Redd Adventures

Grandma Clessa

2011-02-13T16:57:00.000-08:00

Clessa Palmer Lyman Black (AKA Grandma Clessa) passed from this life on February 7th, 2011. Even though she was almost 95 years old I don't think any of us were quite ready for it. My dad told us the day before that the Doctor didn't expect her to make it another week. In the back of my head I kept thinking "we'll all be laughing next week when she is back home and has miraculously recovered" because she's always kind of been like a superhero. I shouldn't have been shocked to get the phone call the next morning, but I was.

We celebrated her life yesterday with a beautiful day filled with laughing, crying and catching up with cousins. I think at the end of the day we all felt a little overwhelmed with the thought of trying to live up to her amazing example. I've often thought that my family has lived pretty easy lives, with very little tragedy. I realized yesterday that my Grandma probably had enough tragedy in her lives for all of us. And through it all she was amazingly positive and happy. I wanted to write a few things down, some I've always know and some I learned yesterday, to make sure I never forget the kind of person that she was.

Her first husband, my Grandpa, died when my dad was just three months old. My Grandma was left with the task of raising five small children on her own. She started doing sewing for people and managed to survive. Before he died, Grandpa Lyman had been very sick and had been in and out of hospitals and wasn't able to provide more than just the necessities. Grandma said that this was a blessing because when he died they were used to not having much- What an amazing attitude she had. She also said that she was grateful that he didn't have any insurance because this made it so she had to work, while raising five kids. Meaning she woke at 5 am and began sewing and usually went to bed at midnight. This did not give her any time to pity herself so she was grateful for that. I can't even imagine having that attitude. This has made me realize how truly spoiled I am.

She lost her fourth son, Lloyd, when he was 16 in a car accident. She later said that she had dreams long before this incident where she would see the little red pickup in an accident. She never saw who was in the accident in the dreams but the day that Lloyd drove away in the pickup she had a strange feeling that she might not see him again. She said that this always gave her comfort to know that it was not an accident but part of the plan.

She married my Grandpa Black and took in his three children as her own. They have always been part of her family. Together her and Grandpa had two more children. In total Grandma had ten children that were actually her children, although she was constantly taking in other people who needed a place to stay.

One of my favorite stories of the day was told by my Uncle Mark. He said that when she had Gordon, her first child, she gave him a bath and put him on the counter top and began crying because she didn't have a clue what she was supposed to do with a baby. To me that just seemed so strange because she was Grandma, it seemed like she knew everything and must have just been born that way. It helps me to know that when I struggle with the every day challenges of raising children and knowing what to do she also had those same struggles and yet she turned out to be one of the most amazing women I know. I hope and pray that I can some day be half of the person she was. I am so very grateful for her example, we will all miss her more than she can ever know. I am also grateful for the knowledge of the plan of salvation. It gives me such comfort imagining the reunion between her and Grandpa Lyman as well as all the others that have passed before her. Love you Grandma.

I could go on forever, and I may remember other things that I want to remember and add more. Mostly I learned that I have lots to live up to.

Sunday Message

2011-02-07T07:19:00.000-08:00

Sister Hunt's Relief Society lesson on sacrifice was wonderful yesterday. The whole thing was great but I wanted to share one quote:

"It is not a sacrifice to live to live the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is never a sacrifice when you get back more than you give. It is an investment. And the living of the gospel of Jesus Christ becomes a greater investment than any of which we know because its dividends are eternal and everlasting." President Gordon B. Hinckley, Aug 1995.

It was the perfect ending to a fast and testimony meeting that seemed to be centered around the blessings of living the gospel, followed by a Sunday school lesson about Christ's disciples and the sacrifices they gave. It made me realize how little I have to sacrifice and how blessed I have been. I have had such amazing examples in my life of people who have sacrificed so much. My Grandma Clessa is the first that comes to my mind. She truly lived to serve others and never worried about her own needs. I will miss her dearly as she passed away last night. I have made a personal resolve to try to be more like her and find ways to serve others and worry less about my own needs.

Thank you Grandma for the wonderful life in which you lived, we will miss you dearly.

The man, the myth, the legend. . .

2011-02-05T08:21:00.000-08:00

My little brother, Joshy Squashy, finished his two year mission in Paris France this week. All of the neices and nephews made him signs and headed to the airport to patiently wait for him

Patiently might be an exaggeration. Most of them thought the wait was the longest of their life but luckily they all survived.

They all swormed him- I'm not sure if he recognized most of them but he hugged them any ways.

I'm not sure if you can tell from this picture but my mom is just a little excited to have him home :)

Welcome home Elder Lyman!!

Cowgirls

2011-01-23T14:56:00.000-08:00

Saturday started out as "one of those days". As me and the kids were trying to get the house cleaned and I was losing my patience I got a text from Summer asking if me and Cam wanted to go for a ride with her and Kinley. I knew it was just what I needed. So we packed up the horses and headed south. We weren't sure where to go but on the way I thought of our Easter Picnic spot- Recapture pockets. It was perfect weather. We unloaded the horses and headed down the trail. After a few "attitude adjustments" to our horses who haven't been ridden much in the past few months we had a great time.

We stopped at "the pockets" for lunch. Cam and Kinley did some rock climbing while we gave the horses a break
Summer "cheesing", Kinley's hiding behind her
Two of my favorite cowgirls ever.

Thanks again girls, it was a great day..

Not gonna neglect my blog this year. . .

2011-01-10T08:57:00.000-08:00

OK, so 2010 had some positives and some negatives, unfortunately none of them will be remembered because my only form of a journal is my blog and you may have noticed what a bad job I did. SO- one of my resolutions for 2011 is to blog at least once a week. I thought I'd share a part of a wonderful Relief Society lesson from a wonderful teacher, who I was lucky enough to be taught by all my life. The lesson was on receiving exaltation. One point that was taught was that by doing what we are supposed to do we not only secure a place in heaven for ourselves but also that things that we do can help our posterity, it brought me comfort so I hope there are others who it will help. President Boyd K Packer said:

"The measure of our success as parents . . . will not rest solely on how our children turn out. That judgment would be just only if we could raise our families in a perfectly moral environment, and that now is not possible. . . It is not uncommon for responsible parents to lost one of their children, for a time, to influences over which they have no control. They agonize over rebellious sons or daughters. They are puzzled over why they are so helpless when they have tried so hard to do what they should. . . It is my conviction that those wicked influences one day will be overruled. . . We cannot overemphasize the value of temple marriage, the binding ties of the sealing ordinance, and the standards of worthiness required of them. When parents keep the covenants they have made at the alter of the temple, their children will be forever bound to them" (Our Moral Environment, Ensign, May 1992)

Of all the things that I am afraid of, one of the biggest fears and worries I have is the choices that my kids will make as they grow up. This statement brings me peace as I realize that if I do what I can to teach them correctly and the world gets to them there is still hope. I am so very thankful for a loving and forgiving Father in Heaven and I hope he is happy with the way in which I am raising the children which he entrusted to me. I am very thankful for the parents that I have, and knowing their good works will also help my salvation is a very comforting thought as they are pretty much perfect.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-16T16:37:00.000-08:00

Hoping your days are Merry and Bright.

Happy Anniversary

2010-09-22T08:24:00.000-07:00

It's been exactly one year since my last post. My blog book for 2010 is going to be pretty pathetic. Maybe I'll post again before the year ends. . . maybe?

Trying to be like Jesus

2009-09-21T08:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday in church:

Logan: "Mom, why do we just keep learning about Jesus all the time?"

Me: "Because we want to be like Jesus so the more we learn about him the better we will be."

Logan: "I'm trying to be like Jesus, I just keep getting distracted."

Man I love that kid- and I agree it's very hard to not get distracted by life these days.

I had to throw in a cute picture of Logan for this post- I stole this one from Stacy's blog cause I loved it.

what I learned in church. . .

2009-09-14T10:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday in sacrament meeting Carter drew this picture. I thought it was pretty cute and something that should be remembered. (I know it's been a while since I posted and it's not because nothing is happening that I haven't- too much is happening and life is just too crazy, hopefully I'll catch up soon.)

This picture is of the hero, named Dragon, who is being attacked by a villain. Dragon has the following superpowers: telicinisis (aka telekinesis), ice breath and mind reading. You will notice that the superhero used his ice breath power to freeze the villain, after which he was able to read his mind.

Can the human race survive? Will the hero be able to continue to defend us? Stay tuned to see what happens when the villain awakens from his stupor. . .

You might be a Redneck. . .

2009-08-09T19:31:00.001-07:00

This past week was the county fair. It started last Saturday (Aug. 1st) with a horse show that Camryn was in. She did several events including the poles:

The Barrels:

As well as a keyhole race, halter and western pleasure. All events she did great. Panda (her horse) will never be a speed demon but he has been perfect for her first year of 4H.

On Wednesday we took the lambs (Phineas and Ferb) over to show and sell. Both Camryn and Carter did really good showing them on Thursday and Friday and sold them on Saturday. Grandpa Bryce bought Ferb so we may get to eat him for some Sunday dinners (is that weird to eat your kids pet??? don't really answer that).

Saturday night was the youth rodeo. Camryn and Jensen were both signed up for it. Camryn did the poles on Cody (he was a little too hyper for her to handle so he broke pattern and they ended up with a no time) so she decided to use Panda for the barrels and did great with it. Her and I also did a rescue race together that was a lot of fun. And lastly she did calf riding- when I first signed her up I didn't sign her up for the calf riding. I assumed she wouldn't have any interest in it but after talking to her she said she really wanted to do it so I signed her up for it too. After it got started she had second thoughts. I think we both pictured it would be more like mutton busting and the calves would just run out of the shoots and the kids would have to hold on. We were wrong- they were full on bucking bulls (just calf size) and the first few kids that did it all walked off crying. Most after laying on the ground for a while after getting bucked off. I told her she didn't have to do it and for a few minutes she changed her mind and didn't want to do it but by the time it was her turn she had decided to do it. I was a wreck- luckily someone borrowed her a helmet but that didn't help her back as she got bucked off after a couple seconds and landed on her back- knocking the wind out of her. Unfortunately since it was so fast, and dark, we were unable to get any pictures of the event but it was pretty awesome. She was hurting for the next little while but is all better today and says she wants to do it again next year- I'm not sure if Grandma Redd will allow that though.

The boys had fun at the "carnival" which consisted of some bouncy houses and a rock wall. It was a fun week, can't wait for next year and the San Juan County fair.

hangin' with the girls

2009-07-30T07:45:00.000-07:00

My first year of college (95'-96') I lived with five awesome girls at the not so awesome glenwood apartments. For five of us it was our first year away from home and then there was our "old" roomate (I think she was 20 but back then that seemed sooooo old to me). We had our share of drama and tears but overall we all got along and in the end we've all remained friends. We kind of lost touch until the last couple years and thanks to blogs and facebook we have reconnected. This summer we decided that we wanted to have a "reunion" so we started planning. Julie lives in Alaska and Autumn in Virginia so they were unable to make it but the rest of us, Stacy, Roni Cami and I, met up in Blanding and the four of us stayed at Cami's parents cabin for a couple days. It was a lot of fun- we rode four-wheelers (with only one minor accident that Stacy is tougher for), we swam at recapture, we hiked Canyonlands and we stayed up and talked about boys- just like the good ole days. It was lots of fun to see them all again and we plan on having another reunion in a couple years. Next time Portland- Julie and Autumn we expect you to make it this time :)Roni, Kristi, Stacy and Cami at CanyonlandsBefore our swim

After our swim

Leaving on a fourwheeler ride while my wonderful husband cooked us dinner.

The Hillman TRYathlon

2009-07-28T09:11:00.000-07:00

Last summer I decided that I wanted to TRY a triathlon (yes Kulani I do know how to spell it correctly). I took a swimming class and started preparing for the Hillman- a local sprint triathlon that takes place at recapture reservoir every July. When I realized that the triathlon was the same weekend as a previously planned family reunion I decided I'd have to wait until this summer. A few months ago I started training again and in the process I convinced Marilyn, Jeremy and Noelle to come and do it with me (both Jeremy and Noelle had done other triathlons this summer). By the time the day came around I was questioning my decision as I didn't feel ready at all. Marilyn and I agreed that we would stay together so that if we ended up last we wouldn't have to finish last all alone. My total goal for this triathlon was to finish, I decided that I didn't care at all what my time or place was and I took it pretty easy the whole time. I mostly didn't want to hate it cause then I knew it would be my last. It started with a 1/2 mile swim (across the reservoir and back) followed by a 15 mile, very hilly, bike ride followed by a 5K, also very hilly, run. In the end I think we all had a good time and Marilyn has even forgiven me for coaxing her into it, and we're all looking forward to the next one.

Waiting for the race to begin- nervously. At this point Marilyn was not happy with me.

Finished swimming- and yeah I know there aren't really any other people around me, there were still a couple in the water but everyone else was on to the bike.
Jeremy was on the support staff and was in the lake to make sure I didn't die.

Finishing the bike.
And lastly the run- Here we come (a little blurry cause we're going so fast :)

We made it and Marilyn forgave me.

We had quite the crowd cheering for us- the kids got a little bored waiting.

Noelle beat us all and took first in her age group (why did she have to get all of the athletic ability of the family again???)

Jeremy J finishing. Shortly after we finished he got a call from Heather letting him know he needed to get home asap. He made it there about two hours before little McCoy was born- congrats to both of them.

My niece Jensen did the kid's triathlon the night before and did awesome. She took second (losing only to a Hiatt so pretty much that doesn't count). She did two laps in the pool followed by a two mile bike ride followed by a one mile run. At first I was asking why we didn't just sign up for that one but after watching them all I was pretty sure they would have beat me and that would have been a little embarrassing. I'm hoping that next year I can get Camryn and Carter to do it- we'll see.

