Logan's and Ty's Adventures

Pinterest Project!

2011-11-16T16:39:00.000-08:00

So... have you heard of Pinterest? It's my latest addiction. It's a virtual online pinboard that helps keep track of all those great ideas and things that I find online. And it's a goldmine of great ideas. I can't tell you how many times I've found a little gem that someone else has pinned onto Pinterest and thought to myself, "How come I didn't think of that?!".... or "That is genius!".... or "I have to make that!" Michael has also started "pinning" and decided to make one of the awesome projects we discovered. It's a ruler growth chart that hangs on the wall that you can use through the years to keep track of the height of the kids. And thanks to Michael's mom, who was better at measuring the boys on a regular basis than me, we have a pretty good history that we transferred onto the ruler from the door frame in her kitchen. I personally think it turned out fabulous!

We used a 1"x8"x6' board. And when I say we.... I mean Michael. We rounded the edges on the side that was going to be the front, sanded it, and stained it. The numbers are vinyl that I cut with my Cricut. The thin black lines are also vinyl that Michael cut with my paper trimmer. I LOVE IT!

The last day of the first week of school pictures!

2011-08-26T08:45:00.000-07:00

So, in all the excitement I forgot to take pictures of Logan and Ty on the first day of school. I know! What kind of parent forgets that? Not only was it the first day, but we also had to take Michael to the airport by 7:30 to fly to Houston for a training, so that's my excuse...ha ha. Instead of first day pictures, we have last day of the first week of school pictures!

Can't believe he's a sixth grader.

Awwww... my big boys.

Excited for kindergarten!

Ty is doing really well! He's very quiet and just seems to be taking it all in. It always takes him a little while to warm up to new things, but he's enjoying it quietly so far. His new teacher is in our ward and is AMAZING! We love Mrs. Langford.

Even though Logan was initially disappointed that he didn't get the teacher he wanted, he's really liking the teacher he did get. Sixth grade here is still in the elementary school, which I like. And I've heard they do a great job getting kids ready for junior high, but I'm not going to think about Logan going to junior high just yet.

Here's to a great new school year!

Spring Break In Oregon

2011-04-13T09:41:00.000-07:00


Logan & Ty Outside the Lighthouse.


The Yaquina Head Lighthouse, Newport, OR

So, Michael had a training scheduled in Redmond, OR over Logan's spring break, so we decided to go with him. And, we invited Max and Peg along so they could enjoy some time with us during spring break too! We headed over to Newport, OR on the coast for a couple of days.We visited the Yaquina Head Lighthouse and climbed to the top. We spent some time on Cobble Beach checking out the tide pools at low tide. We stayed right on Agate Beach which was also fun for the boys.Then we came back inland to Redmond. We stayed at Eaglecrest Resort just outside of town, and it was a lot of fun. They had pools and playgrounds and trails and golf courses and gamerooms... plenty to keep the boys busy for a few days. We also did some geocaching along the way which is always fun. As far as the weather was concerned, we saw it all... snow, rain, wind, and sun. This was my first trip to Oregon, and I was just amazed by the forests there. The trees are so tall and they just hang with moss... it was beautiful... much different than the forest I'm used to in Idaho and Utah.

Peg and the boys listening to the story of the lighthouse.

Logan checking out the tide pools on Cobble Beach.

Michael & Me on Cobble Beach.


They used these drums to store the whale oil they used to keep the light burning.

Michael on cobble Beach.

Feeding the seagulls on Agate Beach.

Ty showing off his winking ability in the oil drum room.

Ty loved feeding the birds.

Interesting shoe tree that had a cache hidden nearby.

Monument in Prineville, Oregon to the 14 firefighters lost on the South Canyon Fire on Storm King Mountain in 1994.

SOLD!

