 months!

Courtney loved playing for Cottonwood. Here is how the season started.

Those cute girls!!

I wouldn't have minded so much, but we discovered it at 7am when we were walking out the door to go to girls camp, so we had to clean it ALL up before we left. Sorry Amy, this is why we were late to the clubhouse.

That is the goalie in red, Court almost scorred on this one.

Here is a picture of Charlee and Courtney, they have been playing soccer together for years.

This was one of the first teams they were ever on. The Green Gators!!

Tyler had a pretty good season playing with USA. He still has games until the end of October.

I had to put this photo in, this is a typical Jones photo. I probably have at least one photo of Sean and all his brothers looking like this: tongue out, thumb tucked in and super funny face!

Here is a picture of Tyler and his new grlfriend Cassie before Homecoming.

Why do they have to grow up so fast? It's not fair!

Katie had an awesome year. Bennion ended the season undefeated and then lost the first playoff game in a shoot-out, it was a heart breaker. The team was so upset.

Katie's last USA game was today, and thank goodness for that! It is getting cold out there. Here are pictures from a game she played a few weeks ago in Layton.

I just had to add this one. I know you can't see her very well, but two seconds after this picture was taken, she scored. Here she is going around there defender to set up the shot.

She is so awesome!

A few seconds

2008-09-25T15:10:00.000-07:00

I finally have a few seconds to sit down and blog.

I am not sure that my life has ever been this crazy. When I do get to come home after work, I am home long enough to put a load of clothes in the washer, start them, grab something to eat and then run out the door. The only reason I have a second now is because my sheets are still wet!

The kids are having a great soccer season, Katie's Jr. High team (the Bennion Bobcats) have crushed every team they have played, it will get more exciting when they go into the playoffs. Her USA team is really fun to watch. Last night in Layton they tied in the last few seconds of the game -- it was a nail-biter. Courtney is loving playing for Cottonwood. She has met some really fun girls, and is looking forward to the Thanksgiving tournament coming up in St. George with her USA team. Tyler is also on a USA team. It's kind of scary to watch 17-year-olds play soccer; they play with a reckless abandon that scares me to death!

Well, the timer on my dryer just went off, so I guess this is it for a while. Katie has Volleyball from 5-6:30 at the church and then we are off to the Corn Maze for our Young Women's activity!

Apparently Sean has plenty of time to blog, he has posted some new entries recently and he uses some pretty big words too, like "cylindrical", so you might want to check it out.

The Reunion

2008-09-06T18:05:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we attended our 20-year high school reunion. They asked us to send in any photos that we had for a DVD they are putting together. Here are a few that I came across.

This is my senior photo. Big hair was in! At least my hair fit in the picture. During the program that night we were asked some trivia questions from 1988. We found out that 40 girls from our senior class had hair too big to fit in their picture!

Here is a picture of me with my good friends Julie and Lisa. Gotta love the blue eyeshadow!

This is Sean and I back when Sean had hair! We were so in love!!

Fast forward 20 years...

They made little activity cards with our senior photo and names on them, so we would remember who everyone was. Thank goodness! There were quite a few people who walked up to me that I didn't recognize until I looked at their name tag.

I met up with a few long lost friends.

Robin, Christine, me, Julia, and Jennifer.

It was so great to see everyone again and catch up with them. It's hard to believe that 20 years have passed since I graduated from high school. All I can say is, thank goodness for straighteners!!

A New School Year...

2008-09-02T19:40:00.000-07:00

The first day of school I always get a picture of the kids on our front porch. When they were in elementary school, I used to take them and get pictures with their friends and in front of the door to their classroom, but those days are long gone. Tyler would be mortified if I ever tried anything like that now, so I am stuck with pictures on the porch.

Did I mention that Tyler is a senior this year? Did I also mention that I am having a hard time with the fact that I have a senior in high school? Well...I am.

Tyler is so excited for this year. He has Auto Mechanics and Auto Body. He talks non-stop about the classes, how cool his teachers are, and his big plans for fixing up our cars. He also has 3 AP classes. With soccer 4 days a week, and working weekends at Red Robin, he will be a very busy boy!

Courtney is a sophmore this year. She was a little nervous to start high school, but she had already made the soccer team and was used to going up to Cottonwood every day. She had already made quite a few friends on the team, so it wasn't that bad. She loves everything about high school, especially the boys. In fact if she wasn't grounded from her phone right now she would be texting her new (boy) friend who keeps asking her if she has a boyfriend.

Can't they just leave her alone for a few more years????

My little Katie Bug is in 8th grade. She was so excited to get back to school she could hardly stand it. She loves being able to see her friends everyday. Her favorite class is Strength Training. When I asked her why, she said, "Because there's this hot guy in it, like gorgeous hot!"

She just made the Bennion soccer team, so the count of soccer games in a week just went up to 9.

The Magic Eraser

2008-08-27T16:29:00.000-07:00

I was googling the other day and came across a great product. I wanted to know what would take lawn mower marks off of vinyl fencing, so I went to google to find out.

One of the first sites that popped up was thriftyfun.com and it said to use the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. I have used the magic eraser before, but only to get scuff marks off of the wall. I had no idea the many uses this cute little white sponge has.

Here are some that were listed: getting hair dye off of forehead and ears, cleaning tarnished silverware, removes soap scum in the tub and shower, removes marker off of cupboards, removes stains on leather seats, purses,etc, and the most intriguing, it cleans your tile floors.

I don't know about you, but my tile floors are the biggest pain to clean. I had a sponge in my drawer, so I decided to see if it really worked.

