Saturday, August 27, 2011

Blah, blah, blah!

I have been meaning to post for several days now. But it has been crazy around here. In one week we fed the senior class seminary students, the girls soccer team, the freshmen seminary students and the student council. In between all of that we got Porter packed and ready for BYU. Gary took him down, watched some awesome soccer! GO COUGARS!! Painted cougar paws...and then repainted some cougar paws. Thanks Tazie, McKenna and Seth! I went to a fantabulous Relief Society sleepover/retreat in a cabin nicer than my house. And did all the other stuff life demands.
Tonight I have time, but am feeling kinda blah. I think the heat is zapping my energy. And last night at the football game I pulled some weird muscle.....I know! a muscle?....in my side. And it hurt, a lot. It still hurts.It is hard to smile and be happy. Not to mention the laundry and shopping and so on. All this whining is getting old. So as soon as I can I am going to bed. I am praying for all of those in the path of Hurricane Irene. Gary`s sister lives in Maryland, but all seems to be well. Tomorrow will be a good day! Sundays usually are. So tune in all 5 readers, things have to be better!

Friday, August 19, 2011

The hardest part.

I think trying to come up with a title is the hardest part of this blogging business. (I am not counting the trying to get a cute background and font part.) The title should be a clever witty sentence that draws in readers and showcases my great sense of humor. Couple of problems, I don`t really have that great a sense of humor, I just talk a lot and I am not really clever.
I am enjoying the last few weeks of summer, desperately hanging on to them actually! August is like the Sunday of the weekend, you don`t have to go to work or school, but you KNOW Monday is the next day and it takes some of the joy out of it. This summer is the first since we moved here,in 1990, that our school district isn`t starting in August. I LOVE it!! Most of the schools in this area have already started and for some reason that makes the last few weeks of summer even more enjoyable! Not very Christian of me, eh? This year I am not even looking forward to returning to a regular routine or the excitement of new clothes and classes and school supplies. I want my kids to myself just a bit longer. To sleep in and stay up late talking after a swim in the pool. To have ice cream for dinner and not worry about not nourishing their learning minds.Or not having a bajillion games and practices or homework to deal with. Maybe it has something to do with 3 of my kids in college and moving away from home.
Weren`t they all just little boys and girls? Time moves so quickly. Sometimes those days just drug on endlessly, but the weeks and months fly by.Those little kid day were so difficult, I wouldn`t want to return to them, but every now and then I would like a one-day pass to visit them! At the same time I realize I look backward with rose colored glasses. Forgetting the seemingly endless sleepless nights, or that time that I had 3 children in diapers. Or the days spent entertaining and corralling Emily---man she had bundles of energy. Maybe this is why grandparents are so awesome, they understand better than most how quickly time passes and to enjoy the ride!!!
Well, so ends another random post. Maybe that is why I can`t ever think of titles, I never know what I am going to write about. I do know it is never as profound or soul searching as I wish. Sigh....but I am happy to be a part of this great blogging neighborhood. So, until next time, enjoy the last bit of summer. And oh yeah kick some trash tonight Cougar football!!!!!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Do you have the time for this???