Nicole and Osiris

2009-07-27T20:35:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday we went to Nicole and Osiris' wedding. It was such a great day and we are all so excited for Nicole and happy to have Osiris in the family. The day was perfect, after the wedding at the Salt Lake Temple we went to a beautiful restaurant called The Pointe for a dinner and ended with some dancing- which the boys really enjoyed. At the end of the night Carter even said it was the best wedding he'd ever been to.

Logan loved doing "cheers" all night.

Logan and Nicole gettin down.

Camryn and Jeremy dancing- how sweet

Carter literally "gettin down" while dancin. On Sunday we were trying to figure out why his church pants had holes.

Yee Haw!!!

2009-07-27T15:33:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago (I know I know I'm a blog slacker lately) Camryn's horse club had horse camp. My mom went with her for the first night and I came the second. They went on a LOOOOOOONG ride just before I got there and they were all very hot and tired so when I got there this is what I found-

The night I was there Cody, one of our horses, got really sick and so I spent a lot of the night up with him. Luckily there were a whole bunch of people who know a whole lot more about horses then I do there to help me know what to do to get him through it and he is fine.

The next day we saddled up and went on a ride, much shorter then the ride they'd gone on the day before but still very fun. Camryn borrowed one of the Ivins' horses cause we weren't sure that Panda had enough energy in him to make the long rides. She is now in love with Charlie and wants to buy him. She made a friend at horse camp named Kendall. I thought I got quite a few pictures of the two of them riding but could only find this one of them off in the distance. We were so glad that Kendall was there- her and Cam had so much fun together.

After our ride we packed up camp and headed home. It was a lot of fun and I'm glad that I got to go and have the experience with Camryn. It has been so fun to watch her become a little cowgirl this summer, I'm very grateful for the leaders who have helped her this summer to become confident on her horse. One more show this weekend and 4H will be over for this year :(

- she really is having fun- even if you can't tell from her expression. She just hates pictures.

4th of July- "that means you can do whatever you want."

2009-07-08T14:18:00.000-07:00

We had a great fourth of July this year. My sisters and their families all came to Blanding. We had lots of fun and it was sad when it was all done. I am so grateful to live in this country and I'm thankful to those who put their lives on the line every day so I can have the freedoms that I have. I was walking with Logan at the Carnival and he was being really slow cause he was trying to eat a snowcone and everyone knows you can walk and eat a snowcone at the same time. I was telling him he needed to go faster when somebody passed us talking about the 4th of july. Logan said "mom, guess what I just heard- it's the 4th of July" I said "yep, it is" he said "well that means you can do whatever you want" and I said "yeah you can, what do you want to do" he said "I want to sit right here and eat my snowcone". I am not sure where Logan got the idea that on the 4th of July we can do whatever we want but it's true- because of the freedoms that we have we really can "do whatever we want" even if it's sitting there and eating a snowcone. I am also very happy that I was raised in Blanding and now I get to raise my own kids here too. It is such a unique place where everyone is willing to do anything for their neighbors and friends. I love the fourth in Blanding and the fact that it brings friends and families together, the parade, carnival, horse games, and fireworks were all amazing and we are grateful to all the people who worked hard to make it an enjoyable holiday for us.

Waiting anxiously for the parade to start.

Soaking wet thanks to the fire trucks.

Cam and Jensen ridin' in the parade.

On a side note- congrats to Deco and Kera for their new addition. Baby Aleyah was born on the 1st. She is so precious and I can't wait to meet her. I am happy for them and I know they will be awesome parents.

Aleyah Jenelle Lyman

domestically challenged

2009-07-08T13:47:00.000-07:00

Last week was Carter's 7 1/2th birthday and once again I talked him into waiting until his half birthday to have his party so I didn't have to throw a birthday party the week of Christmas. As usually happens, the week of his half birthday seemed as busy, if not busier, than the week of Christmas and I was wishing I had just had it on his real Birthday, but since I didn't I geared up for a party. We decided to do a baseball themed party. I decided to be all crafty and make his pinata and cake myself. So Sunday night we started the pinata process. All was going well up until Tuesday night, it was time to do the last layer on the pinata and I had the brilliant idea that if we popped the balloon now and filled it then the last layer would close up the hole that we had used to fill (rather than waiting until it was all done and having to tape closed the hole). So I popped the balloon made a hole and filled it. At this point it was nice and round and very hard so I thought all was going well. Until. . . . As I put the last layer of paper on it the glue soaked through all of the layers and the shape went from nice and round to flat with holes tearing everywhere I tried to fix it. It was a disaster. As I did this the cakes were in the oven. My sisters had agreed to help with the cake and all I had to do was make the cupcakes and the larger baseball cakes. Apparently I filled the bowl for the baseball too full and the cake spilled all over the oven, burning and filling the house with smoke. All of this happened around midnight the night before the party. Luckily the morning of the party my wonderful sisters, Marilyn and Noelle, came to the rescue and saved the cake (which turned out to be the only thing that really worked out).

The day of the party came and it was a nice sunny day, that is until about a half hour before the party was supposed to start at which point it started raining and the wind started to blow. I decided to go ahead and still have the party at the park as planned because I had no plan B. We went to the park, played a game of baseball in the rain. Broke the weirdly shaped baseball pinata (while at the party the handle broke off of the pinata so we had to pitch it like a huge baseball and have them hit it with the bat- it worked out alright). We sang to carter and ate Cake and Ice Cream and ended the party after only an hour due to the kids all freezing and hovering under the pavillion. As we left I asked Carter if he'd had a good birthday party even though it rained, he said "It wasn't the best." Next year I will definitely be buying a pinata and cake, I learned my lesson- anytime I read online that something is a "simple at home project" they mean for everyone else

My pinata

My cakes

The finished product- so cute.

Carter blowing out the candles on the cake- oh wait his mom forgot to bring the candles- oops.

I forgot to take a picture of all the kids at the party, in fact I only took a couple pictures at all but thanks to all of you that came and/or helped (especially Noelle and Marilyn). Carterbug- I promise next year we'll have a better party, I've learned my lesson and will not try to do things myself, happy 7 1/2th bud, love you.

St. George getaway, grass FINALLY, and friends.

2009-06-16T10:09:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we decided to take the kids and go to St. George for a change of scenery. We left Thursday afternoon and stayed until Sunday. We had a great time- we went swimming three times, went to the movie Up (highly recommend it), and went for a short hike. We also went to a few nurseries and got some plants and pots to put in the yard.

AWWW- Look how much my kids love each other- how sweet they're hugging.

Or. . . . they're fighting and Camryn just won.

After living in our house for two and a half years the neighbors decided that the grace period was over and it was time we finish our front yard. So about a month ago Jeremy and I got working on it one Saturday. After a couple hours of pushing dirt around and being frustrated I came in and started calling landscapers (I know I'm a wimp). We found a local guy (well he's from Monticello but we forgave him for that) and by the end of the day we had gone from the original plan of just putting sod down and watering by hand to doing sprinklers, a courtyard, sod and some plants and trees. I am so glad now that we did it the right way. Our landscaper, Jeff Frost, was awesome and I would recommend him to anyone. He had lots of great ideas and our yard is so much better thanks to him. Last night we layed sod. We asked a couple family members to come help and many other neighbors and friends drove by and saw us laying it and stopped to help- we live in the best place ever and are so grateful for our friends and family. Now I just want to stay outside and look at it, our house looks a million times better.

When we got home Sunday night my old friend Britta stopped by (and when I say old I mean it's been a long time since I've seen her not that she's actually old cause she's my age and I'm not old so she can't be either :) Her kids immediately became best friends with mine and played for a while that night. Then they came over again yesterday and now my kids aren't sure how they will live without them. Carter and Kolton played Xbox and Wii the whole time while Camryn Kaler and Ellie played with the lambs, rode the horses, played tag and just had a great time. Logan and Bailey tagged along with the big kids too. It was great to see Britta again and get to know her kids, her daughter Ellie kept making faces that I would have sworn I was looking at my best friend Britta twenty years ago.

Kaler and Ellie (and that would be a classic "Britta" face that she's making with her huge cheese grin.)

Kaler and Kolton

Bailey and Camryn

kids say the darndest things

2009-06-08T07:40:00.000-07:00

Logan has been going through a "stage" of trying to push me and see where the limits are and what he can get away with. We are battling a lot. As I write this he is picking up dog poop in the backyard as his punishment for not helping take care of the shoes this morning (I know I'm the meanest).

Between the fighting and whining, though, he says some of the funniest things so I still love the kid to death. Yesterday at church he was standing in front of me and out of the corner of my eye I noticed him put something in his mouth. Here's the conversation that followed:

"What are you eating?"

"A pretzel I found."

"Logan you don't eat things that you don't know where they came from"

"Oh don't worry I know where it came from, it came from right here" and he pointed to the hymn book holder.

As the sacrament came to us he was playing and I nudged him to take some bread. He excitedly stuck both hands in and got a peice in each I looked at him with the "you know better than that" look and he said "Dangit I thought it was popcorn." He then ate both peices and grabbed one more handful as it passed back by.

Logan,

Whoever said that age two was "terrible" didn't know you. Two was wonderful, you did what you were told (most of the time), you only whined a little, you gave more luvs then anyone I know. THEN YOU TURNED THREE- I am hoping that you grow out of the terrible threes before your next birthday, BUT if the funny cute little things that keep us laughing are part of the terrible threes then I'll take all of the terrible stuff cause you keep my smiling. I love you bud.

Mom

Where did May go???

2009-05-31T14:36:00.000-07:00

I can't remember the last time a month flew by as quickly as this May did. I'll give a quick recap of what we've been up to lately.

A few weeks ago all of the local farmers put on "Farm Days". Every other year they all get together and bring a bunch of animals together, and show the kids all of the things that are made from the products we get from farms- they have homemade ice Cream, they make butter, they take all the kids on a tractor pulled hay ride and lots of other fun stuff. My mom came and got me and Logan to go with her the first day and she had such a good time that her and Logan went again the second day. I know a lot of work went into putting the whole thing together and I'm grateful for all the local farmers doing it so my kids can have the experience of "Farm Days".

Logan Lassoing the bull- yes he got it on his first try- must be the cowboy in him.

Logan petting a baby goat- How cute is that???

We ran into Carter who was there with his class on a fieldtrip. (Side Note: I did not send Carter to School in this outfit, this is something they wore in his class for a program so they had them all wear them that day so they'd all match and they could find them- not that I don't LOVE it I just wouldn't want to take credit for something I didn't do :)

HayRide day two with Emily and her kids.

Carter finished his first year of machine pitch baseball. He had a blast and did really good. It was fun to see him and his friends move from T-Ball to actual baseball and it surprised me to see how well they all picked it up. I am sure we have many years ahead of watching Carter Play Baseball.

Camryn had her first 4H horse meet yesterday. It lasted alllll daaaayyyyy looooong, and still at the end she wasn't ready to get off her horse so rather than going straight home we went the long route to ride with her friend Kinley to where she keeps her horse. She did awesome on all of the events- her horse Panda is kind of stubborn so she had to fight him to do what he was supposed to but she showed him who was boss. They have both come so far since the first practice a few weeks ago, I'm excited to see her get better and more confident on him this year. During the first four events Panda would try to go to the gate any time he came near it because he wanted to be done but she wouldn't let him so finally on the last event he just did it perfectly and they got a blue ribbon. All of the other events they got red ribbons. At the first practice he wouldn't do anything unless we ran behind him and threw dirt clods at him so I was pretty proud of her for sticking with it and making him do what he is supposed to.

Have you ever seen a cuter cowgirl?

Camryn and Kinley on Panda and Blue.

Last week I went to Philidelphia for work. I went with three of my coworkers, we didn't have a lot of time to play. We got there late Wednesday night and went to the famous "Geno's" for a phili cheese steak. Thursday we spent all day in meetings and finished a few hours before our flight back. We decided to go downtown to the liberty bell but when we got there we realized it was several elementary school's field trip day and their was no way we would get to go in and make our flight so we walked around a little and then headed to the airport. Hopefully I'll get to go back again and have a little more time to play next time.

Wow, I'm a slacker!!

2009-05-20T07:57:00.000-07:00

I have tons of things that I've missed blogging about on in the past couple months. I'm going to try and do a quick recap to catch up (I've also misplaced my camera so most will be without pics but hopefully I find it and add pics later)

Logan turned 3 in March- he loves dinosaurs lately so he wanted to have a dinosaur party. I made a cake and put some little plastic dinos on it and he thought it was the greatest thing- I don't look forward to the day that I have to do more than that to make it be a "dinosaur party". I took him and Camryn to the Cortez rec center and then to McDonalds to celebrate his birthday (Carter was with his dad in Mesa so he missed the "party"). Logan is seriously at the best age right now, he is such a little stud. I'm so lucky to get to hang out with him every day and hear the funny things that he comes up with. I'll finish the post with one funny Logi story- The other day we were driving on the road that goes right behind the dinosaur museum. For some reason there is a set of double doors that is on the second story of the museum but there aren't any stairs to the door so it's just on the side of the building. As we passed Logan said "Hey that's weird I wonder what that door is for" then after a few seconds of thinking about it he said "oh wait, I know- it's for the teradactyls to get it!" I love you little buddy, happy (late) third birthday.

As I mentioned above Carter and Jeremy went to Mesa. They went with Jeremy's dad and Dallin and went to a few spring training baseball games. They all had such a good time. It's been a tradition for the past few years for the boys to go, this was the first year they took Carter- he had a ball. He is really starting to love baseball. His attention span isn't the longest so any time he sits for that long without complaining (OK he did complain a little) you know he must like it.

