Coolest Sunset Ever

The Heat Finally Broke

July was brutal this year. August was down right pleasant. While Eldon was travelling we had a night at the park where it wasn't over 100 degrees. Mr. Cool Max trying to pretend that he is too old for parks like this.

Miss Claire wearing whatever her babysitter could find this day which was a pajama top and stretch pants. But she still looks pretty.

My handsome Mr. Jack. He is always the one that runs until the very last minute. He is great at getting out all his energy in the time allotted.

First Day of School

First Day of School for our Kindergartner and Second Grader.. You can see how Max is acting like he is annoyed at the pagentry. Cute Jack is SO excited to ride the bus. Not necessarily that excited for actual school.

The momentous walk onto the long awaited bus ride for Jack. He has been turning every vehicle he can find into a bus. He is loving school now and still loves the bus. Max is doing great. His table in his class is with his best buddies. Let's just hope he can be quiet enough to learn.

It's Been 10 Years

Today is our ten year wedding anniversay. I can't believe it has been that long. I can't believe I am sitting in my kitchen today with our three children. Ten years ago I was so hopeful this would be my life. Of course there have been some surprises along the way, but I truly have everything I have always wanted. Eldon is the most wonderful husband. I am so lucky to have someone who knows how to spoil a lady. He is so romantic, thoughtful, creative, and kind. He works very hard to provide for us. I thought I would share an example of how he spoils me. For my birthday I was given this card:

He took me to NYC for just two short days. These days were filled with amazing things. We saw two Broadway shows on the first day. Our view from our hotel room is below. We also went to the Metropolitan Opera which was an experience of a lifetime all in itself. We ate wonderful food, and just enjoyed all the time together.

The second trip was to Palos Verdes California. (Shown below) We stayed at Terrenea which is an unbelieveable resort. We were still on east coast time the first day so we were up early. We went to the coffee shop in the hotel and got some breakfast to take to the beach. We sat and ate breakfast with the sun coming up and hiked all over the rocky cliffs and caves. We went ocean kayaking in the afternoon and had a blast. We laughed at how much harder it would have been if we had to coordinate our paddling in our first year of marraige! That night we went to dinner at a beautiful gourmet restaurant where he had to explain the menu to me. It was delicious. They brought out a beautiful cake. It had cooled down considerably in the evening so we sat around the firepit and looked at the sunset. Back at our room was a rose petal turn down service with Chocolate covered strawberries and our wedding song playing. The next day was a couples spa treatment and relaxation. We ate dinner right on the cliffs and watched the sun go down again. It was a magical weekend. Too bad I got sun burned while ocean kayaking!

Eldon added to my wedding ring earlier this spring with two bands filled with diamonds. Over the years I have tried very hard to compete with him in giving gifts or being thoughtful. I have decided that he will always win. I am so grateful to be in that predicament! I try to show my love through attempting to keep up on the laundry or bathing the kids. I'm so grateful that we are both so committed to each other and our family.

Here is to another ten years!

Happy Easter Mud Party

This Easter we had our family over for dinner and also the missionaries. The kids were tired of being locked up inside while the adults ate a delicious meal, so we let them go out on the deck. Pretty soon we realized that the kids had found the mud and were having such a lovely time. I am so glad I had the kids change out of their Easter best. But I did leave Claire's little pink sweater on and it was covered in mud. Her shoes were once shockingly pink.

This was Parker's second outfit after removing his Easter shirt and vest. If you look at Jack, his pants are completely wet and since they are dark you can't see the extent of the mud. He jumped in the mud and sprayed everyone else. But we had a family dinner, mud fight and bath on Easter. It was followed up with a fantastic and surprising talent show by the boys. I remember times like this as a kid and found them to be quite magical. Oxi clean saved the clothes and I had to run a bleach cycle in my washer but everyone and everything survived.

Spring Break.....WHAT?

So Max's spring break was a week ago. We had big plans to go to Washington D.C. and see our great cousins there. Everyone was so excited. We were leaving on Wednesday afternoon and coming home Sunday. Tuesday night, the first fever hit along with a headache that put little Jack into a sleep coma. We rushed off to urgent care for drugs and Strep diagnosis and thought we could get down the road and he would be treated for 24 hours by the time we got there. But then, Wednesday the second fever hit and then the snot. Oh the snot. Everyone was down for a a couple days. It was a sad spring break. I had the car packed as well as the suit cases. But finally we were able to get out of the house to go to the zoo on Friday for an hour. It was cold, but no one was there so we didn't infect anyone, and the kids could see everything. We have rescheduled our trip to D.C. over Memorial Day. Hopefully all the fevers, sore throat's, sniffles and coughs will be gone by then. This week is Jack's spring break from Preschool. We will do our best to live it up while we are all feeling better.

