Update finally,

So I’m lame with updating my blog. There are some things I have to document that happened this summer. Tanner had a birthday in July. The big 13!!! He’s finally a teenager. He doesn’t seem like it to me. He’s still my little boy. Doesn’t fit on my lap very well, but I still like to think that’s where he belongs. So far the “teen thing” with him hasn’t happened yet. Wishful thinking that it won’t ever happen. With my oldest boy, the swing away from being a rational human being didn’t start until year 14. That was a tough year for all, but I think I became a better Mom for it. I learned what hills to fight for, what battles were worth it and what had to be left to “life experience”. Tanner is still a “home body” and likes to hang with his family. I know, I know, enjoy it while it’s here, cuz it aint lastin’ for long.
Tanner spent his birthday in California with his dad, I heard it was a great day with lots of friends and presents. So, In honor of Tanner’s 13th birthday way back in July here are 13 great things about Tanner.

1. He’s never mean, I’ve never seen him tease or pick on anyone! Even his little sisters! (That’s HUGE! I had to make that #1)

2. He makes good choices in friend’s, I’ve never had to questioned the kinds of kids he hangs out with. They have always been good kids.

3. He takes out the garbage and feeds the dog every time I ask, but he does like to negotiate about putting in the clean garbage bag.

4. Tanner always works hard in school. And this does not come easy for Tanner because of his Dyslexia, but he always tries harder than most kids I’ve seen.

5. He is very athletic. Tanner isn’t really into any particular sport but always seems to do them naturally on the first try.

6. As one of Tanner’s Saturday chores, he will take Ella to the park and watch her for an hour. That will free me up to accomplish a lot of my Saturday work. That is a big help!

7. Tanner likes to tell me about what is going on in his life. It may be a television show he’s watching or something about his friends at school, he likes to keep me up on whatever is going on with him or on his mind.

8. He is fair. It’s sad, but you can see such a huge effort on his part to keep things fair between his father and myself. I don’t know how to release him from that burden, but I recognize how hard he tries to keep it up!

9. He loves Dave Matthews Band! The kid has great taste in music.

10. He takes Ella out of Sacrament Meeting so that I can sit and enjoy! It’s kind of a Win / Win situation for both of us.

11. He could care less if he has expensive clothes. Target or Walmart do just fine for him as long as the clothes are comfortable.

12. He gets sarcasm! I need that! He has a wicked sense of humor and I love it!

13. The best for last! He’s my little boy! He always will be and I’m sure this is the last year he’ll be shorter than me, but he will always be my “little boy.” I’m sure more than anything that his little spirit was picked just for me and just the right time because he is what was needed in our family! I can’t imagine life without him and love that our family is special just because he is in it!

Loved the debates tonight! Don't get me wrong, I still screamed..... no, no "spoke in a firm tone"at the television a few times.... but I love this stuff!!!!

Weston also had a birthday and Ken and I celebrated an anniversary this summer but that will have to be the subjects of the next blogs. I have to spread the love....

Just say NO to CARGO Pants

It's been a long time since I've updated my blog, but I had to find the time for this.

School has started.... Yeah! And bummer!!! (I miss the help). I'm dropping off my big Jr High Student to his 3rd day of 7th grade yesterday. I have pulled on my sweats and a t-shirt (no bra). I have no makeup my hair is sticking out of my slept-in ponytail. I pull up to the front entrance of the school and as Tanner jumps out of the car, I glance over to see him walking away. I look at him and think.... "Are his pants on backwards?????" I start to call him back to the car and he slides into the front door of the main entrance of the school. My brain starts racing, "were they on backwards???? I think they were on backwards??? Should I run in and get him??? There are 8 cars in back of me waiting to drop off their kids??? I have to bra, I have to makeup... what do I do to save my kid from endless ridicule.... OH KNOW, HIS PANTS ARE ON BACKWARDS!"

I remember the days of Jr. High. All it takes is one little thing and that's it! Your labeled with "whatever" and it follows you all through high school. And my kid was now the "Backwards pants kid". It would be worse if I ran in after him and left my 6 month old in the car? Then it would bring attention to his pants because everyone would turn and look at the crazy mom running in the school waving her arms yelling "TAAANNNNERRRR" All the other students would stop what they were doing and think "Who's this kid Tanner... oh look his pants are on backwards"

I race home to tell my husband who's still home with the sleeping 21 month old. He thinks I'm overreacting. He tells me "He'll figure it out". I'm so afraid that someone else will figure it out before he does." I have that awful feeling in my stomach of wanting to do something, but can't.

So, my plan... I race to get dressed and wake up Ella and head to his school. I'm going to pull him out of class and tell him to fix his pants. I'll say that he has a dentist appointment or something. I'm off with my double stroller, diaper bag, and sippy cups to Brown Jr. High.

Because it was so early in the school day, the aid who delivers the slips of paper to get a student out of class wasn't there yet, so the Vice Principal volunteered to get him for me. (Can you see that I was making a bad situation worse). As Tanner starts walking toward the office I glance down and see that his pants really aren't on backwards.

