Vegas for the NFR

Yes, this is a little late but I finally chased down my sisters for some of the pictures that they had taken so I could post them. This was the funnest time yet that we have had at the NFR. Dennis and I headed to St. George as usual on Friday and went to dinner with some friends. Saturday morning we went to Mesquite for brunch, played there a while and then headed to Vegas. We hung out at an outdoor bar which had a real fun band playing and killed time until the rest of the family arrived. We met at the Outback Steakhouse which is kind of a tradition since we have eaten there every year on the first night we are in town. Dinner was good as usual and we all tried some new drinks. (The Smoretini was good but a little rich!!)




After dinner we headed back to Harrah's to go to the Toby Keith Bar. What a good time!!! My mom is such a social butterfly when she is drinking. She had the whole bar wanting to hang out and talk to her. All of the young boys were hanging on her and dancing with her. She even made friends with the security guard that was standing by the stage and actually had him holding her vest and watching our drinks. She was bossing him around and telling him what to do and of course he did it! We also made friends with a couple from California that actually ended up giving my parents and sisters a ride back to their hotel because the shuttle wasn't running anymore. We danced so much that we could hardly breath. It was so hot and packed in there and everyone was always crowding around us. My dad kept the drinks coming but we rarely stopped to rest. The band that was playing was Chris LeDoux's old band Western Underground. They have a new lead singer and sang alot of Chris's old music. We didn't leave until the wee hours of the morning but it was time because my feet hurt so bad I could hardly walk.

My poor Mom had a rough night though... she probably wont want me to endulge all the details but it was a combination of drinking too much and being naturally accident prone!
On Sunday we all slept in and took it easy. I'm sure that had nothing to do with the night before! I just stayed in bed as I usually do and waited until Dennis went down stairs to get me my latte from Starbucks. We met at Margaritaville for lunch which is always a fun place. Mom didn't feel up to coming though. She wanted to rest up so she felt better for the rodeo that night.



Sunday night Den and I hopped in a limo and then went and picked up the rest of the family at their hotel. It was so much better than riding in those stinky cabs and our driver was really nice. He even told us that he would come pick us up after the rodeo. Good thing too because we have waited in that long line for a cab before and it was not fun. That place gets crazy. The rodeo was awesome as usual but although the arena looked full, it didn't seem quite as busy this year. Probably the whole economy thing. There were alot of competitors from Utah and they all did real well. Brooks & Dunn were there and sang the opening song. We had good seats but their backs were to us.... too bad. Good thing I was able to get some good pictures from the jumbo-tron.

After the rodeo we went back to Harrah's and ate dinner at a fancy restaurant called The Range. It is kind of like a Ruth Chris Steakhouse. Expensive but really good!! We were all pretty beat after that and stood and listened at the piano bar for a while and decided to call it a night.
Den and I left the next morning so that we could be home before the kids got out of school. My parents and sisters stayed for another day so that they could go to the Cowboy Christmas Festival.
Love Vegas.... but always happy to get home!!

Venting

Ok so I have been really irritated lately and I just thought that maybe if I spit some of it out I would feel better.
First of all, I am tired of going to the store. I am so sick of spending money I could literally puke! I can't go to any store without spending over $150.00 and that is several times a week! It's not even just in christmas presents either. We are always out of something here at the house mainly cereal and milk. I swear I have to go to the store every week to load up on 50 lbs of cereal and 10 gallons of milk to feed my starving children. When does it end?? As soon as I get home from the store, I am already adding more stuff to my shopping list for next time! How is it possible to go through so much food? I guess I just get in the habit of eating the same food all the time so I don't utilize the stuff that I have in my cupboard. I put a stop to that this week though. I told the kids that they were not getting anymore cereal and milk until all the breakfast burritos, frozen waffles, omelets, toaster strudels, pop tarts and oatmeal were gone. They acted like I was telling them that they couldn't eat for 2 weeks! Poor Garrett was absolutely distraught.. this meant that he couldn't pick cereal for "Pick your own dinner" night that usually happens about once a week. Kind of like tonight when I just hide in the basement and don't want to come out.
I had another brilliant idea this year to bake goodies for Christmas. My bill at Walmart on the groceries was almost $300.00!!! I could have bought some fancy ass cookies for that price and had them delivered. Instead I busted my butt all weekend to make them and then had to drive all over 2 counties to deliver them! What a smart girl I am. Nonetheless, they all turned out very well and I even conned Trina into coming down on Saturday to help me.
My next most irritating thing is my outdoor Christmas decorations. I should have thrown that damn NOEL sign away after I threw it across the yard trying to set it up. God knows what my neighbors were thinking. I'm pretty sure there was quite a steady slur of cuss words coming out of my mouth the whole time. Not only did I have to set it up the first time, but I have to do it every damn day because of this horrible Lehi wind. I swear if I could pick up my house and turn it the other way I would. It blows right across my front yard taking everything with it. Do you think I can keep my lighted presents and trees sitting up right on my front porch? NO! I recently discoverd a rather large roll of wire in my garage and armed myself with that and some wire cutters and set to work wiring everything together and to something. This must come from growing up in a family where some duct tape and bailing twine would fix anything! So at night everything is all lit up and beautiful but during the day it is a tangled wire mess! That ought to be alot of fun to take down!
My list of annoying and irritating things goes on and on and on. From dirty boy bedrooms and bathrooms to holes in the knees of pants and having to buy new shoes every month. I really think that I should get some kind of counseling. I am way to anal.
Have you heard men talk about their wives and all the throw pillows they put on their beds? I have heard several comics lately talk about this and it cracks me up. I actually had it out with my husband not too long ago over the same thing. Every night he would throw them all off the bed and onto the floor on my side so that I had to step over them to get into bed. I bit my tongue for as long as I could.. angrily picking them up and stacking them neatly before climbing into bed. This of course went unnoticed by my husband. Finally one day I had to say it..... "Can you PLEASE stack the pillows instead of throw them. I just have to pick them up so that I can get into bed." Oh my goodness... this opened pandora's box. He informed me that because they were "throw" pillows, that it meant he could "throw" them where ever he wanted. Then I had to tell him how I didn't like how he draped his towel over the top of the bathroom door. "Don't you know that I just have to take it down so that I can close the door?" He looked at me with this gaping look on his face and said nothing. Obviously he had no response for that one.
And the toilet seat... oh my god, the toilet seat. I think he is too old to train but I make it known everytime I have to put it down because it is a very loud BANG. This of course probably goes unnoticed though as it should because it is trivial like all other things that I obsess over. Poor Dennis and the boys.. they truly deserve some kind of award or something.
Then there is always snow, dirt and grease tracked inside, the sticky floors in the kitchen, the marks on my table from the kids' pencils at homework time, the toys in the backyard, the closets left open, the video games not put back in their cases, the chairs not put back around the table, the blankets not folded up, Weston's cars and wrestling guys that have taken up residence on my kitchen counter and stove, Garrett's frogs that get loose everytime he cleans them, all the candy wrappers that come out of Braxton's pockets in the dryer, and the dishes that get thrown in the sink without being rinsed!! (Do you have any IDEA how hard it is to get dried up oatmeal and fruity pebbles off the bowls??)
Oh lord.. I have to stop. I am giving myself a headache. I must seek counseling immediately!

