Circa 1983-ish..

From left to right: Bottom- Me on Mike's lap, Sandy & Kevin, Tommy.
Second row- Jackie, Wesley, Gary.
Joe & Ken.

As if I needed an excuse to make those I love blush..
Here's a family pic from 1983, summer, I do believe..
We have lived in Utah our whole lives. My dad grew up in Michigan and Tennessee. His summers were spent in Tennessee with his grandparents on their tobacco farm. He worked his summers, and loved it. He loved them.
He graduated from a Junior college in pre-Engineering, proceeded to the Air Force, where he was the top in his class there, and was told he could go anywhere he chose. He told me he chose California (there was a beach close enough to go enjoy his hobbies that way, but mountains close enough to go camp, hunt, or ski.. it was the winner!) but was stationed at Hill Air Force Base, yup.. right here in good ol' Utah.
Mom had grown up here.. her whole life. Raised LDS. She was working as a car-hop at Warren's.
She spilled a coke on his car.. his 1968 Dodge Cornet RT.
She owed him a date.
She was waiting for a missionary.. but not for long.
Dad told her, as they were driving down the "old highway" (1900 west in Roy as it turns onto 27th street, I think..) "You're gonna have to break it off with your missionary, cause we're gonna get married."
Grandma and Grandpa told mom that he was "taking her to hell in a hand basket." (He really disproved that assumption!)
He eventually joined the church.
His family wasn't too happy about that.
But things got back on track, and we would go back east, in our '83 Mercury Zephyr to visit (Kansas would go on forever!!).
This year (1983) was the first time we went back.
Uncle Kenny tickled me relentlessly.. I remember crying..
Grandma was so excited to have all of her grandchildren in one place, she had to commemorate it with picture at Olan Mills.
The photographer set us all up, I was more than happy to be sitting on Mike's lap ;) I think he took a pic, and when he moved away from the camera, mom busts out her little Kodak camera, the kind with the flash that is stacked 6x6 cubes outside of the camera, and she snaps this pic. My aunts about died!!
But here, we have it.
It's been almost 11 years since I have last seen any of them.. I want my girls to know them all so bad!!
Someday..

So Much to Say....

So I will try to start where I left off.. not blogging daily (or multiple times a day..) is hard!! My fingers are out of practice when it comes to typing, and I am misspelling a lot..
Life has been quite busy, and it has definitely taken a toll on us.. we are trying to recover.. Peyton has trouble sleeping alone, Ashley is, well, Ashley.. and Lynnie-lou isn't feeling well and sleeping a lot.
I began to tear apart my craft room last week, thinking it would be quick.. not so. I have many things to get to many people, and I would, if I could find them in the mess that lies therein.. it is cute and will post pics when it is all the way completed.
Diamonds in the color of fudge (which make me very hungry by the way..) do exist on this wall now.
It was tricky, and not so quick, considering I was doing that while doing many other things, most of them at the hotel..
Friday I went snowboarding for the first time in seven years.. I remembered how to do it all, like I never stopped! My first crash came as I was goofing off.. I promised Merrill that I wouldn't venture off into the trees, and do crazy stuff. I did manage to return home with all appendages intact. It was a lot of fun, I think Christie and Julie had more fun..
Casey and I did go down the face for our last run on that foggy night.. there were multiple crashes there.. but that was the funnest run of the night!
The only sore spot on my whole body the next day, was my shoulder, the one with the arm that I use to steer myself as I fly down the mountain.
I was far more sore after cleaning the hotel...
I had to get a new phone.. my old one was like a gadget out of the 1900's.. "can you hear me Watson?"
It needed to be held by two hands to be remotely affective. Oh, and the antenna didn' t want to stay where it should. It also like to hang up on people just for the heck of it.
New one, much smaller, and it's a slider, not a flipper, not that "flippers" are bad.. (eh Juju and JFreeze ;D?!)
For our RS birthday social, I did a cake decorating demo (more pics on the other blog..) like I could think of three other women far more capable than I in this department... but it was fun.
After that, we went to the hotel, to bust our behinds some more, to prepare it for the QA (quality and assurance) walk through that took place the next day to ensure we were ready to open..
It was a miracle as Merrill would say..
So Friday, he wore his new accessory to his new job..
That's right, it says "General Manager".. I am so proud of him!!
There will be some more adjusting to come.. it's a 24/7 job.
Friday was also Hallie's 11th birthday!!!
Happy Birthday Hallie!!! (and Levi too!!)
..and because I had fondant to be used, I decorated a cake for her..
Last night, we enjoyed dinner, with Mer at the hotel.. then we enjoyed a swim. That spa.. oh my goodness.. I wanted to fall asleep right then and there..
The lights are turned on, and I have to admit, I got teared-up. It's been a road.. an emotional one these last couple of weeks. I am so thankful for such good friends and family to have helped us out so much!! Love you all!!!!

