Love that grandma

So...It has been a crazy couple of weeks and I feel bad that I am so late in posting about my sweet grandma who passed away a little over a week ago. It was a passing that brought tears of sadness and happiness all at the same time. Part of my sadness comes with knowing that the generation that went through all the World Wars are passing away. They were and still are one of a kind that went through more then we may never know. At her funeral, my grandmas brother mentioned that when my dad was born, my grandpa was stationed somewhere out of the state in training for WWII. In order for my grandparents to be together before he was shipped off, my grandma would leave my dad with her mother and leave him for a few months at a time before she could see him again. I cannot imagine having to leave my children for months at a time because it was not safe to travel with them. I cannot imagine watching your husband, son, brother, father etc. being shipped off to a war where so many never came back. I cannot imagine wondering every day which one of your friends husbands may die or go missing. Think of your best friends and then put yourself in a position that these women, including my grandma had to go through every day for years. We are so blessed. Love you grandma!!

The $350.00 jar of jam

I know this is a really horrible picture of a few people on a stage holding what looks like a normal basket covered with cellophane, well.. it is a few people holding a basket but what is in the basket is the fun story. Last night we went to a fund raiser at the Grand America for the boys and girls club. If any of you have ever been to a fund raiser (Melissa).. you know that they normally have a silent auction, food, a little entertainment and then the night ends with a live auction. I always enjoy this part...I just sit back and watch people that have more money then they apparently know what to do with bid on the most incredible things and spend money that would just blow you away...hence the horrible picture. What you are looking at are three girls holding a basket filled with homemade jam. Anyone made homemade jam before? I have and let me tell you it is pretty easy and very inexpensive...delicious too, but that is beside the point of my story. Anyway.. they start the bidding on this jam at 20.oo and the bidding war began. People kept going up and up and up and up and up until it finally got sold to some lucky person for $350.00. Yep a couple bottles of jam for $175.00 a pop, wow, that must be some amazing jam. Of course it all goes to a great cause and you can write it off on your taxes...I wonder how the accountant words that.... hmmm

I actually love any reason to dress up and have a fun night with my hubby and my family
arent my parents cute!!

My gorgeous sister Cathy and her hubby Steve

My adorable sister Cheri and Dave
My lovely sister Camille and John

Where did he come from?

So...I have this child...his name is Connor...and...well..I guess he's pretty smart. Ok he is really really smart. So smart that he won his schools Geography Bee. Now when I titled this blog "where did he come from"..I really truly meant that. I was not that smart. When people ask what I studied in college, my cute hubby always points out that I studied anything that started after 10:00 am...and he is so right. School was a place I used to go to dance, play a little tennis, socialize, socialize, socialize and a little study here and there when it didn't interfere with my...yep...socializing. Anyway..back to my blog about my son. He had to take a test and the winner of this test in each 4th 5th and 6th grade class got to participate in the geography bee. In total there were 3 kids in each grade which totaled 9 kids...(see..I can totally add). Well..long story short, Connor won without missing a single question. Just for fun, I wrote down the last 3 questions he had to answer...let me know how you did.

#1 Name the independent country located entirely within the city of Rome...

#2 India borders two landlocked countries to the North, name one of them...

#3 A United States island territory where the official languages are English and Timoro..name
this island...


Good luck...

Ethan lost his first tooth

It is a sad sad day when your last born loses his first tooth. Although for Ethan it was a great day. He didn't make a peep when Kevin got the tissue and ripped that little puppy out with some pretty great force as the tooth wasn't quite ready to come out. But as little boys go, he wanted it out so out it came. The best part is he can now use it as his own personal pretzel holder...

Happy New Year

We spent New Years Eve with part of Kevins family. We roamed through the lights at temple square and watched the Joseph Smith movie. We headed back to Kevins parents house to bring in the New Year with a little bit of Rook, a little bit of Catch phrase, a little bit of X box guitar hero and a little bit of pan banging and sipping mormon bubbly when the clock struck twelve, it was perfect! Hope everyones New Year was fabulous, and that your resolutions will actually come true.

oh where oh where has my cute husband gone?

Oh where oh where can he be? Hmmm...I believe I know where he is and it isn't pretty people. You see..my sister Carrie and her husband Joel thought they would bring us something to occupy our time over our holiday vacation. I didn't know we were this desperate but apparently "one" of us is... You see, Carrie and Joel brought us the entire 5 seasons...yes you read that right..5 seasons.. of the hit TV show 24. Now if you add all the episodes for 5 seasons together, it adds up to about every minute of spare time being spent in front of the television, and I am not exaggerating..not even a little. I actually had to beg my husband who I've never had to beg in my life to have a little one on one time with me, if you know what I mean. Anybody have any suggestions to my little dilemma or can I pay someone off to come and snag these DVDs...I will pay quite nicely. I will just have to have you come between the hours of 3am - 9am as these are his sleeping hours. Anyone...Anybody...please...Help

this is his "I have assumed the position

to watch hours of 24..do not disturb me."