We walk out of the school and had a good laugh. I took him for a for a hearty, grease filled, diabetes onsetting, sugar breakfast at McDonald's.

Yes, I'm a dipstick!

Summer update

This summer is going by so fast. If I could just put the breaks on it, I would feel a lot better. I can't seem to grasp the fact that my baby is leaving home. I don't know how I'll cope when he leaves on a mission. I think it's important that I keep up on the blog to "chronicle" our family's life. Because I really have a hard time remembering simple day to day things and what I would give if my mom had kept a journal!!!















I'll just touch on the things that really stick out for the past weeks. I'll start with my oldest, Weston. We took him to SUU for Student Orientation. It was an all day thing. I know I promised to take lots of pictures but my husband told me to put the camera away. Now I see how wise he was when he told me "now is not the time". I would have been the only mommy with her camera. It would have been a lot like the first day of Kindergarten. They had this special Orientation for the parents. To sum up the 4 hours of the Parent Lecture it was... "We are basically telling you parents the same thing we are telling your children except we think they'll pay better attention if you're not around, and now is the time to LET GO!" Ken told me to pay particular close attention to the "LET GO" part. Now Weston is in SO Cal staying at a Beach house with 8 other boys (no parents). My last and only text message said "We're here and we're having a blast."

I did make sure he had sun screen this time. One more thing to noteworthy about Weston is..... we agreed about something political last week. You wouldn't think that would be such a big deal but it was a momentous occasion. We are on opposite sides of the political world. I keep telling myself that this is just a normal teen rebellion thing. If my choice of teen rebellion is between this or drugs, I'll take this any day. The sad thing is he really has studied and thought these things out. It's not just "following the pack". I guess I shouldn't say that's a "sad thing" it's good........ I guess...... We just have different political outlooks on things. Our discussions get pretty heated sometimes. Because he is like his mom in the area of being very "intense" on current events. But the coolest thing was we actually had an area of agreement. It was fabulous.... almost brought me to tears... Not really, but it was pretty cool.


This post is getting a little longer than I had wanted so I'll update on the rest of the family later.

Tanner and his buddy

Ella's new thing "dressing herself". She empties her drawers everyday trying on various clothing. This was her trying to see how many swimsuits can she wear at once.

Abby just lights up around her sister. I wonder how long that will last.

Poor Baby !!!!

My poor little papoose! The picture doesn't really show the torture this boy is in. He just got back yesterday from camping at the beach in So. Cal with his Priest Quorum. He came back a lobster. His face and chest are blistered.





This trip was supposed to be their last hurrah as "youth". Weston is used to tanning well, unlike his Mother. So he's never really been one to soak himself in sunscreen, but 3 days of no shade finally caught up with him.





He soaked in a vinegar bath last night and has been "hopelessly devoted" to aloe since he got back. If anyone has any other suggestions for this poor lad please let me know.




We're off to Cedar City tonight. Getting used to attaching the camera to my hip. Maybe it'll be a fashion statement. If I can get Angelina Jolie to do it, I'm set!

So I'm really trying to get the hang of this blog thing. But I really like the idea of keeping track of events with our family. After all, I have a hard time remembering what we did two weeks ago, let alone last year.

Yes, I realize that today is the 16th. But over the 4th of July weekend, we went to my brothers house in Idaho. We had a wonderful time and they threw quite the shin-dig. There were over 60 people there for a BBQ and fireworks. On the 5th we all went whitewater rafting down the Payette River. It was a bit scary but mostly invigorating. The guide said we had some class 3 and 4 rapids. (The Rafting lingo). And here is where I'm getting at with "getting the hang of the blot thing". Did I bring a camera? Oh yes.... But do you think I got it out to take pictures???? No.... I know, I know....I'm a Blog loser.

The flight home from Idaho would have been something to document as well. Although, I believe ISA must have us red flagged on the terrorist watch list. We had 2 lap children and we couldn't all sit in the same row because there were not enough oxygen masks in each row. Like that'll really help "in the event of an emergency". I'm sure the people around us would have liked the masks to drop, just to muffle the screams from the girls. Ken had to leave Idaho early for some kind of important thing like "payroll" whatever.... I'm sure his employees wouldn't have minded getting paid a week later.... (kidding). Weston had Ella and I had Abby. Halfway during the flight, Abby finally cried herself to sleep and I popped my head up to see if Weston wanted to switch kids, because I could hear Ella yelling her favorite word "NO" six rows up. He was kind of slow to answer but the people around him nodded "YES" for him. It's kind of funny, now, to think about it, but at the time.... not so much. A man sitting next to Ella kept closing his eyes to try and block out her screams, so she's point to his eyes and say "Night, Night" very loudly. OH, good times, good times.

Last weekend we drove to Long Beach to visit my husbands old mission companion. They've been close friends for over 20 years now. The girls did better in the car for 5 hours than a 1 1/2 hour flight. We took the girls to the Pacific Aquarium. Ella is now getting to the age where this stuff is fun. But don't miss that nap time! Oh, and guess who didn't bring the camera.... I know, I know.

