Cute Boys

I'm surrounded by cute boys all the time. I thought this one was cuteness incarnate, even if Austin's not looking at the camera. I love my boys!

My Night

Friday night, the Young Women put together a service project. They all got together to babysit FREE at the church for anyone who wanted to go on a date night. Our friends Angie and Ryan went to dinner and a motorcycle ride. My friend KC (her hubby's CG too) went out with another friend of hers. I don't know the exact plans of the others that took advantage of the wonderful sisters and girls, but there were plenty of takers!
Well, I wanted to, but we all know that date nights take 2. So, although it was a moral day, and Brett didn't have to work, he was out fishing, no date for me.
Don't cry for me Argentina! I had a couple back-up plans already in place!
I was going to drag my friend (&boss) Christiana out with me, but her husband and her mom are coming to town and she felt it best to clean her house instead of play. She's more responsible than me! But she gave me a gift to go along with my Plan C.
Plan C was a nice hot uninterrupted bath. She got me different bubble baths, an unbreakable flute, and some sparkling cider (love it!!!!)
Add in a good book (The Host by Stephanie Meyers) and some chocolate...

I spent 1 1/2 hours in the tub. It was heavenly. And it's always nice to be able to walk around the house naked once in a while, with no one to comment or have to hide from.

sigh! I'm gonna have to do thaat again soon...

I'm It

My friend Angie tagged me in her blog. I guess the rules are that you go into your pictures and choose the 6th folder, and the 6th picture in it and tell the story. Then tag 6 people to do the same. Sounds fun, but when I went to check out the 6th picture in the 6th folder; it occured to me that VERY very few of you would know who those people are. I'd even have to double check with Brett to make sure I got one of the names right. See... I know the one in front is Frohnapfel (sp? pronounced fron-apf-le) on Brett's old 50 bike, but I can't see the other one clearly enough to put a name to the face.So, I'm gonna break the rules! neener neener :p

The 3rd picture in the 6th folder. That's Brett on one of our many camping trips in Kodiak. They improved a rut in the road to be a jump for their 50 bikes (no longer being sold; very sad)

The 6th picture in the 7th folder. Two of my awesome brothers, Abe (28) and Ben (33?) being "cool" on the beach outside our rooms on our Hawaii trip. You can't get cooler than that.

So now... who shall I subject to the strain and worry of wondering which picture will come up under the 6 rule?

1. Charlotte

2. Heather

3. Brandy

4. Angeline

5. Lisa

6. Clarissa

I'm sitting here watching Fiddler On The Roof and contemplating the decline of arranged marriages. I understand the whole thing, freedom to choose and all that. But, in my opinion, and in some cases, it's not a bad idea. Worked for me... and my older sister (though they still maintain that they made the choice on their own).
My father chose both our husbands before we met them. I remember when he came back from job interviews in Homer. Practically the first thing out of his mouth was about "the bishop's grandson". Heather had just ended things with someone else and wasn't looking to get set up. We moved to Alaska. 6 months later Heather married the bishop's grandson.
As for me, I was attending BYU in Provo, guys everywhere! I came home for Christmas and you would not believe the matchmaking Everyone was doing- ugh! Dad said that there was a Coastie I had to meet. Heather and Trace all tried to get us in the same place. No dice. Finally Dad said that he wasn't going to send me back to school unless I met this guy and invited him over for dinner. Now, to make a long story short, here we are.
They were guys we "had to meet", and in spite of our rebellious streaks, look where we are now. Dad knew more than we gave him credit for. That doesn't mean he always got along with them, or always approved of the things they did. But the matches have stood the test of time well so far, and I know they'll last forever.
So, what's so terrible about an arranged marriage, letting those with more wisdom give some input to an important choice in your life? What do you think?

Moved

Ok, so we're still painting and steaming carpets in the old pad, BUT otherwise we are officially moved into our new unit!!
Yeah hooray!
If you want to adjust your address books, instead of 9D, we're in 5B.
That's all that's changed, terribly complex I know.

Burning Daylight

The sun has returned to the north! Usually this is cause for celebration. Unless you're a mom. Bedtimes all over the state are getting debated now. How can it be bedtime if it's still light outside? My kids are hellions when it comes to bedtime anyway, so you can imagine the fun we've been having lately.
Part of my problem (and solution) is all these wonderful windows in our house. I truely love them, and love looking into the calming green of the woods behind our place. But, in an effort to preserve the blinds in this unit (the other unit's blinds started trashed and the boys further mangled them) we've decided not to use them at all. So, now I need to find alot of curtain material!
As you can imagine, with no Walmart to offset costs, buying material in large amounts (like over a yard) is a cringe-worthy purchase. Oh for a JoAnn's. >sigh<
So, I have a favor to ask of you all. If, on your rambles through all the wonderful stores down there, you notice any great material for cheap-o, or even actual pre-made curtains for cheap-o, snap a picture and/or give me a call. We'd pay you back and pay shipping as well if it's something that works. Thank you!

Cleaning the Fridge

I had some helpers cleaning out the fridge.

I couldn't decide if they were over ripe or cheeky fresh?

Mt Dew Commercial

There isn't really Mt Dew in the mug, but I'm sure with a little editing, the Mt Dew people won't care.

Perfect

I walked into the bathroom of the Sportsman's Warehouse in Provo/Orem and found the Perfect picture. I'm not sure exactly where I would put it, but if I could afford it, I'd find a place.

What do you think?

It's titled Boys Will Be Boys.

Sorry about my reflection.

Easter Treats from my Mommy

My mom called me this morning brimming with excitement over the Easter treats she'd learned to make. She sent out the recipe, which I'm excited to try out, and I thought I'd share it.

