ok

Ok you guys convinced me to keep blogging. Not only for you to read but mostly for me, what can I say I like it!

Does anyone read this thing? Maybe its time to stop blogging.

Camping

Camping was such a blast this year. We went to Reservation Ridge as usual to spend some time with the Thomas'. Randy left early so it was Steve, me, the kids, and Saundra. It was so fun. We got to sleep in the trailer which was the first good thing because the older I get the less I enjoy tent camping. The kids loved being able to sleep in their own bed up above the rest of us. They thought this was pretty cool. Hayden loves everything about camping. He was just happy to be out in the open with a whole world to explore and be a boy in. He collected every bone he could find and because of this I think I have half a deer body on my front porch. He played in the dirt, shot a sling shot, found geocaches with grandma and whatever else he could do to keep busy. Carly also had fun. Her favorite thing of course is riding the four wheelers. The faster the better for her. She makes me laugh because she reminds me of me when I was her age. She also loved her coloring books that grandma and the fairies brought to her. She spend about half of the time in the trailer coloring and doing mad libs. I love mad libs. We had fun taking turns answering them and then reading them aloud to everyone. It just shows how immature I am because I always want to use potty words in them and have to refrain from it in my kids presence. We went on some really pretty four wheeler rides and the wild flowers were beautiful. I took a picture of every new flower that I saw. My favorite is one called the Sugar bowl. Its the purple one that looks like a bell. I had never seen it before and was quite happy to. I didn't get to see a bear or cougar this year but I did get to see lots of deer, three beaver and a snowshoe hare. I love wildlife, and I love being outdoors with my family. Saundra is so fun to be around and she is so good to the kids. The fairies (aka grandma) made sure to bring lots of fairy surprises to the kids so they could find fun things hidden around the camp. Their favorite thing that the fairies brought were their sunglasses. They have been wearing them everywhere and didn't take them off while camping. It was definitely a fun and relaxing trip.

The fourth of July!

The fourth of July was really fun this year. We went to the park by the Provo Fire Dept. to watch the fireworks with Steves cousins and Dixie and her friends. It was a lot of fun. The kids had a blast because they were with their cousins and friends and they had plenty of room to run and play since it was at a park. The fire works I think are getting weaker and weaker every year. I think Provo city needs to spend more money on the fireworks and less on the entertainment! Of course I am not a big fan of the Jonas brothers so what do I know! It was a blast. Jo and Christine brought a grill so we had grilled hot dogs and a lot of other treats. We have done this every year since we have been married. I love having it as a tradition.

Summer

Ok so our summer has been ok so far. We have done a couple of really fun things but I feel like this summer is kind of lacking. Maybe because I feel like it just started being nice outside where we can actually enjoy it. We tried to go to Black rock for our anniversary and on the way down the battery died in Payson. We stopped at checker and had the battery tested and bought a new one and then continued on our way. We thought we were doing good until we reached Fillmore and then the car broke down again. Well we had to call a tow truck to tow us back to Provo. The trip that never really happened actually ended up costing us about 600 buckaroos! It turned out to be a bad alternator. So much for our ten year anniversary! O well. I was really bummed when we didn't get to go to the Draper open house so when I heard about the Oquirrh Mt. Temple open house I was determined to go. I have been telling the kids for about a month about it. They are so cute, as soon as I told them they both started jumping around saying whoot whoot! I was so proud of them for being so happy to be able to go to the Temple. I don't think they even get that excited when I take them to do fun kid activities. Anyway we went last night and the kids loved it. They could hardly wait to go inside the temple and they kept asking me cute questions about everything with bright smiles on their faces. At Least I have don't something right as a mother and made the temple an important place for them. Afterwards I asked Hayden what the name of the temple we went to was called and he said the Mt. Dew Temple, lol! Maybe I should cut down on the soda. Bryce is here from Colorado so on Monday Mom and I took my kids and Dixies kids to the Payson swimming pool. What a fun place it is. The kids had a blast and so did I. They have a really cool lazy river and lots of other fun things for the kids to do. I will definitely be going back this summer. I was proud of myself for talking my mom into going swimming with me. Her legs have not seen the light of day in about forty years. Sadly they got burned because of this but I think she really enjoyed herself anyway. Today we went to Payson Lakes with Jo and Kayson. I think we are cursed when it comes to that place because it always rains or threatens to rain when we plan a trip there. As soon as we got all of our gear set down in the perfect fishing spot it started thundering and lightning really badly. We quickly ran back to the car and watched the storm from the vehicles. It was kind of fun to be right in the middle of the storm. We are kind of nuts that way and enjoy the thunder and lightening. The kids even liked it. Well the rain finally let up about a half hour later so we went on with our usual plans of fishing. It was beautiful! Everything was so fresh and crisp. I walked around the lake a couple of times and just enjoyed the scenery while the others fished. This is what I usually do because I am not a big fisherman. Steve and the others did have a good time catching about seven fish all together so it turned out to be a success for everyone. This weekend is the forth and Steves cousins are coming down from Salt Lake to watch the fireworks with us. They are really fun to be around and its a cheap fun thing to do. It has turned out to be a tradition in our family and I can't imagine a forth not going somewhere to watch the fireworks. I love the summer and all the fun things that come along with it. So I guess it has not turned out to be a bad summer so far after all.

