Soccer

The end of Parker's Fall Outdoor season .. great job, guys!

And the beginning of Caleb's soccer career .. let's just say he is WAY different than his brother has been. He is the SMALLEST on his Team instead of the BIGGEST. They gave him the X-Small shorts and, well .. do you like his dress????

What the heck is going on with these shorts, Mom??? (The funniest part was 10 minutes later when he was running down the field and stopped and looked over at me with his shorts around his ankles and his pullup hanging out for the World to see.)

Pulling his shorts up - ONE MORE TIME !!!

Bullriding

As many of you know, I have many rodeo family members. We decided it was time for Parker to give it a try. There was a calf for the kids but the guy running the Bull told Parker he thought he should try the real thing (of course, he didnt believe us when we told him he was only 9 but that is another story).

He started out pretty good:

But just like in the "real thing", it gets harder the longer you hold on:

Halloween 2009

WOW! What a fun Halloween! It IS my favorite Holiday of the entire year and I guess we had to make up for not really celebrating last year.
We went to several parties and the kiddos had a great time trick or treating. Parker and Chris even went through MULTIPLE costumes.

Parker "The Nerd" getting ready for the Ward party:

My "Boys" - Parker the Tacky Tourist, Caleb as "Diego", and Chris - The Disco Dude!

Blog neglect

OK .. I am guilty - guilty of blog neglect. It really isn't because I didn't WANT to blog .. it is because I haven't been able to download pics from our camera forEVER! Well .. I FINALLY got them all downloaded. Now to catch up on the blogging. Stay tuned!

Is there life out there?

Those of you that know me well know that I am always listening to the words to songs. I have had a lot of time alone lately - in the car and on planes traveling mostly - to think about my life ... you know, the "what if's". During one of these times this song just kept coming into my head over and over. I have been through a lot in life - the highs, the lows - and learned from every one of them but you still have to wonder sometimes .. what else is out there? What if???

"IS THERE LIFE OUT THERE" (performed by Reba McEntire)
She married when she was twenty
She thought she was ready
Now she's not so sure
She thought she'd done some living
But now she's just wonderin'
What she's living for
Now she's feeling that theres something more

Is there life out there
So much she hasn't done
Is there life beyond
Her family and her home
She's done what she should
Should she do what she dares
She doesn't want to leave
She's just wonderin'
Is there life out there

She's always lived for tomorrow
She's never learned how
To live for today
She's dyin' to try something foolish
Do something crazy
Or just get away
Something for herself for a change

Is there life out there
So much she hasn't done
Is there life beyond
Her family and her home
She's done what she should
Should she do what she dares
She doesn't want to leave
She's just wonderin'
Is there life out there

There's a place in the sun that she's never been
Where life is fair and time is a friend
Would she do it the same as she did back then
She looks out the window and wonders again

Is there life out there
So much she hasn't done
Is there life beyond
Her family and her home
She's done what she should
Should she do what she dares
She doesn't want to leave
She's just wonderin'
Is there life out there

Is there life out there
So much she hasn't done
Is there life beyond
Her family and her home
She's done what she should
Should she do what she dares
She doesn't want to leave
She's just wonderin'
Is there life out there

Caleb's Birthday

Apparently yesterday one of Caleb's friends at DayCare had a birthday. All we heard last night was Caleb singing "Happy Birthday to Austin" over and over. Then, after running some errands, he informed Chris and I that we would be taking him to McDonalds for dinner because it was his birthday. And then he started singing "Happy Birthday to me, Caleb ...." over and over and OVER!!! I thought this would pass while he was sleeping and he would "move on".

Well, guess what ... Today is Caleb's birthday .. AGAIN!

He got up and we got him ready for DayCare and he was just getting ready to leave when he went in the kitchen and reached up on the counter and grabbed a package of cookies that we had just bought at the grocery store. He said he needed to take them to School because it was his birthday. AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH! Chris thinks I am weird but I told him to let him take them and just explain to DayCare what was going on. So ... here is Caleb on his .. ummmm .. "unBirthday" with his "unBirthday treats".

Love you, "unBirthday Boy"!

St. Patricks Day

Well, for once I remembered to make sure everyone was wearing green when they headed out the door this morning. However, I didn't get pictures of everyone before they left.

Parker slept over and Grandpa and Grandma's so I wasn't able to get him in his "green" but Caleb came home from Daycare with a cute little addition to his outfit. What a cutie!

Temple Day at Primary

We had a fun, fun Primary Activity centered around Temples. The kids made temples out of marshmallows, a journal page, and got to help put together a temple that will be on display at the Open House for the Oquirrh Mountain Temple this Summer. (Don't forget to look for their "block" on the temple display if you go to the Open House!)

As you can see, the marshmallow Temples were a hit with both boys! (They used Karo syrup for "glue", marshmallows, toothpicks, green coconut for grass, and 1/2 of a carmel square to mold the Angel Moroni. WAY CUTE!)

Parker did a VERY good job molding his Angel Moroni. I tried to get a closeup because I was so impressed but it turned out a little blurry.



And, of course, after all the pictures ... they had to taste them!

Drums

It seems that both of my boys have aspirations of being "drummers" when they grow up. Parker has been obsessed since he got his first drum set when he was 2 and now Caleb (again, at 2) has been practicing with his Uncle Rick. Guess we will be building that "soundproof room" when we finish the basement after all.

Sarcasm

K, so you would think I would have learned this by now but, once again, I was reminded that 8 year olds don't always get your sarcasm.