Last month I had a coding conference in Las Vegas. I wasn't really looking forward to it cause I knew I'd be in class all day and since I was planning on going alone I thought the nights would be pretty boring. A couple days before I left I was talking to Chanelle and when I told her I was going to Vegas she asked if she could join me, so after figuring out what to do with her kids for the week we were off. I was so glad she ended up coming, we had such a good time each night. One night we went to Penn and Teller- it was just OK, not something I'd recommend highly. The second night we went to Mystere- it was awesome, I loved it. We walked up the strip a couple times and saw some of the free stuff- the water show at the Bellagio was a personal favorite. I'm really glad she came, it made the week so much fun.

Camryn just finished another year of tumbling. She did so good this year. She can almost do a backhandspring all by herself. She has mastered the backwalkover. I love that she loves tumbling cause it was one of my favorites as a kid.

We've started riding the horses a lot. Camryn is now doing 4-H and has loved the two practices that she's been to so far. I really enjoy going with her and watching, it brings back so many good memories. She has lots of friends that do it too and she looks forward to it every week. Her horse is a little stubborn- she gets a good workout trying to control him but she does great and is getting better and better.

Carter is almost done with his first year of machine pitch baseball. He has been on Kyler Perkins team and has loved every minute of it. Kyler has been great with him and he's learned a lot this year. He is pretty good and get's a hit almost every time he gets up to bat. He has played third base most of the time. He is such a little baseball stud- I love watching his games.

So much to blog, so little time

2009-04-10T20:25:00.000-07:00

I seriously have at least ten posts to do but just don't have time so here's a funny story that won't take too long that I thought I'd share:

My visiting teacher came over and she is in nursery with Logan and she said that the last week in nursery all of the kids were playing a game and she asked Logan if he wanted to play, to which he said:

"Do you know what SpongeBob would say about that?. . . Boooooooring"

I'll catch up soon I promise.

Family

2009-03-30T08:20:00.000-07:00

For our combined fifth sunday meeting yesterday The Bishop, and a few others he had asked to help, talked about family home evening and different things that have worked for them. Several of them had such great ideas that I thought I'd share and if anyone has things that have worked well for them please leave a comment.

Mary Shumway had a great way to get her teenagers excited about fhe as well as include all of her kids who no longer live at home. I won't be able to do this quite yet because my kids are too young and cell phoneless (I know I'm so mean) but I thought we would try to do a version of it without the phones. Starting last spring the Monday after conference she started a trivia game to see who learned the most from conference. She texts all her kids (including the two in her house) a question about conference. They all then text back and anyoen who gives the right answer gets a point. They continued the tradition last fall and are planning the third round next week. I thought it was a great way to include your whole family when they start moving way to college.

Derek Bethea said that they always do a lesson on Sunday night and an activity on Monday night. Sunday after the lesson they decide as a family what the activity will be so that makes the kids excited for the Sunday night lesson because they know they will decide what they'll be doing the next day.

After the meeting I got thinking about the fact that my kids still LOVE doing things as a family and in a few years they probably won't be quite as excited so I need to take full advantage of this time before it's gone. I decided to take both of their ideas and change them a little to work with my family. If anyone else has good ideas for things that have worked for them, or if you have certain family activities that your kids love, please leave them in a comment.

Broken heart

2009-03-21T07:34:00.000-07:00

Last night as we sent Logan to bed he started the normal whining and trying to get out of it routine. I told him if he kept crying I was going to throw away his bionicle guy so he stopped and started walking to bed sniffling. I asked why he was still sad and he said "I think my heart is breaking". I asked why, he said "because I don't even have my own pony". Seriously, how could we be that mean.

Viva Mexico

2009-03-15T19:17:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a week in Mexico and other than missing my kids I was not ready to come back to the real world just yet. We had such a good time. My parents and Stacy and Taylor came with us. We boarded the Princess Sapphire last Saturday and began eating immediately, and unfortunately it continued until they made us get off the ship yesterday. We spent two and a half days at sea and got to Puerto Vallarta on Tuesday. In PV (which is what all the locals call it and pretty much after 12 or so hours there we now consider ourselves local) we went on an awesome "adventure" which I would recommend to anyone going there. It started off with a boat ride followed by a very bumpy jeep ride. When we got to the "base camp" in the heart of the Sierra Madres we each mounted a mule and headed up the mountain. At the top we began the exciting trip down which included several zip lines, rapelling, hiking and the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen. It was awesome, if you're going to Puerto Vallarta any time soon see this link for details.

The next day we went to Mazatlan. We decided to do a little more relaxing tour this day so we went to an island called Stone Island and did sea kayaks, road a bananna boat and then just relaxed on the beach. It was also lots of fun.

Thursday we went to Cabo San Lucas. We only had a few hours there so we just shopped and hung out on lover's beach. It was gorgeous and I really want to go back.
Friday and Saturday were spent on the boat getting back to L.A. It was nice to catch back up on sleep, it was really rough to not have time for naps on the three days we were at ports. We basically napped, ate, napped some more, and of course ate some more. We then spent two some what miserable days in the car to get home. The kids were very excited to have us home- thanks to Kera, Nicole, Cristi, Shantil, Rebecca, Cathy and Bryce we didn't worry about them while we were gone. We knew they were well taken care of and they all had a great time with everyone.

Jeremy on the Mule ride, there is some cowboy in him after all!!

Rappeling down the waterfalls.

the zip line race- I lost.

Free fall rappel.

seriously, how cute is he??

In case any questions arise with this photo I need to clarify that the drinks were all on the table when we sat here- at least that's our story and we're sticking to it.

Thanks again Mom, Dad, Stacy and Taylor. We had a great time, can't wait for next time!!!

Finding Joy in the journey

2009-03-01T19:09:00.000-08:00

I loved Pres. Monson's talk in this last October conference entitled 'finding joy in the journey" and this morning I was reading it again. It came back to mind as I sat in Relief Society and listened to the announcements which included the status of several ward members who are very sick and nearing the end of their lives (one of which being my Aunt). It made me think how important it is to really enjoy every minute that we have. I have selected a couple quotes from the talk that I especially liked but I recommend reading the whole thing here.

"If you have children who are grown and gone, in all likelihood you have occasionally felt pangs of loss and the recognition that you didn’t appreciate that time of life as much as you should have. Of course, there is no going back, but only forward. Rather than dwelling on the past, we should make the most of today, of the here and now, doing all we can to provide pleasant memories for the future.
If you are still in the process of raising children, be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled will disappear all too soon and that you will—to your surprise—miss them profoundly.
Stresses in our lives come regardless of our circumstances. We must deal with them the best we can. But we should not let them get in the way of what is most important—and what is most important almost always involves the people around us. Often we assume that they must know how much we love them. But we should never assume; we should let them know.

Despite the changes which come into our lives and with gratitude in our hearts, may we fill our days—as much as we can—with those things which matter most. May we cherish those we hold dear and express our love to them in word and in deed."

I am grateful for my life and to all of you who have been an influence in my journey. Please know how much I love and appreciate you.

Today's top 10- why I love my valentine

2009-02-17T07:48:00.001-08:00

The idea of having a Sunday post is a good one except everyone knows when I'm a slacker and miss church. This weekend we were out of town and didn't make it to church- no excuse really we were just slackers, so for my Sunday/Valentine post I thought I'd list all the reasons that I'm lucky to be married to Jeremy.

10- He is a kid trapped in a thirty somethings body. He is always wrestling with the kids and playing games and teasing and. . He definitely keeps life interesting.

9- He puts up with me and my moods. I know this isn't easy and I am grateful that he has the patience to put up with me.

8- He is positive 99% of the time. This is a definite blessing since I tend to be more cynical. On the rare occasion that he gets down I have to be the positive one but generally he keeps me grounded.

7- He is such a hard worker- he's always had more than one job and it doesn't phase him.

6- He is always doing nice things for random people. But he finds ways to help people that nobody will ever know about, he is never looking to be recognized for his good deeds.

5- He is the best dad ever. When Cam was sick a couple weeks ago he took such good care of her, he would sleep in her bed and get her stuff all night long, I wouldn't have made it through the week without him.

4- He honors his priesthood authority and is such a strong leader and example for our family.

3- He is super smart. In kindergarten his teacher told his mom to be careful because he might be the type that would drop out of high school because he would be so bored with school. Luckily she was wrong and he survived high school boredom.

2- He is an awesome cook and actually enjoys it. He cooks dinner more often then me and I LOVE that because I don't enjoy it at all.

1- He is my best friend. I know it's cheesy but it's true, there's nobody I'd rather be with then him.

Jeremy will actually kind of hate this post because he doesn't really like to be fussed over but I needed to say it. I really love ya babe, thanks for being my valentine.

Today's top 10- Why I love the snow

2009-02-11T14:41:00.000-08:00

10- Less dust all over my house (we won't mention the mud).

9- spinning donuts in the church parking lot (OK I haven't done that since highschool but still- good memories)

8- I know that I'll be able to water my lawn this summer.

7- Any excuse to make my kids work- I'm such a slave driver just ask Carter.

6- Sledding!!! did I even have to say it?

5- I love lighting (turning on) the fire, so cozy.

4- I love hot chocolate and any reason to make it.

3- The kids love playing outside.

2- The trees that looked dead last week are now "kissed" with white and look beautiful.

and the number one reason I love the snow (drumroll):

My yard looks like everyone else's.

Well I guess I still don't have any trees or plants but at least you can't tell that under all that snow is mud and weeds : )

Pay it forward

2009-02-10T07:52:00.000-08:00

I didn't have a sunday post this week because none of us made it to church- too many sick kids and both Jeremy and I felt like we may have been coming down with something. Turns out it was probably just sheer exhaustion. So I planned on finding something inspirational on my own to post but that never happened so today I was on a friends blog and came across this game and decided it sounded fun and could be a replacement for my sunday post so here goes.

{The Rules}
1. Be one of the first THREE bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me - something crafty or yummy, who knows?! (disclaimer- I am not very crafty so I'll do my best but????)
2. Winners must post this challenge on their blog, meaning that they will Pay It Forward, creating a handmade gift -anything!- for the first THREE bloggers who leave a comment on their post about this giveaway!
3. The gift that you send to your friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And, remember: It’s the Spirit and the Thought That Count!
4. When you receive your gift, please feel free to blog about it, sharing appropriate pictures and comments! If you are not one of the Top Three Commenters on this post, you can still play along.
Go ahead and start your own Pay It Forward chain, and encourage your blogging friends to do the same! SO, REMEMBER...Pay it forward!
P.S. If you are one of the first three and don't have a blog to post on I have come up with a wonderful idea. Take the next three friends that call you just to chat and Pay It Forward to them! Then challenge them to do the same :) Let's help make this a wonderful world to live in and show our friends how much we care for them :)

Officially sick of sick

2009-02-07T11:14:00.000-08:00

Our blog has been bare lately due to nothing exciting happening. In fact the past week has been filled with throw up and ear aches. Camryn has had the flu for SIX days now, feels like sixty days. For the first three she threw up EVERYTHING that went down her throat. The past few she hasn't thrown up much, just still has fevers and aches and overall has felt like crap. Tuesday night Logan spent most of the night up with an ear ache. I took him to the Dr. to find out he had double ear infections. Last night Cam was feeling pretty good, Logan's ears seemed to be doing better and just as we were getting ready for bed Carter started saying his ears were hurting. By bed time he was in tears in pain- Awesome. I can't complain though because we drugged all the kids up and got to sleep clear until 6:30 this morning at which point we were awakened to the sounds of Camryn throwing up- Again!! Sorry to paint a not so pretty picture but since this is a journal of what our family is doing that's pretty much all I have to say for this week. I am just praying that no one else in the family gets what Cam has had because it has been the worst illness any of my kids have ever had.

Love

2009-02-01T19:44:00.000-08:00

Today's lesson in relief society was about Love. Sister Jones told quite a few good stories about different people showing love but one that I thought was especially touching was about a kid that was born mentally handicapped. He didn't have any physical handicaps and, in fact, had been blessed with a very strong body so his parents got him involved with the special olympics. He was a very fast runner so they entered him in a track competition. The race started and he quickly got a good lead on the rest of the runners. Soon though he looked to both sides and noticed that he was all alone, he slowed down and looked back and saw that all his friends were quite a ways behind him so he stopped and waited and cheered for them until they caught up at which point he ran with them all cheering the rest of the way to the finish line, finishing last. Everyone watching knew that if he would have continued running he surely would have taken home the gold but that what he had just taught them was more important than any gold medal.

In this world of competition and always worrying about who is ahead I think this is a great lesson on what is important. If everyone showed love and cared more about their friends and neighbors then themselves think about the different world we would live in.

Future Elder Redd

2009-01-26T08:59:00.000-08:00

Last night after Josh was set apart as a missionary we asked the boys where they wanted to go on missions. Carter said Mexico, Logan's answer:

"I'm gonna go to Chucky Cheese on my mission" Watch out Chucky Cheese, Elder Redd will be there in just over 16 years.

Sunday Message

2009-01-25T19:29:00.000-08:00

Some weeks it's hard to find something to post for my sunday message others I have four or five ideas that I'd like to post. I know the difference is not in the content of the lessons I hear but in the spirit that I have with me and the attention that I pay. Today is a day that I heard several great talks and lessons and thanks to Logan sleeping through all of sacrament meeting I actually got to listen to all of it. My littlle brother gave a great talk as well as my cousin Nicole and in sunday school we talked about the translation of the book of mormon and Sis. Christianson gave a quote by President Benson that I really enjoyed:

"There is a power in the book which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoid deception. You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path.... When you begin to hunger and thirst after those words, you will find life in greater and greater abundance.

