HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR TOD!

twenty four years ago today i was huge pregnant thinking my baby may never come out!

and then, at 9:40 p.m., we were blessed with an 8.5 pound, 22 1/2 inch long, beautiful baby BOY!

tod truly was an angel baby! just look at him! what beautiful blonde curls!!!!! i remember him as always having a smile on his face. being patient, loving, giggly, and a good eater! we were blessed!

baby boy:), i hope you have a very happy birthday today! you still are one of my very favorite blessings! I LOVE YOU!!!


ps- you are the most handsome guy around!

Memorable Ranch Moments...2008

As always, "life renewal" at the ranch happened. As each of us has arrived home, it has been hard. For Megan, it was hard to want to start back at dance. For Hailey, it is hard to want to start school tomorrow. For the rest of us, it is hard to want to get back "going" with life, speed back up, sort of. But, as the hours pass by, courage comes, and the ability to face it all becomes easier because of the "renewal" we have experienced! Thanks to Alden and Carma and Brent and Michelle who make the ranch the "happiest place on earth"!




Lauren LOVED the ranch! If you asked her if she was tired or hungry or cold her answer was always, "No! I HAPPY!" Sometimes she was "big happy", sometimes she was "little happy", and a few times she was "HUGE happy"...hence, the "happiest place on earth"! She loved the trampoline, feeding Shiner his vitamins and biscuits right out of her hand, riding the horses (her favorites were Missy and Scout this year), the slide and swing, riding on the four wheelers, shooting guns, fishing, eating...she LOVED it all...even talking with great-grandpa Stewart in the mornings! He was the first one to win her over this year! It is always great to see the excitement through a child's eyes :)
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For me, it was moving cattle with my dad again!!! I was a little stunned when he asked Brent if he'd saddle his horse for him, the night before we rode. And the next morning, when Mom came down to the tack room, to give him a kiss good-bye, or good-luck, and take a picture for proof of his 91 year old body on the horse, it was the sweetest thing EVER. He looked VERY comfortable on Montano, and being out there in the fields, moving the cattle with him close by, brought back a lifetime of memories!!!





The rest of my memorable moments are in no particular order!
*** Hailey passing the four-wheeler test!
*** eating popcorn, apples and otter pops at night!
*** Justin winning the family gold medal for most skeet shot without missing!
*** Hailey spotting the elk herd in the meadow, and checking them out pretty up close and personal :).
*** Aunt Michelle's cooking :). yum.
*** going on the "Man From Snowy River" trail for the first time that I really remember, and loving every minute!
*** watching "Man From Snowy River" - for my girls enlightenment!
*** Mike shooting a muskrat and having it crawl up the bank and FREAK Megan out!
*** watching Phelps win 8 gold medals!
*** listening to Michelle tell the Gary Stewart joke..."so! I'm a Mormon, I have 11 kids..."!
*** Brent and the air horn!
*** fishing and canoeing!
*** story telling and visiting!
*** shooting guns...why can't I aim better?
Just being together with everyone there is always the best part! That, I believe, is what makes it hard to come home! Leaving the family and the feeling of being all together. I am so grateful for a family that I love...I will miss being all together with all of you!

GOLD...

after talking about our men's olympic basketball team for two years now, i must make a post, congratulating the "redeem team" on bringing home the gold! i am so happy for them, and i am so happy for the USA! way to dedicate, sacrifice, endure, work hard, and achieve your goal. you did it for your nation, unselfishly and with much class, showing us all that even basketball's "great ones", can come together and lead and work hard for the greater good. i came away with some new favorites to add to my list of boys i love to cheer for. i was very proud of our team and grateful that they were able to put it all together and win the GOLD!

U.S.A....way to go!

Nastia or Shawn?...i don't know...

You Are Gymnastics

You are agile, expressive, and precise. You have the drive to practice until you get something perfectly right. And you have the confidence to perform difficult moves when under pressure.

What Olympic Sport Are You?

I am loving the Olympics! Especially when the USA athletes are winning! Michael Phelps won by sheer will power tonight! One of my favorite things so far...hearing the men at my house praising the gymnasts for amazing strength, and ability! Usually women athletes don't get many props from my men...only golfers :).

GO USA!!!!!

good news minute...

We're on our way to the ranch tomorrow! For me, this will be two weeks of life renewal. It will be full of family, fun, and time. Time to do whatever I feel is important in the moment. That is the beauty of being in the middle of no where. Our cell phones only work when we go into town - 20 miles down a dirt road. A person can get pretty relaxed without all the stresses of life that the outside world throws at you. The only things that are mandatory for me to do are...being a good daughter, being a good sister, being a good wife, being a good mother, and being a good grandmother. The great thing is, I have time to be all of those things while I am there! I can't wait! It's the closest thing to being in the celestial kingdom, on this earth.

The above picture: Two cute girls headed to Rachel's reception!

eggs...

I almost can't eat eggs anymore, I have had to clean so many off my house and cars over the last year and a half!

It makes me very sad to write this post, but I feel like I should document this gross and disturbing phenomenon. I woke up Tuesday morning with great plans for a happy day, and walked into my family room and spotted the eggs on my window. My outlook on the day immediately changed. I then remembered waking up the night before about 2am and hearing Tod go out the front door. He had heard it happening, and had seen them! That actually is a relief, to finally be able to but the blame where it belongs.