On the left you will see the sponge after I finished cleaning. On the right is what the sponge looked like before I touched it. I will admit, I probably should have stopped using it when I first noticed the holes, but I am cheap and wanted to get as much use out of it as I could.

Here is my floor after I finished. I was amazed at how much dirt that little sponge picked up. The only time (other than when I first moved in), that my floor has ever been this clean is after hours of scrubbing. It only took about 10 minutes to do this area in front to my cuboards.

Now if I can just get my son to go out and scrub the fence I will be in great shape!

A great movie...

2008-08-22T17:59:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night my friend Jane invited me to see the premier of "The Errand of Angels". Jane's cousin, Erin Chambers, plays the role of Rachel Taylor, a girl who receives her mission call to serve in the Austria Vienna Mission.

The movie portrays the ups and downs of missionary work. It was laugh-out-loud funny in parts, and inspiring in others. It is set in some of the most picturesque places in Austria.

Heidi Johnson wrote the story from her own missionary experiences in Austria. She was there, as well as the Director Christian Vuissa, they both spoke before the film began.

This is such a wonderful movie, I highly recommend that you take your daughters/family/friends and see this film, I can't wait to take my girls.

Girl's Camp

2008-08-19T18:32:00.000-07:00

This year the young women went to Reid Ranch for girls camp. It is a fun little ranch where they host family reunions, youth conferences, or just vacationers.

We arrived Thursday morning and started putting up tents.

After the tents were set up, we went down to the paddle boats.

Then we went horseback riding.

The weather was beautiful during the day. Dana and Roni are awesome camp directors, and had great crafts for the girls to do.

Friday was another full day of fun. My favorite part was the horseback riding, I went every chance I got. It was the first time I have ever been and I couldn't get enough.

Later that night we had skits before our testimony meeting. This is Bryce getting ready for them, (even though he didn't participate).

Rules for the skit: You have to use the words "Band together for personal strength" somewhere in it and it has to be sung to a primary song. Here is the leaders skit, to the tune of, "Saturday is a special day".

I thought the leaders skit was the funniest until Courtney and Tarah's group went up on stage.

We had a very spiritual testimony meeting and then had smores and more fun around the campfire.

We had a fabulous time. I love the women I serve with and the girls are incredible. We even had a lady compliment us on how quiet our girls were at night.

Special thanks to Dana and Roni for all the hard work and planning, and to Bryce and Aric for their great priesthoodness!

Sean's Blog

2008-08-13T03:22:00.000-07:00

Yes, Sean has started a blog.

Let me just start out by telling you that Sean has a -- let's just say "different" sense of humor. I keep telling him that if you have to stop and explain your jokes, then they aren't funny.

Like, youretheblog, or your brain has a blog. What does that even mean?

I have a feeling that his blog is going to be like the time he told me that he was going to start doing one load of laundry every week. Yeah, he put a load of clothes in the washer. Two days later I put them in the dryer, folded them and put them away.

What is that saying? The road to _ _ _ _ is paved with good intentions?

Actually he does quite a bit around the house, I mean, have you seen our basement? That was all him.

(Don't tell Sean, but a lot of times I use reverse psychology on him. The only way I can get him to do something is to tell him that he won't do it. So hopefully he will blog a lot, because he is a pretty funny guy.)

Anyway, here it is if you want to check it out: youretheblog.blogspot.com

Jane

2008-08-09T07:35:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to give a little shout-out to my BFF Jane. (She tells me that she gets on my blog all the time to read my posts.) She called me a few weeks ago and told me that she was moving back to Utah and was getting her old job back with us at the pharmacy. I can't even tell you how excited I am to see her again!

Jane, I know you are going through a hard time right now, but I just want you to know how thrilled Lyn and I are! We are so excited to work with you and hang out again, we talk about you every day! Know that we love you and we are here for you.

The Spudman

2008-08-09T06:45:00.000-07:00

Sean competed in the Spudman again this year, broken tailbone and all. He missed the Wasatch Back and the MS 150, but he just couldn't bear to miss the Spudman. Amazingly enough he made record time on the bike.

I wasn't able to go because I had family in from out of town. I hate to say this, but I am actually glad that I wasn't there. Aimee called around 9am that morning and told me about the swimmer that drowned. It happened right before Matt's heat. She said that it was so devastating to watch them pull the body from the river. I don't do well with that sort of thing.

Thanks to Aimee for getting these great pictures for me! This is Andy, Matt and Sean. Andy's socks got wet, so he had to run without them and got huge blisters on his feet in the process. The blisters popped, and his shoes were a bloody mess. Sean said that he did really well for his first time. Everyone in Matt's heat had to skip the swim because of the accident, but they still got to bike and run.

After watching all the pain Sean went through after the accident, I didn't think he was going to be able to compete in anything this year, and even though I think he is super crazy, I am very proud of him.

The Wedding

2008-08-04T19:45:00.000-07:00

What an incredible week. I don't think I have ever been more stressed out in my whole life.

Luckily everything went well. The desserts that Catherine made were delicious, and the cake looked amazing. All of our hard work paid off.

This is me and my big sister, Trish, before the wedding. (She is actually wearing 7 inch heels in this picture!)

Here is the bride and groom. Mackenzie and Alex. They decided to go with a renaissance theme, her dress was absolutely beautiful.

They wanted a wedding cake in the shape of a castle, and Catherine spent hours decorating it. It was incredible.

Big Al

This is my sister Michelle and her cute family.

