Mud Pies

It is that time of the summer where I can't stand my yard, so every night we have been outside trimming bushes, weeding and all the good stuff that goes with our yard. Tonight it was Tyler's turn to help and he did not complain as he got to handle the electric trimmer. It was going really well until he cut into the electric cord. I could not get mad as I have actually done this in the past. (I think he appreciated not getting in trouble for that one) I decided that it was a sign to go inside as it is really hot these days.

Well Kynleigh did not last too long in the stroller so I put her in the grass. She entertained herself with some flowers for a while (probably eating some of them). Then every time I turned around, she was in my flower beds. (eating more dirt) Putting her in the grass just did not do it for her, she always found herself back in the dirt. I even tried to distract her by giving her some animal crackers but I think she just rubbed them in the dirt and ate them too.

Here is what the final product looked like. The bath was a wonderful thing tonight.

Family Reunion 2009

Each year Troy's dad parks his trailer at a camp spot for a week and then all of his kids and Willa's kids and families come as much as they can and just have fun and enjoy the great outdoors. He went to Bear Lake 2 years ago, but for the last 2 year he has picked the Camper World in Eko and besides some little things here and there, we love it. It is close enough to drive home at night for us as camping is not Troy's favorite thing to do and then Kynleigh did not do such a great job last time we tried to camp over night in a tent this last year. This camp spot has a swimming pool, horse shoes, hiking, pond and river for fishing, you name it and it is close by.

Tory's brother Matt is the fisher in the family and he always brings his poles and bait (not power bait because that is not allowed and they got kicked off the pond last year) and the kids have fun casting and getting tangled in the shrubs or in other fishers lines. Yea it is a lot of fun.

Kynleigh however was not having so much fun fishing. She was ready for bed and was not shy about telling us and all the other campers about it. The fish in the photo above was caught by a fisher next to us and the kids thought that was pretty cool.

As much as we enjoyed fishing and all the other activities, swimming was the main item on Brieanna's agenda. That is all she talked about and begged for while at the camp site and in the car driving to and from Eko. I was worried a little about Kynleigh, but she did great. We put her in the pool for a good 2 hours twice a day for 2 days and not any complaining from her. We would even sit her on the edge of the pool and she would jump to us. It was a lot of fun, playing the tip game with the beach ball (I think we only go to about 25 though, we are not very good), the game chicken and the kids had fun diving for rings and whatever we would throw in the water.

Here are some photos of everyone drying off and sleeping after a long day of swimming.

Go Salt Lake Real!!!

One of the perks for volunteering with AYSO is that we get Real tickets once in a while. This was a special game on June 6th as it was the night that the stadium was dedicated. There was a jet that flew over and dropped several airmen carrying flags. It was really a neat experience as they dropped to the field especially the one caring the American flag.

As you can see in the pictures, it was a very ominous sky. We were so worried that we would get rained on, but we never got more than about 5 drops the whole game, which was a miracle. David Archuleta was there to sing the National Anthem and of course was a hit for us Utah fans. All the big wigs of the stadium and team were there and Elder Gonzalez was asked to give the dedicatory prayer. (Only in Utah) It was really neat though as he explained before the prayer in Spanish and English what he was about to do and basically asked for respect.

Kynleigh was so good and of course had the attention of all the fans around her.

Buffalo Point Elementary 5K Run/Walk

Going back... June 1st

Tyler and Brieanna's school did a 1st annual 5K run/walk as a fund raiser. We got geared up for the excitement. Drank lots of water, did our pre-run (oh excuse me "walk") stretches, took our pre-walk pictures, thought to ourselves this won't be too bad and it will be a fun family activity. Notice we all had big natural smiles.

