Winter Snow

This is the first winter that Kynleigh has wanted to go outside to play in the snow. I bought her a princes snow shovel, yes she is spoiled rotten. The next snow fall after that, she wanted to be out in the driveway with her dad. She would not wear gloves and her hands got VERY cold and she definitely did not like that part. A few days later we got another little storm and Brieanna wanted to go and make a snowman with Kynleigh… Out went two bundled-up girls. The snow was too powdery and would not stick to make balls but they had a blast walking around, kicking snow and throwing it at each other and chasing each other. (it was a wonderful sister bonding moment) Brieanna made a beautiful snow angel but Kynleigh was a little unsure about laying in it.

The next day, Kynleigh, who runs around the house in only her panties all the time, comes to her dad with boots on and panties and ants to go outside. Too bad I don’t have a picture of that one, it was hilarious.

King Size Bed

Have you ever wondered if getting a king size bed would solve some of your sleeping problems??? Well, sometime during the night….….probably one of the times that I brought Kynleigh into our bed and then took her back to her bed due to the fact that I was pushed almost off MY bed and it was IMPOSSIBLE to actually sleep in MY OWN bed, I pondered this actual thought. So........here are a few of those thoughts………….


• It would actually have the room to sleep me, Troy, and any of the 3 visitors we frequently have and probably still be somewhat comfortable. (But then why do I WANT to make room for those 3 visitors when they have THEIR OWN beds???)

• I would still get enough of the bed to sleep comfortably even when Troy feels he needs more than half the bed (Oh and he will deny this fact but I am right)

• The problem of size also comes into the equation because our room is not actually made to fit that big of a bed. It would leave no room for the sleeping bags that the 2 big kids feel they need to sleep in on occasion…..Oh darn-it!!! (But then I do not want to give them any excuse to actually feel like they can SLEEP in my bed.)

• The thought also came to me that I would not be close enough to Troy to put my cold feet on his legs and drive him crazy :-)

So I guess after thinking about my sleeping thoughts, (if I even remembered them all) I think we should stick with our squeaky queen bed that we have……

Caryn (yes, the Caryn that disappeared about a year ago)

Egg Nog and Pizza

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and is looking forward to an exciting 2011. Christmas at my place was absolutely spectacular. We held on to the long tradition of eating pizza and drinking egg nog on Christmas eve. I love egg nog! That stuff is pure heaven and I look forward to it all year long. I have a 14 year old son, 12 year old daughter and a 2 year old daughter. We covered everything from new snowboards to a battery powered Tinkerbell ATV. It was loads of fun. We got up super early and opened all the gifts, ate a delicious breakfast casserole and then loaded up the Van and went to Idaho Falls and visited family. It was great times. My Aunt Kathy cooked a wonderful dinner for us that night and we ate like kings and queens. The holidays are a great time of year and I wish the feeling lasted longer. 

I lost one of my brothers(Matt) just over a month ago and there isn't a day that doesn't go by that I don't think about him. Sometimes there isn't even a moment that goes by. I find myself hearing something funny or just today I heard an ad for a snowmobiling get-away being advertised on the radio and I grab my phone to call Matt. I get kinda mad when that happens and I wonder things like "do they have phones in heaven?" I think I am going crazy at times.  I know I need to let life continue and people tell me all the time that as time goes by things get easier. Well that will be nice but I also don't want to forget Matt and take him for granted. I couldn't live with myself if I taught myself to just forget about him and move on. That seems like the ultimate crime anyone could commit on a family member. So what do you do? How do you cope? I have no answer and wonder that a lot. I do know that I have wonderful parents and a wonderful 2 brothers and 1 sister. We all love each other tremendously and it makes me happy when we get together for all sorts of occasions. We had a great family christmas party on Dec. 19th and I really enjoyed it. It also provided me with an opportunity to go visit Matts grave site. We had a good chat. I told him about the BYU bowl game and spewed off as many stats as I could remember. I told him that I missed him a lot. His grave had the greenest grass. I'm sure that is from all the tears that have landed there over the last month. Then I walked away and what seemed like a million miles I got into my van and looked at my wife and 3 kids. I am a very blessed man and I know the Lord knows my pain and longing for my brother. He provides me with the strength needed get through the tough times and helps me keep my sense of humor. 

