It's About Dang Time!

There are two reasons I say this. #1 It seems like it took FOREVER for Chub to lose his first tooth. I don't know why, it just did. Well, he did lose one finally. About two weeks ago. That is reason number #2. That it took ME forever to get it posted on here. Can't believe my boy Chub is on the cusp of being "a big kid", not a "little guy" anymore. Where does the time go? ((sigh))

Flashback Friday: July 1996

(my cousin Angie, my Aunt LaRue, her granddaughter, me and my Dad)

Today's Flashback Friday comes from WAY back in 1996. It was the Fourth of July, I had just graduated and turned 18 the month prior. My parents and I had gone up to Lava Hot Springs with some of my extended family. Doesn't my Dad look snazzy in his yellow pants?

Wordless Wednesday: July 2006

(ethan 7, ally 4, ryland 2 1/2)

Weber State Fireworks

Every year my family gets together at my sister Jen's house to watch the WSU Fireworks. She has a great vantage point from her house and you don't have to brave the crowds as much! It's perfect! This year was no exception. I thought I would show a few of the photo highlights of the night.

Sydney and Ally, Mom and Bob, and Travis and Sarah

Nate and Ronda, Shelley and Joe, and my Mom. We also celebrated her birthday that night since we were all together.

Dad and Fran, Nate and Ethan

We can't wait for next year! It's always a highlight of the summer!

"I'na Ballet!"

This month Evelyn did a two week Ballet clinic at Ally's dance studio. She was so cute! She runs around telling whoever will listen that "I'na Ballet!" We were testing her out to see if she would be ready to do it this year. The jury is still out but I think it is leaning towards giving her another year to grow before signing her up. She will be starting preschool in September and I think that might be enough for her for a while. I am a little bit bummed but a little bit relieved. She is growing up WAY too fast! Atleast she is cute while she does it, right?

Photo Shoot Sunday: July 2007

This Photo Shoot Sunday I thought I would share one of the very first family photos we had taken. Evie was about 5 weeks old. We had gone up to my Mom and her new husband Bob's home for Family Home Evening. Look how young, tan and cute my kids looked? I know I say it all the time but I seriously cannot believe how fast time flies.

Water War 2010

A couple of years ago Nate and two neighbor boys got into an epic waterfight. They return each summer to continue their all out Water War. Well, this year is definitlely no exception. Throughout the month of June they would make idle threats about how bad they were going to get Nate, etc. Then.....nothing. So, on the night of July the 4th, while the neighbor boys were enjoying their fireworks with their families, Nate and the older three donned dark clothes and hats and set off to ambush them. I watched patiently through the darkened windows waiting to see chaos ensue. It seemed like it took forever. They hid behind rocks, behind corners and inched along on their tummies across the neighbors lawn. I was so amazed my kids were as quiet as they were and didn't ruin the element of surprise. Can you believe that I actually have proof that they CAN be quiet. Who knew? After about a half an hour I saw their silhouettes pop up and charge, about 10 feet away from the victims. They nailed them! It was awesome! I love seeing teenage boys scream like a bunch of girls! Well, they fought long and hard and they of course retaliated a bit that night. They made mighty promises that Nate and the kids would rue the day that they ambushed them.

The next day, Nate and the kids were ready. They had water guns, hoses, balloons, you name it stashed throughout our property. They were on guard All. Day. Long. I thought it was awesome that they were so paranoid and then........nothing. I thought boy those kids are smart, they are waiting for their guard to go down before they make their move. And wait they did.

One afternoon, there was a knock at the door. I answered it and found that the boys had been recruiting. Sweet little Tatum T. asked me to help get Nate outside, unawares and unarmed. I told I would be pleased to. So, I quietly set to work. I grabbed my camera and Evie and I set up camp across the street to photograph the upcoming battle.

Tatum T., Alicia C., Austin C., and Devin S. waiting for my signal that Nate was outside.