2011-02-16T16:05:00.000-08:00

So Michael and I signed the closing papers on the house today! We didn't even have to make a trip to Cedar City. The title company emailed the documents to us... We signed them in front of a notary... and we over-nighted them back... Easy as pie! So, unless we made a mistake in our paperwork, the new owner will probably take possession of the house on Friday. Yeah!.... I mean Boo Hoo... NO... I really mean Yeah! It's a huge relief. We are bummed that we won't be able to buy a house for a while, but we really can't complain AT ALL because we love the house we are renting and the neighborhood and the new ward and the school. I actually wouldn't have minded a trip down south because we are missing everyone, so SOON I hope we will get a chance! We also owe Max and Peg about a hundred times over for all the help and all the trips to Cedar to check on things and run errands and take things to the realtor, etc... I don't know what we would have done without them!

Under Contract!

2011-01-20T12:43:00.000-08:00

So, our cute house in Cedar City is officially under contract! What a relief! About a month ago, the bank approved us for a short sale. We were happy and sad all at the same time. Happy because that's the only way we were going to sell it, but sad that we were going to take a hit on our credit. But, we had an offer come in last week on Thursday. Our Realtor got right on the phone with our mortgage holder and let them know, and she countered back exactly what the bank wanted. The buyer accepted the offer, and by yesterday morning the bank had officially agreed to the offer and scheduled a closing date of February 17th! For a short sale, that's a super fast response from a bank. We have been really pleased with our realtor and our mortgage holder and how they have stayed on top of it. I remember back when we were house shopping, we waited for 2 months to hear back from a bank on a short sale offer and finally gave up and walked away from the house after no response whatsoever. Short sales are famous for taking months to complete, so we are blessed that things are progressing this quickly. Now we will just keep praying for the next 4 weeks that everything else goes as smoothly!

Santa's Fire Truck

2010-12-11T18:40:00.000-08:00

So, tonight was the Christmas party at the church, and Ty was super duper excited because Santa was scheduled to make an appearance. Little did we know that he would show up in an old fashioned fire truck. I guess because almost all of the snow has melted here in Boise, he needed alternate transportation. He loaded the kids up in the back of the truck and took them for a little ride! It was raining and cold, but the boys looked awfully hadsome with there rosy cheeks afterward!

Santa putting some tarps down for the kids to sit on.

Santa lifting Ty up into the truck!

Going for a ride with lights and sirens!

Ty wanted Logan to hold him because he felt a little unsure, but they both had a good time!

Cookies!

2010-12-10T13:22:00.000-08:00

I am making one of my favorite cookies today, and I thought I would share the recipe. Most of you have probably already heard of these, but just in case you haven't... YUMMO!

Andes Mint Cookies

3/4 C. Butter

1 1/2 C. Brown Sugar

2 Tbsp. Water

Melt in saucepan over medium heat until melted. Then add...

2 C. Semi sweet chocolate chips

Take off heat and stir until completely melted. Let cool for 10-15 minutes and then add:

2 eggs

Beat Well... then add...

2 1/2 C. Flour

1 1/4 tsp. Baking Soda

1/2 tsp. Salt

Mix together and chill for 45 minutes. Roll into balls 1 to 1.5 inches in size, flatten slightly, and place on baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. When cookies come out of oven, place an Andes mint on top of each cookie and allow to melt. Swirl melted chocolate like icing and allow to cool before serving!

Halloween... kind of scary!

2010-10-30T17:38:00.000-07:00

So, we all got dressed up for our first Halloween in Boise. Yes... all of us, and it was kind of scary... ha ha. The trunk or treat at the church was on Friday night and we all had a good time. Michael and I were a rockin' Mom and Dad. Ty, of course, was Optimus Prime. He's been wearing the costume around the house for over a month. I had to do some sewing on it to repair a couple of holes to get it ready to go. Logan was a special forces military sniper, and his costume turned out awesome thanks to the army surplus store.

The military and the autobots teaming up!

Michael was his make-up artist.

Now that's a handsome Optimus.

I know... the scariest of all. Gotta love the tattoos.