We had a Birthday!

I have been a terrible blogger. But I couldn't not put up pictures of Jack's big day! He turned Five on St. Patrick's Day. He is very nice to share his birthday with everyone who celebrates St. Patrick's day. This year we took a few friends to the zoo. It was the first weekend where the train was open and the Polar Bear play area. We were a little out manned, but the kids did a good job keeping up and for the most part stayed with us. Here is the little clan. It was freezing too, which helped keep the party short and sweet. We had cupcakes and apples and pretzels. Everyone played, rode the train, ate and then we looked at a few animals and we were done. Jack was sad that there wasn't an all day playdate included in the deal, but mom and dad were done.

Sad Day

In Memory of a Very Funny and Great Friend
Bill Howe
March 17, 1976- January 30, 2011

So how do you write something for a friend that was such a bright spot in your life when you needed that bright light? How do you write about someone close to your age who has died way too young? How does it make any sense? Bill Howe was my brother's best friend. This picture shows my brother Bill, my dad Bill, and our friend Bill. The three Bill's. In college where my dad wasn't, my brother and him were known as "the Bill's." All of my friends loved them. I am putting this post together for the girls of 235 who would have known Bill and would appreciate knowing that he passed away last night. The memories have been flooding back. Both he and my brother were so kind to include me in so many things. I thought I would list them here and hopefully some of you remember some of them and hopefully it will bring a smile to your face as he did so many times.

- Buy a friend night - The dollar movie would have .50 cent night and the Bill's would go buy 50 tickets and invite anyone and everyone they knew. The funny part was they called it buy a friend night.

-The paper- Any tabloid paper was known to Bill Howe as "the paper." He always had a copy on hand.

-Chili Mac - For their ward pot lucks, the Bill's would bring Chili Mac and always hide a prize inside. A real prize like a toy. No one knew that their was a prize in it.

- Midgets - He had the strangest obsession with midgets.

- The plunger he gave Lisa and Keith as a wedding gift. Very kind, but alas, odd.

-The pee pants. In respect for him, I will let those who have heard the story remember it.

- Mothership - He was a great alien dancer.

- Buttghetti - The room mate who made spaghetti every Monday and ate it all week. The rest I will leave to those who knew about it.

- Macaroni Grill - When Bill worked there, he got a ton of cash in gift cards. I was lucky enough to be invited to splurge all the gift cards at once. We would order what ever we wanted and eat one or two bites and then order something else. It was very fun and very gracious of him as he always was.

- Thanksgiving at Grandma Barbs - Our family always had a ton of gravy. They made a bunch and instead of serving it in a gravy boat, they put it in a crystal water pitcher so you could pour as much on as you wanted. Bill looked at it and said, "What's wrong with the milk?" Later he found out that Grandma had decided to do ice cream Sunday's for dessert and then he disappeared. He went down to Marie Calendars and bought 5 pies.

- Cross Country road trip - The drive was full of "the paper" but my favorite was at Niagra Falls. We went on the Maid of the Mist and had rain ponchos. We were looking around for Bill and he was standing in front of the rotating sprinkler getting sprayed on his poncho.

- Generosity - This is the main thing I remember about him. He was always paying for what anyone wanted and always bought way more than needed or expected. Once my whole family went to a movie. No one had any treats and he came in for large drinks for everyone. That was just how he was.

- Waterskiing - we took him waterskiing at Yuba lake and it was early in the morning. We all took turns and then it was his. He jumped in and proceeded to scream as loud as he possibly could because the water was colder than he thought. You would think that he would stop after a few seconds, but no, Bill continued for minutes. After trying to ski and falling, he suggested in a scream again that there was a tuna up his nose.

- U2 - I got to see U2 in Salt Lake City with the Bills (tickets purchased by my brother) and Kelsie, their other room mate who was addicted to U2 even more than me. Of course the Bill's bought Kelsie a shirt and sat their so excited watching him enjoy his first concert with the band from Dublin.

-Taco Bell, CBE concerts, movie nights, fish outlines on the carpet, puns, and really just supporting everyone else. He was the best friend to have. I am so sad that his life has ended. It makes me reflect on my own and how short life really is. I love you Bill. And to my brother, thanks for sharing this great friend with me who as you can see, made college SO MUCH FUN!

