Go Grease Lightning

On Saturday July 23, we took a mini-Va-K to St. George to go to Tuacahn and see Grease.  I have wanted to take Cayden to Little Mermaid but those tickets were hard to come by.  Connor was going to Pioche with grandma and grandpa so we just had Cayden and Caleb (oh and the baby bundle).  We drove to St. George and went to Olive Garden for dinner.  We let the kids get whatever they wanted and so Caleb got Lobster Ravioli and then they each got their own desserts. It was quite delicious.  After dinner we ran to Target for a few things and Don got a haircut next door at GreatClips then we checked into our hotel-The Hampton Inn.  We headed to Tuacahn around 7:15.  Don and Caleb had not been there before even though Cayden and I had-last year to see Tarzan and the year before that Cody and I went with some of Don's family to Les Mis.  There really is not a bad seat in that place and even though it was really hot they do have misters and frozen lemonade and snow cones.  The kids really liked Grease even though they knew nothing about it.  I was glad that Tuacahn made it a bit more tasteful than the actual movie was.  After the show we hit In and Out Burger just to give me an extra extra dose of heartburn and headed back to the hotel.  The next morning we went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast where Cayden almost needed the heimlich after too much bacon in his mouth-then instead of going home we drove up to Pine Valley.  Don has been wanting to take the kids camping up there and he wanted to check it out before they went.  It was still pretty warm even in Pine Valley but it was nice under the trees.  The boys hiked around a little and Caleb even used his Leave No Trace skills and picked up some trash and a soda can from the river. I sat on a rock and swatted at mosquitoes.After Pine Valley we went to Arby's and then drove home.  It was a quick but nice little jaunt.

A Camping Caleb Will Go

Caleb had a week long scout trip July 11-16.  They left Monday morning for Kolob and were gone all week.  I don't have any pictures but he had a great time.  He finished 7 merit badges while he was up there, swam in the creek, got scared by a bigfoot creature and helped cook and clean up their meals.  He also spent a night out by himself as part of the wilderness survival badge. 

Let's Go To The Movies

Friday July 15 was opening day for the new Winnie the Pooh movie.  Cayden had seen the previews a few times at the other movies we went to during the summer.  He was so excited about this show and so I took him to see it in Mesquite.  It was the shortest movie EVER!  69 minutes from start to finish and that was with the previews.  Dad was out of town and Caleb was on his campout so it worked out great.

28 Weeks

My feet are down there somewhere!

Ice Cream For Dinner

Everyone is gone but me and Cayden.  Caleb left for scout camp on Monday, Don left for Houston on Tuesday, Connor is at grandma's and Cody has left the nest.  Cayden and I decided to have ice cream for dinner.  I did put bananas on mine for nutritional purposes.  Cayden must always have sprinkles.

Sleepy Heads

This is what I woke up to the other morning.  I got up to use the banyo around 1:30 and they were all still up. When I got up again in the morning this is where they all had crashed.  July 7, 2011

Utah Trip June 25-July 5

The birthday bunch-grandma just can't make a normal face in pictures.

After a weeklong packing extravaganza-ok really an all nighter pulled by Cody to get ready to leave Logandale we left Sunday morning around 11 to drive to Utah.  Cody had so much crap that we had to take 2 cars to get it all up there and all of us.  Connor rode with Don and the other boys rode with me in the Suburban.  We stopped at Del Taco in Mesquite for Cody and Cayden and then Don got Connor and Caelb Popeye's.  Then we stopped at Sonic in St. George for me.  Cody had been getting sick for a few days and by the evening he had had enough of the coughing and so had we.  After we unloaded the cars a bit Don took him down to the Urgent Care at Riverwoods.  He got an antibiotic and some cough medicine.  Grandma had dinner made and we celebrated the June birthdays with a cake from Costco.

On Monday I picked up my mom from a doctor appointment and then we met Chris, Anne and Lexi at the mall for Chic Fil A.  We took home food for the kids which is so much easier than hauling them all there.  Anne and I did a bit of shopping in the maternity store and bought some new shoes at Payless-one for me, one for Cayden and then we headed home. Connor helped Grandma Penny in the yard plant some new plants.