Tomorrow we're off again. We get to take Weston to Cedar City for Student Orientation. We get to check out his new Bachelor Pad! Scary!!!! It is such a weird felling when your sending a kid to college. I just hope everything I've tried to teach him in the past 17 years sticks. He has a full year before he turns 19. A lot can happen in one "Pre-Mission" year. Its kind of like you're the coach for something like the Olympic trials, and he's getting ready to walk to the starting line. You just have to trust that all those drills and lessons are remembered and applied. Silly analogy, but that's the closest I can get to it.

I've already got my camera in my purse for this outing. I will be armed and ready to be as obnoxious as I can with that camera. After all, I don't have many more moments to embarrass him.

Quit complaining!!!!

I know I'm not very quick "blog poster". I just really struggle with finding the time to sit and write it out, especially with about 5 loads of dirty clothes in my laundry room, but something has really been on my mind all week.







Cute kids eh? Tanner and Ella "enjoying" our 110 degree heat.

I was channel surfing a while ago and stopped on Dr. Phil. I usually don't watch his show but something caught my attention. It was about the only known blind and deaf triplets. The mom was not on fertility drugs either. It was just a fluke. But, like a lot of multiple births' they were born too early and had problems. From what I saw it was like Helen Keller BEFORE Ann Sullivan X's three. I couldn't imagine the struggles this woman has every day.

This story really made me think about how lucky I am. I have two beautiful, healthy daughters. And two of the best sons anyone could ask for. Who cares if I can't go to the bathroom by myself. I feel silly even thinking THAT'S a hardship. I mean I have NOTHING to complain about compared to this woman's life. The worse part of my day is if I can get the girls down for their nap at the same time. Which believe me, is rare. They have a sense to know "finally, I can have ALL Mom's attention." Which, I have to remind myself, IS a blessing. How blessed I am to spend time with each one on one. There are bigger problems in the world.

My oldest son just graduated from high school. Weston is going to college this fall. He's healthy, he has a good heart, and is smart. Who cares if he uses those smarts to be a "smart-alack". We can laugh together especially at those times I'm in "ultra annoying" mode. How blessed I am to have a wonderful son.

I really wanted to write about these deaf blind girls to remind to put things in perspective. I can go on and on about my kids and how great they are, and how lucky I am to have them, even to the point of making you vomit all over your keypad...................Oh, and don't even get me going on how I was the Power Ball winner in the HUSBAND LOTTO.

I find myself dwelling at my pity party about how I can't find time to keep my house picked up. Or I can't work on tanning my albino legs because my daughter wants to sit and color in her coloring book with me sitting right there with her. What if she didn't know or EVEN CARE if I were there. What an ungrateful little brat I felt like after watching 10 min of this woman's life.

When I actually "count my blessings, and name them one by one" it brings tears to my eyes. Especially on a day like today, when I had to pick up and leave Walmart with a cart full of stuff because my 20 month year old wouldn't stop throwing a fit because her ice melted in her sippy cup. Did I mention it's 114 degrees here today? Which brings me to another idea for a blog post. Any advice on temper tantrums.... They're starting early for this one.

Oh, wait.... I must remember it's a blessing that she has the mental capacity to throw them in the first place... See, why I had to write about counting my blessings.

Ok... here it goes

Ok, here it goes. This is my first post. My sister-in-laws' have inspired me to become a blogger too. I have been able to spy on others blog posts long enough without having to divulge anything about myself.

The ABC show "The View" was filming in Las Vegas this week and about a month ago, I requested tickets. Much to my surprise, I received an e-mail confirmation for tickets to be in the audience. I asked my husband to take off work and come with me. I thought a male might get me closer to the stage since 90% of the audience is female. Besides he could drive to Cesar's Palace for us. (Local Las Vegans don't usually venture down to the strip very often). I also dragged my Sister-in-law, Julie with us. (That's her in the brown shirt)


My so called "ticket confirmation" said that I would be in the audience for the second show of the day. We were to be in line no later than 9:00 for a 10:30 taping. We got there before 8:30. We stood in the hot sun for almost 2 hours. And it is well into the 100's this time of year in Vegas. We were turned away!! We couldn't get in! Can you believe it! I was seriously disappointed. I felt so bad my husband took off work for total "chick time" all for nothing. He must really love me. They did give us a "guarantee" to be in the audience the next time they are in Vegas or a New York taping of the show. Sounds like a great excuse to jet to New York.


But.... We did get to see the "Davids'" from American Idol from the previous taping of the show.

I was close enough to touch him, but would have felt really creepy if I had. "Archie" was very cute and just like the personality you had seen on AI. He was like "Oh, thank you.... Oh, that's very nice.... Oh golly gee whizz"..... He's cute as a button.

And yes, his Dad was right there too. But seemed very nice...

And David Cook seemed very nice as well. He said not to "Photo-Shop" is face on a Chip-N-Dale Dancer's body.

And this David posed very still just for my camera. I had to cover him up a bit because this is a family blog.

Anyway it turned out to be a pretty fun day. And my oldest son, took such good care of his sisters while I was gone... Thanks Weston.