This is Katie and my goofy brother Steve. I don't think I have ever taken a serious picture of him!

If you look really close you can see Steve's beady little eyes between Katie and I.

Halfway through the reception we changed clothes and had a little dance party.

Even Sean got a little jiggy with it!

We had so much fun. I was completely exhausted when it was over.

I told Sean on the way home that I would never ever cater a wedding again, then I waited a few seconds and said in a small voice, "Unless they ask me".

One word of advice...

2008-08-02T08:35:00.001-07:00

Don't ever, ever cater a wedding!

Lagoon

2008-07-27T05:10:00.000-07:00

Last week I decided to fly my sister-in-law, Catherine, in from Iowa to help with my nephew's Wedding. She used to own a small catering business out of her home and mentioned in an email that she wished she were here to help me.

On Friday my girls had Bounce Back passes to Lagoon, so Cat and I decided to tag along.

Jessica, Kayla, Catherine, and Courtney

Julie and Catherine

Courtney The Tiger

It was 100 degrees on Friday, so the girls waisted no time getting soaked when we passed the water.

Justina and Katie

By 11pm I was totally exhausted, and my feet hurt a little, ok a lot, but we had an awesome time. Wicked is my new favorite ride, make sure you sit in front!

Silly girls

2008-07-25T07:10:00.000-07:00

The purpose of my blog today is to embarrass my girls.

Just about everyday I come home to find my camera left on the counter, or by the computer. I look at the pictures and find out what my girls have been up to that day.

They love to take pictures of themselves. I came home the other day and this is what I found:

I am not sure why they had to go with orange lipstick...

They are so funny! Oh to be young again!

Google

2008-07-19T01:29:00.000-07:00

As you are reading this, keep in mind that it is 2:30am on Saturday morning and I can't get to sleep. . .

I love Google. (I think I might actually be in love with it, but I am not sure if that is possible - Sean thinks I should marry it.)

I have never considered myself to be "incredibly intelligent". I am smart and all, and when it comes to common sense I totally rock, but ask me to find the square root of a number and I will probably give you my famous "You've got to be kidding me" look. (There is such a thing as square root, right? - Oh, poor Sean)

Anyway...

Now that I have been introduced to Google, I am as smart as the whole world. I don't think there is a day that goes by that I don't say, "Just Google it!" At first Sean would laugh and roll his eyes, but now he just gives me his famous, "Dang it, you're right!" look and walks over to the computer. Seriously, 99.9% of the time we find the answer.

I love to Google during the holidays. Those Google people are so creative with the Google letters. My favorite is Halloween when they dress the letters up in costumes...it is so cute!

Here are some of my recent Googles:

Get nail polish out of carpet -
Amazingly enough, you use shaving cream and windex! It worked wonders and saved me about $500 in carpet replacement cost in my bathroom.

Medication for headaches caused by teenagers -
Okay, I didn't really put "caused by teenagers", but that was the reason.

Square Root -(No comment)

Why does my husband twitch at night? -
Wikipedia said: "In extreme cases, this may be classified as a disorder called periodic limb movement. The person with the disorder will usually sleep through the events. (What they didn't put was, "Your wife usually won't sleep through the events!!" By the way, Sean has an extreme case!)

How do I keep tart dough from shrinking when I bake it? -
I am helping my sister cater my nephews wedding and someone (my mom) suggested to make tarts -- yeah, not a good idea.

Hollywood Connection -
You would think hollywoodconnection.com, but you would be wrong. By the way, they are hiring, so if anyone wants to get a job there, you have to apply in person.

And my most favorite Google ever:

Nikon lens error -
One day I went to turn on my camera and it said "lens error". I was extremely upset because it was fairly new and cost quite a bit of money. I immediately "Googled" it. I sat for 20 minutes searching websites about how it usually costs more to fix the camera than it is worth. Then I came to the bottom of a blog where a woman said that since the camera was broken anyway, she had nothing to lose, so she banged it against the palm of her hand and voila, she turned it on and it was as good as new. I picked up my camera, banged it a few times against the palm of my hand and sure enough, it was fixed.

A few weeks later, my brother-in-law sat at my kitchen table telling me that he had to go and buy a new camcorder because it was giving him a "lens error". I wasted no time telling him my story. He called me a few minutes after he got home to thank me for helping him fix his camera. (I probably saved him a good $400.00. I should start charging for my services.)

The only thing Google doesn't do is tell us where Sean left his keys. I should totally invent a Google that did that. That would be so cool, I would make a gazillion dollars!

Goodnight.

Camping at Coalville

2008-07-16T16:24:00.000-07:00

We went camping this past weekend with Sean's brother Mike and his wife Alisa. Sean's family has a Camperworld membership, and our favorite spot is located up in Coalville. We had such a great time.

Andrew and Tyler.

Katie and Beverly.

Alisa, Jessica, and Katie.

Kayla (Courtney's friend), Courtney and Jessica.

Christian (Kiki)

They taught us a fun new game called "Scum". We played and laughed for hours.

There was a lot of relaxing,

S'more eating,

Swimming, and just plain old fun.

We are very fortunate to have a wonderful place like this to go camping. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Peel who bought the membership years and years ago. It is so much fun for the kids to go with their cousins. Hopefully we wil get to go again before the summer ends!

My Birthday

2008-07-07T15:47:00.000-07:00

First of all I have to thank Courtney and tell her how much I love her. I was so surprised when I got on my blog and saw what she had written. I thank my Heavenly Father everyday for blessing me with my sweet little red head.