On Tuesday Aunt Suzanna came up with Abby and Owie and the kids played.  Connor and Caleb helped paint the trim on Uncle Chris' house.  Su and I went to JCW's for burgers and shakes.  One of many visits during that trip.  Don had to get his windshield fixed.  He dropped off the car and then I picked him up.  We picked up the car a few hours later and then went to Smith's for some stuff for dinner.  We had steak, fried potatoes, beans, fruit and corn for dinner.  I think we went for frozen yogurt that evening.

On Wednesday, Don and Connor left to come back home.  Don thought he was going to have to go to Dallas but he ended up not having to.  Connor cleaned some windows at Mawmaw's before they left.  I think we went to JCW's again and then we had steak salad for dinner.  Cody started his new job at Jamba Juice.  Don and Connor saw a kid get hit on a bike just down the road from Grandma's.  Luckily they just saw  him flip up in the air not the actual impact.  It through Connor for a loop.  Don went to help and told Connor to go back to grandma's.  There were conflicting reports from the kids as to what happened but Julia and I ran down to the road and saw the kid lying on the grass.  At first I was worried that Don had hit him but I saw that Don was very calm and smiling and talking and his car looked fine so I knew that was not the case.  Just then the ambulance pulled up.  The kid was OK and coherent but probably broke his arm.  Don and the dad were able to give him a blessing before they took him.  He lived somewhere close and he was with his friends at the time so one of them went and got his parents.  I am so grateful that my husband has the priesthood and can use it.  Later in the afternoon Cody took Caleb to see Transformer's 3.

On Thursday we went to Pirate Island pizza-Chris was not feeling great.  Owie started running a fever on Wednesday so they did not come up.  After Pirate Island we went to Michael's to get some crafts for the kids to do.  Pirate Island has better food than Chuck E Cheese but it has less games and very limited prizes.  Cayden got the shaft on one of the games even though he "won" 125 tickets it barely gave him 75.  He ended up getting mostly tootsie rolls and a bouncy ball.  Woo hoo! 

On Friday we went to lunch at the mall again and then to see Cars 2. Caleb, Cayden and I moved over to Chris and Anne's because Laurel and Jim were coming in. 

On Saturday morning I went out to Suzanna's and we drove over to Lehi to pick up our Bountiful Basket stuff.  Mom came over to stay with the boys and Lexi until I got back.   I did not sleep very well Friday night and had an hour and half insomnia episode from 5-7so I was really tired.  We went up Grandma's around 4.  I drove Chris' car up there because Lexi' seat was in it.  Around 5 Jim drove me to Jamba to see Cody and get a smoothy then he drove me to Chris' to get my car and then I left to go and pick up Don and Connor from the airport.  After I picked them up we stopped at JCW's in Lehi.  Curse you grasshopper shakes and butterfinger shakes.

On Sunday we slept in, Anne and I went to WinCo  and then we all went up to grandma's for dinner.  I was not feeling good and later that night after we got Connor to bed Don and I went to the hospital in Provo and spent 5 hours in Labor and Delivery.  I was having lots of cramping and some bleeding and because I am RH negative I was worried because I had not had the Rhogam shot.  The baby was bouncing all over the place so much that we had to turn down the monitor.  We watched a not very nice episode of Married With Children and a few episodes of Deadliest Catch while we hung out.  We had to wait so long because of a blood test they were doing to make sure that there was no placental abruption. 

This is the hat that Connor bought with his tickets from Nickelcade.

 

At JCW's on 4th of July.