Amazing Yellowstone National Park Photo... Not taken by me :)

2010-10-27T09:44:00.000-07:00

Okay... being the Yellowstone National Park junkie that I am, I thought this photo was amazing. And, I knew some of my fellow Yellowstone National Park junkie friends and family would appreciate it, so I had to share it. Just a small disclaimer... this is a Wild America... mother nature in action... the grizzly bear is on top of the food chain type of photo. So if you don't want to see a bison that's been beat up by a bear and running for it's life... don't click on the link. Otherwise... Enjoy!

Dramatic photo of grizzly bear chasing bison KXLH.com Helena, Montana

Update: Here is a link to more pictures and the rest of the story.

http://www.ktvq.com/news/the-bison-got-away/

Warning... Multiple New Posts Ahead!!!

2010-10-13T15:12:00.001-07:00

I'm such a slacker, but hey.... at least I tried to get caught up this time instead of just not doing it at all. So... four new posts to follow this one! And hopefully more to come!

Family Photo Shoot

2010-10-13T15:11:00.000-07:00

We took a drive over the weekend to Cascade, Idaho to do some geocaching and to try and snap some family photos. We did fairly well with the photos. Here are a few of my favorites. I still want to do some playing around with these in photoshop, but I just haven't had the time yet.

Awww.... my Michael.

Love this one of Ty.

Aren't my boys handsome?!?

Just too cute!

Fall Yellowstone Trip

2010-10-13T14:08:00.000-07:00

Over our 12th Anniversary weekend we made a trip to my parent's in Parker. We made a day trip to Yellowstone on our anniversary which is fun because we went to Yellowstone on our honeymoon and we've been there at least 2 other times on our anniversary. I love going there in the fall. Unfortunately we didn't see a lot of wildlife this trip. I'm not sure why. But, it was a beautiful day to be out and about.

Ty checking out the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River.

The Antelope Fire was burning near the top of Dunraven Pass.

Taylor and Cameron came with us... I always make the boys do this pose... they are good sports.

The only elk we saw other than the ones that are always on the lawn at Mammoth Hot Springs.

Logan at the brink of the Upper Falls of the Yellowstone.

Logan, Taylor, Cameron, and Ty at the brink of the Upper Falls.

August Trip to Arizona

2010-10-13T13:33:00.000-07:00

I'm finally getting around to posting some pictures of our trip to Granny's and Papa's in Arizona that we took in August right after we moved. We had a great time. We canned green beans that we got to take home with us, which is great since I don't really can anything. We did some geocaching and had a picnic at Big Lake. It had been raining a lot, and I don't think I have ever seen Eagar that green.

Ty riding the quad with Michael's supervision.

Logan riding the quad.

Logan at Big Lake for a picnic.

Ty at Big Lake being a ham as usual.

A four generation photo at Big Lake... where Max and Peg met!

Coupon Craziness!!!

2010-10-13T13:10:00.000-07:00

Yes... I'm clipping coupons again and saving money and it's great! I had stopped my newspaper subscription in Cedar because I had really stocked up on many items and wasn't using my coupons as much. So after moving to Boise, I subscribed to the newspaper again, and I'm filling the pantry up. This is a picture of my latest haul from Walmart. Walmart isn't as close to me as it was in Cedar, so I don't go as often. I have a Fred Meyer and an Albertson's really close by, so I only go to Walmart after I have a list of things stacking up that I want to get there.

At Walmart's regular prices, all of this would have cost me $55.44 before tax. After my coupons, I only paid $24.02 out of pocket. That's a savings of 57%!!! The Gain dish soap was free with a coupon from the paper. I had buy one get one free coupons for the Sunbelt fruit and grain bars that I actually printed from Facebook. The Cottonelle wipes and the Advil were free after some coupons that came in the mail that I signed up for online. I had $1 off coupons for all the pasta and oatmeal, and $2 off coupons for the Cheer laundry soap. I just love my coupons!

Boise Fun!

