Fireworks..oooo..aaaahh.. "CRAP"

I was teaching last night and having some funny conversations with my amazing students! LOVE THEM ALL! One story reminded me of something that happened this past summer that I need to write down so I don't forget it J.

On this fine summer day, I was out doing yard work, or something outside…can't quite remember. My 16 year old son Brayden was helping me. Tanner who is now 17 came out asking if we knew where some duct tape was. Well, this is not an odd request. My kids seem to think that duct tape is the "fix it, make it, assemble it" tape. So when Tanner asks for the tape, I of course think nothing of it.

A couple of hours go by and I'm now relaxing out on our patio. My wonderful son Tanner comes out and starts asking odd questions like: "How much is a new refrigerator?"….what????? ummmm I'm not sure son, it depends on how much you want to spend…maybe $500-$1500. Ok, I'm thinking that was odd. Then the next one was, "How much would a new washer and dryer be"….double what?????? Ummmm well, again son, it depends on how much you want to spend, anywhere from a couple hundred dollars to a couple thousand. Now I'm really wondering where this is leading. With the next one we hit the jackpot, "How much would a new toilet be?"….well, I think you could get one for just under $100, again depends what you want to spend.

Now my radar is way UPPPP…what's going on. I'm looking at him with that same look....the look of, do I really want to know where this is leading. He finally confesses…. "Well, we need to go buy a new toilet". Why in the world do we need a new toilet. OK, I know our bathroom is a bit small…well, REALLY small, our sink leaks, our walls are, well lets see, about 100 yrs old and falling apart, but our toilet is actually one of the newer things in our bathroom that WORKS. "Why in the world do we need a new toilet". Tanner responds, "Well, I kind of blew it up"…WHAT, how do you "kind of" blow up a toilet. Come to find out, if you put a "FIRE CRACKER" in the toilet, it will actually blow it up. Really Einstein! YA think????

To top it off, he thought that duct tape of all things would fix it. His genius plan was to duct tape the whole bottom part of the toilet back together. Funny thing is, duct tape does not stick to a wet surface. AGAIN…really Einstein, YA think??? So what does he do next….pulls out the blow dryer, yea the blow dryer and try's to dry the water and melt the tape to the toilet. Can you believe this did not work!!!???!!! He thought he had mastered the fix, until with the first FLUSH it all blows out and water is now all over the bathroom floor…again! Only when he knew he was defeated, did he come out with his 20 questions to lead into needing a new toilet.

Well he now knows that a toilet cost exactly 79.99, + 10.00 gas fee to drive to the Home Depot in Park City. He also knows how to install a toilet for when his brilliant child decides it will be great fun to put a fire cracker in the crapper.

ARENT BOYS GREAT!!

Einstein Tanner

The ZOO….

For the past week we have had an extra 4 yr old at our home….Jaxon, my nephew. He and Carsen are best buddies and love to be with each other. This past Friday Carsen, Jaxon, Logan and myself ventured off to the zoo. WHAT A GREAT DAY!

The weather was perfect! I have not visited the zoo for many years... I was so amazed to see all the great changes. Can I just say what a fantastic zoo we have. I could not believe all the new area's and upgrades. It really was beautiful.

I've attached a few of my favorite pics from the perfect day J. My favorite is the picture with Carsen on "MARTY", the zebra from the Merry Go Round. They were never called zebra's , they were "Marty's". (Marty is the name of the zebra from Madagascar) Can't wait to go back to the ZOO again soon!

Jaxon and Carsen at the Monkey cage.

Logan lookin "COOOOL"

Carsen's first day of wearing boxer unders….couldn't keep is hand off his junk…lol

Carsen ducking to get out of the picture….still got him!!

Picture perfect J

“MVP”

This past weekend was the competition we work for all year, Nationals at Lagoon. Teams and dancers from the west come to compete. Most of you know that a big part of our family is clogging. Casey, Tanner and Brayden have all clogged for several years. This year Brayden was able to win an award that is very difficult. They take the top dancers from the dance off on Friday night (around 300 champion and pro level dancers) that participate in the individual event "freestyle". It is basically a solo event done along side other dancers. For the past couple of years Brayden has been chosen to dance off on the Saturday show for the title MVP…the top Male dancer. Last year he came close and won Rookie MVP, which is awarded to the top dancer not chosen, that has also not ever been MVP in previous years. There is an MVP Female, Male, Duet, Short Duet, and A Cappella. This year Brayden was able to take the next step and win it all. He was awarded MVP male dancer this year. He has worked hard and we are very proud of him. Tanner also did very well making the All American team for the 8^th year in a row. They both are great boys and I love them so very much. They both are very busy in school now and only do individual events. We are already working on a team dance with the three of us and my niece and nephew Michael and Jessica. Casey has even said he might want to join in when he gets home???? We'll see. It should be great fun. All of my teams did great and it was a fun event. Glad it's over J Now all I have are my 2 recitals in about 3 weeks and things will be slowing down a bit. I want to send a big THANK YOU and I LOVE YOU to Shane for his continuing support with my job. At times it is crazy and I know drives him crazy, but he's always willing to help.