 Early Monday morning we left LandD around 4:30 and then went back to Chris'.  We slept until about 10:30 then got up.  The Flowers, the Pitts and Cody went swimming but my boys did not want to. We went to JCW's AGAIN and then back to grandma's.  I felt really tired, dizzy and had a bad headache from not enough sleep and the meds the hospital gave me.  I went to lay down in mom's room and Don took Caleb, Connor and Jessie to Nickelcade and Laurel took Cayden to the mall.   After everyone got back we headed back to Chris' house for the Driveway of Fire festivities. We had BBQ pork sandwiches, fruit salad, potatoe salad, chips, corn on the cob and a delightful holiday bundt cake made by Suey and homemade almond and mint chocolate chip ice cream.  The kids played Quiet ball and then Dodgeball.  Even Cayden played which we found very interesting because he usually hangs back. After dinner we spent 2 hours lighting fireworks.  The kids did snaps and sparklers and then Don, Connor and Jim lit off the myriad of fireworks that we had.  The kids also played with glowsticks and we partook of some patriotic popcorn made by Anne.  The weather was really odd again this year.  Last year it was so cold that we were wrapped in blankets at Suey's house while watching the fireworks.  This year it sprinkled on and off for about and hour or two then we got quite a bit of rain.  It was not cold though just a bit muggy.  We moved all the cars out of the driveway and the garage and most of us sat in the garage during the rain except our intrepid pyrotechnic crew who proceeded to entertain us.  It seemed that the entire world was doing fireworks and since Utah changed the law everyone was doing ones that shot up into the air.  Connor did pretty good until the end where he lost it.  Holidays are horribly hard for him and 4th of July is extremely overstimulating.  Don had to settle him a few times during the fireworks but after 2 hours of it he was in overload.  It took a bit to get him reigned in. 

Suey's very patriotic cake.

Baby bellies!  Only 3 weeks apart.  Almost 27 weeks and almost 24 weeks.

Cayden singing the national anthem while sparkling!

This is Don doing his slow motion run showing his mad fireworks darting skills.

Most of the pics of Cody were funny faces.

Firemarshall Connor

The audience.

The pile of fire.

Connor hollering the Star Spangled Banner along with Suey's patriotic playlist.

Caleb waiting for the action.

Playing with glowsticks.

 

 

 

 

 

Anne's tasty popcorn.

Another funny face.

The family-then the camera died.

Tuesday morning we got up and got packed up visited Chic Fil A for Cody and took it to him at work.  I had a picture of him but my camera is very messed up compliments of my kids so it did not save. (big frowny face)  We also visited JCW's for the LAST TIME and then we headed home.  We hit a couple of super great thunderstorms that through Connor for a loop and I think we visited every town between Provo and Logandale to use the facilities.  It was nice to get home even though that meant the heat.  I did not unpack fully for 3 days.  Thank you to the Hotel Humphreys and the Gessel Inn for hosting our family again.  We appreciate your hospitality.

25 Weeks Down, 15 To Go

June 23, 2010

Yep, just keep getting bigger. Not even gonna tell you what I weigh.

Whitetrash Swimming Pool

Cayden and his friend Shanden found a good way to keep cool in the Logandale summer.

The Money Pit

This homeownership is getting old.  Don't get me wrong I love my house.  I just don't like paying for it and all the things that break all the time.  I don't remember the other house having so many things break so often and so close together but we were only there 5 years and we have been here almost 7.  Everything here has broken  after the 5 year warranty of course so we have had to pay full price for everything plus the service calls for the repairman to come out.  We are on a first name basis with our repairman from the Boulevard.  His name is Brent and he has visited us  numerous times in the last year and a half.  The lastest repair/replace in a 18 month long history of repairs was the water heater and the dryer-again.  When we got back from California I noticed that the podium thing that the waterheater sits on looked wet.  On closer inspection I noticed the paint was bubbling  and that down on the ground the cement was looking wet.  We called a plumber Monday morning but did not hear back from them so we called another one on Tuesday who came within 2 hours.  He gave me the quote and said that he could come back later that afternoon and replace it.  He did and $700 later plus a big mess where we had to rip out the top of the podium thing that the water heater sat on we were good to go.  Don left for Montana on Wednesday and the dryer stopped working on Thursday.  Granted, the poor thing had ran non-stop for 4 days plus even though it had a 5 day break while we were in California, it had run nonstop for a week while we had company in town for all the graduation festivities.  So since December of 2009 here the list of what we have fixed/replaced in the house.

the dryer

the garage door

the big screen TV

the ice maker-twice

the fridge door

the bottom double oven

the microwave door

the disposal

the cooktop

the fridge door

the water heater

the dryer-a different part

the shower door liner thing-yet to be replaced

and now atleast 3 window screens that Cayden has poked holes in-yet to be replaced

Oh and not to mention atleast 2 car windshields and the mess the Altima now is that we have not even priced out yet. 