Christmas Quiz

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both
2. Real tree or artificial? Real
3. When do you put your tree up? Thanksgiving weekend after we chop it down!
4. When do you take the tree down? Right after Christmas because it is usually dead.
5. Do you like eggnog? Yes, especially Pumpkin Spice. But that is only if I can beat my kids to it.
6. Favorite Gift received as a child? Cabbage Patch doll my mom made for me.
7. Hardest person to buy for? My dad. He has everything and does not have much variety in his clothing.
8. Easiest person to buy for? My kids. Any toy will make them happy!
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, but I rarely set it up. It is with snow people though. Does that count?
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Can't think of anything.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Christmas Vacation. I have to watch it several times every season
13. When do you start Christmas shopping? I start making my list in Sept and then usually start to buy things in Oct.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Heck ya. All goods ones though
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Definitely sugar cookies
16. Lights on the tree? Yes, clear.
17. Favorite Christmas song? Blue Christmas by Elvis
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Home on Christmas Eve but travel to Hanksville in the afternoon on Christmas Day.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yes
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star. Right now it is very lopsided.
21. Open presents Christmas Eve or morning? The kids open their gift from their cousins on Christmas Eve at my mom's house. The rest they have to wait for!
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? The crowds and my stupid decorations blowing over in the front yard! Gotta love this Lehi wind!
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? My tree is maroon with rustic decorations and rafia
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Prime Rib and of course Pumpkin Pie!!
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? The Total Gym but it has to be bought online and I don't thing my husband will be able to figure that one out! I also don't think that it will be here in time when he shops on Christmas Eve.

Thanksgiving

I know this is a little late but time goes by so fast I can't keep up! Our Thanksgiving holiday was really nice and relaxing. This year was our turn to go to the farm with my family. I went down on Tues night so that I could spend Wednesday making pies before everyone else got there and needed to use the oven too.
Wednesday I worked my butt off baking, moving beds around and cleaning. (This was especially hard with little Macie Moo undoing everything I did!! She's so dang cute that it makes it alright though!) Dennis got there Wed afternoon and so did Tammy and her family.
By this time I had already made 7 pies and then was starting on the apple pies when Dennis decided to help. I don't think he can sit and watch people do things. He has to do everything himself. He must think that he can do it better!! Who am I to complain though. I don't mind watching!! We made 3 apple pies which turned out very nicely!
When Chevaun got home from work we had a big spaghetti dinner and then waited on Mom, Dad, Trina, Sue and Steven to show up.
After dinner we got out some games and played and visited until late. Dennis, I and Mom didn't go to bed until 2am!! We were playing Rummy 500 which can last for a while. Thursday was busy of course with all the kids running around and the kitchen clear full. We had a big crew to feed and everyone loves leftovers so we baked a 22 lb turkey and also deep fried 2 smaller turkeys...each with a different flavor. We were so stuffed.
The funny thing this year was the cheeseballs. I made one but forgot to pick up some extra ones from the store. The last couple of years Dennis has done the shopping and has bought at least 10 cheeseballs and so we would laugh about how many he had bought. This year, the cheeseball I made was all gone and everybody was freaking out and asking Dennis where all the cheeseballs were. I guess you can never have too many!!
Later that night when we could all move again we broke out the games again. Our favorite was Taboo. We had so much fun. It was nice for the whole family to be playing and having fun.
We only had one accident this year and it was Garrett and Raegan bumping heads. Not so much a bump though... more like a collision! They were both running from opposite ends of the hall and collided head on. Raegan had a goose egg and a bruise on her forehead but Garrett sufferd the most damage. His whole eye swelled up and then turned black and blue!
Friday morning we got up at 4 and headed to Vernal for 'Black Friday'. Two years ago we went and there was no one there. This year it was a nightmare!! The parking lot and all surrounding areas of Walmart were completely full! Good thing there wasn't very much that I needed. I got a few things and Tammy and Chevaun both had cart fulls of stuff. After we left there, we got a quick bite to eat so that Chevaun could head to work and the rest of us went to a few other stores before heading home. The rest of the day we just sat around and ate and played games again. We were all so tired though that we didn't stay up too late.
Saturday we loaded everyone up and headed to the mountain to chop down our Christmas trees. We stopped in an area where there were hundreds of trees and it should have been no problem to find the perfect one right? Wrong! Dennis, I and the kids wandered around for quite sometime looking. Every tree had something wrong with it so we couldn't agree on one. After just about giving up, we finally settled on one next to the road where we parked the truck!! We should have just grabbed that one to start with and stayed warm!!
We headed back home that afternoon so we could get our lights and tree set up before the end of the weekend. (I had all the lights up down low but I do not get on the roof. That is Dennis' job!)
On Sunday Dennis, I and the kids went to see Four Christmases which was pretty funny and then had a nice dinner at home, which has been pretty rare lately.
It was a nice long weekend and now it is almost Christmas! I can't believe it. I have been obsessed about my shopping though. I am finally done. What a relief! Now I just have to wrap it all.... UGH!
I don't know what it is this year, I am usually so excited, but every time I go to the store I just get pissed. I am sick of spending so much money!! Not just on Christmas but on everything else too. It is ridiculous. Thank god the price of fuel is down so it will cost me less to run all these stupid errands!