"I will not even stop looking at the TV to

get this picture taken..I am very busy watching

episode 22 of the first season...only four more

seasons to go" woo hoo

Christmas 2007

HO HO HO...SANTA CAME. I have tried and tried again to download my pictures from our trip to Disneyworld and cannot freakin figure it out...so I have decided to bag it and start fresh. And what is fresher than Christmas?...nothing. The boys got spoiled again this year but we had a memorable day. Jackson woke us up at 3:00...in the am...to see what time it was. When we pointed out that it was 3:00...in the am...we sent him back to his bed and luckily didn't see our children again until 7:3o. Much Better. They ran down the stairs and we all took turns opening our gifts. The above picture shows one of Connors favorite gifts...shocker I know... and Jackson is holding our family gift...the Xbox 360...woo hoo. Now you are probably wondering why I would do that to myself when in past posts I have criticized the box called X. Well I must admit it was for selfish reasons....I really really really wanted Guitar Hero...I.LOVE.THAT.GAME....so sad but true.

I know...I am totally hot in this picture...and I love that I am holding up my right breastage with the guitar...that looks really awesome.. Connor also got a cell phone and Jackson and Ethan scored with remote controlled cars and clothes..oh and a few games and other notables...

We then made our rounds with both sets of families. I made the boys tromp through the snow at Wheeler Farm to get this picture...I loved the fresh snow look...isn't it pretty? Anyhoo.. we had an amazing breakfast at Kevins parents and then headed over to my parents where we had...let me think...oh ya...more food.








After "family time"..we headed home and did a little more...Hmmm...what could it be?...




HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE

Disneyworld or Bust!

I'm exhausted...8 days of Disney "magic" could take a toll on anyone but I would do it all over again...we had a great time. Bare with me as I post my pictures for the next little bit..I Don't scrapbook so this is all the memories my children may get...

Rise and shout the COUGARS are out!!

GO COUGARS

My family is true blue through and through. Connor wears his BYU sweatshirt to school everyday and if it needs to be washed I have to do it while he sleeps. Ethans favorite phrase is "BYU ROCKS" and Jackson did his math project about yesterdays game. Lets just say if there were 100 people in a room and everyone was wearing a red Ute sweatshirt screaming profane remarks about the Y, my boys would be louder and prouder then all of em put together. Yesterday we watched the game at home with an ample supply of munchies and beverages. The only time they had to move from the couch was to take a potty break or as you'll see in a minute get as close to the TV as possible. For my boys the BYU vs UTAH game ranks right up there with a trip to Disneyland...serious.

"if we stand close enough to the TV we may

be able to control the outcome of the game"

this was right after BYU made their last

minute touchdown

Game over and BYU wins!!! Sorry Utah fans...

you'll have 12 months to grumble about what

might have been...

My weekend through pictures

This weekend was crazy busy but alot of fun. I took pictures of most of our activities starting with Connor graduating from D.A.R.E on Friday. I went to the school thinking his award would take 10 minutes but soon realized the school puts on a big production for a drug free school. It was 90 minutes of listening to Miss Utah, Chief of police, Draper Mayor, Principal of the school and a couple more. I left a few minutes early....Ok I left 45 minutes early but not before I took this picture of Connor and Parker. Nice job boys!! After school we headed up to the U to watch Alta high take on Layton in the state championship. It was an extremely fun game to watch...allright I didn't really watch the whole game...well I really only saw a couple of plays but what I saw was so great. My friend Traci and I spent the entire game talking about work and kids and hair products and food and who we knew at the game and anything else that seemed interesting. But if I had been watching I would have seen that Alta won the state championship...wow..isn't that great...my boys were very happy.




Saturday morning Jackson had his football banquet. We had breakfast at Madelines and listened to all the coaches talk about all the boys on the team...do you all know how many boys are on a football team?...19...19 boys...19 times we get to hear about each boy... are you all starting to realize I have a tad bit of A.D.D, or as Kevin likes to call it A.A.D.D (adult attention deficit disorder). I can handle something really great for a certain period of time and then I need something new to keep my attention. So sad but unfortunately true.

Today we celebrated Thanksgiving with my family at Little America. We always celebrate the weekend before Thanksgiving with my family so Thanksgiving day can be spent with the in-laws. We've been doing this for 12 years and it works out really great.

My sister Cheri and her family...Ethan snuck in her photo, he thought he was so funny.

Camille and her boys...yep...we all have three boys.. no girls. I don't know why I didn't get a picture of my parents but they were there. Cathy and her family are celebrating at Disneyland...whatever...I would so not choose Disneyland over a family dinner....O.k...I would, I really would, but I would miss you guys alot! And to my little sister Carrie in Arizona...we missed you , it's not the same without you.