Let me just say...I think I like Tod's way of dealing with conflict back in high school (almost). At least it didn't involve me scraping, scrubbing, and smelling as I try to clean up these messes. Everyone in the house has had a turn at washing a car, or scrubbing and scraping too, IT IS SO GROSS! I really could use a new paint job on the exterior of my house (I can't get it off the stucco), new roof tiles above my back patio, and new brick around Sadie and Megan's windows.

The only good lessons that have come from this:
1- i really don't think my kids will ever egg someone (or they will be dead!)
2- we have all learned that when you ignore things, it usually doesn't stop. You have to confront it head on, and hopefully THEN it will end.

Thank you Tod for being a great big brother, for making lots of phone calls, and even a house call to try to put an end to this mess! Let's pray these are the LAST eggs I ever have to clean up that aren't in a pan :)!

p.s.- I did feel a little better a few months ago, when Rhonda reminded me of all the things our parents had to deal with because of her "friends". (a W burned in the front lawn-yes the W was for Western High School, bricks through our bedroom window-twice, and mailbox removal) Thanks dad and mom, I don't remember ever feeling your wrath!

NEWPORT...a good time was had by all...

we missed tod this trip to the beach! poor guy, he spent the week doing final projects and papers and tests in completing his summer semester. way to "be a man", son:).

the rest of us??? rest, relaxation, reading, body surfing, boogie boarding, sun, suckers, cooler temperatures, movies, shopping, the gym - and food, glorious food!

monday and tuesday mike, kristen and lauren joined us. that was FUN! mike always adds another dimension to the beach fun. kristen couldn't be quite as crazy in the water, because of her delicate condition, but she totally enjoyed the beach in every other way possible! lauren continues to surprise and amaze me with her unbelievably happy, patient 2 year old disposition. give her a tootsie roll pop and she is totally satisfied! i NEVER had a child like her!!!

hailey was in the water ALL the time. mikey decided she had earned a set of her own fins! she is very good with the waves! her poor eyes are just starting to recover though. the salt water did a number on them.

wednesday, we tried a new activity. mid-week we find we usually need a day out of the sun and this year we went to the del mar race track! jon worried (a little) about teaching megan and hailey the fine art of betting on horses, (win, place, show) but i assured him it would be just fine. my father and his brothers owned some race horses back in the day, and my uncle neal finally named one of them after me, SUSAN'S PROMISE! so, once when she was racing, my dad took me to see her. i vividly remember making bets on the races that day with michelle, my sister in law. i can't remember where we were or even if susan's promise won. i don't think she did. anyway, since it didn't corrupt me, i figured we could have a little fun with m & h, right? megan had her camera and made a little video of the 2nd race. it is her that starts yelling so loudly towards the finish :).


turns out megan picked the WINNER for the first three races!!! un.be.liev.a.ble. she turned to me after the second race, and with a totally serious face said, "i think i'm a horse whisperer." i think she is too! we ended up leaving after the fourth race (i lost that one by a little snot that was on the other horses nose...it was sooooo close) and drove on in to san diego for dinner. then we took the ferry over to coronado for ice cream and then back for a little shopping. walking around down town was so nice, the weather was cool, it was beautiful.

thursday, the life guard thought jon and megan needed to be rescued. up comes the boat, and then the life guard yelling at him to see if he was ok. he was standing on the bottom at the time, no problems...but it brought back memories of many years ago and a rescue of brett slade during a red flag day!

friday and saturday sadie came to join us. she was so excited to be there, she brought some new animo to the week-end. we went to see a movie friday night that didn't get out until about 11:45 and since there was a barnes 'n noble right there, megan wanted to see if we could pick up the new stephanie myers book. we heard the count down to midnight as we walked in, and the line didn't look too bad, so i asked if i could just stand in line and buy one. the sales girl told me i needed a bracelet, so i got one, and then i thought i could get in line. she told me i needed to wait upstairs, those were the A people in line. my bracelet was HH. oooohhhhh! (we left.)

saturday morning we stopped and grabbed one on the way to the beach and there was NO line. she has read 400 pages in about eighteen hours. there were quite a few women reading breaking dawn at the beach that day.

all in all, a great vacation, a very fun tradition! can't wait for next time!

USA BASKETBALL

On July 25th we went back to the Thomas & Mack to watch our beloved nation's Olympic men's basketball team as they played Canada in their last exhibition game here in the US before departing for China the next day. We were very lucky to have all of the family home (except Megan), and Molly and Chad join us for the game. The game was pretty much a blow out, but being there and cheering for them was very fun. The best part of the night for me though, was during a time out when twelve men and women, veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan were honored for their service and sacrifices. EVERYONE in attendance was on their feet applauding. EVERYONE in the whole arena. Of course, my emotions were spilling out, and my heart just swelled, that we ALL could feel gratitude for these people who have risked so much for each of us.

I am anxious for the Olympics to begin. I know me and mine will be cheering for our boys to bring the gold back from China! For anyone who is interested, Tod sent me this link. It is the trailer for the series, "The Road to Redemption", that I talked about back on the 4th of July.

http://www.usabasketball.com/r2r/