Some of the gang..



Macie Moo



Garrett's eye after the accident




Decorating the tree

Me, my mommy and my sisters

We all went to Texas Roadhouse a couple weeks ago for "Pink" night which was organized by my sister Amanda to raise money for breast cancer research. It was such a good idea and I am so proud of her. She lost her real mother to breast cancer and then our mom was diagnosed with it this past summer. Texas Roadhouse donated 10% of all their profits that day to the cause. It was fun to have the whole family there. This is a good picture of us except for the spots... don't know where those came from!

Weston's Birthday

Weston's birthday was on Nov 1st. I can't believe how big he is. He was my little premature 4 pounder and now I have to buy him new clothes every couple months. He even wears the same size shoe as Braxton! We had a birthday party for him before Halloween and he wanted to go bowling so Tammy, Mark and I each took a car load of kids over to the bowling alley in American Fork for his "friend" party. They were all pretty well behaved. I had bought some pizza's from Papa Murphy's for dinner and Den got home just in time to get those ready for us to eat when we got home. We opened the presents, fed them pizza and cake in a record 20 minutes!! Then it was time to rest while the parents came to pick them up. The rest of the family arrived so that we could have his "family" party. It was a fun day and he got a lot of cool presents and lots of money! On his actual birthday, we were in Hanksville for the Turkey Shoot and that is where he got his present from us. It was a new motorcycle. A Kawasaki 65. He was so excited and just wanted to sit on it all morning. His old bike is still like new but he has outgrown it and he has been excited to get a new one with a clutch! What spoiled children I have!





Weston's new ride!

Turkey Shoot

On the first Saturday in November the EMS in Hanksville always does their annual fund raiser called the "Turkey Shoot". It brings people from all over the county and even some from Salt Lake. The cost is $6 per shoot and it runs nearly all day from 10:00 am until dark. The EMS provides all the shotgun shells and clay pigeons. They have men, women, kids, couples and team shoots and one called the Annie Oakley that most everyone can be in at the same time. The kids love to shoot but also love to go hang out with all of the other kids and play in their "hut" they built on the hill. I participated in nearly every women's shoot they had and did some team ones and a couple's shoot with Den. The prizes are hams, turkeys, t-shirts, hats, gift certificates and other various prizes. I won a ham and turkey, some t-shirts and some tools. Den won a ham, t-shirts and a few other things and Braxton even won a ham too! It was good family fun!

Den and Garrett



Den and Weston

Halloween

Halloween was a busy day for us. The kids had a parade at school and then we needed to hurry and drive to Hanksville so that we were there in time for the festivities there. The whole town was gathered at the elementary school where they had a big dinner of navajo tacos set up and then had a costume contest, games for the kids, a spook alley set up at the old church and then trunk-or-treat at the church. They even had a contest for who had the best decorated car. The kids had such a good time especially seeing as how the object of trunk-or-treat in such a small town is to hurry and go around to the cars as many times as you want until everyone runs out of candy. Weston and Garrett both won cakes at the Cake Walk game and a bunch of other toys and drinks. It was fun to see the whole town get involved. I dressed up this year as a pirate but of course, I am always the one taking the pictures so I did not get a picture of myself. I even had this really cool fake tatoo on the side of my neck!

Weston as the Metal Skull Biker



Braxton as the Joker



Chase as Dracula and Garrett as a Skeleton Zombie

In the News....