Happy 40th Steve!

I just wanted to wish my awesome husband happy birthday! Yes he is turning 40and yes he did rob the cradle. Ha ha! Did I ever think I would marry a man almost nine years older than me, No Way! It just happened that way and I am so glad that it did. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful husband. He really treats me like a queen and he is the best dad in the world. I am so glad that he has his priorities strait. I love you Steve!

Yippee

Well a lot has been happening in my neck of the woods lately but I don't know if it is really anything interesting. I am still doing summer school and I love it because it is a short work day and it is just with the first graders. No more not being smarter than a fifth grader for me. At least not for the summer anyway. The only downfall is that I won't be getting a paycheck for July or August so we are going to have a very poor summer. I am kind of excited about it though because I will have a couple of months off to just hang out with my kids. I haven't been able to do that in a long time. Also I am happy to be able to get my house clean. I feel like it has been neglected this winter because I was working so much. I just felt like this was one of the busiest years I have ever had with work and church and the kids being involved in their activities. I am ready for some time off. Another thing that I am excited for is to just keep my yard up. I have never been much of a yard person but this summer I am determined to keep it looking nice. So far I am off to a good start. Hopefully I will be able to keep it up. I usually get sick of watering everything by the time July hits. I am so excited because the lavender bushes that I got from my grandmas house are finally starting to bloom. I was really worried that they would die because I dug them up while they were starting to grow but they seem to be doing well. They have a lot of sentimental value to me because they always remind me of grandmas house. Another thing that I decided I need to be better at is going to the temple. I went last night with Saundra and it was wonderful going. I am ashamed to admit it but before last night it has been two years since I had gone. I am going to make a goal to at least try and go once a month. I know this might be a hard goal for me to reach but at least I am going to try. The kids are really excited because we got tickets to go to the Oquirrah Mt. temple on June 30th. I want them to have the temple as a goal for them and really appreciate that we have so many around us. Hayden was really upset last night when I got to go to the Provo Temple and he didn't. I tried to explain to him why he didn't go but I am sure its hard for a six year old to understand. I know I am not the best example to my kids when it comes to scripture readying and family home evening but I want them to want to go to the temple. I can't imagine what it would be like to not have my family sealed to me. Hopefully I will always be worthy of this wonderful blessing. I don't know, all we can do is try right? If you look really close at the Lavender you can see the purple buds. Yipee We took the fence down and it looks a lot better. Lets see how long my flowers will stay alive! Anyone want to make any bets?

The school year.

Well today was the very last day of the school year. I have had such a wonderful year being at Spring Creek Elementary. Don't get me wrong it has had its obstacles like learning how to use the stupid smart board when I am a total computer idiot and having to sub for my boss when I don't feel like I am at all adequate to be a teacher. The worst of all was finding out that I am not smarter than a fifth grader or even a fourth grader when it comes to math. I hate math. I hated it when I was in school. I finally had to tell my boss that it didn't do any good for me to help the kids with math because I didn't know how to do it myself. At Least he was understanding about it even though he is a genius when it comes to every school subject. At the beginning of the school year when I was asked to help with the special ed kids I was very skeptical. I was even regretting it half way through the school year. Some of the kids are just really challenging and its hard because you don't feel like you are helping them that much. Now my perspective has totally changed. I have learned to love those kids because I have spent so much time and energy helping them. They really are cute and special kids who just need a little extra help. I finally do think that I was able to make a difference in their lives. Next year I will be back at Spring Creek helping with the special ed kids. One more year without all the nervousness because now I know what to expect. I will also be doing summer school the month of June and that will be nice because it is only half a day. I have to say that the best thing that happened to me this year was being able meet and work with my friend Mindy Winterton. My partner in crime. I really love this lady. She is so nice and kind and really is an example to me. I don't think I would have been able to make it through the school year without her. Thanks Mindy!

Mindy, Mindy, Mindy, what more can I say?

Some of you know Brenda Marvel. She was the facilatator at Spring Creek this year and also a long time friend of my family.

This is my friend Lauren, I would of had many lonely lunches without her this year.

Carly and her awsome teacher Miss Yamaguchi.

Hayden getting ready to dance, looking cool in all his bling!

Just some cool pictures from here and there!

Some of my favorite pictues taken from here and there!