2010-09-08T18:48:00.000-07:00

We have been busy busy busy, but things are starting to settle down a little. And, even though moving has been stressful, we have had a lot of fun as well. Right before we moved we celebrated Ty's 4th birthday. Right after the move, we took a quick trip to Arizona to visit Granny and Papa in Eagar. While we were there we celebrated Logan's 10th birthday. And over Labor Day weekend, Max and Peg came to Boise to check out our new digs and celebrate Michael's 36th birthday. While they were here we visited the Discovery Science Center, Zoo Boise, Wahooz arcade, went geocaching, went shopping at the mall, played games, and had a lot of fun doing it all. A lot of the pictures from our happenings are on Michael's camera, so I will have to post some of those later, but I wanted to share some pictures from the zoo.

Ty trying out the fox ears.

Logan hanging out in the tortoise shell.

The tiger getting a taste of Logan.

Ty got a big kick out of feeding the goats.

Ty and Logan hanging out with the Surf's Up gang.

Our Boise Home

2010-09-08T18:33:00.000-07:00

So, this is our rental house in Boise. Pardon the pile of garbage out front... we are still waiting on the moving company to come pick up all the boxes from the move. We are starting to feel really settled in the house. It has 3 bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms upstairs. Downstairs features seperate living and family rooms, the kitchen, the laundry room, and a half bath. The boys are sharing a room for now, and it's actually going pretty well. We are using the other bedroom as a guest room/craft room. I must have a craft room... right? The back yard is fenced and has a really nice patio and a fun flower bed area where we keep our bird feeder, and we have a lot of small birds, quails, and squirrels that visit us for a snack every day. We are enjoying the house, the neighborhood, and Boise more all the time.

Logan started the 5th grade and is enjoying school. He started playing the saxophone in the band. And he's out in the street playing almost every day. The day after we moved in. some neighbor kids, Max and Samantha, came and took Logan up and down the street and introduced him to all the kids in the neighborhood... so sweet. Ty and he are having a ball. We live in the end of a culdesac, so there is almost no traffic and the kids just run from yard to yard to yard and have a great time.

Ty is enjoying having the run of the house and the yard during the day. He's super curious about learning everything and once his mom gets on the ball... we'll start doing some home preschooling. He's also sleeping much better in his own bed now that he shares a room with his big brother.

Michael is enjoying his new job. He is missing being in the field, but he's also excited about the busy training season coming up this winter. He already has several trainings scheduled... from Oregon to Virginia... He will be traveling a lot, and is already signed up for all the different sky miles programs.

I decided not to go back to work for the postal service. I was torn about it, but I had just been dreading going back. So, I decided that once we all feel really settled and are in a good routine and I can find a babysitter for Ty that I really like, I'll find something else to do. I'm not sure what that will be yet, but I feel good about waiting a while to go back to work.

So, that's our update. If you didn't get the email or facebook message with our new contact information, leave me a comment and I'll get it to you!

Relocation Update

2010-07-28T19:48:00.000-07:00

So, our relocation is in full swing. Michael is already in Boise. He's been working for one full week now at the new job and is loving it so far. He's still figuring everything out... working through that honeymoon period, but he is excited about all the prospects the new job involves. I made a trip to Boise with the boys over the weekend, and we were finally able to find a great rental house. The movers will be here next week to pack us up. I'm finishing up my last few days at the post office here in Cedar. I will be transferring to Boise with the postal service. It looks like I will even have a postal vehicle in Boise rather than using my own vehicle. We haven't had much luck selling the house yet... no surprises there. We did get one really low offer... too low to be able to accept it unfortunately. If we can't sell it in the next 3 to 4 months we will probably have to put a renter in it, which wouldn't be ideal, but it's better than having a short sale on our credit. We will see if I still feel that way in 3 or 4 months. So, I'll be sending out an email in the next few days with our new contact information. Leave me a comment with your email address or send me an email so we can keep in touch... shannonsfamily@msn.com.

Big Changes For The Reid Family

2010-06-17T19:08:00.000-07:00

Wow... It's amazing how quickly life can change sometimes.... I'm sure most of you have felt like this at some point. The Reid family is gearing up for our next adventure... a job change for Michael and a move to a new state...