I realllly haven't been feeling good lately and I SO did not want to go to the store. I kept putting it off and putting it off so I finally decided I just needed to go and get it over with. I got myself up and ready to go and headed to the store - no makeup, messy hair - I really didn't care. I made Parker go with me and he is usually such a good helper. He was, again, a good helper - good at helping me put way more in my cart then I was planning but still .. a helper. One hour later with 15 extra items and a Red Box DVD in hand we are in the car headed home. I see one of Caleb's "sippy cups" that had been left in the car and ask Parker to carry that in for me as he gets out of the car. Now keep in mind that Parker normally is really good about helping me carry the groceries in so I ASSUMED he would be back out to help me. I take the first load in - 3 bags in one hand, 3 in the other .. showing how much of my strength I still do NOT have back. I set them on the cupboard and see him sitting on the floor playing with his "army men" and watching a movie.

ME: "Thanks for helping me carry the groceries in, Park."
PARKER: (Silence)

And out I go for another load. Once again, carrying more bags than I really should have tried, I go back inside. Parker is STILL watching the movie.

ME: "PARK! Thanks for helping."
PARKER: "I carried the cup in."
ME: "Gee, I hope you didn't strain anything."
PARKER: "I didn't."

At that time I just decide to finish myself ...
Gotta love that kid!!!!

"A Cup of Tea for Daddy"

I got this email today and thought it was way cute ....

Cup of Tea
One day my Mother was out and my Dad was in charge of me. I was maybe 2 1/2 years old and had just recovered from an accident. Someone had given me a little tea set as a get-well gift and it was one of my favorite toys. Daddy was in the living room engrossed in the evening news when I brought Daddy a little cup of "tea" which was just water. After several cups of tea and lots of praise for such yummy tea, my Mom came home. My Dad made her wait in the living room to watch me bring him a cup of tea, because it was "just the cutest thing!" My Mom waited and, sure enough, here I come down the hall with a cup of tea for Daddy and she watches him drink it up. Then she says, (as only a mother would know.. :) )"Did it ever occur to you that the only place she can reach to get water is the toilet?"

SO CUTE!

What Animal starts with "X"?

We spend ALOT of time in the car. Parker reads a lot and LOVES it which is good since our DVD player broke and the boys can no longer watch movies as we are on our neverending commutes. However, one day Parker came up with a game he wanted us all to play. It's a little twist to the "Alphabet" game or "State" game that we have played over and over again.
We each took turns and had to come up with an Animal that started with "A", "B", "C", and so on. The first person that couldn't come up with one loses. Let's just say .. it's tougher than it sounds. What animal starts with "X"????
We have also done this with "Foods" and "Candy".
Boy - the things we do to entertain ourselves on car rides! :)

My ol' Kentucky Home

(If you aren't from KY you probably don't get the title .. it's a song.)

So the weirdest thing happened today. I had to fly to KY for work - nothing unusual about that. The thing that was weird was that when I landed at the airport and was walking through towards the rental car area I heard people talking around me with their accents and the different phrases that you hear only in KY and ... I WAS HOMESICK. I felt like I was "home".
Why is this weird you ask? Because I am from Utah .. I grew up in Utah. Sure I have traveled a lot and I lived in KY for several years but it still isn't my "home" yet I felt like I had come home. Weird how things just happen to hit you sometimes.

Aloha, Monica

I haven't had a chance to upload our photos from Hawaii or blog about our great trip yet. However, I have had MULTIPLE requests for the video of Chris's awesome Boss, Monica, showing off her secret talent - poi balls! Therefore, I am posting this separately so everyone can enjoy. Stay tuned for a later post about the rest of our trip!

One question, Moni ... does your tongue help????? heh heh heh

Bingham Silver Gremlins - 2008 Season

OK - Since the season ended in November, I figured it was time to remove the sidebar with the scores from each of the Bingham Silver Gremlins games. However, because it WAS such a good season, I still wanted them documented somewhere. Hence .. this post. :)

Bingham Silver Gremlins 2008
Aug 30 Hillcrest Black Gremlins W 49-0
Sept 6 Riverton Gold Gremlins W 40-0
Sept 13 Jordan White Gremlins W 46-0
Sept 20 Tooele White Gremlins W 21-0
Sept 27 Taylorsville Gold Gremlins W 21-0
Oct 4 Bingham Bronze W 14-0
Oct 11 Bountiful Grey Gremlins W 7-6
Oct 18 Highland Black Gremlins W 12-6
Oct 25 Alta Pewter Gremlins W 13-7
Nov 1 PLAYOFFS! Tooele White Gremlins W 19-0
Nov 8 STATE CHAMPIONSHIP! Grantsville L 19-0

Once again - great job, boys! Love you Parker!

"Twilight bug"

OK, so I know I am behind the times and everybody else in the entire Valley has already read the Twilight series AND seen the movie. HOWEVER, I kept putting it off because I was not interested AT ALL. I don't do Vampires and it just didn't interest me. EVERYONE kept telling me "It's different", "You will LOVE it", etc, etc but being my stubborn self, I kept saying "No".
My Sister, however, was not going to take "No" for an answer and gave me the first book for Christmas. I figured since I had it in my house, sitting right next to me, I may as well give it a shot. I planned to take it with on the plane to Hawaii next week. I figured I wouldn't have anything better to do. However, I picked it up the other night "just to check it out" and .... I HAVE THE TWILIGHT BUG! Ya know .. a BUG .. like DISEASE! I can't put the stinkin' thing down! I guess I am going to have to go get the 2nd one to take with me on vacation now! SHEESH! Now I see what all the hype was about!