The attack! Ally even got ambushed by Addie C. and Teneille T. Tired from running ALL OVER the yard and street, Nate retreats to get his weapons. Retaliation! Poor Taylor S.! Nate and Addie C. battling it out Nate gets doused by Austin C. I only took about 400 some odd photos. There are a ton of awesome shots. I just figured I would spare you all of them. Maybe another time. Tatum, Alicia, Devin, Taylor, Addie, Ally, Austin, Teneille, Ethan, Nate and Ryland There have been some mini skirmishes that have followed this battle but so far this summer this was the water fight of the year. There are still plenty more days of battling left ahead.

Flashback Friday: Bear Lake, 24th of July 2008

We headed up to Aunt Heidi's house to play at the lake and have a sleepover. It was super fun. This first photo was on the front lawn of Grandma and Grandpa Hale's house in Logan. Just a little pit stop and a chance to stretch our legs.

Ryland getting sunburned.

Daddy and cousin Brice having a great time on the wave runner.

Ryland and Ridge, when those two are together they are joined at the hip.

Sydney Annie

Carson giving me the stink eye. Ever since his family abandoned him to me at 15 months old to go to Disneyland he hasn't trusted me. Still, to this day, and he is knocking on 5 years old! Poor kid. He's missing out. I'm great.

Ethan and Sawyer bean

Aunt Heidi and Wyatt

Ally, I don't remember what she was finding all over the beach. Rocks, sticks, I can't tell or remember.

Bean, that can't possibly be comfortable. But it is a cute tusch.

Logan and Ryland

Ethan getting his wild on. Crazy kid.

Wondering where baby Evelyn is? She was back at Aunt Heidi's house sleeping the afternoon away.

My To Do List

• repaint Ally's ceiling
• repaint master bath
• laundry room project
• garage sale
• clean out both cars
• organize desk
• organize my croffice
• drop not so subtle hints to Nate to organize his office
• organize the garage
• weed the veggie garden
• put down treflan in the flower beds
• fertilize the plants
• organize my bedroom
• get bids for insulation for basement family room
• finish dripline
• finish rock path in veg garden
• finish trellis and plant clematis
• deadhead the perennials
• organize plant tags
• change sheets on my bed
• finish my upholstery project
• finish my croffice paint project
• finalize primary quarterly activity plans
• deep clean the downstairs
• fill my empty picture frames
• scan some more photos
• organize my bedroom closet
• work with Ryland on tying his shoes
• buy more toilet paper
• transfer cd's to ipod
• take clothes to dry cleaner
• find another bathroom rug
• send some thank you notes
• sand and paint exterior door frame
• put down more soil pep

There it is, in no particular order and not particularly complete. These are the things that are nagging at me or in some cases screaming. Wish me luck, strength, patience and time to do them . I am sure each of you have similiar lists. To that I say......good luck!

Maybe next time I will do a "My Done List", might make me feel a little bit better about my situation! :)

Wordless Wednesday: Three Years Ago Today

"Are Your Clothes Hung Up?"

I started going through the kids closets today to purge them of the clothes they no longer fit in and to see what I need to get them to be ready for this next school year. When I got to Rylands closet this is what I found.

I don't know what it says of me as a mother that I had no idea that this was how he was hanging up his clothes. I ask him this question daily and when I am downstairs I do a quick scan of the room and since I don't see them strewn about the floor I don't stress. Not to say that I am gonna start stressing now. I might spend a few more minutes with him about the correct technique but for now, eh, he's six.....and what ya gonna do?

Photo Shoot Sunday: Ten Years Sure Goes By Fast

Today's Photo Shoot Sunday is a bit of a blast from the past. It was July 2000 and we were hanging out at my sister Heidi's house up in Bear Lake Utah. Her kids, Megan (5 1/2 yrs.) and Wyatt (4 yrs.) were out playing with my Ethan (13 mos.) when we handed them each an ice cream cone. Aren't they cute? Flash forward ten years and you have 2 teenagers and a wanna be teenager. Man time flies.