My birthday was so fun. It started with gifts... a knife set from the girls, Bissell's Little Green Turbo Brush carpet cleaner, a vacuum packaging foodsaver, and cash!

Then I went to lunch with two wonderful friends, Amy Roberts and Michele Lindsay. We had so much fun, we talked and laughed for hours. After lunch Sean, the girls and I went to see "Baby Mama", it was pretty funny.

Sean had had enough of sitting after the movie, and didn't feel well enough to go watch the fireworks, so I took the girls and went up to Murray Park. (Tyler met us there after he got off of work.)

I love having my birthday on the 4th of July. There are always so many fun things to do and it's a holiday, so I never have to work!

Being 38 is not as bad as I though it would be. I guess as long as I still feel 25, I will be okay!

Girl's Lunch

2008-07-02T21:19:00.000-07:00

Attention all my wonderful girlfriends..If you are interested, Amy Roberts and I are going to lunch Friday, July 4th. Anybody who would like to have a little girl time is invited. Meet at my house at 12:30. We will be going to Bajio and would love for any of you to join us...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

2008-06-29T13:40:00.000-07:00

Hello!
This is Courtney, I'm hacking my mom's blog! :)
Her birthday is coming up (July 4th) so there are a few things I'd like to say. Julie Jones is, in one word, amazing. Do you know how much patience you need to raise THREE teenagers? Well the answer is more than anyone could have! Yet somehow she achieves it and is more patient with us than we deserve.
Ask any one of my friends and they will tell you how often i brag about how cool my mom is! They all agree with me of course, but i bet it gets annoying. She understands my desire to be with friends, and since she knows that my friends are great and that i won't be in danger with them she lets me go places with them all the time. She makes the brest brownies for them!! (inside joke)
There is NOTHING i don't tell my mom! I trust her more than i trust anyone else. I can tell her about everything going on in my life and what I'm struggling with. She helps me with everything and doesn't judge me.
i use the term best friend pretty loosely but my mom is my BEST best friend!!!
When i was born i wouldn't go to anyone but her... that was very smart of me! ha ha jk dad jk! I'm sure that is the reason we're so close. We have the most amazing mother daughter bond.
She was called into young women's as a leader a while ago and i must say it's the best!!! I've gotten to know her in a whole new way and she's gotten to know me better too. The spiritual experiences we've shared have made us so much closer and it still amazes me when she testifies of the gospel. I feel the spirit so strongly and it makes me want so much more to obey and keep the commandments.

You Let Me Know You Love Me

You let me know you love me
In so many different ways.
You make me feel important
With encouragement and praise.

You're always there when I need you
To comfort and to care.
I know I'm in your thoughts;
Your love follows me everywhere.

Thank you for all you've done
And given so generously.
I love you, my wonderful mother;
You're a heaven-sent blessing to me.

By Joanna Fuchs

MOM:
I love you more than words could ever come close to describing. You have always been there for me and you've helped me through all my trials and hardships.
LOVE,
courts :)

Michele84084 is awesome!

2008-06-27T14:06:00.000-07:00

Last night we had a fabulous young women's activity....Yoga Night. Our original yoga instructor couldn't make it, so Michele Lindsey graciously accepted our invitation to come and be our instructor.

She is such an amazing woman. She has never taught a yoga class before, but you would never have know it. She got up there in front of the girls and taught as if she had been doing it for years.

The girls were laughing at first, but she immediately got them settled down, she has such a soft peaceful voice. I don't think I have ever been to an activity where the girls have been so quiet. They got a little giggly towards the end, Courtney mostly, she is not very flexible and the other girls thought it was quite funny.

I have done a little yoga before, but last night I fell in love with it. I don't know if it was because Michele was such an awesome instructor, or because I felt so great after it was over.

Anyway, I highly recommend it to anyone who has not tried. I also nominate Michele to start a neighborhood yoga class! I can't think of anything more enjoyable than doing yoga with all my friends!

Trek

2008-06-24T15:46:00.000-07:00

This year for Youth Conference, the Stake Young Men's and Young Women's Presidencies decided to create their own version of the 'Pioneer Trek'.

They bused us up to a place called Cascade Springs (right above the Sundance Resort).
That is where our adventure started...

The first day was a short 5 miles up the canyon on dirt roads. We were lucky enough to have running water, flushable toilets and a picnic table when we reached our campsite. We were not so lucky the following night.

The next day was a grueling 10 miles on much worse roads. Huge rocks and gravel are not the best surface for traveling by handcart.

In my family (the Baileys) we had Amy Despain, Ruth Ann and myself as the Ma's. Tarah, Kendra, Hillary, and Ludmilla (or Lou as we like to call her), were the girls, along with 4 boys from other wards. Since we didn't have a big strong Pa, we were at a disadvantage, but that didn't stop us from keeping up with all of the other families.

By the end of the second day, two girls had to be taken off of the mountain, one boy had to have an IV, and hundreds of blisters had to be covered. Luckily, Bishop Hutchison and his nurse were there; those two worked overtime taking care of those in need.

The third day was a little scary. What took 5 hours to go up, took 30 minutes to come down. The dirt road we went down was very steep and once again covered in rocks. We had to get sticks and place them against the wheels to act as the brakes and then we tied ropes that had sticks tied to the end of them to hold the cart so it wouldn't go crashing down the mountain.

It was the most physically, emotionally and mentally draining experience of my life.