Michael applied for and was offered the job of Western Region Avaition Training Specialist with AMD (Avaition Management Directorate) in Boise, ID. AMD is under the umbrella of the Dept. of the Interior just like the park service and the BLM. This job combines Michael's two loves of aviation and training... we are SO excited for this opportunity. It's a fanatastic advancement for Michael in his career. We feel so blessed that he was able to achieve this position... and in a place like Boise, which we love. Of course, it's a very bittersweet moment as well. We have loved Cedar City... We have loved Zion Helitack and working for the NPS... I mean Zion NP has to be one of the most magnificent places on this earth, right?... we have loved our time here. It will be hard for Michael to leave this crew that he has invested his heart and soul in.... It will be extremely difficult to move so far away from Michael's parents. How blessed we have been to be so close to them our entire married life. So, you can see how emotional the whole situation is... the excitement of looking forward to this new wonderful opportunity and the sadness of what we will be leaving behind.

They would like Michael to report on July 18th... so fast... YIKES! We still don't have all the details concerning the relocation, but regardless... pray that we will be able to sell our house and not have to be split up for too long waiting for the house to sell. There may or may not be the option to sell the house to a relocation company after it's been on the market for a certain amount of time... we don't know yet. So, we will just see what happens as we move forward...

We really do feel so blessed and are so grateful... for what is behind and for what is ahead! We will keep you posted!

Short Haul.... Yikes!

2010-05-30T20:22:00.000-07:00

So, that is my Michael on the end of a 100 foot long line attached to the belly of the helicopter, practicing a rescue operation with Brandon Torres, the Zion Canyon district ranger and director of the Zion short haul program. Pretty exciting... a little scary to think about... but extremely cool!

Michael has been working very hard to add short haul to the arsenal of tools that Zion Helitack can use... in this case to save lives and rescue people in distress at Zion National Park. He spent last week training to use this tool with the Search and Rescue Team at Zion.

I know.... CRAZY.... right?

You can tell by the look on his face what he thinks about the experience... what can I say... I'm so proud of him... and I'll just end with what I always tell him as he walks out the door each day... "Be Careful."

National Park Service Fire Honor Guard

2010-05-30T19:51:00.000-07:00

So, Michael was selected to be a member of the new NPS fire honor guard... super cool! The Park Service has had an honor guard in the ranger division for a while, but not for firefighters. When the opportunity presented itself, he applied, and he feels very honored to be a part of this group. He went to Boise for a week to attend initial training and to take part in the Wildland Firefighter Foundation's family weekend. The foundation has this event annually and invites the families who have lost a firefighter to come and take part. They have a really nice memorial there in Boise with a stone for each of the wildland firefighters who have died. I was fortunate to be able to go along and meet the other honor guard members and to attend the family weekend. It was extremely touching to see the pictures of the lost loved ones and hear the families talk about them. If you have a minute to visit the link to the foundation, it's well worth a look. They do such great work for families who have lost a firefighter... such a great group of people.

This is the stone for Michael's friend Spencer Koyle at the memorial.

Michael looks so handsome in his uniform... this is in front of the waterfall at the memorial.

This is the group of honor guardsmen who took part... there are represenatives from the NPS, the Forest Service, the BLM and CDF.

The flag ceremony on Sunday morning at the foundation's headquarters.

Some of the statues on the memorial grounds.

I had never taken the opportunity to visit the memorial before in all the trips I've made with Michael to Boise, so I'm so glad I got to take part in the family weekend. And, I'm just so proud of Michael.

Pinewood Derby Time!

2010-02-03T14:50:00.000-08:00

So, Logan had his pinewood derby last week. He and Michael found a unique design on the internet, and it turned out fun. At the derby they decided the Lego skateboard rider was creating some drag, so they removed him and the car was faster! The round things on top are magnets attached with velcro so they could adjust the weight when necessary.