A few weeks ago Dennis, Cody, Rosanne and I went on a Harley ride called a "Poker Run" that benefited a little girl with a terminally ill disease. Sign ups started at 10:30 am at the Barbary Coast bar in Salt Lake. This is where we got our t-shirts and got to get our first "card" for our hand. The way we determined what our cards were was to throw darts at a board covered in playing cards. Which ever card we hit would be the first card dealt to us. Then we all rode to Scorez in Lehi and hung out for a while and got our second card. Then we went to Wing Nuts in South Jordan and did the same. (Which by the way has very good hot wings. We had never been there before.) Our last stop was The Ore House in Copperton. There were so many bikers there, it was crazy. They are all so nice though and really have big hearts and do alot of charity work. Can you believe I was the big winner and got 5 JACKS!! No matter where I threw, it landed on a jack. I won a $100 but just donated it back to the cause. They had a big raffle and made quite a bit of money for the girl. It was such a good time and what a great feeling to know that we had that much fun and for a good cause. I can't wait to do it again next year.

8 things...

I was tagged by Rhonda so I figured I would give it a try..

8 TV SHOWS I LIKE TO WATCH: Desperate Housewives, Brothers & Sisters, Boston Legal, CSI, Rachael Ray, The View... That's all, I don't watch much t.v

8 THINGS I DID YESTERDAY: worked out, drove to Salt Lake with Dennis, dropped off my truck at Big O for new tires, went to The Miramar for lunch with Den and Cody, went to see the movie Appaloosa, went to dinner at Applebees, read my book, fell asleep early. (Yesterday was a lazy day!)

8 THINGS I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO: Vegas for the NFR, Christmas!, Vacation next year to Florida with the kids, Halloween, Turkey Shoot next weekend, new business venture, building a house (maybe), and winter (I love to wear my comfies and turn up the heat!)

8 THINGS ON MY WISH LIST: be healthy, have everyone in my family healthy and happy, have our business continue to grow and not be affected by the economy, my children to be successful in life, a new house, more time in the day, a Total Gym machine for my house, new bedroom furniture

8 PEOPLE I AM TAGGING: Mom, Trina, Tammy, Sue, Candace. That's all. I don't know anyone else with their own blog!

Deer Hunt

I am so glad to be home. It was a long but fun weekend. We left for Hanksville last Thursday night. I spent most the day Friday getting all the food ready for Weston's baptism on Saturday. Then we were up Saturday by 6am so we could head to Caineville where we always hunt. We saw a few bucks and Patrick and Braxton both shot but missed. The deer took off up the side of the mountain and were too quick for us to catch up. We checked around a few more of the fields and then had to head home so everyone could get showered and ready to go to the church. There weren't any out Saturday night so we got up again Sunday morning and headed out. We let Braxton and Patrick out at the head of the field and Dennis and I went down to the end hoping to catch some as they ran out. There was a lot of gun fire but just my luck, nothing ran my way. Patrick and Braxton both ended up getting one that morning. Dennis got in a hurry and ran the truck into a culvert and completely slit his front tire open so everyone was real busy with changing tires and gutting 2 deer! We went out again Sunday night, Monday morning and Monday night and did not see a thing! Tuesday morning it was just Dennis and I and we saw a small one in a field along the highway but it wasn't quite light enough yet and I was so sure that there would be some more further down that I chose not to shoot at that one. There was a big herd alright but nothing with horns!! I was pissy for the rest of the day because I had really wanted to shoot my new gun but I guess there is always next year. If I draw out!
The little boys were such good sports. Some nights we were up late but they still got up every morning at 6am with us to head out. They love to look through the binoculars and their favorite thing, although twisted, is to examine the dead deer. They were so excited for Braxton and both can't wait until they are 12 so they can hunt too. We took them to the gun range twice so that they could shoot their .22's. They had said that they needed to "practice" for the turkey shoot in 2 weeks.
All in all it was a fun weekend but I am so glad that I am back to my normal sleeping routine!

Weston's Baptism

Weston has been curious lately about the church and being baptized. We decided to have him baptized this past weekend in Hanksville since that is where he sometimes goes to church. We were all going to be there anyway because of the deer hunt so it worked out perfect. We asked Dennis' brother Patrick to do the baptism, and his mom and brother-in-law Curtis both gave talks. It turned out really nice. Weston was so proud of his new "church" clothes. He looked so handsome! Mom and Colton made the long drive to be there for him which was really nice. Afterwards we had a luncheon and visited for a while.

Patrick & Weston


Our Family

Pumpkin Carving

We went to Pat and Candace's last week to carve pumpkins. Of course, I had forgotten to charge my camera so I was only able to get this one picture before my camera died. Candace has some pictures on her website of us and our pumpkins. The kids had alot of fun. I have never spent so much time carving a pumpkin in my life! My idea of carving a pumpkin is 3 triangles for the eyees and nose and a quick mouth with a couple teeth. Braxton's was the U of U symbol, Weston did a really good job (all by himself) on a spider and Garrett chose one of the hardest in the book. A ghost with a bunch of other cutouts. He probably could have done it by himself but his pumpkin was so think that it was really hard to cut through it. I had to help him with most of it. Sad to say, the pumpkins did not fare very well over the weekend and have shriveled up already. Oh well, it was fun anyway.

The latest..