My son was ordained a Teacher in our faith the Sunday after Matt passed away. The bishop asked him to bear his testimony and Tyler started off by saying that " He knows life is good and that good things are going to happen in our lives" That was really all he said but that was his testimony and I will never forget it. Life is good and good things will happen in our lives. Sometimes before we know what is "good" in our lives we have to know and feel what is bad. That part is the hardest but it provides the sweetest nectar to ours souls because it is then that we are able to sit up in the morning and welcome it with open arms and say out loud......Life is good and good things are going to happen today. 

It's been a while but I needed the time

Matthew Doman

I think all the time about my blog. I like to blog and I enjoy reading blogs. I have not felt very "bloggy" lately though. My brother passed away on November 11 and my life changed forever. I knew something was going to happen, I just had that feeling. I had been having a lot of dreams about my family and in particular about Matt. I remember asking my Heavenly Father for help to deal with whatever was going to come my way. The news came very early in the morning. It was my dad that broke the news to me. What a horrible thing to have your father tell you. He had the hardest job. I hung up the phone and told my wife. She stayed strong for me. My insides were churning and I felt weak. The rest of the day I remember very well, but I don't want to write about it all. I will as time goes on but not all at once. It's hard and somethings just need more time to simmer within me.
I miss my brother a lot. I am the oldest in the family and Matt was the second oldest. We were pals from the beginning of time and did a lot of crazy things. I loved hanging out with him and sharing my growing up years with him. He was a great brother. It's been a month now and the pain is still so raw. The holidays this year have been harder for me to get into the spirit. I'm there now though. Caryn and I had a great weekend with the kids and getting all the holiday spirit we could get. I have a 14 year old, a 12 year old and a 2 year old. Shopping for all of them is a lot of fun. Christmas morning will be looked forward too with a large amout of anticipation BUT in the deep pools of my soul created by all my tears I will think about my brother and I will send a cheerful good morning heavenward and muster out a Merry Christmas. It's all I can do.

Work Travel

About 2-3 times a year I go to Las Vegas for work. It's always a lot of fun and I seem to stay out of trouble for the most part. My work does a fabulous job putting together the training. I will be doing part of the training and I really like doing that. This will be my second time being in charge of part of the training. Everyone likes it and I have a good time doing it. Most people fret about getting in front of people and speaking. Not me...I LOVE it. Maybe it's the attention and the fact that people will be forced to listen to me, I'm not sure. I think an ideal job for we would be as a corporate trainer. Maybe some day :)

Halloween 2010

Brieanna as a dead/Goth Lady Bug. 

Halloween 2010 was a lot of fun. The weather was rainy but that didn't stop us. We also had a lot of trick or treaters come. I got to stay home and hand out the candy. I like doing that. I got to see some great costumes. Is it just me or do you just want to throat punch the kids that are WAY to old to be trick or treating. I get annoyed by them and they definitely get the "crappy" candy. Next year I'm going to create a How to get a life manual and give it to them, either that or I start to throat punch each of them off my porch. 

For my bro Trent

I came across this picture today. It made me think of my brothers dog Lady Bug. She was a great dog and my brother loved her with all his heart. He talks about her all the time and I know he misses her. Hopefully he finds comfort in seeing this and knowing that she is all dressed up and looks like she will be trick or treating in the great pumpkin in the sky.

"I just cleaned the toilet....no one use it! "

My job is to clean the bathroom. I'm really good at it. The problem is I don't do it every week so when I get around to it the task is much harder. I spent about an hour last night cleaning it. She looks beautiful now.

Pumpkin Head Harvey

Happy Halloween Everybody!

This is one of my favorite times of the year. I love to see all the kids dressed up and I am positive there is a half million kids that come to our place every year. I used to try and keep track of how many actually came but it got harder and harder every year. We live in the greatest neighborhood. Make sure you watch the video, it's very kid friendly and a catchy tune.

Recipe

My sister in law found this recipe. I am really trying to eat better and weight watchers has been a HUGE help. I'm going to try it. Thanks goes out to my sis in law. Much appreciated.

Weight Watchers Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies (1 pt. each)

1-box of Spice cake mix
1-15 oz. can of pumpkin puree
1-cup of chocolate chips (I probably did more than a cup)

Mix ingredients and bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.