He came in about the middle of the pack and had a lot of fun. He recieved the "skater dude" award for originality. It was the most unique car there for sure.

As the second counselor in the primary, I am on the cub committee, and it was my turn to provide the treats, so Ty and I made a ton of cupcakes. He helped me put the candy hearts on the top. I think Ty was the most excited of all of us to go to the derby. We all had a lot of fun!

Christmas 2009 and a Resolution

2010-01-16T18:57:00.000-08:00

So... my new years resolution is to update my blog more often... and I really mean it! We're only a couple of weeks into the new year, so we will see how I do, but I'm really hoping to do a better job.

We spent Christmas this year in Richfield with Max & Peg. Kelli and Carter and Mycah and Kaydence were there too. As many of you know, I started a part time job as a substitute rural mail carrier this past November, and I ended up working a lot in December... almost full time. It worked out well, because Michael always has a bunch of "use it or lose it" annual leave saved up by the end of the year, so he was able to be home with the boys while I worked.

There are 8 rural mail routes in the areas surrounding Cedar City. As a substitue carrier, I'm assigned to be the primary sub on a specifice route... route 6... so I give the regular carrier a day off each week... usually Saturday. So normally I would just work each Saturday, about 8 hours a week. During December I would usually go in and run parcels for several of the regular carriers due to the large quantites of mail for Christmas. Because the schedule was so crazy, I only had Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off. So we went to Richfield the night before Christmas Eve, and I got up early the morning after Christmas to come back and deliver the mail Saturday, and handle primary on Sunday. Then I went back to Richfield for a couple more days.

Everyone coming upstairs to see if Santa had come!

Christmas morning was as fun as always. Ty got a dinosaur play tent and lots of "rexies" as he likes to call his toy dinosaurs from Santa. Logan got two Star Wars games for the Wii with the light saber attachments for the Wii-motes. They both got tons of fun stuff and had a great time playing and playing and playing. I'm having difficutly uploading the photos I want, so I apologize for not posting more, but there will be more photos to come! Here's to a lot of blogging and photos in the new year!

Ty takes a tumble!

2009-10-08T10:17:00.000-07:00

My poor Ty! I guess he is going to be our accident prone, emergency room visiting boy. On Monday night he took a tumble off a bar stool in the kitchen. The stool tipped back and he fell forward and hit his mouth on the metal bar on the bottom of the stool. I yelled for Michael and picked him up and there was blood everywhere! We went to the ER, and after he was cleaned up the Dr. said all the lacerations were superficial and would heal on there own without stitches. But, the top two front teech were pushed back and one was broken, so he told us to see a dentist in the morning. So we saw a pediatric dentist on Tuesday, Dr. Tyler Albrecht, who was awesome!!! I just found a new dentist for the boys! Anyway... Ty wouldn't let him look inside his mouth very much, but enough that the dentist could see the broken tooth couldn't be saved and would need to come out. So on Wednesday we went back, they sedated him, and once the Dr. was able to do a comprehensive exam, both teeth had to come out. The poor boy will be toothless until his permanent teeth come in... at least two years! His upper lip and gums are so bruised and swollen it just looks black inside his mouth. He's been a trooper through all of it. This morning he is finally getting some food down and starting to act like himself again. It should only get better from here, but he's had a rough couple of days the poor kid!

Michael took this picture with his phone, so it's not the best, but you can see his swollen upper lip. He's been a brave, big boy. Mama is the whimp. I just want to cry every time I look at him.

Logan's 9th Birthday!

2009-09-21T14:47:00.000-07:00

So, I can't believe my Logan is nine (and has been for a month now... slow again) but it's true. He is such a good boy. He causes me little to almost no trouble. He is an awesome big bro to Ty. He is so smart and handsome and good... I'm one lucky Mom.