I haven't been very good at this blog thing lately. I did manage to get my background and a few other things changed though. At least that shows a little effort on my part.
Good news about the frogs... they are all still alive.
We are all just so busy. I can't wait until things slow down a bit. In the last couple weeks we have celebrated Mom's birthday, My birthday and Steven's and Weston's are coming up soon. Not to mention the deer hunt, Halloween and the Turkey Shoot. I think my life will settle down sometime mid-November (I hope).
I told Dennis that I wanted to pick out my own present this year so I drug him around town all afternoon last week looking at tread mills which is what I have been wanting. The only thing he was impressed with is the sound system that some of them have. The new ones have Ipod ports, fans and t.v.'s built right in! What a way to motivate someone to get on them. Definitely much better than the ones at the gym. I didn't get to bring it home though because my husband decided that he would rather pay them to deliver it and set it up so it should be here tomorrow.
The kids are out of school Thurs, Fri and Mon for UEA so we are headed to Hanksville Thurs for the deer hunt. The kids are so excited. They love to get up early in the morning and go out with us. Dennis didn't draw out this year so I guess it is just up to me and Braxton to fill the freezer! It has been such a piece of cake the last few years. We hunt the same field and get 1-2 bucks every year. No wandering around in the snow and mud, no hiking up the side of a mountain, no camping in the cold. We just park at the edge of the field about 6am and wait until it is light and then walk in a little closer and shoot. What a deal!
I will have to update you next week if that is still a successful plan of attack or not.
The boys are all doing well. I think they are a little bummed that it is getting colder and they can't play outside as much but I'm sure they will survive. I might not, but I think they will be ok playing inside for a few months. When my nerves get shot, I just bundle them up and herd them towards the door. Later I feel bad about their frozen noses and so I always have hot cocoa waiting for them when they come in.
My goal for this fall was to get a new family picture taken but so far that hasn't worked out. I want to get it taken outdoors but can't think of the perfect place.
If anybody has any cool ideas let me know.

Frogs......

This past weekend we went to Green River for Melon Days. I haven't been since before my kids were born so we thought it would be fun to go. In the morning we went to the parade where the kids collected waaaay too much candy then we went to the park to check out the festivities in the afternoon. Grandma didn't want to stay long so I took her home and went back to hang out with the kids. I told them each that they could pick 1 thing to buy from one of the booths. We circled the park twice looking at all the toys, hats and knick knacks. I must have missed it the first time around and now I wish to God the boys had missed it too, but what do they tell me they want..... FROGS!! Yes, this coming from a household that has absolutely NO PETS! (I don't count the horses because they are in Hanksville and I don't have to clean up after them!) Even better, this came after a time where I had promised myself that I would try to be more understanding of my kids and try to let "my boys be boys".
"It's such a good deal" they said to me.
Good deal for who?? The people who so happily scooped them into Ziploc baggies or the poor sorry suckers who just couldn't say no to their pleading children. My vote is for the boy who happily took my $20 bill.
So for the bargain price of $10 we got 2 frogs, a tiny aquarium and a 3 month supply of little brown balls that look like mouse turds to feed them.
Keep in mind that I had 2 frog loving children so this means a total of 4 frogs and 2 aquariums in my house!
In my very stern mother-like voice, I told them that if they didn't keep them clean and take care of them, I would promptly flush them all down the toilet.
On Sunday, they held them for the entire 3 hour drive home (they were still in the Ziploc's though because I did not want to transfer them until we got home.) When we got to the house, we put them in their aquarium's and gave them each a brown turd.
Tuesday was show-n-tell in Garrett's class and he begged me to bring his frog's to school for him so he could show the class. I was running late so I grabbed the little aquarium and jumped in the truck not thinking that the water would be sloshing around and come out the cracks in the top. By the time I pull up to the school I had frog water all over my console and in my cup holders and I was FREAKING out and didn't want to touch anything. I had to come home and spray it all down with 409. What a joke... but that isn't even the worst part.
Wednesday morning I went in Garrett's room and found that one of the frogs was dead!! I was actually pretty grateful that I was already down to 3 frogs in less than a week until I stopped to think about how Garrett would feel. SHIT I thought. Now I have to go buy another damn frog before he gets home and one of those scoopie things to get the dead one out! Just my luck! I went to the pet store in American Fork and bought a $2.99 frog before I realized that I had a couple other errands to run before I wanted to go home. Now I'm wondering if this frog will die if I leave it sitting in the hot truck while I am grocery shopping. Do I want to make yet another trip to the pet store today? Uh no!! So the damn frog got put in my purse in his baggie while I shopped at Walmart! Try to explain that one while you are digging for your wallet at the checkstand!
I made it home at exactly 3:40 thinking that I had beat the children home but they were extra fast that day and were already at the kitchen table doing their homework. Great! How do I hide this? I told Garrett that his frog had died and he started crying and said that he had just seen him sleeping that morning. We had both noticed that he (the dead one) seemed to have grown fur because his corpse looked very hairy all of a sudden.
"He's not sleeping Garrett, he's dead. But I bought a new one so now you have 2 again."
What a good mother.
Together we fished out the dead one, cleaned out the aquarium and put the new frog in with the old one. Yuck.
Thursday morning, I am in a hurry to get the kids to their dentist's appointment. I peek in Garrett's room to check on him and he is standing in his room in his underwear crying that the other frog now had hair on him and that he was dead too!!
This is such bullshit, I thought.
I leaned down and sure enough, the little sucker looked dead. Oh great! I tapped on the side and he moved a little. This was a good sign, but maybe he was sick because he sat in the aquarium with the other dead one all day while I figured out what to do.
"We have to separate them so he doesn't make the new frog sick" I said to Garrett.
I remembered an empty Cool Whip tub that I had thrown away the night before so I fished it out of the garbage and washed it out. I told Garrett that he had to scoop up the new frog in the net and hold his hand over it so that he didn't jump out before we got him transfered to the Cool Whip container. He tried but his hand wasn't big enough so the frog jumped out of the net and started hopping around on the counter. I couldn't even think straight, I was jumping up and down screaming and yelling at Garrett to catch it. The frog fell down in the crack between the counter and the fridge. I ran around behind the counter and kept yelling at Garrett. Luckily his skinny arms fit right in there and he was able to capture the escapee!
What a circus!! I can't believe I was so paranoid. All I could think about was this frog loose in my house touching everything!! EEEWWWW.
Needless to say, we were late to the dentist because I had to completely sanitize the entire kitchen counter.
I don't think I will ever be able to get rid of these frogs now, especially after the boys know that I can just go out and buy another one. What have I gotten myself into?