Brayden


Tanner

“Lady bugs and Grass?”

We had a fantastic "Mothers Day" week-end. It started with Brayden's soccer game. They played in the Semi Finals match against the #1 team at Jordan High. They lost a heart breaker 4-2, with the last two scores being in the last 5 min. of the game. The majority of the game was a tie. They gave them a good game and should be proud. It is nice to have the soccer season over. J After the game our family and 2 of Brayden's friends that are also on the soccer team, went to dinner at one of our family's favorite restaurants, "Texas Roadhouse". YUUUMMMY! Well, to say that Brayden has a friend on the large size is an understatement. He is about 6' 2", and about 220 pounds of pure muscle. Not only is he large, he already is sporting a nice little beard, well the kids call it a "chin strap". He just turned 16 last Sunday. So, as he is scarfing down his salad, (we all are watching him in amazement to how fast his salad is disappearing) imagine his surprise to see something moving …., A LADYBUG was in his salad. Of course we all thought it was hilarious, he just shrugged his shoulders and kept plugging away at his salad. The rest of us simply moved our salads aside not quite sure we wanted to finish ours. Had a great time Friday!

Brayden and his friends at Tanner's Jr. Prom…Levi is the one in the back crouched down. Does not show how massive this kid REALLY is.

Saturday we went to Shane's parents house out in Stansbury for a Mothers Day visit. It is always nice to see them and its been far too long. The boys helped their grandpa with a few things around the house while we played with the newest grand baby of the family. Fun stuff! I'm going to share something that happened and I hope it's ok with Shane's dad….it's just way too funny!!! Sorry dad. Carsen always loves going to grandpa's house and is always excited to see them. As we are leaving, the kids are doing the traditional hug and "I love you's". Carsen gets to grandpa, gives him a hug and then gets the puzzled look of "what is that" on his face. Then the finger comes out and is pointing to grandpa's nose. "What's that Grandpa"….looking closer he deciphers what's in grandpa's nose…"Grandpa, you have GRASS in your nose". Silly Carsen, does he not know that we ALL have grass in our noses, it's called hair! Turning 40 this year has made "GRASS" appear more apparent than ever and in places that never needed a lawn mower before. My next lip and eyebrow wax will need to include my chin, sideburns, and now I think about it, can you have your whole face waxed???? Really, the things a 4 year old says!!!!!

Carsen with Grandpa and Grandma on his 4^th Birthday party this past January.

Sunday we enjoyed a call from Casey in Honduras. To hear his voice is exciting, but at the same time, makes me miss him even more. The fact that he is doing so well is comforting. He is staying busy as a Branch President in his area trying to build it up and get people coming back to church. I can tell he is happy and loving his mission. He has been blessed to be able to pick up the language quickly. He mentioned Sunday how grateful he is for this. It really is a gift that has helped him tremendously in the mission field. As all missionary's do, he has had struggles in other areas that has made him become a bit more patient and understanding. Our family has been blessed for his decision to serve the Lord and we all miss him. Just 8 ½ months left!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY
to all of the moms out there. Motherhood is the greatest calling we have been given and sometimes our greatest challenge. Isn't it great being a MOM!

Soccer, Soccer and More Soccer!

After 2 years of kids playing on the High School team, and countless County rec. teams when they were younger, (including Logan being on one right now) I can honestly say I STILL DON'T KNOW THE RULES. OK, I do know that the main goal is to get the ball in the net, but I can't ever see the "off sides" that everyone yells countless times during a game. Why some penalty kicks are from mid field and some right in front of the goal, and why a team does a corner kick instead of the goalie kicking it down field. But after the past two High School seasons, I must admit that I'm becoming a soccer fan. It really can be fun to watch even though you know NOTHING about the game. To say that I'm a fan is saying something due to the fact that we have watched many games in the SNOW, COLD, RAIN, and did I mention SNOW!!! Soccer up here is more a Winter sport than Spring….in Kamas Spring is absent, it goes from Winter right into Summer!

Last year our High School soccer team made it to the State Semi Finals. We were up 3-0 with 30 min. left….we could all taste victory and a chance to play in the finals… and we LOST....the other team came back and before we knew it our team had been defeated. This year they want to prove themselves again. On Friday we are going to the State Semi Finals again, but now play the #1 team in the State Rolland Hall, a private school that actually recruits for soccer and won State last year. Just want to send a good luck out the Brayden and the team. They have worked hard all year and we're proud of them. "GO GREEN…GO BRAYDEN…GO WILDCATS"

Hair Cuts & “HE MOVES”!!