I feel certain that if, in our homes, parents will read from the Book of Mormon prayerfully and regularly, both by themselves and with their children, the spirit of that great book will come to permeate our homes and all who dwell therein. The spirit of reverence will increase; mutual respect and consideration for each other will grow. The spirit of contention will depart. Parents will counsel their children in greater love and wisdom. Children will be more responsive and submissive to the counsel of their parents. Righteousness will increase. Faith, hope, and charity will abound in our homes and lives, bringing in their wake peace, joy, and happiness "

Joshy Squashy

2009-01-25T18:57:00.001-08:00

Today was a great day. My littlest brother Joshy Squashy (an endearing term given to him by "the little kids" aka Stacy, Deco and Noelle) spoke in church today. He will be entering the MTC on Wednesday to begin his mission. He will be there for nine weeks and then will head to Paris France. I can't believe it, I'm not really sure how it happened because just a couple weeks ago he was the cutest little six year old, and my best buddy. I decided I needed to post some funny Joshy stories because they no longer have the traditional farewell meetings in which you get the chance to do this.

My first story happened when I was home one weekend from College. Josh was in first grade and his class was going on a field trip to the famous dinosaur museum. When Josh realized that I would be home that day he asked if I could come. On the walk to the museum Josh didn't leave my side, he spent most of the trip talking to me and telling me the best first grade gossip. He told me about an after school activity that was coming up. I asked who he would go with and he named several of his friends. I don't remember exactly who but I'd bet they included Dane, Bean, and several others. He hadn't mentioned one of his best friends- Kyle, who was a red shirt kindergartner (for those of you not from Blanding I'll explain that phrase: many hold their kids back and don't send them until the year after they can go, you know for sports purposes- thus when they go they are a red shirt kindergartner) Anyways I asked Josh- What about Kyle? To which he rolled his eyes and said "Kristi. A first grader does not be seen with a kindergartner". I think he got over this though because he and Kyle are still really good friends.

The next story was also when I was in College but this time Josh was hangin out with me at my apartment. We were leaving to go somewhere and as we left a friend drove into the parking lot. I stopped and talked to him for a minute and found out they were going to another friends house and I told him I'd come over in a while. As we drove away Josh asked "do you think I could come over with you?" I said "sure" He said "thanks cause I want them to see me, I'm just little you know and I don't get seen a lot."

I really miss my little buddy but also love the big guy that he's grown up to be and I know he's going to be an awesome missionary. Watch out Paris France here comes Elder Lyman!!

ps: I would like to encourage all my brother and sisters and anyone else who knows a good Joshy story to either leave it in a comment or post it on your blog.

In memory of. . .

2009-01-19T17:51:00.000-08:00

Logan's hair : (

We finally did it. Even though he didn't lose any of his "powers" I still feel sad about it. He still looks dang cute just not as original. I am not sure if we'll keep the do' or grow it out again but for now I'm enjoying not having tangles to brush out. Logan doesn't seem to care either way, he says he likes it but he also always said he liked his long hair, even as he cried while I brushed it out. Thanks to everyone for their help and advice with making this decision. I know it's just hair but I am still mourning it a little.

and yep, once again he is missing his shirt.

The road to Life

2009-01-18T12:17:00.000-08:00

We are in St. George today so we went to a random church at 11:00 and amazingly there was a sacrament meeting starting right then, crazy how we just knew when to go. Anyways, a return missionary, named Carter something, read this poem. I really liked it so I came home and searched for it online. It's been a few weeks since I've posted a sunday message, I'm going to try to do better (even if it's just for you Bev.)

At first, I saw God as my observer,
my judge,
keeping track of the things I did wrong,
so as to know whether I merited heaven
or hell when I die.
He was out there sort of like a president.
I recognized His picture when I saw it,
but I really didn't know Him.

But later on
when I met Christ,
it seemed as though life were rather like a
bike ride,
but it was a tandem bike,
and I noticed that Christ
was in the back helping me pedal.

I don't know just when it was
that He suggested we change places,
but life has not been the same since.

When I had control,
I knew the way.
It was rather boring,
but predictable...
It was the shortest distance between two points.

But when He took the lead,
He knew delightful long cuts,
up mountains,
and through rocky places
at breakneck speeds,
it was all I could do to hang on!
Even though it looked like madness,
He said, “Pedal!”

I worried and was anxious
and asked,
“Where are you taking me?”
He laughed and didn't answer,
and I started to learn to trust.

I forgot my boring life
and entered into the adventure.
And when I'd say, “I'm scared”,
He'd lean back and touch my hand.

He took me to people with gifts that I needed,
gifts of healing,
acceptance,
and joy.
They gave me gifts to take on my journey,
my Lord's and mine.

And we were off again.
He said, “Give the gifts away;
they're extra baggage, too much weight.”
So I did,
to the people we met,
and I found that in giving I received,
and still our burden was light.

I did not trust Him,
at first,
in control of my life.
I thought He'd wreck it,
but He knows bike secrets,
knows how to make it bend to take sharp corners,
knows how to jump to clear high rocks,
knows how to fly to shorten scary passages.

And I am learning to listen
and pedal
in the strangest places,
and I'm beginning to enjoy the view
and the cool breeze on my face
with my delightful constant companion,
Jesus Christ.

And when I'm sure I just can't do anymore,
He just smiles and says... “Pedal.”

--Author Unknown

The haircut: part deux

2009-01-15T16:37:00.000-08:00

After the fiasco last Sunday I called Shantil and she came to the rescue so Monday I went over and she cut his hair. She did exactly what I asked and I really liked it. Jeremy, however, doesn't like it at all and we're still in the market for a different look. So I am letting Jeremy decide what we do next, I'll post those pictures next week.

This isn't the best picture actually, it looks pretty bad in it, it doesn't look that bad in real life I don't think. Either that or I am blinded by his cute little smile and I would think he looks cute no matter what.

From the back- this is Jeremy's least favorite thing about it, again I think it looks cute.

I was going for Zach and Cody in the early years (for those of you who don't have preteen daughters you'll have to google) but maybe his hair is just too thin to pull it off??

Feeling appreciated

2009-01-15T10:54:00.001-08:00

If I ever wondered if my kids appreciated all that I do (laundry, cook, clean, taxi service) on top of having a full time job I got my answer today. I spent all my spare time yesterday doing the much dreaded laundry- which if you know me you know is one of my least favorite jobs. So by the time the kids got home it was done and just needed to be put away. I am kind of a mean mom and I make Camryn and Carter put their own clothes away so when they got home I told them that before they could play or watch TV or anything fun they had to do their homework and put away their clean clothes. Carter was expecting a friend to call and invite him over so he quickly got busy and finished everything in record time. I was very proud of him because usually he starts something and gets distracted and has to be reminded several times before he finishes. I thanked him for doing it so quickly and let him play with his friend. This morning I finally got around to putting Logan's clothes away- you know because I was playing all evening and stuff. And I was surprised to see that there were a bunch of empty hangers in Carter's closet- usually it takes every last one, no matter how many I buy we seem to always need more hangers. Immediately I thought "that little stinker, he shoved all his hang up clothes in a drawer" so I checked the drawers- Nope. Then I looked at the dirty clothes hamper. It was surprising full considering I had done the laundry the day before. The little stinker had thrown all the clean clothes right back in the hamper. HE IS SO GOING TO GET IT WHEN HE GETS HOME.

To cut or not to cut

2009-01-11T16:54:00.000-08:00

I need your help. We have been trying to decide if it's time to cut Logan's hair now for a while and I just haven't been able to pull the trigger and do it. I don't think I want the traditional short hair cut for Logan. His hair cut, to me, totally matches his personality, but. . . he has bed head most of the day and pretty much looks like an orphan. So, I am looking for a new style, I tried to cut it today and the results, well let's just say it ain't pretty. So please leave a comment and/or vote on the poll to the side and let me know what you think. I've kind of already screwed it up but I think it could still be left kind of long, it just needs some professional help.

his hair before:

The problem

His hair today after the "haircut" or "butchering", depending on who you ask. Pretty much everyone is in agreement that he looks like a girl. Not that he didn't get that before.

Carter Bug

2009-01-03T10:03:00.000-08:00

My little bug turned 7 last week. It's been a little busy so I'm just getting around to posting about it. This is exactly the reason that I have talked him into having his birthday party on his half birthday for the past two years, it works out better for everyone. Carter is such an awesome kid. He is Logan's "best buddy", they really are such good friends.

He is always keeping us laughing, the things he says and does are crazy. He's a total ham when it comes to posing for pictures- he's always up for a picture.

He is super smart, he taught himself to read before kindergarten and according to his teacher "there's not a word out there that he can't read."

Happy Birthday bug, we love you!!

Sledding- again

2008-12-29T21:15:00.000-08:00

After all the snow that fell on Christmas we had to go sledding on Saturday so we bundled everyone up and headed back to the sledding hill. When we got there someone had made a huge jump at the end of one of the hills so Spencer (Mindy's 7 year old son) decided he'd try it out. I wasn't there yet but when I got there they all told me about it. He flew through the air (which you'll get to see Nicole do in the video below) but he landed straight on his back. He stood up screaming but that only lasted for a second at which point the screaming stopped and he fell face first into the snow- passed out. Luckily Jodene, who is a nurse, was there and quickly turned him over and managed to get him awake, his Uncle was also there who is a Dr. and he checked him out and didn't find anything wrong so off he went to continue sledding- he did stay away from the jump for the rest of the day though.

The second accident of the day happened a little later, it was not as scary and so we managed to get some pictures. You'll notice that my dad's laughing in the background and he's not laughing at Carter but at me for running over and quickly taking a picture- for the blog of course.

It was even Carter's Birthday. As I took him to the car he said "this is the worst birthday ever". He changed his mind later thankfully. After the bleeding stopped he just had a huge bruised bottom lip- just in time for the family pictures that we had scheduled that night. Even with the accidents it was another super fun day of sledding. Carter is even ready to go back.

Christmas 2008

2008-12-29T19:59:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas this year, Santa was especially generous. We started the celebration on Tuesday night with a party with the Lyman clan at our house, it was lots of fun.

I had to add this picture of Maxon- please don't call DCSF I promise he isn't abused. He fell and hit his head on my mom's table before coming over and then gave me the best beat up face ever for this picture.

Wednesday we went party hopping, starting at my parents house with the Halliday crew and ending up at Jeremy's house with his family.

Christmas morning we woke to lots of snow and it continued to fall all day long- it was beautiful.

The kids got sufficiently spoiled by everyone, Camryn's loot included a guitar-

A stable with some horses-

Her very own sewing machine-

Some of carter's favorites were his spy car-

New Wii games-

Carter and Logan got a lego table from Grandma Lyman-

Logan also loves his new Lion-

And his leapster-

And his new Cars and race track-

All of the kids LOVED their new blankets that Grandma Redd made-

I'd show the gifts that Jeremy and I got but they aren't nearly as exciting. Our best present was getting to watch the kids excitement all day, I wish I could keep the feeling of happiness in my house for the whole year. After opening our presents we went to Grandma Lymans and Grandma Redds followed by Grandpa Hallidays and then Grandma Blacks. Having so much family around makes Christmas in Blanding the only kind of Christmas I ever want to have. It's a little crazy to run from house to house but I wouldn't change it for anything. Tomorrow we will be going to Payson for a Christmas party with the rest of my family since most of them didn't make it for Christmas. And then it will all be over for another year : ( Thanks again to all of our family for making it such a special Christmas.

I DON'T WANT TO GO BACK TO WORK

2008-12-29T08:01:00.000-08:00

I don't have time right now to add all the posts that I want to (Christmas, Carter's birthday, Sledding again and the bloody mess, sunday message, etc.) but I just wanted to take a moment and vent about the fact that the kids don't have to go back to school for another eight days but I have to work, it's not fair. There, I feel better now, still don't want to work but someone has to pay for all those presents.

Sleddin

2008-12-21T19:31:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I took the kids sledding. There is a really good hill by the third reservoir and the kids had a blast. The hill is possibly a little too big for young kids but mine didn't mind. They crashed almost every time down the hill, as you'll see in the clip, I kept thinking with each crash that for sure that would be Logan's last time down the hill and that he'd want to go home but he'd just jump up and say "that was awesome" and run back up the hill. Jeremy missed out on the fun because he was in Las Vegas watching BYU lose :-( but the only way I could talk the kids into leaving was promising to come back this week while they're on Christmas break so we'll see if he's as tough as the kids.

this picture gives you an idea of how long and steep the hill is.

This is Camryn and Logan heading down the hill

notice where the track is?? And how Camryn is going off the track? I mistakenly thought that standing next to the track to get pictures was safe. A collision happened moments after this picture. My only regret was that I wasn't taking video for this one, oh well.

Sunday

2008-12-21T19:10:00.000-08:00

I think The Sunday before Christmas is one of the best every year but this year it was especially good. Sacrament meeting was a musical program that was really good. My favorite part of sacrament meeting though was seeing a newly ordained deacon pass the sacrament for the first time. Carson is autistic, he is also the sweetest boy ever, loves everyone, has a hug for anyone at any moment. He was obviously very nervous as he held the tray with one hand and bit the fingernails of his other hand. Another deacon walked with him making sure he knew where to go. It was truly an awesome thing to watch, I remembered years earlier when I was in primary and Carson was a little. . . let's just say hard. I don't think if you would have asked me at that time if he'd be capable of passing the sacrament when he got older that I would have said yes. He has amazing parents and brothers and sisters who have done an unbelievable job of raising him. They are great examples of patience and love. I know I am a true blue blogger because as I watched Carson pass the sacrament I wished I could take a picture.