Just a Reminder

"Be kind. Everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." -Marjorie Pay Hinckley

Flashback Friday: When In Rome

Today's Flashback Friday comes to you from July of 2008. Our trip to Rome was somewhat spur of the moment. When we went Nate was just barely 6 weeks post-op from his Cancer surgery and we only had a window of about 2-3 weeks before he was to start Chemo and possibly have a VERY difficult, invasive surgery that takes about 6 months to recover from. So, we figured we better go and make some good memories to cling to over the next year or so. When we started looking at going on a trip Nate asked me where I have always dreamed of going. I told him Italy. He thought that sounded great. It was a bonus that world-traveler Nate had not been there yet either. Earlier in the year there had been a possibility of Nate going to Rome for work, and of course I would have tagged along as usual, but that had fallen through. That probably had some influence for me in wanting to go there. Add in the fact that Nate had a gazillion frequent flier miles and it would only cost us $90.00 round trip for the two of us and yeah baby, we're going to Rome!

We had originally planned on going to more cities than just Rome but once we got there and realized 1) how much there was to see. 2) How very tired we actually were. Nate having been diagnosed 6 weeks prior and all that that entailed while also putting in a yard, plus the long flight, we decided to spend the whole week there. Even though we had such a great time when we looked back we realized that a relaxing cruise would have probably fit the bill just a bit better. However, we wouldn't have changed anything. We have just the best memories of our time together in Rome.

This was the elevator at our hotel. It was SO tiny. It smelled kind of like an old bowling alley too. You know what I mean, old smoke and sweat.

This is the entrance to our hotel. Despite the sign for the um, entertainment, next door it was a very nice hotel. It had some interesting quirks about it but from what I have seen and been told, what hotel in Europe doesn't? In the week we were there I was only aware of the entertainment
music twice.
This is the Trevi Fountain. We walked past this numerous times a day during our comings and goings.

Nate and I eating some authentic Italian pizza. Let me tell you, Italian pizza is NOTHING like American pizza. They put all sorts of things on it there. Nate kept trying different food items when we went out to eat, sometimes to his detriment. I always stuck with tomato based foods and I can only remember one time where I walked away still hungry after opting out of finishing my dinner.

The Pantheon. That's me in the white t-shirt and navy skirt, and yes the gardening crocs. I KNOW I looked ridiculous in those things but they were so comfortable. I wore them every day and my feet did great and we literally walked every inch of that city.

There were water fountains like this all over the city. It was crazy to see how old some of them were. We were grateful they were so plentiful though because let me tell you something, Rome in July is HOT! There were many times I was wondering what in the world we were thinking being there then. So even when they looked questionable we always took advantage of them.


We absolutely LOVED all of the outdoor dining in Rome. There was always a street musician to serenade us. It was very romantic. Love. Love. Love it!
We were told that if we threw a coin over our left shoulder into the Trevi Fountain it would ensure our return to Rome one day. Of course, we didn't want to take any chances with that one. See me with my nightly sampling of Gelato? Good thing I walked all over tarnation every day to work it off. Well that and the 9x13 size plate of pasta and bread at every meal. Mmmmmmm. I almost couldn't eat at the Olive Garden when I came home it was so yummy there. Almost.
This was a private courtyard that we passed by and fell in love with. There were hundreds of them like this and it made me want to go home and build one in our yard right away. Of course it has yet to happen.

We really enjoyed seeing the Colosseum. We spent quite a bit of time there.


Here we are with Bruno the Concierge/Front Desk man at our hotel. We really enjoyed visiting with him. Doesn't he just look like a pleasant conversation waiting to happen? He really was fun and entertaining, I don't know what happened to him when the camera came out. When we left we even hugged. He was so sweet.

We have so many photos of our time in Rome. I thought I would be nice and only post a few. Then I looked at them again and realized I should share some more since who am I kidding....this will never get scrapbooked. I mean, really. So, here are a few more photo highlights of Rome.

We cannot wait to go back some day! Hopefully sooner rather than later. Until then Arriveaderci Roma!