I have never been more impressed with a group of girls. Tarah wasn't feeling well, but you would have never known it -- she didn't complain even once and did everything we asked. Hillary had a blister on every toe. She proudly showed them to us on the second day as Amy cut a piece of moleskin for each one. Despite that, she pushed and pulled just as hard as the rest of us. Kendra was amazing. She would take over pushing for one of the boys and we almost had to run to keep up with the cart. Ludmilla was all over the place, relieving people with a smile on her face, she probably pushed (and talked) more than anyone.

I loved getting to know Amy and Ruth Ann a little better. Amy is so organized, we could never have done it without her. She kept everything as clean as possible. Ruth Ann is the most positive person I have ever met. The last night we were laying in the tent on some very bumpy ground and Amy turned to Ruth Ann and said, "Quick, tell me something positive. Ruth Ann said, "Well, we get to go home tomorrow!"

It was an adventure to say the least and one I won't soon forget!

Summer Games

2008-06-18T20:27:00.000-07:00

Sean decided to take his team to the Summer Games again this year. He coaches the U16 girls. The tournament was from June 11-13 in Cedar City. Katie is not on Courtney's team, but she always plays with them when they go on tournaments.

They played their first game Wednesday night. It was an awesome game and the girls played their hearts out, but it ended in a tie.

Much fun was to be had between the games!

Including a pizza party and an ice cream party.

The second game was a heart-breaker, the other team scored in the last 6 minutes, the final score was 1-0. The third game they won 5-1, but it still wasn't enough to get them into the semi-finals.

All in all, we had a really fun time. The girls love soccer, it is so much fun to see all their time and dedication pay off.

Tyler, a Senior?

2008-06-15T17:25:00.000-07:00

NO!! I can not accept it! There is no way that I can have a Senior in high school. Yet...it is true.

Here are Tyler's memories of 11th grade, exactly as he wrote them...

School
Work
Sleep
Eat

I told him that I thought grounded should be one of them...he didn't think that was very funny!

7th Grade

2008-06-15T16:51:00.000-07:00

Katie had an awesome year in 7th grade! You wouldn't even know how hard it was for her to leave elementary. She was so bummed that there was no recess in Junior High.

It didn't take her long at all to make new friends. Katie is my little social bug, she can make friends with anyone, she is definitely Sean's daughter!

Thanks to Sean's parents, who bought her a camera for Christmas, Katie found a new pastime this year....taking pictures of herself. (I am to blame, I am the one who asked them to get her one). I had to sort through 299 pictures that she took on the last day of school, (90%of which were Katie), to find these...

Here are Katie's favorite memories of 7th grade, exactly as she wrote them...

Walking home
I am Legend
Meeting new people
(Memo - Oscar - Kevin)
District Champions YO!

9th Grade Promotion

2008-06-10T16:31:00.000-07:00

9th grade Promotion is a little different than I remember. We had to go and sit in the gymnasium for hours and practice walking across the stage to be handed a certificate - now they have a dance. I can't even begin to tell you how thankful I am for that!

I can't bellieve Courtney is going into High School. It seems like it was only yesterday when she started kindergarten.

Now she is all grown up...

Courtney had a blast at the dance. I was going to take a picture of her and all her friends after it was over, but they were all bawling!

I asked Courtney to write down the most exciting things that she rembers from this year, so here they are in the order she wrote them:

District Champs
Lagoon Day
Promotion
BOYS!!!!
Phone (I have one now that's not a piece of crap!)

You gotta love her!

My Favorite Things

2008-05-31T17:53:00.000-07:00

Let's start with the most important.....food!

Favorite Food: Flauta Bajio at Bajio. My family doesn't agree, but there is something about the sweet pork, sweet onions, sweet rice, and corn, topped with their vinaigrette dressing. It is to die for. I am free for lunch and/or dinner on Fridays and Saturdays, if anyone is interested!

Favorite Bread: Granny’s Delight – Enriched Wheat Bread – Sprouted Wheat. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Peel, I have finally found a semi-healthy bread that ALL my kids love. (It is very rare to find something that all three of them will eat.)

Favorite treat: A handful of salted peanuts mixed with a handful of Guittard Real Milk Chocolate Chips.

Favorite Dessert: Ice Cream with.....yup, you guessed it.....Chocolate and peanut butter.

Favorite Cleaner: Clorox Toilet Bowl Cleaner with Bleach. Squirt it around, come back 5 minutes later and your toilet bowl is shiny and clean. Every toilet should have its own bottle. (I also love Soft Scrub with Bleach; I love to have clean white sinks.)

Favorite Movie: "Last of the Mohicans". It's a tad violent, and I always have to close my eyes when the mean Indians come, but it is one of the best movies EVER. Even ask Matt Freed.

Favorite Flowers: None really, though I am kind of partial to lilies.

Favorite Song: "Killing Me Softly" by the Fugees.....so much fun to dance to!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ighu4gGlaUE

Favorite Color: Brown

Favorite Husband: Sean......although he is really pushing it lately with all the whining. The other day I asked him if he wanted me to call the "Waah-mbulance". He got mad at me because it made him laugh - it really hurts when he laughs.

Favorite Car: My new Hyundai Sonata. Okay it's not new, but it's new to me and it gets 24 miles per gallon which is much better than 12!

Recovery

2008-05-28T15:50:00.000-07:00

I know it has only been a little over a week, but it seems like months since the accident. You all know what it is like when you have a husband that is sick or in pain...I am totally kidding! (Sean said that I could still make fun of him!) He has actually been a pretty good sport about the whole "being in agony" thing. I feel so bad for him. I can’t imagine what it would be like to go from training twice a day for a triathlon, to being laid up for months, not being able to sit, stand or blink without being uncomfortable. The poor guy!