Just warning you....this could be a long rambling post. Do you have the time?
I just spent about 40 minutes trying to make my blog cute. I can only get half of it in the paisley design I like. Any advice out there? Now I am afraid to even try to get a cute font. If any of you 2 or 3 people who read this can help,let me know. Hannah put our family picture up, we did add my picture next to my profile, but it was HUGE. And I am not exaggerating that. HUGE. And I don`t want to scare anyone out there with my HUGE face.
We have had a crazy week and a half of travel. Colorado was wonderful,I hope to take my kids there more. My mom is remodeling their cabin so it might be easier to haul the troops there now. And 3 of them are leaving home, maybe 4 kids will seem less overwhelming than 7. I look forward to more trips out there. On the flight home we didn`t have a full plane so we were able to spread out some, it involved me putting my purse and jacket on the seat between us and then avoiding all eye contact. It worked, I felt rude, but oh well! I find myself highly competitive in the whole security check/boarding process. We flew Southwest and I paid a bit extra for early bird check in. So 36 hours before our flight we were assigned a letter and number. And we didn`t have to check in. We were A 26 and 27. That meant we were among the first 30 to board. In the past you just were assigned a letter, A,B or C. Obviously A went before B, B before C. But there were no numbers, so I always got this weird need to be as close to the front of the line as possible, which meant checking in via computer as close to 24 hours before takeoff as I could. Then arriving early enough to get a spot close to the beginning. And then looking with suspicion at ANYone who might try to budge. Weird I know, but it was intense. And check in is a whole other issue. It is always my goal not to set off the alarm, and to not hold up the line. It isn`t like the TSA agent is going to commend me on a flawless security check or anything! So I am not sure what my deal is? Both going and coming home I failed. Forgot my cell phone was in my pocket in Salt Lake. And in Denver forgot to put my travel spray and lotion in a baggie. DANG IT!!!!! I wasn`t perfect. Gary just laughs and shakes his head. This time in Denver the 8 people in front of me had to have a full body xray scan, as did the several behind me. But not me! They just motioned me through the metal detector, don`t know whether to be offended or happy!
Less than 24 hours after we got home from that trip we were on to Oregon for our niece's wedding in the Portland temple.Everyone but her sister on a mission was there. That made 21 grandchildren and Gary`s brother and 4 sisters and spouses. That is a lot of people. Tashya is the 1st grandchild to get married, it was amazing to be at her sealing. It feels like we were all just there making our own covenants, and now our children our growing and going to the temple. It was a sweet experience to be had. We swam some....after the wedding of course....visited,sang,shopped, ATE a LOT. It was good to be together, don`t know how many more times that will happen. All of the kids are growing and moving on with their own busy lives. We drove the whole 12 hours in one trip coming home on Sunday. We were packed pretty tight into the Suburban. And we didn`t leave Oregon til about 11:30. So we didn`t get home til about 1 or 1:30 in the morning. Glad I don`t have to do that again soon.
We are in the process of preparing Hannah and Porter to move out and go to college, Bear is already there. I am nervous and excited for them all. Mostly nervous with Hannah. When Porter and Bear graduated from high school, they went right out on a mission. I didn`t worry about them....I really didn`t! But it is scary to think of sending my little girl out into the world. She only knows one other person at the Business College, her brother. I hope and pray she will be ok. I admire her bravery, I certainly wasn`t that brave! And I hope she has all the fun and learning and growth college can offer. I have decided to have a send off family ceremony for each of them. I will report how it goes. We take Porter on Monday! I have loved having him home this 6 weeks, but it is time for him to go and make his way in the world. But can`t we keep Hannah just a little longer????
If you have read this far and are still awake, well you are awesome! Remember, if anyone can help with my design issues let me know!

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Monday, August 8, 2011

How sweet it is.. And has been.

Well thanks to my friend Christine Poulsen I know how to blog from my iPad! So I can post from the comfort of my hotel room instead of the lobby. Thanks Christine. Although I am a bit nervous to attempt a new paragraph because it could either do that OR post to my blog unfinished. It has been wonderful being here and being with my parents and Shawn and Chris. I miss my kids,I think! It looks like from Facebook that there was some kind of fun at our house Saturday night, all good and clean, but a bit unsettling when we aren't there.
Anyway, today was my grandpa's memorial service. Gary spoke, he was wonderful. He was very close to my grandpa. In fact his doctoral dissertation was about my grandpa and my grandparents marriage. He said many sweet and tender things. And my mom gave him permission to dedicate the "niche" that holds their ashes. I am grateful for that. We have done many of the activities from my childhood and eaten at a few family favorite restaurants. We have even made some more memories. There is a great mexican restaurant near our hotel, the 3 Margaritas. My sister, her husband and Gary and I ate there last night. It was so good and extremely filling. It was rough walking back to our rooms last night. We ate there again tonight to celebrate our parents 48th anniversary. It was hopping tonight! Crowded and with a genuine mariachi band. Great fun, new tradition.
Tomorrow we fly back to Salt Lake. I hate flying. A whole lot. It is always good to be on land. Then we pick Bear up and head home. We leave Wednesday for Oregon. Poor Gary has had multiple calls from students in his ward, he will be doing interviews Wednesday morning before we leave. I get the feeling it may be more difficult for him to get away for a few years!
I have decided I am the boringest blogger on the internet, but oh well! Hannah is going to help me figure out how to jazz up the appearance, unfortunately she can't jazz me up! But oh well, right!!??? If we don't crash between Denver and Salt Lake I will update later.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Let the fun Begin!