Well the whistle blew and many took off running even Tyler and his buddies and then there was Troy and I with Kynleigh in the back happy to walk. We walked and walked and talked and talked and walked some more. By the end of the 5K we were thinking how grateful we are that we were not born in the pioneer days and had to walk across the country. We did make it to the finish line and I think we were the very last ones there (maybe there was one other lady, everything got all fuzzy) Troy being the funny one that he was, got on his hands and knees and crawled across the finish line. Of course everyone had their cameras ready but me. Oh well, we all got medals and a Popsicle that Kynleigh just loves to eat. We enjoyed the live band and visiting with friends. (PS. Troy was sore for a week after :))

4th of July

Going Back to the 4th of July

We had a really fun weekend. It ended up that Friday the 3rd, I did not have any daycare kids (lucky for me) which was a welcome break. Troy's Uncle Ken and Robin were in town and Troy ended up going golfing with Ken, Travis and Eric. Robin and I took the kids to the Roy aquatic center. This was our first trip there this summer and Kynleigh's first trip to the pool and we had a blast. Kynleigh did not like being splashed that much, but she enjoyed floating in the water and checking everyone out. We ate lots of grapes and sweedish fish and enjoyed the fun in the sun.

That evening, we had our annual neighborhood party. Me and Andrea Bitton pass out invitations, set up a couple of tables and then the people show up. Everyone bring their own treat to share and whatever fireworks they want to set off. We do a kids parade at the beginning and they love it. I was so excited to pull Kynleigh in the wagon for the parade this year, but she fell asleep before it even started. Oh well, I guess there is always next year. We have a great neighborhood and love this time every year to bring everyone together.

Saturday the 4th, we headed up to Idaho Falls to have a family BBQ at the Dawson's. They cooked everything from the beef and potatoes to the cobblers in dutch ovens so that says it all, it was delicious. We took a walk to the school playground just around the corner and enjoy the famous fireworks from their front yard. It is 30 minutes of non stop booming and beautiful lights. Kynleigh did wake up for some of it and just enjoyed watching the pretty colors. How grateful I am for the USA and the freedoms we have and for the men and women who serve this great country.

Kynleigh

I have been extremely blesses this spring in acquiring some play equipment for my daycare. A neighbor gave me a little tikes set with slide and fort underneath and I also got a stage two little tikes play set from another friend for free. This is a picture of Kynleigh in the swing. She loves to swing either in my lap on the big swings or in this little swing. She must have been tired because next thing I knew, she was falling asleep.

Kynleigh loves dumping all her toys out of this little basket. She will sit forever with a basket full of toys. Troy thought it would be cute putting her in the basket and she liked it too.

Kynleigh has learned to pull herself up on things. In the bath tub, in her crib etc. I heard her talking to herself after a nap one day and when I went in to get her, she was stuck like this, however she was still way happy with her accomplishment. She has even started to crawl this week, watch out mom, you are in for it!

Tyler Graduated

Tyler Graduated!!!. I don’t know how or where the time went, but I now have a 7th grader.
This year was filled with lots of fun memories for Tyler. He got to go to the Syracuse 6 theater a couple of times to see movies, he took a field trip to the University of Utah for and engineers activity where they made catapults. (Tyler cheated and used his friends catapult that he made at scouts) Almost every week Officer Penrod came to the school for the DARE program to make them aware of the effects of drugs.

Officer Penrod

They did all kinds of fun activities like drive go-karts while wearing drunk goggles and they also had to try to throw a baseball and foot ball with them on. The 6th grade also got to play a kick ball game against all the teaches and they had a 6th grade dance (where they actually HAD to dance with girls) I told Tyler I was going to go and watch, but he said that if I loved him at all, I would just stay home. (I guess I as a mom am too embarrassing)
Then the year ended with the 6th grade graduation. They had all the students to write what they wanted to be doing in 20 years and Tyler said he wants to be a professional soccer player or be a chief in California restaurant with his friend, be married and have a son. (I may not get many grandchildren out of my first born)

Although I tell Tyler that he may not live to see his next birthday, I am so proud of him. Syracuse JH, here comes Tyler the Domanator!
We love you Tyler!!!

Brieanna's 4th grade program

This year Brieanna was in 4th grade and studied Utah history. In their year end program they did a great job demonstrating what they learned. They dressed up in their pioneer clothes they had a lot of fun. They sang songs about the counties of the state, Utah pioneers, the train coming to Utah and this is the place, and many more. The two songs that I liked the best were Utah pioneers and this is the place. I was not raised in Utah, but it made me think how grateful I am to live here and how grateful I am that the pioneers endured all that they did to come and settle such a beautiful place for me to live and raise my family. I think I take for granted the many things that we have so close to home and I was glad for the reminder of how great this beautiful state is and what history it has. (I still need to see half of it though)
Good job Brieanna we are proud of you, you made it through another year.