Birthday Celebrations..

Had a little Birthday breakfast yesterday with my "sisters".. I didn't post pics yesterday because.. well, I'll explain that one in a minute..
Went to Jaclyn's and Hallie had decorated, just for me!!
We had oranges, OJ, this yummy berry/waffle dish, with Cool Whip.. yum! Brooke was sweet enough to remember my aversion to blueberries, and put them in half, so I wouldn't ahve to endure them..
Second course was french toast, ala Jacks.. yummmm...
We got to sit and chat while the kids played.. and Peyton slept..
Hallie is the best niece and cousin ever!! The girls didn't quite want to come home with me when it was all over, well, nap time for Pey at least.. and Lynn begged to stay. We have been trying to teach her to not invite herself.. but Sophie soon asked Jaclyn, who said yes and granted my little girl's wish. I love how Sophie and Lynn love each other.. there was once a day when the two rarely got along, most of that was a communication breakdown, really just a bink in Lynnie-Lou's mouth :).. now they rarely want to be apart when they are together.
We gotta plan another day for Sophs to come play Jacks..
So Ashley caught wind of this plan, and immediately asked to stay too.. which they were generous enough to take on BOTH of my crazy girls.
So what was I to do with an afternoon with just one child to parent? Scrapbook? Clean? Craft? Nap? Hmmmm...
When it all came down to it, I cleaned..
That vacuum has me hooked!
I moved all the furniture in the basement, all except the TV armoire, and sucked-up all the gross stuff.. sooo fun! So clean house Monday almost was completed.. still have the upstairs to vacuum..
I got a little carried away, and before I knew it, Merrill was home with the girls.
Thanks Jaclyn, Brooke, and Hallie!! It was an awesome day yesterday!!
Thanks to everyone for birthday wishes sent via e-mail and Facebook.. phone calls too!!
More fun to come today!

Picture a day..

Look at these two cuties!!
They are my "picture a day" for today..
Picture a day is just a way to document what seems to be those little everyday occurrences that take place, but sometimes end up meaning a lot. It helps us to remember the stages of our lives, the little things, the details. We usually take pictures of great or special events, and forget the day to day. This is what I am going to do to keep up my 2008 word "embrace", and carry it forward into 2009.. haven't really settled on a word for 2009.. do you have yours?
These two had such a fun night and day together. They kept asking me if they looked like sisters. When I said yes, they would ask me if they could pass for twins.. hmmm... close.
Sophie asked me to do her hair like I did Lynn's the other day.. I first made her promise she wouldn't go taking it out if she didn't like it :) and that she would show Lynn how not to cry while hair is being brushed and styled. She held true.. Lynn wanted hers done the same way.
I loved playing with Sophie's hair! Lynn's is so long and thick.. it's hard to get it to do what I want or to stay where I put it.. Sophie's did just what I told it to do..

Match-making...

Lately, for the girls these days, the on-going question is about who they are related to, and who their friends are. They are already plotting who they will woo, and subsequently marry... watch out!
Usually the conversation starts out:
"Mom, can I marry Paxton/Wyatt?"
"No, you are related."
"What does related mean again?"
"That you come from the same family."
"Am I related to Nathan?"
"No."
"Am I related to Brandon?"
"No."
"Am I related to Alec?"
"No."
"Is Mason related to us?" (Mason is in trouble... he's stringing along all three of my little girls!"
"No."
And so it goes. They usually pick a future husband out for one another and that name is most likely found somewhere in the ward directory...

Halloweening...

We had a fun, kinda chilly, little sprinkle-y Halloween. Merrill took the girls out for a while... I didn't go because Peyton fell asleep during the traditional chili dinner. Just as well, Ash "missed me", and ended-up wanting to come home early. Notice that Lynn doesn't have any glitter on her dress? That's because I got the fun of washing her dress 4 times trying to get forklift grease out of it from the trunk-or-treat the night before. She says that she wishes she'd have listened when I told her not to play on dad's forklift. Thanks Christie for the goo be gone.. it did the trick. I owe you a bottle!
We didn't have too big a showing. I started to give out lots of candy, just to get rid of it...
I already have Thanksgiving decorations up, and the birthday countdown calendar.. Lynnie-lou will soon be 6!!!
We enjoyed the last night of the season at Lagoon last night. We really made the most of it too.
Feeling kind down today... but I guess we all have those days...
Maybe I just need some PANCAKES...

Halloween prep...