For about the past…I don't know, 5 or 6 years, my boys have had long, shaggy hair. When Casey had to get his hair cut for his Mission, he waited until the last minute. I think it's become a kind of crutch for them. Well, not anymore. They all got hair CUTS, not trims, this past week and they all look so dang cute. I know they are going to cringe when they read the word "Cute", but I can't help myself J I hope they all like them enough to keep them for a while! Here are the best looking boys ever…of course I think so because I'm their lucky mom.







"He Moves!!!"

Here is my story of the week. This time I am sharing one that happened with my third son Brayden. It was when he was still innocent and not aware that there are just some things you don't mention in public. So as you probably guessed, he was about 4 years old. I LOVE THIS AGE!
They are starting to become little people that think for themselves. The problem with this, is the fact that they also blurt it right out, not realizing that it might not be the most appropriate thing.

Well on this beautiful spring day, I'm wrestling a new baby, in a car seat, Brayden my 4 year old, and Tanner my 5 year old at the wonderful State/Federal building by the State Fair grounds to purchase a birth certificate for Tanner who will be needing it to register for Kindergarten soon. Of course, I have arrived at the time that everyone else in the valley has decided that they also need a birth, death, wedding or what ever else kind of certificates you can get there. There is NO WHERE
to sit, Tanner and Brayden have been in the car for about 60 minutes, so the last thing they want to do is stay still and I'm about ready to kill someone if they don't call my name soon. About this same time a few chairs open across the room and we make a mad rush to get them. Look out…mom with 3 kids coming through like a freight train. I get settled in and catch my breath when I see Brayden looking like he just saw King Kong himself. His eyes look like they are going to pop right out, along with his mouth hanging to the ground.

At this point, any of you moms would know this look and wonder, "OH NO, WHAT DID HE SEE AND WHAT IS HE GOING TO SAY".
I look in the direction of his gaze and see 2 very LARGE men sitting just across from us. Again, if you are a mom, you are now thinking, "PLEASE DON'T SAY IT, PLEASE DON'T SAY IT, PLEASE DON'T SAY IT LOUD ENOUGH FOR OTHERS TO HEAR"
My inner pleading failed….it happened. In his sweet, honest, LOUD voice, he announces to everyone, that these two gentlemen are on the large end, OK, he said FAT!! At this point, I'm just trying to downplay the whole thing, bring him closer to me and whisper in his ear so he try's to whisper back.

I'm thinking not many people heard and just hoping that we can get out of this place before I turn into the wicked witch. (I can feel myself turning greener by the second) PLEASE CALL MY NAME, PLEASE CALL MY NAME, PLEASE CALL MY NAME….nooooooo, instead they call the 2 rather LARGE gentlemen's names instead. As they get up to go get their purchase, Brayden is in complete AWE!!! He looks at me and with the biggest eyes ever, states, "LOOK MOM THEY MOVED!!!" He could not believe his eyes, these men could actually move. On top of that, he was so amazed he had to say it loud enough for the whole lobby to hear. By this time I'm just wanting to get out of Dodge! It took another 10 min. of praying for my name to be called so we could put this bad dream behind us. I finally get our birth certificate and head to the parking lot as I'm sure many were having a good laugh at our expense. DON'T YOU JUST LOVE FOUR YEAR OLDS!!! I know I do!

Another week in Honduras

Here is Casey's letter from this week. At least there are a few places with punctuation..lol..I can't believe he is still in text form after a whole year!

hey so I'm going to be writing you both today because well I wrote you a great letter and as I sent it the wonderful Honduran service here decided to crap the bed so I'm now out of time to write you both so its going to be one long good one today I'm really sorry but yeah!! so no I still haven't got my package and idk is up with that I'm kinda getting irritated about it actually!! haha but idk well see what happens!! so yeah I imagine Bruce was pretty sick is he still going to be on tour when I get home!? I hope so cuz if he is, your going to invite me to one of his concerts!! haha thanks you guys are so nice!! and yeah you can tell everyone that I'm doing great and that things are going really good here in Orocuina!! So yeah here this last week was pretty sick it was holy week and well holy week here is bigger than Christmas seriously!! its huge!! everyone goes on vacation to the beaches and to swim in the river!! well the river is in my area so there were a bunch of drunk Hondurans and well it was fun. everyone was inviting us to go with them but we couldn't go, we had a youth activity planned for Saturday in which we went to the waterfalls in our area!! it was so much fun!! I got fried but it was great! hahaha it felt so good!! We had a branch activity on Friday. Yesterday I kept going with the interviews its kinda weird being on the other side of the desk hearing what goes on in ppls lives but I'm trying my best!!! haha and other than that things are going really good!! I hope you guys had a great spring break and a great Easter!! que dios les bendiga!!
I love you both so very much
thanks for making me who I am today
casey shane