I'm getting old

First off..this week has been so crazy for me. We are trying to get Kevins house...my old house...our house...whatever...ready to sell. We've had carpet cleaners and house cleaners over and yesterday I had to put the house back together, so it would look good when someone walks through the door. My back felt the brunt of all my hard work...poor thing...I layed on the couch last night with four pillows under my legs and forced all my boys to wait on me...I love cold cereal for dinner...yummm.

Anyways...yesterday after I picked the boys up from school we went up to visit my nieces new baby. Now...when I think of my niece I picture her as a little girl at my wedding who spun around in her frilly dress her mom made. Now she is all grown up and has a new baby..where has the time gone? The boys...as you can see...took turns holding little Stella ( how cute is that name)...It took Connor a couple of tries to figure out how to hold the baby and when he did he took this picture and was done..it made him nervous. Jackson however was great, he just looked at her and kept touching her little fingers in aww. I have forgotten how small and yummy babies are, and this little Stella could make anyone a little baby hungry...hmmm

CHAMPIONS!!!

Connors team played for the division championship today and WON!!! I'm sure most of you are tired of hearing about football but today was huge. Long story short...Connor has been on this team for four years...same coaches and mostly the same kids on the team. Each year they do pretty good but always end up losing in the playoffs, and they have never beat Bingham...ever. They made it through this season undefeated and made it to the championship game against...who else...Bingham. Bingham scored in the first quarter but didn't score the extra point. Alta couldn't score through the first half and most of the second half...but finally in the fourth quarter they made a touchdown and the extra point which made the score 7-6. The game couldn't end quick enough after that...I don't think I have any healthy fingernails left and I am not a nail biter but it was that intense of a game. Anyhoo...they won...they totally won...I am so happy for Connor and his coaches, they are so great and worked so hard this year....Good job son, you deserve it!!!

Champions

Crazy moms...I'm going to miss you!!

Working Woman

So a few weeks ago I decided I wanted to go back to work at the Sanctuary. All my kids are in school and I find myself sitting on the couch eating bon bons and watching Tivo a little too much. Not that I don't like sitting on the couch eating bon bons and watching Tivo but the couch was starting to get my "buttprint" permanently etched into its cushion. Today was my first day back...well it was my first couple of hours back...allrighty I only worked for an hour but who's counting...Now for those who know me know I used to work at the Sanctuary ALOT so I didn't need to be trained or shown how to do a thing so I sort of just went with the flow. This was my "flow" today..

11:15- show up at work and clock in

11:16- talk to Alycia who I haven't seen in a while

11:18 - Answer phone - It's Kevin calling to see how my first day back is

11:20- Walk in the back room and catch up with massage therapist who I haven't seen in a while

11:30- co worker comes and gets me telling me I have a friend up front

11:31 - walk up front and see my friend Melissa

11:32 - 11:45 - leave Sanctuary to go shopping with Melissa...we go to Dillards and Fanzz to find sweatshirt for my son

11:45 - 12:00 - Melissa and I decide we're hungry so we go to food court to have lunch

12:01 - come back to work

12:02 - Answer phone...It is Kevin again asking me to get carpet cleaner scheduled and once again asking me how my first day back was

12:05 - call carpet cleaner and schedule appointment

12:07 - sister shows up and we go back in the office to talk

12:12- Answer phone...it is Kevin asking me to schedule a house cleaner for his house...

12:14- Call house cleaner and schedule cleaning

12:18- Go to the bathroom

12:20 - Help a guest

12:22 - Say goodbye to coworker

12:23 - Clock out

All in all a very productive day for me...I was able to go to lunch with Melissa, do a little shopping, schedule appointments (for me), catch up with old friends, and I made money while doing it...man I forgot how much I enjoy that work thing..

10 and 0...one more to go!!!

10 and 0...one more to go!! That is Connors cheer for the next week. Today the playoffs started and Connors team went into it undefeated...They beat Jordan 14-6 with Connor making a huge catch to get a first down which won the game...it was so exciting. Next week they play in the championship game against their rival Bingham...HUGE game...Our team has a huge advantage over Bingham or any other team for that matter...WHY you ask?...scroll down and see...



WE HAVE OUR VERY OWN CHEERLEADERS!!!!

How cute are they? The squad is made up of the players little sisters and some of their friends...Their coach is one of the players moms and she does such a great job. They put on a halftime show and cheer from the sidelines the entire game...rain or shine.. I always feel a little jealous when the moms get to watch their boys play and then watch their girls do the halftime...I get to watch Ethan wrestle with the other boys on the sidelines and hope he doesn't get hurt...again...not quite the same but oh well...

GO ALTA

Trunk or treat...and lots of candy

Typical Halloween night at our place...we started with a little trunk or treat at the church followed by a lap around the entire neighborhood...the boys had to hit every house that had their lights on and some that didn't.

What we ended up with at the end of the night could feed a family of twelve for a week or two...but unfortunately I can eat like a family of twelve so this bowl will diminish nicely under my "chocolate only" eyes....HELP