His road rash is finally starting to heal, a few of the abrasions had a little infection in them, but they look much better now. For the first week, it took about 40 minutes a day to bandage him up. Now it is just a few bandages here and there.

I am actually enjoying having a husband around the house; I haven’t seen him this much since July of last year, after the Spudman was over. I mean, he’s not really of much use -- he can’t lift anything, or stand up too long -- he just lies on the couch all night and watches TV, but what’s new? Again...a joke.

He is talking big right now, saying that he is still going to compete in the Spudman, but for those of you who have broken your tailbone (and apparently there are quite a few of you) you know how painful and long the recovery process is. I am sure he is not going to be sitting on any type of bicycle or motorcycle for a very long time. He still has a huge bruise on his butt that is the shape of Florida. (That was for Andrew!!) I would include pictures, but when I set up my blog, I checked the box that said, ‘no’ to adult content. Sorry to disappoint...

The Accident

2008-05-23T07:41:00.000-07:00

I have decided that I will never make fun of my husband in a blog again! Not more than 2 minutes had passed since I hit 'Publish Post', than the phone rang and a police officer was on the line telling me that Sean had been in an accident.

It was Monday night around 10pm. Earlier that evening, Sean had decided to go on a quick training ride on his bicycle. As he was heading North on 2700 West, he was broadsided by a small black car. Sean went under the front of the car and was dragged 15-20 yards before the car came to a stop. Luckily, a man that lived nearby ran to get a jack so they could get the car off of him.

Because of that, the paramedics were afraid of internal injuries and had a helicopter on the way to take him to the University of Utah Hospital. I arrived on the scene as they were strapping him up and loading him into the fire truck to wait for the helicopter. I was a nervous wreck, it was the most horrible feeling in the world, not knowing what had happened and fearing the worst.

I felt a little better after seeing that Sean was conscious and able to talk. He was even rolling his eyes and telling everyone that he didn't need a helicopter. But they didn't listen...

He was flown to the hospital where he had several x-ray's taken. They wanted to keep him overnight for observation, and the next morning we were told that his tailbone was broken.

Every police office, nurse and doctor I talked to, said how lucky we were that nothing more serious had happened to him. His guardian angels were working overtime to save him that night. We truly feel blessed.

The hardest part for Sean is his bike. He loved and cared for that thing like nothing else. He had just had it tuned up, and the chain replaced, to see it in pieces nearly broke his heart.

Thanks for all your love and support. We have such wonderful friends and family watching over and taking care of us.

My Absentminded Professor

2008-05-19T20:52:00.000-07:00

I think my husband is feeling bad that I haven't written a blog about him, so.... I dedicate this blog to Sean......

I know he is not a professor, but he could be. Sean is extremely intelligent, and he has an incredible memory. (He still remembers the telephone number we had when we lived in Logan 20 years ago!) He is so smart that it was possible for him to skip class, except for test days, ace the tests and pull a C out of the class. I am not saying that he did that, mind you, I am just saying it was possible.

So, that's the 'professor' part. Now for the 'absentminded' part.

Ever since the day I met Sean, he has been losing or misplacing things. One of my earliest memories is Jr. Prom. On our way there, we decided to stop at the 7-11. We pull up, go into the store, make our purchase and then go back to the car -- only to discover that Sean has locked his keys in it. Keep in mind we are in our prom clothes, Sean in a snazzy gray tuxedo, me in a beautiful lacey, pink, very thin dress, and it was the middle of February.

That was just the beginning, I can't even begin to tell you the countless hours we have spent scouring soccer fields for lost keys and/or wallets. I finally got smart about 10 years ago and made 4 sets of keys for each car, currently we can only find 2!

Sean has actually devised a system to get him out the door in the morning, he knows that he has 5 things that he takes to work everyday. So, before he leaves the house he does a countdown, the problem is, sometimes he forgets what the 5 things are. Keys, cell phone, badge, wallet, head....just kidding.

The thing that got me thinking about all this, was the other day when Sean was looking for his wallet. He had gone over to his friend Matt's house the night before to watch the Jazz game. The next day he couldn't find his wallet, so he left for work. I had gone out to the freezer for something and spotted the ice cream bars (they where supposed to be hidden from view, you know, because of teenagers and all), I noticed that the ice cream bars where opened, I checked to see how many where gone and there was Sean's wallet. Apparently Sean had taken them to Matt's house the night before.

What is even more hilarious, Sean just came into the kitchen while I was secretly typing this and said, "It makes me nervous that we can't find your other set of car keys." To which I replied, "Well, your the only one that uses them!" Oh, dang, I am laughing hard!

I haven't even mentioned the motorcycle, so I will now. Last spring, after 20 years of begging, I let Sean buy a motorcycle, on one condition... that he make us a Will. 2 days later a 'Make Your Own Will' was delivered and 1 day later a motorcycle sat in our garage. I honestly didn't think he would make it through the week without getting in a wreck, but I was wrong, he actually has done really well. The only problem is, the tank only holds 2 1/2 gallons of gas, the turn signal DOES NOT turn off when you make a turn and if you leave the keys in the ignition the battery will go dead. Sean's extremely funny and sarcastic brother, Mike, loves to tell me stories of how many times he has had to help him jump start his bike. I actually had this lovely experience tonight. As we were walking off the soccer field, (Katie was playing in Orem, State Cup, Quarter Finals, lost in the last 30 seconds, very sad!) Sean looked at me and asked if he had given me his keys, I said no, so we walked to his bike, found his keys in the ignition and I got my first lesson on how to jump start a motorcycle.