I tried to blog yesterday, but for some reason all I can do on my ipad is write a title. Nothing else, so
I missed yesterday. Gary and I are in Colorado til Tuesday. Then we leave with the whole gang Wednesday night for our niece`s wedding in Portland on the 12th, a Friday. We come back home that Sunday. A few weeks later I move Porter down to Provo so he can start at BYU. At the beginning of September we move Hannah to SLC so she can start at the LDS Business College. Also where Bear will be attending. So we are at the start of a lot of traveling and changing. As soon as I turned on my phone after we got off the VERY turbulent flight to Denver (have I mentioned how much I despise flying?) I saw
I had missed several calls from home. Now, back in Salt Lake I had already fielded many calls and texts about how every other child but the one I happened to be speaking with was a jerk or not doing there chores or many such similar statements. So, with trepidation I dialed home. Turns out Brigham needed to share the news that someone on the show Phineas and Ferb had kissed someone else. Not sure who did it! Gary was slightly, and by that I mean VERY, annoyed with the amount of phone calls, and while they do tend to call a lot, I am so grateful I can be a billion miles away and still be in contact. In March we were in Arizona, man it sounds like we travel a lot, we don`t. Anyway, we got a call from Brandon Moon informing us our van had apparently slid off the road to Parker. A whole other story. After we determined Nathan was just fine and handled the situation we laughed to know we knew within minutes what had happened even though we were miles away! I love cell phones. Seriously I do.
Well, shortly my parents will be here to meet us and we will be going out to dinner. We are here for my grandpa`s memorial service. My sister Shawn and her husband Chris are here also. We are going to spend the next 3 and half days doing many of the things we did during childhood summers we spent out here in Colorado with my grandparents. A fitting tribute I think. Most of my fond memeoris from growing up are here. Every summer my mom and dad would pack our van and bring us all here. And by all I mean me, my sister and my mom and dad. Good times, good memories. The four of us are all that is left now. Well, unless you count our husbands and combined 9 children! I am going to enjoy the trip down memory lane, probably talk to my children LOTS of times! I LOVE COLORADO!!!

Thursday, August 4, 2011

I have stalked long enough!

So for about 3 or 4 years I have been stalking many, MANY blogs. My daughter has one, many of her friends and my friends have one, so I am joining the blogging world. I don`t imagine to have many readers, but that is ok. I guess now I can stalk myself! Anyway, as everyone says, it will be good to keep kind of a semblance of a family journal here. At this current time our computer seems to be stuck and I can`t get the CD thingie to open so that I can add our FABULOUS family pictures. Really, they are amazing, thanks in great part, no ALL part to Jenny Cook at Jennifercook Photography. And Kelsey at Charizma who did my hair!!! So hopefully one of my children can figure it out for me.
I have been married to Gary for just about 24 years. We have 7 children, the lineup is Bear 22, Porter 21, Hannah 18, Nathan 17, Emily 15, Natalie 12 and Brigham 10. Wow, they are all in double digits!! Gary teaches seminary and I sub for our local school district. Porter asked me if I planned to write regularly on the blog. And I do. So let`s see if I really do!