We love you!!!

Memorial Weekend 2009

We had planned to go to Yellowstone for quite some time, but plans always seem to change at the last minute and we decided to go camping with Troy’s dad and Willa at Echo. Our goal was to camp up there Friday, Saturday and come home Sunday, but that changed as well. We got up there Friday and set up the tent and got all set for some great fun. It was very relaxing just with nothing to worry about. Willa, Brieanna, Kynleigh and I walked around the park, went down to the lake and watched some of the fishers. Jasper went with us and loved every minute of it. (Even when she ran out of the camper and played chase with Brieanna and I. (I was not loving her at that point :) )

Kynleigh playing on the floor with Willa's toys

Kynleigh's improvised bath, she loved it.

It was pretty windy that night and we didn’t even think about Brieanna being afraid of the wind until about midnight when she woke up and was terrified. So in she went to the trailer to sleep on the couch. When I got back to the tent, sap all over my feet, Kynleigh was starting to cry as well. I don’t blame her for waking up as it sounded like a hurricane in our tent. So I rocked her in my arms and tried to lay her back down several times. After about an hour of doing that I decided to join Brieanna in the trailer. I threw the blanket down on the floor for Kynleigh, fed her a little to calm her down so she did not wake the entire camp grounds and then I tried to sleep on the floor without much luck. Needless to say that morning could not come too soon and I was looking forward to my own bed that night. Troy on the other hand took Tylenol PM before he went to bed, so he slept like a baby till about 9:00 the next morning. (As much as he could with Tyler in his ribs the whole night)

Sleeping arrangements!

The camp served breakfast at 10:00 which we were at the end of the line so we just got waffles and sausage. It was still good and was fun to sit and listen to Rick the camp manager sing and play his guitar. Tyler and Grandpa went out 4 wheeling that morning before breakfast and by the look of the jeep they had fun.
Another reason we decided to go to Echo was that Tyler had a birthday party on Saturday where he got to go indoor skydiving so we brought him home on Saturday to go to his party and Troy and I did a little yard work and took some nice hot showers. Tyler had a blast and we headed back up the mountain. Grandpa cooked ribs all day and I believe that was Brieanna’s highlight of the trip. She is one big rib eater and I am not sure that anyone would believe me unless you saw her eat them. She is also not afraid to get down and dirty eating them. I just wish I would have thought to take a picture of all the rib bones she ate.

We took the tent down and headed home so that we could all get a good night sleep. Headed back up there Sunday morning and played phase 10 with Trent and Becky then we decided to drive into Park City. We ate lunch at Park City Pizza and Pasta and then walked around and window shopped. It was a lot of fun we enjoyed the beautiful scenery
Before we left to come home, we went back to the camp and visited for a while and played horseshoes (the girls won, not with my help though).

Park City Fun!

Monday we got up and did some more yard work. My goal was to pull out a dead bush in the corner of the yard and then cut down our sad little pine tree. All last year Troy kept saying that it was going to come back, not to worry, but finally we had to face reality and accept that it was dead to the bone.

Kynleigh standing up!

Our next goal for the long weekend was to go and see a movie. Brieanna has wanted to see 17 Again for a long time so we pulled it up on Fandango and headed down to the Gateway in Salt Lake. When we arrived to buy the tickets we were informed that Fandango was wrong, they did not have the movie we wanted and no one could agree on any other movie so we had lunch, walked around and then headed back to Layton where it was showing as well. We were hoping to get the 3:00 show. It wasn’t showing till 7:15 that night, so we ended up going to blockbuster and renting a couple of movies to watch. We had a great weekend even with a few mishaps and had fun spending it together.

Wig from Build a Bear Workshop

I am grateful for my country and for all those who have died so that I can enjoy the freedoms that I take for granted most of the time.

Cell Phone

What happens when a cell phone tries to cross to the other side of the road?













A big pile of garbage and a sad boy.