Cam's B-ball

2008-12-21T19:02:00.001-08:00

Camryn finished her first season of basketball yesterday. She was a little bit timid in the beginning but improved a lot by the end. She had awesome coaches who did a lot to make sure that the girls enjoyed it, and she really did enjoy it.

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas

2008-12-16T08:49:00.000-08:00

We FINALLY got our first real snow storm and I'm soooo excited. I love seasons- by the end of winter I will undoubtedly be cursing the snow and ready for the sun but right now I am so excited to see the white stuff everywhere, and that's why I love where we live. The kids were obviously pumped and woke up hoping for a snow day but they couldn't be that lucky. NOW I am ready for Christmas!!!

Carter and Logan had a little more snow to play with this time. Notice the nice snow angel between them.

Jeremy was excited until he shoveled and then he said he's ready for spring- scrooge!

Camryn's letter to her Dad.

2008-12-12T10:53:00.000-08:00

ahhhhhh how sweet

Who's excited for snow???

2008-12-08T16:00:00.000-08:00

These guys. I didn't think the skiff on the lawn counted for anything but they were sooooo excited and insisted putting their full snow gear on. Hopefully we'll get some "real" snow soon.

The Green windows

2008-12-07T19:30:00.000-08:00

Today in Stake Conference Brother Johnson, who is an assistant in the Temple presidency, told a story about the Monticello temple that I had never heard and I thought I'd share. When the temple was built they used some green tinted glass windows. Several years later they decided to add on to the temple. The addition would add eight windows to the temple. When they went to order eight more windows they were very discouraged to find out that those windows were not available anymore. I can't remember if the company went out of business or that window was discontinued or what. So they were looking at all their possibilities, considering replacing all the windows on the whole temple, but of course that would have been very expensive and blown the budget. Someone mentioned that they had seen some boxes in the maintenance shed that they thought had windows in them. When they looked into it sure enough when the original windows had been ordered a mistake had been made and they had ended up with extra. They went and looked and there were eight extra windows.

I just think that is an amazing story. I thought back to the original contractor who had "accidentally" ordered the wrong number of windows and how disappointed he must had been when he realized. So often in life we make "mistakes" that end up being blessings. Our Heavenly Father is watching over us and knows what we need, even when we don't.

On a side note- the picture above is another amazing job by Brooke Pehrson. You can order copies of it- see her webiste for more details.

Only 23 days

2008-12-02T08:38:00.000-08:00

I love, love, love Christmas time. I wish it was still three months away but that we already had the feeling and spirit of Christmas to enjoy for the whole time. Last night we put out the decorations. The kids had a good time decorating the tree and hanging stockings. If it weren't for having to find a place for the stuff 11 months out of the year I would love to have every square inch of my house covered in Christmas decorations.

I promise I put clothes on Logan every day, 20 or so times per day actually, he just always takes them off. Lately, he just takes his shirt off so he can be a "wrestler guy".
Daddy putting the star on the tree

The stockings are hung by the chimney with care.

The finished product.

Scout Audrey

2008-12-02T08:31:00.000-08:00

Trent and Noelle blessed Scout on Saturday since our whole family was there as well as Trent's mom. She looked soooooo cute, we all love her so much- Logan asked Noelle if we could have her since she has two babies and we have none, seems fair doesn't it.

The cute family

A "less than happy" Scout.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-02T08:18:00.003-08:00

Thanksgiving was great! My whole family ate at Trent and Noelle's house this year. We had way too much food, and a few too many small kids. It was a little crazy. After dinner we went and took some pictures since we were all there and then the boys went to a movie while the girls cleaned up the aftermath (not fair, I know). To make up for it the boys watched the kids the next day while the girls went shopping. Every year that I go shopping the day after Thanksgiving I swear that I won't ever do that again but this year it was all worth it because we did get some great deals. I won't list all the things I'm grateful for because I pretty much did that in my "livin in the 90's" post.

Hangin out after dinner.

All the grand kids with Grandma and GrandpaLogan learned this year what olives are for

Pie anyone??

The LIving Christ

2008-11-23T21:10:00.000-08:00

I am sure today's sacrament meeting was really good, it was our Ward Conference. However, Logan really didn't let me listen to much of it. The topic was the living Christ and as we walked in we were handed a copy of the Testimony of the twelve apostles so I was able to read it after I got home. Thanks to a great bishopric for making sure I took something home just in case I didn't get a lot out of the meeting, I like the whole thing but I think this is my favorite: "We bear testimony, as His duly ordained Apostles- that Jesus is the Living Christ, the immortal Son of God. He is the great King Immanuel, who stands today on the right hand of His Father. He is the light, the life, and the hope of the world. His way is the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come. God be thanked for the matchless gift of His divine Son."

The game of the year!!!

2008-11-21T09:30:00.000-08:00

I am not sure the last time I was this excited for a football game but I can't wait until tomorrow. We will be watching the game at our house and anyone- Even those cheering on the Utes (as long as your not too obnoxious), are welcome to join us. We'll have a movie and games for the kids in the basement and some serious football food for the adults!! So come on over if you want, no formal invites are being sent so just seeing this is your invite and the more the merrier.

Livin' in the 90's

2008-11-16T18:42:00.000-08:00

Today's Sunday message came from a talk given in Sacrament meeting by Gena Nielson on gratitude. She had recently been to a seminar where a guy talked about living in the 90's- and not the 1990s, but the 90% of life that is good. He said that most people have 90% positive and 10% negative in their life and that if we live in the 90% that's positive then the 10% negative will not seem so bad. I really liked this idea and needed to hear it today being as I've been throwing a small pity party all week for myself and feeling really picked on (see last Sunday's post for confirmation of this). So, after church I had to drive to Provo for some meetings this week and I had a good five hours to think about my 90%. In the process I was trying to think if I could even put into words what my 10% would even be and I was shocked, and a little embarrassed, when I had a hard time even deciding what it was about my life that could be considered hard. Everything that I had been complaining about, either out loud or in my head, seemed SO ridiculous so today I am living in the 90's but thankful for the 10% (which is probably more like 2-3%) that I've been given, and here's why-

I'm thankful for the hand prints on the walls, the toys on the floor, the pen on the couch, the piles of laundry and dishes. The only way this would end is if something happened to my family and I suddenly lived alone, or at some point in life- when my kids leave the house. I do not wish for either of these things to happen so I am truly thankful that I GET to clean up after them and hope in the process of it all they will eventually learn to appreciate it, and maybe even some day clean up after themselves (I know wishful thinking.)

I'm thankful for my husband's obsession with Xbox and here's why- Jeremy doesn't do anything half way, he's either in our he's out. I complain about this when he's playing the championship game with a team that he's worked with for years (which is only really weeks or months in real time) but I love this characteristic about him so many other aspects. Because of this dedication he is an awesome husband and father, an amazing employee and a strong priesthood holder. I will take watching hours of simulated drafts in Madden to have the husband that I have.

I am thankful for my serious, thoughtful girl. Even though this means that I go through all the effort of getting family pictures taken only to get them back without any that she's smiling in. Her seriousness and her concern for everyone else is amazing. She is always asking what she can do to help me, she is always asking how I am feeling. She has always been very mature for her age. I am so grateful for such a thoughtful kid.

I am thankful for my 6 year old who Loves every day of life. Even if this means that it takes him an hour to walk home from school because along the way he finds all kinds of adventures and excitement on the way home- even if I am worrying myself sick wondering what has happened to him. Even if this means that I rarely ask only once for him to do something because usually the first time he goes to do the task he gets distracted. Even with these things it is well worth it to see his face every time he walks in the door because he has "the coolest thing" to tell me.

I am thankful for my never quiet energizer bunny. I feel like I spend half of my life trying to get him to "be quiet"- whether it's in church or some other place that your supposed to be quiet, or at nap or bed time, or just because I'm trying to get some work done and I need him to be quiet. But I am so thankful for all the little treasures that come out of his mouth. Today as we went into church I said "now, the rule is you DON'T talk in church, OK. . . What's the rule?" to which he said "Don't talk, and don't ever give up". I am so grateful for the constant jabber that comes out of his mouth, most of which I can now understand.

I am thankful that I find myself overwhelmed by the amount of work I have. It was only five years ago that I was looking for some sort of job that I could do while also being a mother. I really just wanted something that would make a few hundred dollars every month, little did I know that it would turn into a career that I would love and be the perfect job to do while I raised my kids. So even though there are weeks when I wonder how I will do it all, I am so happy to have the job that I do.

I am thankful that every week I get to spend an hour with 11 crazy eight year old scouts. I'll have to admit this was a hard one to turn around, probably because it's a new calling and I'm still having a hard time mourning the loss of my beehives. But I am really grateful to have been taught, by great example, that you take any calling and do the best job you can at it. I know by doing this that the day will come that I even enjoy it- don't tell Brother Bethea I said that. This calling came because of my membership in the church and I wouldn't trade that for anything so I am thankful for it.

I'm trying not to be TAMNish but really I am seriously so blessed (if you don't know what I'm talking about you really need to click on the link and take the time to read the whole blog- you won't be sorry) and I am quite embarrassed that I ever felt sorry for myself. I am thankful to Gena for the great talk that she gave and for helping me to realize just how much I do have. Hopefully I'll remember for a while.

How sweet it is

2008-11-14T10:22:00.001-08:00

Lately yogi has been having SUCH a hard time going to sleep. I'm not sure if he's inherited my inability to fall asleep without 30 minutes of complete silence and darkness or if he's ready to not take a nap (which by the way I'm not ready for) or if he's inherited his dad's distaste for being told what to do. Whatever the reason, we have had a struggle every night for quite a while. The other night we thought he had finally given in and gone to sleep and so as I went to bed I stuck my head in his room and this is what I found:

He had pulled the night light into bed with him had found a book and was "reading". At least doing that he was quiet so I just went to bed. I found out the next day that about 15 minutes later he had come out and watched TV with his dad for another hour or so. We've tried EVERYTHING we can think of. He shares a room with his brother and we've tried taking his "best buddy" away from him after a while so he has to sleep alone- didn't work! I told him he had to sleep in my closet the other night because everywhere else he was keeping people up- He went in, managed to TRASH the whole place in pitch darkness and never did go to sleep. Last night we tried saying he could either go to bed or sit on his dad's lap and not move or do anything, He would sit there until he was bored then say he was going to bed and go in his room and play in bed, at which point we'd get him out before he woke his brother up and start the process over. I've tried bribery, begging, yelling, ignoring, EVERYTHING!! So after staying up until 11 or so for the last few nights and getting up at 6 every morning it finally caught up with him and he just crashed on the couch next to me. And how sweet is he when he sleeps?

So I'm enjoying the moment and trying to be grateful for any sleep that comes without a fight, I would have preferred he wait until after lunch to fall asleep but I'll take it.

8 fun things

2008-11-09T14:59:00.000-08:00

I was tagged by Stacy, so here goes:

8 shows I love to watch:
1. The Office- seriously did I even need to say it?
2. What not to wear- If anyone wants to nominate me to be on the show I would not be mad, just so you know. I love Stacy and Clinton.
3. How I met your mother
4. Big Bang Theory
5. Amazing Race- This would be my first choice of a show I would like to be on, if I ever have the ability to leave my work and kids for a month.
6. Kath and Kim- I am still not completely in love with this one but it's new and so far it's staying in the line-up.
7. House Hunters- both regular and international.
Really surprising that I'm drawing a blank, the last two were stretches to say that I LOVE to watch them. I watch tons of shows but most of them I just kind of like so I'm not going to lie and list another.

Favorite 8 restaurants-
What's a restaurant?? I think this questions was to make those of us who live in Blanding feel bad, jk.
1. Red Lobster
2. Cafe Rio
3. Olive Garden
4. Ruby River
so I'm sure there are others but again I'm drawing a blank. It's been quite a while since I've been out of town so I can't really remember.

8 things that happened yesterday
1. lots of laundry
2. picking up toys
3. dishes
4. sweeping floors
5. making beds
does anyone feel bad for me yet? I really should have waited to do this until it was after a better day than yesterday.
6. Watched the BYU game (while folding clothes :)
7. fed the horses (which was officialy the only time I left the house)
8. went to bed

8 things I'm looking forward to:
1. being out of debt- looking down the road for this one, can't quite get it in view yet.
2. The Holidays- Thanksgiving at Noelle's and Christmas at home.
3. Finishing the basement- can almost see this one.
4. Losing the baby weight- yes my baby is 2 1/2 and I probably can't really still blame it on him but sorry that's when it started.
5. the day when my Saturday's aren't filled with laundry and other cleaning- yeah right.
6. Picking Josh up from France, only two years away!!
7. The next Vacation with my husband- nothing planned as of yet but it's time.
8. the rest of my life- cheesy I know but I really do like my little life.

8 things on my wish list:
1. New furniture- when we moved into the house we brought the old furniture with the plan of replacing it shortly after, two years later. . . nothing is replaced.
2. A swimspa or endless pool
3. A VW Routan- I'm trying to get pregnant right now so I can have German Engineering, jk. I've never even seen the car in real life but it looks cool on the commercials.
4. A landscaped yard- done by someone else, NOT ME.
5. A full time live in house cleaner- an ugly one of course ;)
6. A new wardrobe- and you could grant this wish by getting me on "what not to wear"
7. A six pack. . . you know what at this point I'd just be happy to lose the tire.
8. BYU to beat Utah, pleeeeeeease.