For his birthday, we went up to Salt Lake... we stayed a night at Holiday Inn Express in West Valley City that had a mini water park inside. I highly recommend it if you need a place to stay in the SLC area. It had a full size water slide... water basketball... am amazing wading pool complete with jungle gym... it was awesome! Kelli and Carter came down and met us, including Max and Peg, and we swam until they kicked us out. Then we went to the zoo on Saturday. It was quite hot for Salt Lake... about 102... so we were all moving a little slow, including the animals, but it was a great birthday party!

Logan hanging out in the pool.

Logan takes on the water slide for the first time... after some coaxing.

Pardon the red eye... Ty having a great time in the pool.

Mycah, Logan & Kaydance see how they measaure up!

Hanging out in the heat at the zoo.

Happy Belated Birthday to My Ty!

2009-08-07T20:22:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Ty!

My Ty turned 3 on the 21st of July, and because the party ended up being in between my two trips to Idaho, it was kind of a rushed affair. The only thing I actually made myself was a green salad to go with the pizza and store bought cake. He didn't seem to mind though. I bought him a special birthday boy hat and he wore it all day long... we had a luau theme with lots of helium balloons, and Max and Peg came to celebrate with us. And Michael was able to take the day off too!

He was eating the colored confetti off of the cake as fast as he could! I didn't think they even tasted good, but hey... he's the birthday boy!

Ty and his Bro hanging out at the table waiting for the party to start!

Ty loved his new shoes that Peg and Gramps gave him! He did not want to take them off once he had them on! Ty is such a funny, sweet, crazy, lovable boy! He really has a way of making the rest of us laugh when nobody else can! We love you sweet boy! Now if he would just get excited about potty training... all in due time!

Beware... Very Long Post!

2009-08-07T19:12:00.001-07:00

So I guess it should be a very long post since I'm such a slacker. But anyway, we are finally home, and we are not going anywhere else before school starts! I'm still trying to just get caught up on all of the things I've been neglecting while we traveled up and down the road the whole month on July.

So... Here we go!

We went to Eagar, AZ for the 4th of July to Michael's Grandparents. We decided to go at the last minute, but we are so glad we did. The weather was so nice and the company was even better!

Ty did not enjoy the parade. The noise was really bothering him, so from the second the fire trucks and police cars fired up their sirens at the beginning, he was not in a good mood. He kept covering his mouth like he was just so upset. It was pretty cute, but he didn't act like he felt very good.

Ty was finally old enough this year to really have his turn to help Papa put up the flag. It's become a tradition for all the kids to help him raise the flag, and Ty jumped right in.

Here is Logan enjoying the parade. He actually had a pretty sweet deal because Triston would run for the candy and then split it up with him...

Papa brought out the pellet gun one afternoon and he and Max let both Logan and Triston give it a try... they only shot at a paper plate target... I promise!

On the way home from Arizona I got the word that my Grandpa Bithell had passed away. He would have been 95 on the 18th of July. He had been very ill and suffering for the past several months, so I was relieved for him that the suffering was over. But it is still hard to imagine that he is really gone. I had planned to go to Idaho towards the end of July, but we moved our plans up so we could stay for a while. We got to see all my sisters and brothers and all the cousins, including two new baby girls that I hadn't met yet! And we got to take a day trip to Yellowstone which is a necessity in my book.

Here are the boys at the Lower Yellostone Falls. The water was so so so high this year. I think it's probably as high and raging as I've ever seen it! It was truly breathtaking. It always is, but even more impressive and powerful this year.

This view of the Upper Falls is called Lookout Point and we have a habit of taking silly pictures at this sign, but I couldn't get either of the boys to "look out" for me.

The weather was really nice, in fact a little too hot for comfort occasionally, but it was a fun day.

Such an amazing waterfall! Visiting the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is always a must for me. It's about my favorite spot in the park.