Defending the Homefront

So many of you know that Eldon travels quite a bit for a living. He travels to lavish places and is given the high and mighty treatment. This fall has been no exception. We have been bracing ourselves for the amount of time he would be gone. In the past when he has been gone for awhile, something inevitably goes wrong at home. Sometimes are worse than others. I always hope for the best but expect the worst.

This time was no different. I will just say that I believe I have just experienced my pioneer woman moment. I didn't have to fight off a buffalo or a wild Indian, but I did have to defend my home.

Last week, a huge bird flew into our house. It was landing and perching on our drapery rods. It would fly in the circle of the main floor from room to room as I chased it with my broom. I was no match for the bird as it was much faster and I couldn't understand why it wouldn't just fly out of the house. All the main level doors were open and no one outside would be chasing it with a broom. I think it was a very dumb bird. It finally got caught in our light fixture in the hall and I was able to coax it out the front door. Max was laughing his head off, Jackson was crying, and Claire was screaming. This I know will be what the kids remember about the fall of 2010.

This week, Eldon gone again, I am reading the last Harry Potter book to prepare for the upcoming movie and as I'm sitting in my bed, I hear dragging above me in the attic. I think it's the wind, or the rain, or maybe the dryer was still going downstairs, but alas it was not. It continued through the night and into the morning. It was like someone was walking on my roof all night long. So I figured it was a larger animal that had gotten into the attic.

Earlier in the day, I had gone down to the food storage to get some cream of mushroom soup. I noticed that a mouse had gotten into a bag of rice I had left down there. (I know that was stupid). So I was already preparing to trap and kill that mouse when I heard the noises upstairs.

I was near tears as I realized that I was surrounded, alone, and I didn't want to protect my children from animals. I wanted my husband to do it, but I needed to man up and get the job done. So how do I handle things like this??

I called Critter Control. They came and did a full assessment and found a nice large RAT living in the attic. They said it was a field rat and that it was bringing in it's own food and just making a home there. It didn't want our food. That was thoughtful. They set the trap while they were investigating and the dumb thing went right in. I couldn't look at it when they took it out. Knowing what it looked like would be too many nightmares in the future.

Apparently, the entry point where the AC line goes into the house has been a highway for rodents since it's so big. They sealed it, set up bait points in the basement that feeds the mice and then sends them out to die. They covered the attic with some type of bait similar to the basement but in much larger quantities and we are good to go. I am still going to have to trap the mouse in the basement, which I have no desire to do, but I will.

I know it's winter coming and the dry summer that is increasing rodent activity, but guess what neighbors???? They are going to go to your house now!

Bedtime

I just have to ask, Why didn't I catch on to the 6pm bedtime with the boys? Claire stands outside her door at 5:55 begging to go to sleep. This is after two naps during the day. She also wakes up at 8 am. I have been blessed with crazy good sleepers. Jack still naps except for today.
I said, "Jack, it's time to go lay down for your nap."

He said, "hmmmm let me look at my watch, yep it says no nap today!"

But he is known to take a three hour nap and still go to bed at 8 pm on most days. I'm going to push this until he goes to school all day. I know the Lord gives us what we can handle. I have needed sleepers and I sure got them.

The curse of the Phantom of the Opera

So I mentioned in a previous post that we took Max to see Phantom while we were in Las Vegas. He loved it of course, but we didn't realize how much. He has been singing every word of it since he saw it in June. He has decided that when he is older he will be starring in it as the Phantom of course and he believes his voice is already good enough to handle the role now. He believes he is amazing because he can sing the Phantom parts and the high parts sung by Christine. I hated to break his heart by telling him that it would change someday.

If Max's fervor weren't enough, Jackson has caught on to it. They love the movie and act out the scenes where they like the music. They turned our sit and spin into the chandelier and cover it with a blanket just like the opening scene and when the music starts, they pull the blanket off and Max begins to swing it around and then climbing on top of the couch, lifts it to the ceiling. Jackson will row Max in a boat while the Phantom sings. It's reallly all too much.

But, the final nail in the coffin was when Eldon was getting our dear little Claire ready for bed and she started humming the music. Now we understand that is amazing in itself, but it was hard to enjoy because we are so sick of it. The movie has been put away and can only be brought out on very special occasions.

Our new family picture taken by my fabulous photographer cousin, Brittany.

The Kiddos. I love this one.

Max in his pseudo Senior picture but really it's only first grade.

The stud muffin.

Our princess. This was the only happy shot really of the day. The dress is from Grandma and Grandpa. They bought it in Venice, Italy while on their trip.