8 people I tag:
1. Stacy T.
2. Roni C.
3. Julie H.
4. Mindy M.
5. Kristin B.
6. Bev W.
7. Melanie R.
8. Chanelle C. (I haven't given up on you yet Chanelle, you can blog I know you can)

Sunday Message

2008-11-09T14:49:00.000-08:00

Today was our Primary program in sacrament meeting- which is always a favorite in my book. I chose to post Carter's part because I helped him memorize it so I also have it memorized and with Logan being Mr. Psycho all throughout the meeting I didn't get much else, so here it is:

"The Book of Mormon is the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by it's precepts than by any other book"

- President Joseph Smith

P.S.- for anyone that did notice I did just put my kids names in this blog. I tried to use Carter's nickname of Bug and it just sounded really stupid, I have been feeling a little less paranoid lately and wondering what the chances are. . . so the jury is still out as to whether or not I'll be changing our names or not, for now I don't think so.

Getting a little paranoid

2008-11-04T08:48:00.000-08:00

I love blogging, I also love the idea of finding old friends that I've lost touch with through blogging. For this reason I have not wanted to go private, however it is a scary thing to list so much personal information on the internet for anyone and everyone to see. I've decided for a happy medium. I am going to omit all personal information from this blog (including names and the town we live in) and use nicknames for all future posts. So don't be confused if we all suddenly have strange names, it will be quite a process to go through all of the old posts and change the info there. I ask only if you leave comments to respect this and use our fake names. Hopefully everyone doesn't think I'm a freak but it will make me feel better at least.

Sunday Message

2008-11-02T15:16:00.000-08:00

I decided today that I would try each week at church to pick one thought or scripture or lesson that I learned and blog it. This will help me to pay better attention and also to leave some inspirational thoughts for others. Today Sister Gibbons read a quote by President Monson in Sunday School that I really enjoyed, I hope you enjoy it to.

"He will not always take your afflictions from you, but he will comfort and lead you with love through whatever storm you face."

Happy Halloween

2008-11-01T15:15:00.000-07:00

Halloween was so much fun this year. I personally love Halloween, it's getting less fun ever since my kids think they should get a say in the costume they wear but I still like it. This year Camryn was a Doctor, Carter was Indiana Jones and Logan was Winnie the Pooh. Jeremy and I went to a Party at the Snyder's and we went as hippies. I threw together the costumes at the last minute so they weren't the best but I was still happy to get Jeremy in a costume at all.

Sorry, Logan spends a lot of the day in his "big boys" especially when we are doing something messy.

If you look at this picture you'll see why Logan was naked, I guess I should have stripped Carter also.

The hippies (pre mullet)

After we added the mullet to the costume Jeremy looked even better.

Bread recipe

2008-10-31T13:48:00.000-07:00

Several people have asked for the bread recipe that I posted about a while back. I've been meaning to post it but have just been too lazy to type it all in. Luckily my sister did it so I'll just refer you all to her post. Click here and good luck.

Our Staycation

2008-10-27T16:04:00.000-07:00

staycation- a period of time in which an individual or family stays at home and relaxes at home or takes day trips from their home to area attractions.

Our Staycation included a quick trip to Moab on Friday afternoon, hiking at arches, swimming at the hotel, shopping the shops of "downtown Moab" and a quick stop at the "hole n' the rock"- not to be confused with the hole in the rock. The kids had a great time, it only took a little over 24 hours and it didn't cost a lot of dough so it was a win win in my mind. I highly recommend staycations to anyone, especially if you live in a cool place like we do.

Arches Nat'l park visitors centerLandscape ArchSwimming at the hotel

miniature horse and donkey at the petting zoo at hole n' the rock.

Happy Bday CamBam

2008-10-14T07:13:00.000-07:00

Camryn turned 9 yesterday!! I know I'm not old enough to have a 9 year old so I can't figure out what happened. She is such a good kid, below are a few of the reasons that I'm lucky to be Cam's mom.

1- She is beautiful

2- She is my live in babysitter. She is so good at tending Logan.

3- She loves to help- this past weekend she did all the kids laundry cause I was feeling overwhelmed.

4- She potty trained herself at age 20 months.

5- She is such a good friend- to me as well as her friends.

6- We always have a good time together.

7- She loves horses- just like her mom.

8- She is a girly girl- she loves jewelry and makeup (didn't get that from me however)

9- She is always so grateful for everything, especially quality time we spend together.

10- She's very smart.

Some of my favorite memories of Camryn:

1- Last Saturday girls day out- we had a blast

2- Last summer in San Diego Camryn and I spent an afternoon alone at Belmont Park. We rode the roller coaster, had lunch together, did a little shopping, and just had a good time together

3- When Cam was 3 she and I went to Indiana with my parents and Josh to see Noelle play volleyball, it was a blast. I don't know many three year olds that travel as well as Cam did.

4- When I was about 37 weeks pregnant with Carter I had some kidney problems that caused a lot of pain. I remember lying on the couch in pain and during the day when Jeremy was gone to work Camryn would take care of me. My mom would try to come and get her so I could rest but she wouldn't leave me. She would just sit by me and rub my back and tell me it would be OK. (she was two at the time).

5- Since Camryn was my first, her birth will always be the most vivid in my mind. It was such an amazing feeling to hold her and realize that she was mine. I still remember the night in the hospital after I had her- I couldn't sleep at all, I just wanted to hold her and smell her and love her, there's really nothing in the world to compare that feeling to.

I'm so glad to have such a sweet girl and I hope she will always be my little girl. She really is one of my best friends and I plan on doing everything I can to keep it that way. Happy Birthday Cam we love you!!

Bread Success

2008-10-12T19:51:00.000-07:00

Noelle taught all of us girls a really easy bread recipe that takes an hour from start to finish, with 25 minutes of that being raising time and 25 minutes being baking time so I decided I could probably handle the 10 minutes prep time and so I had Jeremy pick me up the ingredients that I needed while he was up in SL this week. He was perfectly happy to run those errands cause he loves homemade bread and rolls. So tonight I tried for the first time, let me just say I have had really bad luck in the past with any attempts I've had at bread and rolls, and drum roll- brrrrrrrrrrrrr

IT WORKED!! I made a loaf of bread and some Cinnamon rolls and they were good. So I guess I don't have an excuse anymore and I'll be making more homemade bread, rolls, pizza crusts, etc.

I just threw in a picture of Logan to make this post a little more exciting, he picked these pajamas tonight and insisted that they were "fine." I think they are size 12 mo. and he's 2 1/2 I guess it's time to clean out his drawers.

Ward Party, sleepovers and girls day out

2008-10-12T15:34:00.000-07:00

The past week has been a fun one. Last week we had a ward party. It was a scripture Carnival and the kids were all supposed to dress up as someone or something from the scriptures. I dressed the kids in some of the animal costumes that I could find, we also had Cohen and Livvy with us so we had a pretty cute little group of animals. It was a really fun carnival, including: bobbing for apples, boat races, pumpkin painting, fishing pond, bingo, penny toss, and I'm sure I'm forgetting others. The kids had a blast. . . . . I survived.

Camryn as "the grouch", Cohen as a leopard, livvy as a bear, Logan as a giraffe and Carter as a dog.
Paintin pumpkins.
bobbin for apples- Logan was the only one brave enough to try but he cheated and used his hands.

On Thursday night Trek's parents were going out of town and asked if we could watch him so Carter had his first sleepover. Needless to say he was EXCITED!! When it was time to put PJs on they were super pumped because Carter had matching PJs to wear.

Camryn's birthday is tomorrow so I decided we needed to have a "girl's day". So yesterday we went to Farmington and shopped, got pedicures, ate at Red Lobster, and had a great time. She is such a fun girl and LOVES some individual attention. She hasn't stopped thanking me yet, we plan on making it a tradition. I forgot to take my camera so here's just a cute picture of Cam.

Flag Football

2008-10-12T15:17:00.000-07:00

Carter just finished his first season of football last week. He played against first and second graders and was really intimidated by the second graders but did great. He learned a lot from his coach and by the end he even knew which way to run when he got the ball. At the last game a few people started laughing and pointing to the endzone and when I looked Logan had his pants around his ankles. I ran over to get a picture but he pulled them up when he saw me coming so you don't get a picture. He told me when I got there that he needed to go potty I was just glad he didn't finish the job.

the team walking off the field after the last game. We're really proud of him and look forward to many more years of football!!

Presidential Election 2008

2008-10-09T14:36:00.000-07:00

Well I don't know about the rest of you but I am not super excited about either candidate this election. I feel like I'm choosing the lesser of two evils but I am so happy to let you all know that there is another option. Apperently I am not alone and others are wanting another choice, please click here for details!! We need all the support we can get.

Exciting News

2008-10-02T10:47:00.000-07:00

Can you find the awesome thing in this picture?

No it's not the toys ALL over the floor, it's the Big Boy Underwear!!!!! I am so excited and so ready to be DONE with diapers. Logan has been potty trained for a few weeks now but I waited to post until I was sure he wasn't going to have a relapse. So far, so good, even at night!! I have always said that my very favorite age was the day my kids got potty trained so if anyone has any magic serum to freeze him so he'll stay this age please share. I am sad to think that I am done with the baby stage but I am not sad to be done with diapers, of course I'm sure when I have teenagers I'll long for the diaper days but for now I'm enjoying the freedom.

Jeremy's Insignificant Six

2008-09-30T20:35:00.000-07:00

I told Jeremy to post his insignificant six, but he wanted to see what I thought his six were so here goes:

1- Jeremy hates wrinkly clothes- hmmm this doesn't go very well with my number two- so he is getting over it. As a child his mom ironed his Levis- disturbing, I know.

2- Jeremy hasn't eaten a peice of fresh fruit for over 25 years. He ate Acki in Jamaica, but it was cooked and was more like scrambled eggs then fruit. He now continues the non-fruit thing just to keep the streak alive. (I wonder why we have such a hard time talking Carter into eating things he "decides" he doesn't like, hmmm mystery. . . )

3- Taylor this one's for you- Jeremy STILL does the play by play to every video game he plays. Including talking about the amazing job the coach, aka him, is doing managing the game.

4- As a kid Jeremy had is very own BBS- which, for those of you who weren't complete nerds as a kid, is a buletin board system. It was the internet before the internet was. You could get on and leave a message for someone then they would get on and check and leave a comment back- the difference between that and the internet now- only one person could log on at a time so it was a little less than "instant message". He also programmed his own games as a small boy.

5- Jeremy drove and loved a Green 1976 Chevy Scottsdale until after his mission. He sold it to buy my wedding ring, to this day he still misses his green truck and wishes he never sold it. I try not to be offended by the fact that he wishes he'd never bought me a ring, OK now I'm putting words in his mouth. He was born in 1976 and now he drives and loves a 2001 Toyota Tundra, Carter was born in 2001 and he is certain that he will keep that truck until Carter turns 16 and give it to him.

6- Jeremy has worn the same belt for 11+ years- every day, every outfit, same exact belt. I helped him pick it out while we were dating and I've tried multiple times since to buy him a new one and he refuses saying that he has a perfectly good belt, weird I know.

Insignificant Six

2008-09-30T11:31:00.000-07:00

Six insignificant things about me:

1- I'm the lightest sleeper in the world. I have to have it pitch black and perfectly quiet to sleep soundly. Needless to say, I haven't slept good in the past nine years since having kids, cancel that- I haven't slept good since I got married cause even when Jeremy isn't snoring if I can hear him breathe it keeps me up. Eventually I assume I'll spend most nights in the guest room- when it's finished. And don't even get me started on clicking clocks- they should all be destroyed.

2- I HATE HATE HATE doing laundry. Jeremy actually told me this morning he is on his last pair of clean underwear so I guess I have to do some today :( Oh and I don't Iron, if it needs to be ironed then I try sticking it back in the dryer and if that doesn't work then it must be time to take that shirt to D.I.

3- I, like the majority of my family, NEED my sleep to function. This doesn't go along very well with number one and so if you ever see me and I'm a little (or a lot) grouchy, it's probably because I didn't get enough sleep the night before. Today would be one of those days grrrrrrr.
Unlike many in my family, I can't fall asleep at the drop of a hat- man I wish I could. It takes a minimum of a half hour for me to settle down and go to sleep.

4- I didn't enjoy just being a stay at home mom. I was so excited when I had Cam that I was able to quit my job and stay home with her but I just didn't like it. I tried a few different jobs that I could do and also be a mom but until I found Medical Coding I just wasn't ever happy with anything. Now I have my perfect scenario- I work from home and get to hang out with my kids all day.

5- I love numbers. I constantly forget names and words and faces but I never forget a number. Since I started medical coding there are lots of times when I've been talking to someone about a medical condition and I can't think of the word for it but I know the code. I think if we could speak in numbers I'd be a great public speaker but as long as we have to use words I'll pass on public speaking.

6- I forget EVERYTHING. About a year ago I showed up to church, sat down in my regular spot, and as we started singing the opening hymn my husband turned to me and said "today's not the day your speaking is it?" Yep, I was speaking in sacrament meeting and I'd forgot and hadn't prepared anything. Luckily the topic was an easy one and I actually winged it pretty good, I think, and it turned out to be OK.

I tag: Chanelle, Mindy, Kristin, Cristi, and . . . I forget who else I was planning on tagging so just assume you've been tagged :)

Our little entrepreneur

2008-09-29T15:50:00.000-07:00

Jeremy and I are always discussing how to get Carter off the couch and playing outside so the other day after he and his friend Trek had been playing outside for most of the afternoon I decided I'd better go and see what they were doing that was keeping him occupied so well. Well I found the two of them sitting on the sidewalk with grocery bag clothes, holding this sign, in case you can't read it it says "Pleas give us money we are poor one qaurter." I was so proud.

They made a total of zero quarters (even with the sad faces). The moral of the story: Sell Lemonade, begging- not such a good idea.