Lake Powell

In August we took an "Adult" trip to Lake Powell with some friends. I love to take the boys to the lake with us but it is nice sometimes to be able to relax and not be worried about the kids the whole time. My kids are pretty good swimmers but I don't let them take their life jackets off at all!!! I can't swim so I have always been paranoid around the water.
We picked up the house boat on Friday morning and just drove it across from the buoy to a cove. It was a great spot with a nice flat beach area perfect for our horseshoes. It was so nice to hang out with everyone and have fun. I have been to the lake for the last 3 years on the house boat and never have I dared to go off the slide yet until this trip. For a couple hours each day we played around in the water and the guys always had contests on who could jump the farthest from the top of the houseboat. One night we were all out in the water floating around we kept feeling something brush past our legs so we were getting freaked out. Everyone made it back on the houseboat except for me and Caleb. When I went to climb on something grabbed my leg and I started laughing so hard I couldnt climb up the ladder. I fell back in the water and swam away from the boat. Then Caleb went over and it grabbed his leg too and pulled him under. Come to find out, Cody had gotten in the water near the beach and swam under the houseboat and was hanging out under there to scare us. We had all thought that he was passed out for the night and weren't expecting him to be awake. We laughed about that for hours!!
We took a few "tours", which we like to call where we pack lunch and head out in the boats to cruise the lake and check things out. We stop every so often and jump in the water to cool off.
Our horseshoe tournaments are always a good time and we did that most of the day Sunday. I actually started to throw some ringers!!! Sara and I were on a roll!
At night, we all pitched in to cook dinner and then danced and sang along with the music. There was definitely a good time had by all.

Demolition Derby

A couple weeks ago we entered 2 cars into the Wayne County Demolition Derby. Dennis and the guys that work for him put them both together in just 2 weeks. They worked on them every night after work and then the rest of us pitched in and helped with all the paint a couple days before. We worked all day and night to get them finished in time. It was a lot of fun. The best part was all the stuff that we painted on the car! Most of it were digs at the NRCS for not getting the dam in Hanksville done in time. The whole town of Hanksville got involved and came to Loa to watch the Derby. We had the best and fastest pit crews there too. They were all about being serious and had every tool and extra part necessary. It was a hoot to watch them. Dennis drove the "Safety Lime Green" car which of course was sponsored by Dennis Lierd Construction and Sheldon, one of his guys, drove the "Safety Orange" car. That one was sponsored by our friends at Cody Ekker Construction. Those colors were great and so fitting for 2 cars by construction companies. Dennis' whole attire during the week is comprised of those 2 colors. Occasionally he'll throw in a white one!!
The funniest thing was that Sheldon's car lost all of its forward gears before the last race so he went out and gave 'er hell in reverse!! Towards the end, his trunk was pushed up so high that he couldn't even see where he was going anymore.
Both cars did very well however we didn't end up winning. There were some pretty tough cars from Richfield that won the whole thing. They obviously had done that before! Their cars were really indestructible... illegal almost. They didnt crunch at all! They must have had some serious reinforcement. The guys have all vowed to start earlier next year and weld the cars more solid. There just wasn't enough time to get every thing right this time. Sara and I were going to drive the cars in the Powder Puff if they made it that far but it was late and the cars were hammered. Dennis thought his was blown up but after they loaded the car they realized that he had just run out of gas!! Oh well, live and learn I guess. It was all worth it!!

Lierd Reunion

We went camping a couple weeks ago for the Lierd Reunion which was different than the norm because it is usually on the house boat at Lake Powell. This was a nice change. I am always worried about the kids being around the water for so long. It was a nice open area near the water so the kids could run and play all they wanted and I wasnt worried about them wandering off and getting lost. We went on 4 wheeler rides, made our own race track for the motorcycles and had a horseshoe tournament for the adults and then for the kids. This year for the family picture we all made our own tie dyed shirt. Obviously as you can see in our picture, I have never done this before so mine turned out kind of lame.
Garrett spent most of his time down by the lake fishing. He was so determined that he was going to catch something but sadly enough, he didnt. There just weren't any fish biting.
Weston rode his motorcycle nonstop.. I don't think he took his motorcycle boots off all weekend. When he wasn't doing that him and Garrett were taking all the kids into our trailer and having them watch ALF. Remember that show? I used to love it and so I bought the seasons on DVD and the kids cant get enough of it.
Braxton spent most of his time racing with Quinton on the track that Curtis made for them. Even Dennis and Patrick got into the races but they were on 4 wheelers.... not quite as easy to make those turns!!
The horseshoe tournament got pretty serious and went on for several hours. Most of the teams were pretty evenly matched. I sucked of course, but I got a few points and even a ringer to help out Dennis. Good thing he can play.
At night we hung out around the campfire and listened to music, made smores and played games after we put the kids to bed. Our favorite was Dirk's famous "One frog" game. It is a riot. Everyone had a really nice time.

