Updates

Well, School is almost out, thank heaven! Anyone need a 14 year old boy to work on the farm this summer? (I'm serious) He's already bored and schools not even out....for this purpose I desire to go to sleep and wake up in the next school year.

On a positive note, here's a little update about the kids.... Tara is doing awesome. She was indicted into the National Jr. Honor Society, made drill team, and is still going to do Golf. She wont be doing student council next year but her "friend" is the Student Body Pres. so I'm guessing every free second will still be used to help in that capacity. We are looking forward to summer with her where she can work and make some money in between all her CAMPS she has to go to.... EFY is June 6th for a Week, Youth Conference, Girls Camp, Drill Team Camp and hey bubba - is there a Golf Camp? I figure if I do all her chores& laundry, and have meals ready as she buzzes through the door, it should be a successful summer for her. (where did my babysitter and helper go?)

Taner is a great kid, he really is, but bored boys are not fun to have around so my idea of keeping him busy is to have him baby sit , do dishes, and laundry because Tara is gone, and that just aint cool man! But he is the rank of Eagle now and is working on his eagle packet and has an eagle project in mind, so that should consume some time this summer and hopefully when Jordan comes home from his mission we will have a homecoming and Court of Honor thingy for everyone to come to! Grades? Well, we wont go there. Do they have mechanics scholarships? He says the reason me and him dont communicate well is because I dont speak Truck.

Talia is doing great! She is going to really miss school and will be counting down the days until summer break is over. I have her doing swim team and she isnt very happy about it but you can only sit home and do craft books, read, and write in your journal so much, got to get out to keep the booty small you know what I mean? She is turning out to be really really good with kids, quite the little mother hen, and she would like to live with Chelsey and Marcus and babysit madison every minute. Always asking to go over there.

Kately is, dare I say it, mini me. She cant sit still for a min. In church she is quiet but must be flailing her arms about and moving up and down, Sunday was very hard this week. She is going to be the P.E. teachers favorite student when she starts school next year and she and Talia were doing math this morning and she was getting it all right. I hope those K. Teachers know what to do with her. ON the paper that said to write anything you needed to tell the teachers, I put, "Good Luck keeping her busy, she'll be done first on everything I assure you. Call me if she bites anyone."

Keven is doing great, he has lost 25 lbs so he is feeling good. Work is crazy busy for him and with summer camps and things, he'll be in and out all summer.

I got in for the St. George 2010 Marathon so between girls camp director, and kids, and putting in more miles on the road, I'm looking forward to spending time at home with the kids this summer doing projects, hitting the park, swimming a bit here and there, and cleaning those nooks and crannys of my house. It's weird to think that my BABY is going to go to school and I am tempted to get my sub license back so that I can be a substitute teacher again but I am still teaching the aerobics classes at Sun City and doing some Weight Watchers classes so I really am just looking forward to all the kids being in school so that I can accomplish those tasks that I have shoved into the corner for years and years so I could get the kids to this point. Give me a couple months and I'm sure I'll be working lots of hours, money talks ya know! Or I'll end up being PTO pres or something. Arg - I swore I would never do that!

Well, I better go get moving today, I'll update more as I can. Thanks for reading.

Women's Conference Top Ten

1. The Nap

How pathetic is it that we actually schedule this into the trip?

Every year we ditch an afternoon class, go back to our dorm and slip into a coma.

Heaven.

2. The Classes

We hit some good ones this year. Julie Beck was the opening speaker. She was great. We also attended one on managing stress and one on dealing with life with humor, amongst others.

3. The BYU Campus

Shari is obsessed with the tulips every year! We walked by this planter on a street corner and she insisted we crawl into the middle!

4. The Service

I made a few keepsake boxes that will be given to mothers at hospitals who have just given birth to stillborns or have miscarried. (Shari refuses to do anything having to do with crafts so she sat and ate almonds the whole time)

5. The 5k Race

Um, well, we didn't plan on doing this part but when we drove into town we spotted the banner for the upcoming Provo City half marathon and 5k. Shari and I have been wanting to run a race together so what better time than after you've been doing nothing than eating junk food for 4 days straight???

Let's just say we ran in a FREEZING HAIL STORM the whole way!!!

But we did it!

6. The Choir

We always talk ourselves into getting up early to sing in the Instant Choir during the opening session. We have learned, however, that it's just fine to sleep in a little, have breakfast first and walk in about an hour late. :) The choir doesn't sound very good either way.

7. The Food

It all starts with Los Lupes after Shari gets to town then goes down hill from there. Sunflower seeds, non-stop soda, squeaky cheese, cinnamon donuts, mint brownies, jamba juice, cinnamon almonds, Olive Garden, Pizza Factory, Cafe Rio, movie popcorn.....

8. The Mindless Wandering

One of the best parts for me is just wandering around in the bookstore or around campus. It's always nice to have time to actually finish a thought in my head.

9. The Movie Night

Every year we meet up with my cousin Sean and his wife for dinner. This year we did take out at their house then Sean went with us to see Back Up Plan. OH.MY.GOSH. Haven't laughed that hard in a long time!! Not sure Sean enjoyed it near as much as we did.