3 days and counting

2008-09-22T15:54:00.001-07:00

So, I'm not sure if I've ever been counting down for something as much as this- maybe my kids birth??? I can't really remember. Anyways, life is about to be awesome again with the new season of the Office starting this week- Yay!!!!! I would like to invite anyone who is as crazy into the office as us, or even if you just want to be like us, to come watch the season premiere at our house this Thursday. It starts at 8 but we are planning on watching the last episode of season four to get all primed (OK we've already watched it like five times in the last week but we'll watch it again for you.) So come around 7 and bring some snacks if you want. Kids are optional, we'll have ours playing in the playroom with strict rules not to bother us unless they see blood- jk- and yours are welcome to join them. Leave a comment on this post if you would like to come or let me know.

I Can't wait!! p.s. if anyone comes dressed as someone on the office (preferably Dwight) they will be my new found hero.

My little heartbreaker

2008-09-21T19:59:00.000-07:00

Here is the conversation between me and Carter last week when I picked him up from school:

Carter- Mom, I need to tell you something. (much nervousness in his voice)

Me- What? (waiting to here what he had done wrong)

Carter- Today Tyler told me that she secretly liked me.

Me- (relief) Well, it doesn't sound like it's a secret any more.

Carter- that's not the problem, I didn't tell her about Julia. (his "girlfriend" of several years, she moved to Moab a year and a half ago but they have continued the long distance relationship)

Me- You probably don't need to tell her about Julia.

Carter- Well mom, now I'm going to have to break up with one of them.

Me- It's probably Ok to have two girlfriends in first grade.

Carter- It is??? YES!!!

Seriously, he's six!!! What do I have ahead of me?

Josh got his call

2008-09-19T07:41:00.000-07:00

I bet you can't guess where he's going. OK I'll end the suspense, it's Paris France!!!! He is so excited. Everyone's been teasing him that he's going to get called to Idaho and I think he was really nervous that he would get called somewhere "uncool" like that. His first choice was France, he and my mom went there last June and had a blast. He has had four years of French, and according to Mr. Nielson he speaks better than any other student he's ever had- obviously he's forgotten about me, oh well. He doesn't leave until January 28th, which is a long wait. But at least he'll be here for Christmas. I can't wait to go pick him up in two years!!

Deco and Kera

2008-09-14T19:12:00.001-07:00

This is an official invite to EVERYONE who know Deco and/or Kera and would like to join us on Saturday to help celebrate their marriage. If you'd like to come you can just leave a comment on this post to R.S.V.P.

Colorado- take two

2008-09-07T19:25:00.000-07:00

After the weekend of fun with my family in Colorado we (my parents, Jeremy and I) decided we'd better go back and do a little maintainance on the cabin. So this weekend we went back and fixed a plumbing leak and treated the logs- way overdue for that. We let Camryn bring her friend Ryann and Carter brought his friend Trek. They played in the mud, built forts and had a war, rode horses and fourwheelers, played pool, roasted marshmellows and had a good time while the adults worked. It was a fun weekend again.

This is the result of Cam and Ryann's swimming- they were super cold and really hated that I made them go back to the creek and get cleaned off.

Carter and Trek made forts and had wars, we were really happy they both made it home in one peice.There was a recently killed bear at Ivins' Cabin, the kids were a little freaked out by it.

Carter and Trek were nice to let Logan tag along.Makin' Smores'

Logan, once again, just wanted to ride the "Soweeowoas" all dayI finally got Carter to ride Panda with me, for almost thirty seconds and then he was done.Trek was a regular cowboy, he loved riding the horse and wasn't afraid at all even though it was his first horseback ride ever.

A week with the Fam

2008-09-02T16:14:00.000-07:00

Last week was a fun week spent with my family. On Wednesday and Thursday me, Marilyn, Heather, Noelle, and my mom did some food storage- we dry packed, we canned and then we spent an afternoon with my Grandma Black making her famous homemade donuts- all of these things made me realize how amazing my mom and grandma are, I was so exhausted at the end of those two days and I did a fraction of what they do every year for all their kids/grandkids, I will not use a bottle of taco sauce again without realizing how much time went into it.

Then on Friday we all headed out to the cabin in Colorado, in my opinion there isn't a prettier place on earth- OK maybe seven mile beach in Grand Cayman but the ranch in Colorado is definitely the prettiest place that I can drive to.

We all had such a good time, we rode four-wheelers, Logan's personal favorite.

We rode horses, Me and Cam's personal favorite.

Carter played a lot of computer, for a change, he also enjoyed playing outside and even started his own "Carving" club. We only let him use a plastic knife so his carving was severly limited but he still had fun.

The kids had fun boating on the fishing pond, except the boat kept "accidentally" tipping over. One night several of us went fishing while others went looking for bears, both were very unsuccesful. Below is a picture of Cam and Jeremy sitting watching for the bears.

Sunday was a rainy day, which bummed out the kids, but for me it wouldn't be a trip to Colorado if there wasn't at least one rainy day. Some people, I won't mention names, read books- BOARRRRRING!!

While others of us played a rousing game of SCUM- FUN!!!

All in all it was a fun weekend. My whole family was there, well Deco and Kera left their two dogs home but other than that there were 15 adults, 11 1/2 kids and 8 dogs, yeah that's right 8 dogs- probably 7 too many but they brought lots of entertainment too. Oreo and Halle (who are brother and sister) would have wrestling matches and the kids would each cheer for their favorites. It was a super fun week and I hope we can all do it next year, and the next, and the next. . . . . .

Explanation

2008-08-20T10:36:00.000-07:00

So I know I've been absent in the blogging scene for a while but my camera won't load the pictures onto the computer for a while so that's why I haven't been posting. I decided to go ahead and add the posts that I have been meaning to and that I would add the pictures when I figured out how to. So you don't have to see the "memories" post anymore and I don't have to be reminded that only a few people have memories of me. So watch for the pictures to be added.

Home- FINALLY

2008-08-20T10:09:00.000-07:00

For the past week and a half I've been out of town. My mom and I went to Payson on the tenth and I just came home last night. I had a great time but I am really glad to be home- except for the pile of laundry that is waiting for me :( We went up to tend Marilyn's kids while she was at girl's camp, get new school clothes, go to Maxon's Birthday party, celebrate Deco and Kera's marriage (long story- I'll explain later) and buy some horses. I wasn't sure we would get it all done in the time we had because my mom had to come home last Thursday so the kids would be there for the first day of school but we managed to do it all.

On Monday my mom surprised me with the news that Deco and Kera had "eloped" that morning. We are all really excited to welcome Kera into our family, although we've all considered her a part of our family for years, she was even in the family picture that we had taken two years ago. I personally think that it was the right decision given all the circumstances and I am super excited for them both- Congrats guys!

We also went to Noelle's house that night for Maxon's party and had some very tasty bbq. Maxon is soooo cute (even with a mohawk) and it was a great party.

Tuesday Noelle and I took some of the kids to seven peaks. We had to leave Logan with Grandma because he had had diarrhea (you're welcome to all those who swam there that day).

Wednesday my mom and I drove to Avon, which is up near Logan to pick up a horse. I got to see some beautiful areas of Utah that I had never been to and have a good time with my mom. We only got lost once- luckily we ran into a nice man right before we headed up a wrong road that may have been disasterous. We also bought a horse from a guy in Spanish fork that day, my mom now has two awesome horses that we are all (even Jeremy) excited to start riding.

Logan on Panda

Camryn on Panda, Jensen on Cody

Thursday my mom left me and took my kids home so they wouldn't miss their first day of school the next day. She took my three kids and Jensen and pulled a four horse trailor with two horses in it all by herself. I was super nervous cause I know I wouldn't be able to do that but my mom can do anything so she was fine.

Jeremy came up Friday night and we spent the weekend kidless. It was a nice break, it's been a while since the two of us just hanging out. We went to the demolition derby in Spanish Fork on Saturday with Stacy, Taylor, Dallin and Leslie, Nicole and a bunch of her friends. I've never been to one before but it was seriously fun. Sunday we went to church with Stacy and Taylor. Monday we went to the Jack Johnson concert with Jeremy and Heather and Nicole and a friend. It was a really good concert and we had a blast.

The Jack Johnson concert.

Then yesterday we loaded our car full (and I mean full to the brim) of food storage, picked up a trailor for my dad and headed home. It was a long fun week and a half but I was really glad to get back home and back to real life.

August 6th - 9th

2008-08-20T09:49:00.000-07:00

The county fair was two weeks ago. Camryn and Carter both raised lambs this year to show and sell there. They did really good, and sold them for a pretty nice profit- thanks to very generous people. They had tons of fun slides and a rock wall for them to play on there and they had a great time.

During the fair we got bad news about the plane crash that took the lives of three wonderful men. We are hurting for and praying for their families. They were all great people and will be missed by many.

Mihlberger family reunion

2008-08-20T09:41:00.000-07:00

July 24th - 27th we went to Zions park for the second annual Mihlberger family reunion with some of our cousins, Aunts, Uncles and Grandma Boo and Grandpa Dan. It was alot of fun. We rode four-wheelers, swam in the amazing pools, rode horses, hiked, ate a lot of good food, paint ball warred, and just had an all-around good time. This is pretty much the only time every year that we see this side of the family so it is great to get to know them better each year and it is something that after the great time our kids had last year they could not wait for this year. On Friday we sent the kids (minus Bear since he's not old enough) to kids camp which they had a blast at, and all of the Redd kids (and spouses) went hiking in Zions. It was a really hard hike, called Angel's landing. Last year just JB and Mike did it, this year they talked the rest of us into it saying it "wasn't that hard" and it was "all in the shade" - ALL LIES. Anyways, we all survived and had a good time. If anyone is looking for a great place for a family reunion/vacation I recomend this place, it's called Zion Ponderosa and you can find it online. Thanks again Grandma Boo for a great time, we can't wait for next year.

The long hike.

Bams riding "nibbles" on our horse ride, the highlight of her trip!!Bear and Bailey- best buddies.

Kids camp: all the kids had such a blast- even if you can't tell by Bams' face.

Hangin out on the deck. The cabin we stayed in was amazing.

Memories

2008-07-21T08:51:00.000-07:00

Here's a game, and a good way to add a post on a boring week when I don't have much to post about.

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Logan's new favorite phrase

2008-07-13T15:29:00.001-07:00

Logan surprised me the other day with this comment and hasn't stopped saying it yet. Interestingly enough I really wasn't looking on any bright side that day and really needed a reminder on being happy. His other favorite phrase "What the heck!" isn't quite as inspiring so I chose to post this one. Please ignore the missing shirt, messy face, crazy hair and sword that he is waving around and focus on the cute little message.

Carter is 6 1/2

2008-07-13T15:05:00.000-07:00

Carter's birthday is on December 27th and for the first four years of his life I threw together a party for him at the last minute, for some reason I have a lot going on the week before his birthday and don't really have the time to properly prepare for a good birthday party so last year I talked Carter into waiting until his half birthday to have a friend party and we continued the tradition this year. We were in San Diego on his actual half birthday and when we came home it was the week of the fourth so I waited until last Friday to have it. He decided he wanted to go to Cortez to the Rec Center and swim, Mindy also came and brought her kids, having her help was the only thing that kept me sane that day. We swam for a while and then the kids wanted to climb the rock wall that they have there, unfortunately I had my camera in the bag that I put in the car before the rock climbing and I didn't get any pictures of that but that was lots of fun also. Then we went to McDonalds were we ate, opened presents and had birthday cupcakes. All in all it was a fun day for the kids and a pretty good headache for me but I guess that's what you do when your a mom :) I am so happy to have Carter in my life, he is such a little entertainer, our lives would be a lot duller without him. He is so good at making friends, I loved picking him up from school because almost every day he'd tell me about a new friend he made that day, when I'd ask what his or her name was he'd say "I'm not really sure". He's never been the best at remembering names- even our family. A couple weeks ago we saw Nicole in St. George on our way home from San Diego and the first thing he asked her is "where's Trent" to which she said "I'm not Noelle" and so he turned and asked me quietly "Taylor??" and I said "no she's not Stacy either". He is a funny little guy and we are very lucky to have him and we love him tons, happy half birthday Carter.

My fearless Logan. He hates water in his face but decided it was worth it to get to the slide and didn't stop climbing up to the top and coming down face first in the water. He only had one near death experience all day so it was a pretty good day.

Bailey and Logan just chillin and Mickey D's.
Opening presents- thanks again to all the friends for the cool stuff Carter got.

Left to right: Jake Moulton, Davis Mendoza, Camryn Carter and Logan, Spencer Moulton, Ryan Imlay and Trek Dewitt.

4th of July in Blanding

2008-07-13T14:35:00.000-07:00

This post is a little late but I guess better late than never. The fourth of July was awesome, as usual. It was especially fun this year because I got to hang out with some friends that I don't see very often. On Thursday night we had a barbeque with the "old gang", it was lots of fun to hang out and catch up, luckily for Jeremy none of the husbands came until the very end so he got to be right in the middle of the girls conversation. Then on the fourth we did the usual. Cam ran in the fun run for the first time and did awesome, she ran with Jensen who was a good motivator for her and kept her going until the end, I was really proud of both of them. Then I ran in the 5K with a bunch of my family (my parents, Marilyn, Taylor, Lexi and I). I ran with my mom and even though we were at the end of the pack we ran the whole thing and finished, which was our goal when we started. Then we went to the parade, which the kids loved, after that we went to the carnival and got some food, by this time the boys were exhausted so Jeremy took them home and I stayed with Camryn while she paid to get dunked, which seems like a crazy thing to me but she really wanted to do it. Then we all came home and the kids went swimming in Uncle Jeff's pool with my mom and dad- side note: you couldn't really tell who was the adult and who were the kids while my dad played with the kids. Then we went to Bryce and Cathy's house for a birthday party for Jake and Spencer- their birthdays are the 5th and 6th of July so they always get to share their birthday celebration with the country. Then it was time to go to the Park and listen to the band (great one again this year) while we waited for the fireworks to start. And when they started it was worth the wait- they were great. Then we hauled our tired kids home and to bed- they were all pretty tired but they had been really good all day and I was happy to have had the day with them. The next day we went to Lake Powell with Melanie and her family on their boat, Aundrea also brought her family with their boat. I was really worried that at the end of the day my husband would have had such a good time that he would be searching online for a good deal on a boat but luckily for me it wasn't the best day for boating. It was super windy and so there were huge waves and riding across them was fun but a little painful. The kids still had a blast and made some new friends with the other kids, thanks again Mel for a great day. For some reason I forgot to take my camera all day on the fourth and due to the wind and water splashing higher than our heads in the boat there weren't alot of picture opportunities at the Lake. I ended up with these two pictures which were taken before all the fun began.