I am not saying I am perfect, I have had my fair share of losing or forgetting things, but they are on a normal human level.

Let's just say that it is a good thing that Sean likes to make people laugh, because he sure gets laughed at a lot at our house.

David

2008-05-14T19:22:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't heard, I am the coolest mom EVER!

On Friday I checked my girls and their friends out of school and took them up to the Gateway to see David Archuleta. We got there at 11:30am, we walked up the stairs and saw the end of the line. It was really long, so we decided to walk along side the people and see how far we could get. We walked quite a ways and then were stopped by a police officer. He told us that we couldn't go any farther, and that David would be walking by, right where we were standing. What luck! We stood there for a few minutes and sure enough, David Archuleta walked right in front of us.

After he walked by, we were able to follow him and stand in the crowd right in front of the tent he was under. Here are some of the hundreds of pictures Katie took:

I have never seen my girls so excited. I never really got into the concert thing when I was younger, so I just don't understand the crying, screaming, touching, thing. By the way, Katie touched him when he walked by and Courtney touched the limo he was riding in.

According to Courtney, it was the coolest and most amazing day in her whole life. Katie is madly in love and truly believes she will marry him one day!

Being a mom

2008-05-11T14:23:00.000-07:00

When I was little and was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would always say that I didn't know. I never wanted to be a teacher, or a doctor, or a lawyer, and I always felt dumb because I couldn't answer the question. Years later, I realized that when I grew up, I just wanted to be a mom.

Sean and I started out early. We were married soon after we turned 19. Tyler was born 2 years later and Courtney arrived almost exactly 2 years after that. Sweet little Katie was born 18 months after Courtney. I had never been happier, I was 24 years old and had 3 children under 5 years of age.

Things I miss:

Newborn babies breath, night time baths, bedtime stories, little girls twirling in front of the mirror, hearing "Watch me mom!", piggy tails, pushing them on swings, and being able to purchase clothing for them without their approval.

Things I love:

Long talks about their latest crushes, cuddling in front of the television, spontaneous teenage hugs, hearing about their day, laughter at the dinner table, knowing I am the first one they turn to when they need to talk, and getting a call from my teenage son while I am at the grocery store telling me to hurry up and come home because he misses me.

Raising teenagers

2008-05-08T15:17:00.000-07:00

A typical conversation with Tyler:

I say, "Tyler, I REALLY think you should start being more responsible!"
Tyler says, "Mom, I REALLY think you should start expecting less of me!"

A typical conversation with Courtney:

I say, "Courtney will you PLEASE come and wipe the crumbs off the table."
Courtney says, "WHAT, WHY? I didn't do it! Are you serious? You are going to make ME wipe up everyone's mess?!?"

A typical conversation with Katie:

I say, "Hey Katie, thanks for vacuuming the grass out of my car like you promised."
Katie says, "What, were you serious? I was only joking when I said I would do it. Are you kidding me? I really have to vacuum out your car?"

Disclaimer: These were real conversations, the were not altered in any way, but I swear, they're still good kids.

Our little Pam...

2008-05-06T19:14:00.000-07:00

After months of begging, pleading, crying and making promises that could never be kept, Courtney finally convinced me to get another dog. Our best friend of 10 years, Jake, had to be put to sleep over the summer, it was so hard to lose him, I wasn't sure that I was ready to have another dog.

Courtney's birthday was coming up and no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't talk her out of it. We found Pam through the Lost Paws organization that adopts through Petsmart. She came in as a stray, so they didn't have any background on her. She was kind of scrawny and one ear was mangled, but that didn't matter to Courtney. It was love at first sight.

Tyler was very excited to see her when we brought her home. When we told him what her name was, he turned to us with a horrified look and asked, "Who would do THAT to a dog?" Needless to say, Tyler doesn't like the name Pam, so he calls her Beasley instead.

Why did Courtney name her Pam, you ask...well, Courtney is in love with The Office. If you are not familiar with the show, it is a comedy that airs on Thursday nights, Pam Beasley is the receptionist. You can't imagine the agony Courtney went through during the writer's strike! (If you're wondering what the dog would have been named had it been a male, the answer is Dwight!)

Pam is such a sweet dog, it didn't take her long to get used to us. I tell everyone that for the first few weeks I wasn't sure if she could walk because the kids never put her down long enough to see. Even when they do happen to put her down, she will just wander around the house until she finds someone sitting and then she will jump up in their lap and cuddle.

I have to admit, I am really glad Courtney talked me into getting a dog. It kind of makes you feel good to walk through the door and have a little dog so excited to see you. Her tail wiggles so hard that she can hardly even stand.

A day in my life...