Getting all ready for Halloween!
Tonight we had the Elders over for dinner. The girls were so excited to feed the missionaries. We had to add the leafs to the table to make room for 6 and a high chair. As I was spreading the table, Lynn asked what I was doing. When I explained, she said, "Mom, won't the leaves fall right through that big hole?" I tried to explain what they looked like, how it would work, but decided to show her instead. So I went and got the leafs. She giggled and said, "Mom, I thought they were all green, like the ones that grow on trees! They wouldn't be strong enough to put our plates on!"
Funny girl... she read a few pages of, "Green Eggs and Ham" to me tonight.. smart girl too!We copped-out this year and just went to the grocery store to get our pumpkins.. I know, how fin is that?! Well, quite frankly, we ran out of time. If they were going to be carved BEFORE Halloween, we had to buy them today, without the aid of daddy-o, which meant, me + 3 kids = easy way (shopping cart). Let me just say, very sarcastically, HUGE SELECTION! So many different sizes and shapes! How on earth did we choose in less than 5 whole minutes?
Loved watching the girls expression as they dug into the pumpkins for the first time, again. Lynn always cracks me up with how disgusting it must be to her.
Ashley is just too wild. She loves flinging it and making a mess.
We braided Lynn's hair tonight in preparation for her curly Elizabeth Swan hair for her classroom party tomorrow... that's right. I took the easy way out again today... You won't see me standing around like a sucker curling her hair tomorrow with a Peyton-Pissy-Pants... did I not mention her gums are swollen? Did I not mention that she has been rather unhappy from about, oh, say... 3 pm on? I do believe that the Elders are going to wait quite a while before starting their familes after they are released...

Cousin Halloween Party...

We had our cousin Halloween party yesterday.
I think the kids had fun.
We had some games, prizes to follow those games, and food.
They watched "Scary Tales" after dinner...
And of course, they were all so cute and fun together! We were missing a few cousins though...

South Ogden Days '08

These fun and busy days of summer... I love it.

Today, we went out to get more ribbon... Ally, watch your mailbox... and we went to the activity days girls service car wash. We got soo much more than just a clean car, we got snow cones and a fun playtime complete with blow-up water slide, trampolines, a hammock, and swingset. It was so much fun. Those girls did a good job on my car too. There was either a big bird, or a bird with an exceptional amount of poop in it's bowels that did a number on the side of my car.. now it's gone!
Speaking of poop... :) with all of the in and out of the house kind of activities going on around here, the flies sneak right in. The girls are terrified, they think that the flies are going to eat them, or kill them, or both... So we taught them, quite correctly, that flies only eat poop. So the other night, a fly got into their room. Daddy was the hero, good thing too, because according to Ash, the fly was going to fly up her nose and get into her brain and kill her...
Another night, another fly, and this time Lynn was terrified. When I asked her what there was to be afraid of, she answered, "I am afraid it's going to fly down my shorts, into my butt, and eat my poop." She was seriously scared.
Ooohhh......
Back to my fun day...
Finished making my "curly bows"... the girls are wearing them in the pics. Then we were off to get some KFC (yum...) and go to the parade for South Ogden days. Both Kaitlyn and MiKell were in it for Bonneville. Kaitlyn with Lakettes, and Spanky with the Cheerleaders. Needless to say, we got a lot of candy. Still haven't finished the candy from Terrace Days or our primary party.
Had quite the curb crowd too. The usual suspects, Stacy, and Brooke's family who are in town. The more the merrier!
The kids were all so cute together. They are such buddies. We just hope that someday, Lynn and Ash, and Pax and "Dub", realize they really are related. They are quite lovey with each other. Ash told us that she and Wyatt kissed. Hmmm.. Lynn and Paxton just share everything and have to be near each other.
We had to go for a swim after this, for we were all terribly hot! (love the dramatics...) Ash fell in love with the diving board... and then to home for baths and bedtime books. They are all out... with a day like that, I should be too. But I am way too excited!!! Clint comes home tomorrow!!!
Oh, residual "Dan in Real Life" stuff... tell Randy (Christie) that now I am hunting down that music to have as a ring tone... see what he's done!?
I also tried the technique that a lady in our ward uses with her daughter who enjoys, or should I say can't stop, tattling. She gives her daaughter two tattles a day. That's it. I am so sick of Lynn tattling about EVERYTHING, that I tried it. I was generous and gave her three.... they were gone by 9:30 this morning.

flashback friday...

jacks posted a funny story about sophs and it got me thinking about how she and lynn would play together...
this is when they finally got to the same level, were able to communicate with each other and really play together. they were so funny...
look for more later... life has been, well, i have taken it as it comes. if it is on my calendar, it is really optional most of the time. spring is officially here, whether the weather knows it or not. mer has been so busy at work, i ma not complaining, mind you, having work is good... but when his life and work is so busy, i am the single one-handed mother, and some things just don't get done... i did have to go to my meeting last night, and he had a concert he was going to go to, but didn't. he was at work until after 9... 9 am to 9 pm... what a guy! he has such a strong work ethic. i am so thankful that he is proud of what will one day be his, and that he takes such good care of our little family...
i am hoping to have a good friday.