Tagged

2008-07-02T09:05:00.000-07:00

20 Years ago...

1. I was 11 years old, I had just graduated from the elementary school and was so excited to go to middle school (little did I know).
2. Depending on the day I was either best friends with Britta Olsen or Darlene Black.
3. I was in love with Larry Lewis as well as his older brother who's name I can't remember right now. Britta and I used to stare at him at church while he blessed the sacrament.

10 Years ago...

1. Jeremy and I had been married for almost a year and we were living in Provo while he pretended to go to BYU- jk he really went to school he just didn't accomplish much toward graduating.
2. I was working as a medical assistant in Orem and we were just having a great time being married and just the two of us, we went out to eat way too often and did whatever we wanted, I didn't realize then how much freedom we had but I think we did a good job taking advantage of it and having fun.

5 Years ago...

1. I had two kids- Camryn was 3 and Carter was 1.
2. We had moved back to Blanding and were living in our first house- which by the way the kids still wish we were in. Jeremy was working for his Dad at the hardware Store.
3. I had just completed the Medical Coding class and was working hard trying to get a job.

3 Years ago...

1. I was almost pregnant with Logan.
2. I was working for Aviacode as a contract employee and had also just got a job with TCN.
3. Jeremy had quit working for his dad and gone to work for himself. He and Dallin had opened the call center about a year earlier.
4. My first baby was about to start Kindergarten and I couldn't believe I was that old.

1 Year ago...

1. We moved into our new house, which I love, even if the kids don't.
2. Logan turned one and started walking, and learned quickly how to open the doors and hasn't stopped escaping every since.
3. Carter was preparing for Kindergarten and Camryn for second grade.

So far this year I...
1. Have worked a ton.
2. Went to California for a week with the family.
3. Have started building a fence in the backyard to hopefully limit the number of times that I lose Logan.
4. Got two lambs for the kids to sell at the 4-H fair in August.

Yesterday I...

1. Worked
2. Caught up with laundry from our trip
3. Ordered a new cell phone- mine has become possessed and does whatever the heck it wants to.

Today I...

1. got up at 5 am for a swimming class that I'm taking- it was especially painful today
2. Will work alot so I can have time this weekend with my family.
3. Will see most my family tonight since they are all coming for the fourth :)
4. Probably take a nap- Still recovering from Swim class
5. Hopefully get the energy to go running later with Camryn.

Tomorrow I...

1. Will work, hopefully finishing by noon or shortly after.
2. Go to the cabin and ride 4-wheelers with the family.
3. Have a BBQ with some friends from highschool who are coming for the 4th.
4. Sleep later than 5 am- Yay!

In the next year I...

1. Hopefully we'll finish at least part of the basement
2. Hopefully we'll get the front yard landscaped- not that I don't love the weed look but some of the neighbors don't.
3. Hope I get to go on vacation with Jeremy somewhere warm on a beach.

I now tag: Bev, Mel, Sharla, Bridget.

San Diego

2008-06-30T10:30:00.000-07:00

We spent the last week in San Diego with Heather and Jeremy J. Heather and I drove down together with our five kids and Jeremy and Jeremy each flew out for a few days, neither one could take the full week off but it worked out really good. The drive down was pretty long but we made it there Saturday afternoon, we had rented a house on Mission Beach and it was perfect for us.

Sunday afternoon Carter and Jeremy went to a baseball game and Camryn and I went to Belmont park, which is an amusement park that was about three blocks away from where we stayed. Jeremy took pictures of the game but I don't have them yet so I will post those later.

Monday we went to LegoLand, Camryn and Carter loved it- it wasn't as good for the younger kids but it was still fun. Jeremy was with us then so he was able to take the older kids on the big fun rides while Heather and I searched the park for rides that Logan, Livvy and Cohen could go on and would enjoy.

Tuesday we spent at the beach. Where we were staying was right between Mission Bay and Mission Beach, we spent most of the time on the bay side where there weren't waves to take our kids out to sea but that day we took the boogie boards and went to the Beach side. Camryn and Carter loved it but again the little kids were not as impressed. Cohen hated the sand so he didn't really care what side we were on, he spent most of the time in the stroller. Jeremy had to leave us and come home that night :(

Wednesday we went to SeaWorld, it was just Heather and I so we decided not to do the rides that day but to wait until we had Jeremy J there too. We saw all the exhibits and watched a couple shows and headed home. That night I decided to go back with Camryn and Carter to go on the rides and watch a couple of the night shows and see the fireworks, Heather was so nice to keep Logan for me on this night, and many other times, so we could do big kid stuff.

Thursday was another day at the beach (the Bay side this time though). The kids all got totally sunburned- I know I'm a horrible mom for not putting sunscreen on them, I did for the first couple days but it just wasn't that hot so it seemed like a waste of time, oops. That night we decided to take the kids to Chucky Cheese, they of course had a ball. Jeremy J joined us this night.

Friday we went back to SeaWorld in the morning and did the things that we weren't able to the other day, then we went back and just hung out at the house that night, we also went to a park that was within walking distance of our house.

Saturday we packed up and started the long ride home. It wasn't quite as long though because Jeremy J took Cohen with him on the airplane since he's under two, thus free. We stayed in St. George for a night and came home yesterday. It was super fun and Heather, Jeremy and the kids were way fun to vacation with but we were still so happy to get back home, there's really nothing like home.

Swimming Lessons

2008-06-30T10:09:00.001-07:00

Camryn and Carter were both in swimming lessons a couple weeks ago. Camryn did level five and Carter level two, they both did great. Camryn is definitely a better swimmer than me, she can actually do the strokes- like the butterfly and the breaststroke, and was given the best frontcrawl award for her class. Carter just loves the water, he is learning how to swim but still mostly dog paddles. They both are little water dogs and would rather be at the pool than just about anywhere.

Girls Camp

2008-06-16T14:49:00.000-07:00

I went to Girls camp the first week of June. We were supposed to go from Tuesday through Friday but woke up Thursday morning to snow so they decided to bring everyone back and finish up camp at the stake center, minus the camping part. It was kind of sad to have it cut short but we weren't complaining since all the girls were soaking wet after a very rainy (and snowy) night. We had lots of fun, the girls are all so awesome, I seriously want to stay in that calling forever but I don't think Stacy (the President and one who does everything) will let that happen. Logan came up with me for most of it and Jeremy and the other kids joined us for one night. We took the trailor and it was very nice to have a warm bed and roof over our head.

Logan being cute for a change.

This is our skit, that's Alison Christensen and Stacy Webb dressed up like hippies- they were super funny.

This is what we woke up to Thursday morning, not as fun as it looks.

This is one of the girls named Cassidy carrying her sister out, it was super sweet, I love Cassidy.

These are a few of my favorite dads. . .

2008-06-15T19:14:00.000-07:00

Happy father's day to all the dads in our lives. We love you all. Several are not pictured because we didn't have pictures of them and they aren't bloggers so we couldn't steal them, Matt, Mike and Grandpas we love you too.

Carter- Tagged

2008-06-11T17:32:00.000-07:00

10 things you might not know about Carter Jeremy Redd:

1- Carter is his younger brother's hero. Everything that Carter does Logan does- or tries to do. He is an awesome big brother and is always willing to let Logan tag along- hopefully that continues.

2- Carter is an amazing reader. I don't know exactly what the scores mean but on the reading test given to all Kindergartner's he scored a 125 about half way through the year, the goal for Kindergarten is to be at 25 by the end of the year. I'm not bragging or anything. . . alright, I'm bragging.

3- Carter is hilarious. Some of my most favorite sayings are. At age 5 he asked one day "Mom, have I ever told you that shiny metal objects can only be destroyed by bountyhunters thermal detonators?" (this is a fact you need to know when playing starwars Lego that I didn't know but now I do). Also, the answer to his teacher's question during parent teacher conference at the first of the school year when asked what he wanted to accomplish this year "Oh that's easy, I want to grow a dorsel fin and some gils."

4- Carter is a great athlete. He is really starting to enjoy sports, and is really pretty good at everything he tries.

5- Carter is a POOR sport. Unfortunately he is used to being the best at everything he does so when he isn't it is not pretty. This is something we are constantly working on and trying to fix but so far, no luck. Any suggestions?

6- Carter's room is always clean- unless Logan messes it up. He is not one to be super messy and I know when he has his own room he will keep it clean.

7- Carter's best friends are his cousin Spencer and our neighbor Trek.

8- Carter is really good at Wii, he is almost a pro in boxing.

9- Carter has recently started a bad habit of spitting- ALL the time, EVERYWHERE (including in the house if he doesn't think about it). Again, something I'm trying to break and I'm not sure where he got it.

10- Carter is and always will be my little man. I can't believe that he's 6 1/2, I wish I could freeze him now and not let him grow up anymore. He is such a loving, fun kid and he has taught me a lot about having fun.

Carter Tags: Quincy, Cohen and Spencer R.

2 Yr old + chips/dip - supervision= bad idea

2008-06-01T18:33:00.001-07:00

Need I say more??

Teeeeee-Ball

2008-06-01T16:58:00.001-07:00

Carter just finished his last year of tee-ball :( I love watching tee-ball- I wish my kids would just stay that size. He did really good this year and finally really liked playing and is already excited for next year when he gets to play machine pitch. He was on a really fun team (thanks Kristen) with his best friend Trek and his cousin Jake.

New Blog Template

2008-05-18T20:06:00.000-07:00

So, I haven't really ever liked our boring blog template but I chose it because it wasn't too girly and Jeremy still thinks it's his blog. So we were trying to find one we both liked but that just wasn't happening so we both picked different templates that we like and he agreed that we could do a poll and whichever is best liked we will use. So please see these two links:

http://www.pyzam.com/bloggertemplates/details/boston-redsox-1

http://www.pyzam.com/bloggertemplates/details/lotus

And vote on which you like the best.

2-year old for sale: $1.00 OBO

2008-05-18T15:51:00.000-07:00

This latest art peice happened minutes after I had spent hours cleaning up the last one- which was on Camryn's beadboard walls (which are plastic so we can't repaint over them), he had used a variety of colored sharpie markers on that peice and it was much more creative than this one, and also much harder to remove- You can still see it if you look hard. I'm sure you can tell from the picture how bad he feels, this was after a timeout and a hard "talking to" but I can gaurantee if we leave a marker in his reach he will do it again, any suggestions on how to reason with a 2-year old are appreciated.

Camping

2008-05-11T18:44:00.000-07:00

We finally made it on our first camping trip for the year. We went Friday night after work to Cottonwood and played in the stream, cooked some hobo dinners, played some baseball, got a good nights sleep, got up and headed home the next morning to get back to chores :( We all had a really good times and we're really excited for many more trips this summer. Carter even said it was more fun than staying home and watching TV!!

Check out that stance- he's ready for the pros, but he might need a new bat.

Hangin' out eatin smores, yum!

Carter's Wrestling

2008-04-13T18:46:00.001-07:00

On Saturday Carter had his last wrestling match. This is the first year he's done wrestling and, according to him, the last. It wasn't his favorite but I was really proud of how he made the best of it. He really enjoyed the metals that he got- to him that was the best part about it. He improved a ton from the first match, which was just over a month ago, he even got his first pin.
Carter proudly shows his metal.

Carter, Spencer and Jake

Carter is in the blue wrestling the kid in the yellow. Unfortunately it was really hard to get good pictures cause he was always wrestling behind another match.

Birthday Party

2008-03-28T10:13:00.000-07:00

So I wasn't going to post about Logan's party since I already posted about his birthday but when I was uploading the photos there were so many cute ones that I decided I had to. We had a party for him last night with his Grandmas and Grandpas and Mindy and her family. We had a good time, he got lots of cool presents that he loved, thanks again everyone. He kept singing happy birthday all night to everyone so I got it on video. I've never tried putting a video on here so I guess we'll see how it works.

Logan's very own skateboard!

Logan "cheezing" while everyone sang Happy Birthday to him.

Logan and his cousin Bailey sitting on his new picnic table (which he looooves).

Happy B-day Logan

2008-03-24T12:20:00.000-07:00

On March 24th 2006, Logan Vincent joined our family. He weighed 6 lbs. 9 oz. and was 20" long. He made it clear right away that he was the boss and that hasn't changed. He is absolutely the life of every party with his hilarious personality. He's been talking in full sentences for over six months now, and continues to amaze me every day. I'm so thankful to have him. I can't believe he's already two, I'm definitely not ready for him to grow up. He is adored by his older brother and sister who miss him every day when they are away at school. He doesn't realize yet that he's any younger than them and thinks that whatever they do he can do too. He looooooves being outside and is so excited that summer is almost here, he is a complete boy who loves every kind of ball and playing in the dirt and collecting sticks. We are so lucky to have him in our family, Happy Second Birthday Logan!!