2011 So Far

2011 has been rather busy so far.  So busy that I forgot to finish blogging the rest of 2010.  I'll make a mental note to get back to that.  In January Josh fell asleep while reading and Clara lost her fashion sense.

 

In February I went with my cousins to Las Vegas and we ate a lot of chips and Italian food and saw Ka and Phantom.  Baby Ellen got her acceptance letter to college and we all celebrated and cried that she is so old now.

 There was a chocolate fountain that dripped from the ceiling.  That is pure genius.

 And some really cool cakes.

 And a really cool waterfall.

 And statues.

 And then some of my Webelos got a bunch of awards and abandoned me to BOY Scouts.

If it was even possible, my kids got cuter and started liking each other on and off for a few minutes on Thursdays.

Then my baby turned 5 and I turned 39 (gasp).  Clara got a horse and a pteranodon which is every five year old girl's dream...apparently.

She also got a sign that says, "Princess of Quite alot" from Amabuela.  The fact that "alot" is totally and utterly wrong and people who make signs like this should have to have a proofreader just adds to the perverse humor that my family enjoys.

To support my claim of "Meanest Mom in the Whole World", my mom bought me this sign for my office.  Josh read it and laughed.  Apparently it didn't instill the fear in him that we were hoping for. 

So that is life in a nutshell.  There are other things like Dave getting a new job, a pending trip back to God's Country for a visit, we still haven't finished painting the stairwell in one spot because I'm lazy and it requires a ladder, and a visit last week with my Bestie that was awesome. 

Fall Break - October 2010

For Fall Break we headed to Arizona to visit family and friends.  We left at noon on Tuesday and drove straight through, arriving at around midnight.  Long drive, but worth it to go all in one day.  We stayed with our friends, Bob and Donna, who were heading to California for the weekend.  We got to play for a little while on Wednesday, and had America's Taco Shop for dinner, which is awesome.  

Thursday we headed out to my aunt and uncle's house to play for a while, and then Thursday night I went down to the 'hood to have dinner with my friend Monica.  She made me tacos that were divine.  We talked for a looooong time and I met her little girls who are sassy and sweet - just like Monica! 

Friday was reserved for my bestie and my kids' besties.  We made the long drive out to the edge of the world to visit them.  Fortunately, my bestie was able to take the day off so we had lunch, let the kids swim, and talked and talked.  I am crazy in love with her kids.  My kids are crazy in love with them, too.  As long as Clara marries one of her boys, and Josh marries her girl, we will be good.

Saturday we headed back over to my aunt and uncle's house to let all of the cousins play.  We had a BBQ for lunch and sat around and talked and ate too many cookies.  In the afternoon we went home and I took a little nap to get ready for my reunion dinner that night.  Pictures from that coming eventually.  I didn't take any, but will get them from my friend who is a camera fiend.

July 19, 2010: Number Nine Reunion

Any time at least two members of Park Place #9 (1994-96) get together, it's a reunion. In this case it was a ROOM reunion. I moved into Park Place #9 not knowing any of the other girls in my apartment. My plan was to stay for a semester and then move back to Phoenix. The girls changed my plans. That was the most fun I ever had at BYU. Of course, Renae and I didn't get any pictures taken together last night, however, we did get pictures of the offspring.

Matt and Renae are in town visiting and came over for hamburgers, hot dogs, and swimming. It was a warm evening, but once the sun went down it was really nice outside. The kids had fun swimming and we had fun talking and discussing baby names.

Clara and J

Josh and C

I couldn't get K and T to look up at me!

After they were all in their pajamas, they performed the great noodle war of 2010.

All six crazy kids (and another one is on the way!). Total offspring for Park Place #9 so far is 18 going on 19. There were seven of us over the two years and two haven't had kids...yet. :)

July 17, 2010: Housework = Clean Garage

Cleaning the garage shouldn't actually be included as housework since it is in...the garage. However, it required bringing things from the garage into the house so I am counting it anyway. When we first woke up we cleaned our main room. If we clean our main room, Mama feels better (I'm the Mama). If the main room is a disaster, Mama ain't happy. So that's what we did.

Then Dave said, "Did you want me to go to Home Depot?"
I said, "Yes, take all three kids."
Dave said, "We don't have three kids."
I said, "I know that. But, if we did, I would want you to take all three."

He only took Josh and left Clara to me. Then I saw my next door neighbor and asked him if he knew anything about electrical work (and I knew he did because he is finishing his basement). He said yes and came in and looked at our GFIs, which needed resetting or something like that. Solved! Dan saved the day! Yay, Dan! :) So I called Dave to tell him that and that I needed a diet coke.

When Dave got home I was cleaning out the garage. I moved the refrigerator over to the other side of the stairs, emptied our big blue 60 gallon barrel of last year's water and then put it in our shed and refilled it, and Dave pressure washed the garage floor. So clean. So beautiful. So not lasting more than a week.

At this point I was dripping with sweat (nice image) so the kids and I got in the pool and floated around waiting for Sara, Woodstock, and Pebbles to come over. They can only swim on Saturdays because they live far far away closer to the Big City. They joined in and we swam a while longer and then Amabuela showed up and swam with the kids and then Dave got Indian Food.

Now, Dave and I are going to a movie to celebrate 8 years since we got engaged (which is Monday). I hope my 10 readers have had a fabulous Saturday.

June 25, 2010: This is the Place

We haven't been able to hang out with the Kirks for a couple of years, so when they told us they were coming to town, we took things seriously. Dave took the day off from work so that we could devote a lot of time to playing, and we met at Red Iguana the moment it opened to start things off right.

After lunch, we headed up to This is the Place Park for a few hours. The first thing we did was hope on the train that isn't a train - as in, it's a series of cars that look like trains, but they are on wheels. It takes you all around the park, but we got off at the Indian Village to check things out and make some crafts.

Jenny, Morgan, Jim, Jamie and Josh

Clara, Corinne, Jamie and Josh in the Hogan

The boys - Dave and Jim - they even dressed alike

Corinne, Jamie and Josh peek through the little tee pee

The Craft: Arrowhead necklaces with beads

A beautiful view of the Salt Lake Valley - the picture doesn't do it justice

Riding the mini train

The kids attempted to pull the handcart but it was chained down.

Clara is gaga over horses and wanted to pet it

Josh was tall enough to do it without being held

Their final event was the pony ride

I think this is universally their favorite activity on the planet

This is the Place Monument with Brigham Young on top

A monument to the first company that arrived on July 24, 1947

My Great-Great-Grandfather was part of that company - Sylvester Henry Earl

He was in good company with Brigham Young

After a while it was just too darn hot, so we headed to the Gateway to play in the fountain. Josh was in heaven. He bounced all over the place trying to find the geysers, and there were tons of kids so I was glad that he was in such a bright swimsuit.

Dancing to the musical fountain

Clara stood on the edge - having nothing to do with it

Josh and Jamie wait for a stream of water

The rules - most of which I saw broken

This definitely cooled him off!

After getting ice cream at the food court, we headed back to our house to relax. We had Kneaders for dinner and then they had to head back home for the night. It was wonderful to have that long to spend with them and the kids had a lot of fun together. We wish they lived closer so they could play more often. Jim was instrumental in getting Dave and me together 8 years ago. Jenny and he got married a few months after we did, and then they had Jamie about six weeks after we had Josh. Clara and Corinne are just a few months apart as well. When Jenny and I were pregnant, we spent the summer at her parents' house swimming and trying to stay cool in the heat and humidity of Virginia. We also ate ate at their house almost every Sunday when we lived there. Good times!