10. The Time Away

No laundry, no bills, no work, no kids, no dishes...you get the picture.

Here I Go Again!

Can you beleive this, I am getting to blog before Shari, what's her problem anyway? hee hee

Hey guess what everyone? When you live outside of the St. George area you have to put into a lottery to be selected to run the St. George Marathon...... (it's quite an honor to be selected)

Well, I went gamblin and.... Here I Go Again! I'm running the St. George Marathon on October 2, 2010. Soooo - dont mind me if I sneak off for a run here or there next time I see you! It's all about the training baby!

(besides, this way I can eat all those doughnuts and stay thinsk like shari........)

Owie!

Well, today was the day! Kindergarten starts in 4 months for Kate and it was time to get her immunizations....... I told her we were going to the dr. to get shots and she was fine with it, we talked about ice cream and all the fun things she would get and we got to the dr. she found fun books and things but she was a little nervous. The dr. himself was fun and had her jumping on one foot, checking her ears, and had her cover one eye and such. When the time came for the shots, I started to distract her and cover her eyes. After the first shot (she had to get 4 in her thighs) (and there aint much there), she tensed up and screamed a shreek of anger and hatred that could be heard for miles and miles. The nurse said, "oh she needs to relax....." And I'm thinking, "Lady, your lucky I'm keeping my cool for my kid or you wouldnt have a tongue to talk with!" But anyway - she managed to get the rest of the 3 needles into those tensed up muscles and when she was done I held Kate and stroked her sweaty forehead, and watched her turn pale. A few sips of water, a sticker, a sucker and lots of promises later, she recovered and we left. She gave that nurse some pretty crusty looks on the way out and I was chuckleing inside. She was good about rubbing and rubbing her legs for a while. We got icecream from Golden Spoon, macncheese from Applebee's and even a ring pop at the target check out. On the way home from St. George to Mesquite she fell asleep. I had given her tylenol before we even went to the dr. but when she woke up her stiff and soreness was obvious. Advil isnt helping and she can barely walk. She allowed me to slowly and tenderly get her pants down to get the picture but its' going to be a fun couple of days...... no gymnastics tommorrow for her..... I wonder if she'll ever let me take her back to that same dr. again?

~ Kate ~

Self Portrait.

Okay I saw this on the camera and had to blog it. It is totally her! The hair standing on end, the electric blue eyes, that pleasing playfull smile, and the innocense of the picture as she tries to take one of her favorite person - Her self! Man I love that girl.

Easter Weekend Part 2

After Sat we were ready for conference to start. You may be wondering who those cute girls are with us? Well, the cute blonde is Emilee Rappleye she is our neighbor and the other girl is Tara Overwater, their foreign exchange student from New Zealand. ( oh yes, her accent rocks! ) Anyway - we knew that Kate would not be allowed into conference and so we took Emilee along to bbsit her while we went in, and Tara is out to see all the sights and things she can while she is in the states and she is not LDS so we of course relished in the opportunity to overwhelm her with mormonism.... Well, when you walk temple square with 4 gorgeous girls and a crazy Kate you get noticed.. It didnt take Tara Overwater very long to find people from New Zealand, including the BYU Rugby team, a couple of their players are from NZ and they promised Tara that they would come to her baptism in NZ if she got baptized, kinda cool! Anyway - we had a great time, We all loved conference and being there in the same room as the Prophet. I even mentioned to security that I was Henry B's 2nd cuz and asked if we could sit closer and he said, go for it, just go down there and sit. But Kev didnt want to move and you can see great no matter where you are, so we stayed on the mezanine. I was surprised how in real life the first presidency are a lot more rickedy and slow to get out of their chairs and fragile looking then they look on TV when you are at home. We headed home right away after the PM Session and got home about 10pm. It was awesome and worth it. I'm grateful for the gospel in my life, for a husband with a great job so we could afford to go, and that he can keep our big huge car running all the while, and for my wonderful children to set the example for a non-member and that we are all healthy and happy and blessed beyond measure.

Easter Weekend

Oh dang it, now see.... I dont understand how to do this blog.... I am putting the pictures in by the order they happend but they are coming in backwards!!! Arg - well, your just gonna have to figure it out...... After we arrived in SLC Friday night we crashed, and Sat. we headed to the Gateway Mall and entertained ourselves by trying on many things, taking pictures all over, and just some good old fashioned fun with the intentions and strict instructions to buy NOTHING. yeah right..... there were deals man! We spent and then we got the heck out of there..... Then we went to dinner with Sean & His family... that was fun because we went to the D.I. together after and I know a good deal when I see one! So , to say the least, we each got a new pair of shoes for $3 to $4 each. Sorry Keven , you should have gotten that cannon, it was a steal at $150!

Easter weekend we got tickets for Conference so we started off on Friday, we went to the Leighman caves. This was by tour only so we picnic'd and toured and then headed the rest of the way to Salt Lake. It was quite interesting to learn that it takes like 100 years to make an inch or two of the stalagtights and yet , they were really really long, some so long they reached the ground.