2008-05-01T17:07:00.000-07:00

Just in case you are wondering why you never see me during the week...
My alarm goes of at 5am, (my clock is set 5 minutes fast, so it is actually 4:55.) I lie in bed for a few minutes and think about how exhausted I am, I say my prayers, and then I get up and get my workout clothes on. I run downstairs and get in a good 25 minute workout. Okay....sometimes it's not so good. For the first 10 minutes, I am so tired that I can barely move and by the time I get into it, it is time to quit. I usually work up a good sweat though, so that’s good, right??? I run up the stairs, jump in the shower, quickly get ready for work, and then go wake up my kids and give them a hug and a kiss goodbye.
I’m usually out the door by 6:15am. I get to work at 6:30, I work and work until 12:30 when I meet one of my very best friends, Lyn, for lunch; she is the highlight of my work day! Our other very best friend, Jane, moved to Idaho last year, we miss her terribly! A quick 15 minute lunch and I am back to work. (I really do have a great job, I get to set my own hours, it is a 15 minute drive from home, I can leave with a minutes notice if there is an emergency. When the weather is nice, we take breaks and go for a walk. There is a lot of drama, as with any job, but I just mind my own business and it's not so bad.) I leave work at 3:00, and usually have to stop at the store, or the bank, or gas station on my way home, but I try to be home by 3:30.
I walk in the door, hugs and kisses X 3, then I have time to throw in a load of laundry, start making dinner, wipe off the counter, and quickly check my email, then I am out the door by 4:30 to take Katie or Courtney to their games or practices. Quite a few of their games have been in the Provo/Orem area, which means 30-40 minute drive each way. We have to be to their games 45 minutes early! Games start at 6:00, rain, or snow...not lightning though; they will cancel a game for that. Both of their teams have been doing awesome this season, they have each lost 1 game, and either won or tied the rest, I absolutely love watching my kids play. The games last about an hour and a half, then we are back on the road again, getting back home around 8:30pm.
I have time to heat up dinner, throw my clothes in the dryer, make sure all homework is done, and get ready for bed. Hugs, kisses, and quick talks about how their day went, 10, sometimes 15 minutes of scriptures, prayers, then lights out at 10:00pm. (Most nights I get 7 hours of sleep, they are very precious to me, and the only way for me to get that is to sleep with ear plugs, I am addicted to them.) So, there you have it. It is a pretty hectic life, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. At least I get to sleep in until 6:30am on Saturdays, luckily we don’t have to be to Katie’s games until 7:45am! And Sundays are the best; I get to sleep in until 7:00am!!

Hugs

2008-04-28T19:40:00.000-07:00

If you can't tell by now, I love hugs. There is nothing better than coming home everyday and getting hugs from my kids.
A few years ago I was watching Oprah, I can't remember what the topic was, but there was this lady on the show, telling Oprah how much she loved her kids and how blessed she was to have them. She talked about how she loved to do their laundry and clean up after them. Now don't get me wrong, I love my kids more than life itself, but I still haven't gotten to the point where I love to do their laundry and clean up after them. Anyway, she went on to say that when her kids come home from school, she always goes up to them and gives them a hug. Then she said something I will never forget. She said, "Whenever I give my kids a hug, I never let go first. I will stand there and hug them until they let go of me." That was one of those "aha" moments, as Oprah would say. I decided that I was going to try it. Courtney was the first one home that day. I went up to her and gave her a big hug, and I didn't let go.......I think we stood there for about 3 minutes before she finally let go. As she walked away, my eyes filled with tears and I wondered how many times I had just given her a quick hug and walked away thinking about all the things I had to do that day. Now, whenever I get the chance, I hug my kids and I never let go first. Sometimes we stand there for 2-3 minutes and sometimes they just give me a quick hug and walk away. I just take what I get and hope they never get tired of hugging me!

Katie

2008-04-24T20:25:00.000-07:00

Katie, my baby, just turned 13. She is the most loving, kind-hearted child you could ever ask for. She is always the first to give me a hug after a long day and she is always showing concern for everyone. Katie is amazing on the soccer field, she will get the ball and barrel through six players and then pass it off to the forwards! She is unstoppable! She has even scored a few goals from the half line. Katie has always had more ‘boy’ friends than ‘girl’ friends. She just can’t stand all the drama that goes along with having a lot of friends that are girls. Now that she is in junior high, the number has practically tripled. Every Friday she walks home with a group of 7-8 boys who always stop in to say ‘hi’ and grab a soda.

Courtney

2008-04-24T16:24:00.000-07:00

Courtney is my middle child, she just turned 15. UGH! This whole driving thing is going to be the death of me. To let a 15 year old behind the wheel without ever stepping foot into a Drivers Ed class, I don’t know what they were thinking when they passed that law! Anyway, Courtney is my fun loving, beautiful little red head. She loves to make people laugh, just like her dad. She will come up with the most outrageously funny things and have us all rolling. Her favorite color is ORANGE. I know........a red head wearing orange? Luckily she looks beautiful in any color that she wears. She is a wonderful soccer player, she loves texting, cooking, (when she has the time) and going to scary movies with her friends.

Tyler

2008-04-24T16:09:00.000-07:00

Tyler is my oldest, he just turned 17. I know…….can you believe that I have a child that old? Tyler is a friendly, happy kid. He loves girls, soccer, snowboarding, WII, annoying his sisters and hanging out with his friends. He has a great sense of humor and is the first one to laugh at himself when he does something stupid, like throwing his brand new cell phone in the toilet........don’t ask! Tyler and I have always been very close; I was so worried that he would stop hugging me once he became a teenager, but even now he comes up to me at random times during the day and gives me hugs, I don’t think he will ever know how much that means to me.

My first blog!

2008-04-21T15:02:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally did it. I am now an official blogger. I am not sure when I will have the time to actually sit down and post anything, but I am going to give it a try.

When I was little I kept a journal faithfully, I have too many to count. Every once in a while I go back and read them, it is fun to read what I thought about as a little girl, who my friends were and all the silly things my little sister and I used to do. I kept a journal until Katie was about 4, and then I just stopped. I guess life just got too hectic. Every time I think about it I feel horrible, so I don't think about it very often! Hopefully this will ease the guilt.