JACKSON

We took a trip to Jackson Hole a couple weeks ago on the Harleys with some friends of ours and had a blast! Caleb & Sara drove my pickup as our "support vehicle" and hauled all of our luggage and golf clubs. We took our time getting there and stopped every 30 min or so which my butt was very thankful for. It's not really that uncomfortable to ride so much as the vibration of the bike puts my butt, feet and back to sleep. We got there Friday evening and went out for sushi and then went dancing at the Million Dollar Saloon for a while until we were so hot we couldn't breath!! They had absolutely no air conditioning going in there so it was pretty miserable.
Saturday after breakfast we took a trip over the mountain for a day ride and ended up at a little bar in Victor, ID where we played pool and relaxed for a couple hours.
We spent the next several hours golfing in Teton Village at what was supposed to be a public course but it ended up and cost us over $400.00 a couple to play!!! That is insane!!! Me & Den golf in American Fork for $44.00. We even had to run to the store and buy Dennis a cheap shirt with a collar or he couldn't golf. That doesn't sound like a public course to me!! The course was nothing but sand traps and water so you can imagine how well I did. Can you say "bloop." (my ball hitting the water). By the last 9 holes the girls decided to spice things up a bit and starting giving awards for the best and worst drive. Some of them were pretty x-rated but I guarantee we had more fun then the guys did who were ahead of us.
After golf we went to Burk's Chophouse for dinner only because it was in walking distance of our hotel and were unsure about how the food was going to be. It was fabulous!!! Everything was soooo good. A little pricey but well worth it! After dinner we all decided to hit the hay so we could get up and out of town early the next day. Dennis the "time nazi" had us on a tight schedule. He had our whole travel timed out and was adament that we stayed on schedule.
We left Jackson about 9am and headed back down the mountain to Alpine where we stopped for breakfast at the cutest little diner. It was full of locals which led us to believe that there really are "kissin' cousins" in Wyoming!!! Not nice, I know. It had really good food and was decorated in Americana decor.
We made alot better time on the way home and only had one minor snag. Just before the 10600 So. exit we ran out of gas!!! I didn't know what was happening but all of a sudden Dennis leaves the carpool lane and crosses all 4 lanes of traffic and barely makes the exit. We would have been able to coast off the exit but of course the light was red so yep... we had to hoof it to the Tesoro. Dennis was thinking that he could make it to 14600 before he got gas but I guess not. We can only go about 180 miles on one tank and should have gotten gas sooner!!
It was such a good weekend!!

TTA-

I have missed a few of the last ones and been been slacking the last couple of weeks on my blogging. So while I sit here and listen to my kids argue over what movie we are going to watch, I figured I would have some time to slip a quick post in. If you have spent anytime in my house or around my kids, you would know that this arguement could go on all night, both refusing to agree with the other's suggestions out of sheer stubborness.
SO.... anyway, this weeks TTA was about working out. Whether we do or not and what kind of routine we have. I try to exercise at least 5 times a week but usually something happens that I only actually get around to it 3 or 4 times. I drag my sorry butt out of bed between 6:30 and 7:00 a.m. and head to my basement where I try to spend at least an hour and sometimes an hour and a half if the kids aren't beating down the door. My favorite thing to do is the Hip Hop Abs workout. I actually look forward to it. I also have the "Ultimate Hips, Buns, Thighs and Legs" workout that I found on the internet. It is pretty low budget but I think it might actually be worth it. I also love the Windsor Pilates program. I have been doing that for years.
So that sums it up..... and yes, my kids are still fighting over which movie!!

Lagoon!!

A couple weeks ago, Sara & Caleb came up and we all went to Lagoon. The kids went on most of the rides several times. We had to stand in line for quite a while to get on "Wicked" but it was worth it. It was going so fast I had to hold my sunglasses on and then the straps of my shirt kept coming off my shoulders so I must have looked like an absolute wreck when it was over. I was laughing so hard that I just had to close my eyes because I didn't want to see the big drop!!! Dennis had fun beating everybody on the go-cart track... he was all business!!! Later in the day the kids wanted to play in the water and I had told them that if they got soaked I would beat them. (Ya right). They were having so much fun that we let them stay and play in it for a while. Needless to say they were soaked clear through and didn't get their beating after all. They all had plenty of junk food and treats and Dennis won them all the baseball hats for the teams they are playing on this year. We even left with a few of those stupid stuffed animals.