Another Teenager

Yes, 7+6=13

Caleb turned 13 on Tuesday June 21.  After a physical at the doctor for scout camp, Don took him to Mesquite to the movies and Sushi and let him pick out a few presents at Walmart.  We were going to get him a bike but we told him that was what we were going to do if he wanted or else he could pick out something else.  At first he wanted the bike so Don drove the Suburban up there but then when they got there he decided that he wanted and XBox Live hookup and he bought some games with some of his birthday money.  Since we bought the big TV in March and put it out front and were able to move the other TV back to our room, the older 35 inch JVC has been on the floor of the living room.  Caleb has commandeered it and plays XBox on it because the other 4 TV's in the house are not enough.  Caleb wanted to see Green Lantern and then they went to Walmart and then Sushi Masa for some tasty sushi rolls.  When they got home we had cake and let Caleb "open" his presents.  By open I mean take them out of the shopping bags that they came in because I hate wrapping presents and besides I am saving the environment. 

The Final Day of VaCa and Father's Day

Serenaded by the Beatles

Lunch at RainForest Cafe

On Sunday we got up, checked out and went to Downtown Disney to get lunch and something for Connor.  We ate at Rainforest Cafe and then wandered a bit till we found a shirt and water bottle for Connor and Father's Day gifts for Grandpa Don and Granddaddy Larry.  There was a band playing who was exactly like the Beatles.  It was very entertaining.  After lunch we headed out for the freeway and made the long drive back to the desert heat.

Family VayCay in CA Part 2

Cadyen loves the parade as long as we are not too close.

Waiting for Pirates.

Waiting for Fantasmic.

One of my stylin' rides.

We loved the new Mermaid ride-well Cayden and I anyway.

The only picture of Don I got.

My other stylin' ride.

The graduate.

We spent Friday and Saturday June 17 and 18,  at Disneyland.  We would have gone on Thursday but it was one of their grad night parties so both parks closed early.  It was different this time because we did not have our year long passes.  I was so not going to walk all over that park so I fully intended on having the kids push me around in a wheel chair.  When we got there I saw that they had scooters to rent as well as wheel chairs.  The extra $40 was worth it though.  It made  it so much easier to get around and we did the usual where I take Cayden and we ride Pooh Bear and Peter Pan while Don went off with Caleb and Cody to Indiana Jones and those kinds of rides that I don't enjoy anyway.  With the scooter we to go up the exits and all I had to do was show them my key.  I kind of felt bad because there are alot of people worse off than me but it was quite lovely to not have to wait in all those lines. I am not sure how my kids,, especially Cayden, are going to ever do Disney without the  benefit of the exits.  Cayden loved the parades and we waited a while to see them but he really wanted too.  Friday night he was adamant that we were going to see Fantasmic from a good vantage point so at 7:00 he parked himself along the waterfront fence and would not move.  We sat there for over 2 hours but that is what the kids wanted to do and we have not had a better view point ever.Don left us there to go and move us to our Hilton-we used alot of Don's frequent flyer miles for some of our rooms and the Hilton did not have any rooms for Thursday night so we stayed at another Hampton because it was free.   We are our traditional Monte Cristos and lots of churros and a few Dole Whips.  On Saturday we did not get to the park around 12 and all the motor scooters were gone so we had to get on a waiting list for one and had to deal with a actual push wheel chair for a few hours.  Don and Cody waited for almost 2 hours to ride the new Star Tours ride.  Caleb and Cayden and I did a few rides at California Adventure but we actually had to wait because you can't go to the exits in the regular wheelchair.  We waited for Toy Story for almost 40 minutes and it was quite disconcerting for us to actually have to wait.  Saturday night we waited for about an hour to see the new World's of Color show at California Adventure.  It was totally worth it though and simply amazing.  Think the Bellagio Fountains times about 100 with fire and lights and Disney show montages.  I looked around the park for Mickey graduation ears for Cody but I never saw any and I really did not want to spend the money on them and Cody said that he would not wear them anyway so we found these in a store and just took a picture with them. With the wheelchair/scooter I was able to make it the whole day with out getting too tired.  I was worried about that and thought that I was going to have to go back to the room and take a nap but I was ok.  Disneyland is soooo expensive and while I am glad that we did it again because Cayden has been asking for a while, it will be a little while before we go back.