Homemade Marshmellow Eggs

First, prepare your molds. Fill large cake pan (13X9 or similar) with flour. Using plastic egg, make indentations into the flour. Carefully set aside. It's essential that this is done first, when your marshmellow mixture is complete it will set up very fast!

Marshmellows:
Disolve 2 packages unflavored gelatin (i.e. Knox variety) and a dash of salt (opt) in 5 Tablespoons cold water. Make sure there are no dry pockets! Add 1/2 cup boiling water and stir. Beat on high for 1 minute (no more). Slowly add 1 1/2 cups white granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat 3-ish minutes until thickened (3-5). IMMEDIATELY and carefully pour into your prepared egg molds. BE QUICK!!! When molds are full, cover with a thin layer of flour and let set about 3 minutes. Scoop set 'eggs' onto waxed paper and let rest in fridge or freezer for 5-10 minutes.

Now you're ready to dip your 'eggs' in melted chocolate, or just decorate them and enjoy!

If you get a chance to try this out before I do, let me know how it goes!

In For A Long Night

I passed a test of parenthood today. My friend/boss Christiana came over with her little boy (they move next month and the boys will miss them hugely!) The kids were playing trains and it had been a pretty good evening without any big disagreements or meltdowns. Brett came home to eat and was getting ready to head back to work. Tristan (C's boy) stood up and for reasons unknow, threw the train he had in his hand (it was James if you were wondering). It hit Shane in the head and Tristan's mom was quick to correct him. Shane was crying of course, and Brett told him to come over for hugs. Then Shane stood up and we noticed some blood on his leg. It took us all a second or two to register when Shane moved his hand from his head and blood streamed down his face. Christiana was quite upset (essentially an only child, with only 1 kid); apologizing and trying to show Tristan what had happened and not sure how to help. She even offered to watch Austin so we could take Shane to the ER. I have to say it helped me stay focused (thanks C ;p ). While Brett went for some TP, not sure how bad it was, I got Shane and pulled his shirt off and pressed it against his head- just like Ken would do ;P (thank goodness it was a red shirt). Brett came back and swapped the shirt for TP while I ran and got a washcloth. Then we took turns compressing the wound and cleaning him up. When all was said and done, it was a pretty deep cut, but so short that a trip to the ER would be useless. But, regardless, we'll be keeping Shane up until Brett gets home tonight (which I guess isn't too much later than he's been going to sleep)
15 minutes later, Shane was laughing and talking again. Christiana was still a bit in shock, and Tristan was a bit freaked out too, but I think we got them convinced that Shane was going to be fine.
Sorry- no pictures.

We had to interupt the regularly scheduled programs, but we got to meet up with parts of my family for dinner one night (and a movie the next) at Red Robin in University Mall. It was really good, the service was great and Abe had a fit of insanity and paid for everyone (we'll get you back for that!)
There was my older brother Abe, my younger sister Shannon, my nephew Trevor, and his wife Emi.

Shane was wonderfully and immediately comfortsble; talking up a storm.

Austin spent alot of time smiling coyly at Shannon

(and trying to kick her under the table... boys)

Shannon & Abe at dinner.

After dinner and pictures, I looked down and saw this little sign.
Lucky 13!
And up above was the car.
On our way out the boys had to stop and see the 'waterfall' fountain.

And Dad had to stop to keep them from trying to fish out the money.

We Love Aunt Jan!

She has a chicken.

And a trampoline.

AND a train set...

A really big train set.
And if that isn't cool enough, she brought us Krispy Kreme hats!

We love you Jan! We're gonna find the perfect thank you gift soon, but until then... we can't wait to see you again!

Picture Day

With every family gathering comes picture day. I'm sure Kenny and Morgan and pretty much everyone else got better shots than I did, but I haven't got to look at those yet, so you'll have to make do with my attempts.

JD, Brett, Kenny, Kerrianne, Dad, Mom, Nikki, and Dayna.
Grandma & Grandpa with all the grandkids.

The Cousins

Splishin' and a Splashin'

Grandma (and Grandpa) go exercise at the Rec Center most days. So we went along to swim in the pool. Dad wanted to test out the camera's waterproof claim. So we did.

Getting ready to brave the big blue...
Shaner thinks he's ready.For most the time, Shane loved to "swim"

See him kicking?Austin was Mr. Chill-ax! No one touchin' him, just floating around enjoying the sensation of it all.

Dad tried to teach Shane to dunk, but it didn't go so well.

Austin didn't mind so much, but made it clear it was a one time deal.

It was a long day. We even got to hop into their hot tub for a few minutes (Shane loved the warm-warm water!) But in the end, it was exhausting.

For Sage

We drove by the municipal horse corrals almost every day, we made it a point to visit. Shane even said he wanted to take some pictures for Sage (we will email all of them soon)

There were plenty of different horse friends to see and feed.
Once he saw me feed one, Shane was fearless.

This pair were the favorite.

Shane wanted to feed just the Shetland, but the big dun would nip at the little horse whenever Shane had food. It took a lot of grasses and some sneakiness to get the dun to one side of the corral and Shane on the other.

Toot!

We went on a few special trips while hunkered down in Green River. This was to the train yards. There was a walk-way over the myriad of tracks. Both boys got a kick out of seeing all there was to see. Like these loads of tracks waiting to be laid.

After a bit of a wait, we got to see a train coming in.

It went on and on and on and on...

Shane loved the "Woo Hoo" double-ended engines.

Looking up at where we were; and watching the engines reset.
I got the engineer to toot his whistle, Shane wasn't too keen on that
All in all, it was a wonderful experience. Shane is still asking to go back and see the trains.