That brings up a whole other subject. What in the hell are you supposed to do with those things anyway?? I know, I know, I had a bunch when I was a kid too and then got so attached to them that I didn't want to throw them out when I got older. I only let my kids keep a few of theirs and I secretly throw the ones out that have been in their toybox for a long time. Here I was thinking that I had finally gotten rid of them all and now the kids have been giving theirs to me as presents. I think they have it figured out and know that if they give them to me then I wont throw them away. I have a whole closet full of little baby shreks, bunnies and dogs from the "claw" machine at the movie theater. I think they should ban those things. Weston will spend all of his alloted video game money trying to pick up one of those stupid things and then bless his heart..... he will come bat his eyes at me and say that he won it just for me... I know.... aaaaahhhhhh how sweet. They don't forget what they have given me either. Garrett asks me at least once a week where the gum drop worm is that he made me and I have to produce it as proof so that he is satisfied that I didn't throw it away. I got in trouble a few months ago because the worm's toothpick antennae had broken off and he informed me that I needed to be more careful with it!! He is not as trusting as the other boys because he found something in my bathroom garbage one day that he had given me. He came marching into the kitchen with is hands on his hips and asked, "Why did I just find this in your garbage?" Being the quick thinker that I am, I told him that I had it sitting on the bathroom counter and that Dad must have knocked it into the garbage can on accident. That's the way I like to do it at our house... blame it on the man who isn't home to defend himself!!! It has gotten me out of trouble with the kids more times than I can count.

TTA-Smell

Some of my favorite smells are Salt City Candles, Bath & Body Works Wall Flowers (which I have everywhere in my house!!) fresh flowers, baby lotion, Downy Lavender & Vanilla fabric softener, fresh cut hay and believe it or not.... the smell of a farm, yes even the poop. There is just something about it that calms and relaxes me. Maybe that's why my parents and brother work so hard on their ranch. I'm sure if asked, they would say it was all about the "poop"!!!

TTA-Sound

TTA for this week was Sound. The only sounds I have heard the last 2 weeks are my kids running around upstairs. I thought moving my office to the basement would be easier and quieter but the kids running around and sliding the stools on the hardwood floor drives me CRAZY!!! If it's not that, then it is one of them running down every two minutes asking if they can go somewhere, call someone or eat something!!! I have also heard alot of Spongebob, Drake & Josh and ICarly. If it's not coming from the tv, then it is being repeated 500 times by my boys. The funniest though was last week when I told the boys that we were going to the mall with Trina. Weston replied, "Are we going to Build-a-Bra where you can get flourescent straps and titanium hooks?" I laughed so hard I nearly swallowed my gum. Apparently that was something he had heard on ICarly. He picked the perfect opportunity to break it out too!! Those goofy kids!! Another thing totally off the subject of sound is the fact that Weston and Garrett like to look for bugs everyday. They make a little bed of grass on the back patio and then put the bugs in it and cover it over with a glass. One would think that they would choose to use one of the many plastic cups in the pantry, but not my smart boys. They climb right up on the counter and get one of my good GLASS glasses out of the cupboard and use those instead. Their theory is that they need to "see" what the bugs are doing, regardless of their mother's disapproval. Today before we could go to Braxton's game, Garrett told me that he had left his caterpillar at his friend's house down the street and needed to go get it. Silly mother that I am, I told him that we didn't need the caterpillar brought back to the house. That of course is when Garrett told me that it was in one of my glasses again!! Needless to say, we were late to the game so that Garrett could retrieve the glass with the caterpillar!

TTA- Sight

This is my first time doing the "Tuesday Tell All" and the topic is Sight. One of my favorite things to 'see' are my children. They forever amaze and inspire me. Nothing makes me happier than to look at their freckled faces and crooked smiles. Even though I am with them everyday, I am continually surprised at how much they change. I also love to see my husband as he walks in the door. Even though he is dirty, ornery and tired, I know that he has worked hard for us and for that I owe him so much. An obsession of mine is to see a spotless house everyday. Every chair around the table has to be evenly spaced, every throw pillow turned just so, and that annoying sign that hangs over my pantry that always tips ever so slightly to the right has to be adjusted 2-3 times a day. (OCD I know). Lately, I love to see a fresh bouquet of flowers in the middle of my kitchen table. I make a trip to Costco weekly to make the purchase. And on a lighter note, when I have the time, I love to see "Rachael Ray". She is just so dang cute!!

Boulder Mountain

Our Memorial weekend was spent at the top of Boulder Mountain in the snow and mud!! Some friends of ours were getting married there and thought it would be fun to have everyone camp and celebrate with them all weekend. Obviously they had planned on better weather. Thank god we had finally found a trailer or we would have only gone up for the day. I looked for 3 months to find the perfect one. We really wanted to get one that had the separate bunk room in the back for the boys. It is so nice not to have their stuff strung all over inside the trailer. Now all we have to do is just shut their door!! It worked out perfect for such a cold weekend too. They spent alot of time playing cards, coloring and watching movies inside.
It snowed or rained almost everyday and we rarely saw the sun. The only way to get around really was on the 4 wheeler which was so covered in mud I hated to even sit on it.
The road in was so muddy and rocky that everyone had issues getting their trailers in. We came in right after a storm and the road looked fine until the whole right side gave way and our trailer slid sideways into some rocks damaging the right rear end. Just our luck... the new trailer on it's maiden voyage gets damaged!! Everyone hauled rocks up to fill in the hole the next day and we all prayed for sun to help dry it up. It was even hard to get up and down it in a pickup. We didnt think anybody was going to be able to get their trailers out but luckily it froze Sunday night so we got up early Monday and got out while the ground was still hard.
Even with the weather we all managed to have a good time. We went down the mountain a few times to get out of the snow and spent some time fishing with the kids.

Saturday was a cold day to fish but Weston still caught 2 within the first 5 minutes. Sunday was a little cool but a much nicer day and the kids played for hours in the sand.
We always have such a good time when we go with everyone. Dennis didnt want me to miss out on a picture of Lubby in his orange covies so I had to throw that in too! He is such a hoot!!