So, we came home... before my 15th high school reunion because I just didn't come prepared to stay that long. I should have, but I was kind of in a rush to make the trip and wasn't thinking clearly. After I got home we took the Jeep in for some maintenance, and we were told it had some fairly major problems. I, of course, called my genius mechanic brother in Idaho and as we talked about what was wrong, he told me I should just get in the Jeep and bring it up to him. He didn't think it would strand me on the road, and he is almost always right when it comes to these types of things. So that's what I did. I left the boys with Max and Peg for this trip (Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks to you two blessed people... I love you). They are great travelers but were not eager to get back in the car and drive any more. In the end it was well worth the trip because my brother fixed it for less than the place in Cedar was quoting me just for one of the parts... Thank you Travis!!!! You are the BEST!

And I was able to go to my high school reunion, the 24th of July parade in good old St. Anthony, and I spent the whole day on the 25th with my good friend Dayna and her husband Denmark and their sweet little baby boy Luke. I also got to see Dayna's parents and little brother... so cool! Thanks for letting me be the tag-a-long you guys! I can't tell you how much I enjoyed it... yes... the movie too! You guys are great...really you are... I had SUCH a great day with you. I also had dinner with my friend Jeremy and his wife Danielle and their cute girls... thanks for buying my dinner you guys and for the replacing the windshield in the car on my first trip! My reunion was such a good time. Because of Facebook I've been able to catch up with a lot of my classmates, and I can honestly say that the class of '94 rocks even more now than it did then! It was great to see everyone! It was really fun to just hang out with my mom and dad and siblings for a couple of days on my own, too... haven't done that in a long time. In all, it was a really great trip, and I'm so glad I went back... even though I missed my boys and especially my sweet husband terribly... you are the bestest and the mostest and my absolute favorite... love you. Thanks to everyone who helped me make it possible.

And to end this too long post, I have to post a picture of my latest conquest at the Smith's double coupon extravaganza!
I got all of this for $68... but I saved $135! AWESOME! I got the tide for $2.88 each... the toothpaste was FREE... the mustard was FREE... the yogurt drinks were FREE... I love unlimited double coupons! I was really able to stock up on all kinds of stuff.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again... I am really going to try and be better about posting more often and spare you the torture of such long, catch up posts! If you are still reading this... you are a trooper!

Updates Coming Soon

2009-07-08T07:25:00.001-07:00

So, I just got back last night from a fun trip to Eagar, AZ for the 4th with Michael's grandparents and his parents. We had such a nice time, and I'll be posting photos soon. I got the sad news while driving home that my Grandpa Bithell passed away, so I'm heading to Idaho on Friday. He has been suffering for quite a while, so I'm glad that he is finally at rest and reunited with my Grandma. It's still hard to think about him being gone. Anyway, when I come back, I promise lots of pictures and updates of our travels. Thank you Max and Peg for being so willing to do whatever to help me get to up to Idaho and for travelling along home from Arizona with us yesterday. And big thanks to my sweet husband for skipping out on a fire to come home last night... I needed that.

Albertson's shopping trip!!!

2009-06-08T12:14:00.000-07:00

So I had a great shopping trip to Albertson's today. I spent $21, but I saved $70! Woo Hoo!!!
This is what I got for $21...

Captain Crunch, 1 box ($1.49)
Life Cereal, 1 box ($1.49)
Quaker Oatmeal pancake mix, 2 boxes (free)
Angel Soft TP 12 regular rolls, 2 packages ($1.33 each)
Crystal Light Canister, 1 package ($0.33)
Dibs ice cream treats, 2 boxes ($1.50 each)
Nestle Choco Chip Cookie dough, 2 packages ($1.00 each)
Oscar Mayer hot dogs, 6 packages ($0.50 each)
Quaker Granola Bars, 4 boxes ($0.75 each)
2 gallons of milk ($1.99 each)

I'm liking this coupon clipping stuff. It's actually kind of fun. I would have saved even more, but I was too slow getting there and the Edge shave gel, Skintimate shave gel, and Bayer aspirin I wanted were sold out... they all would have been free. I'm learning though... got to get there on the first day of the ad if I can! I'm also trying to be conservative and make sure I'm just getting stuff we can use before it expires... trying not to overdo it. And I can't wait to get a freezer in the garage so I can start taking advantage of items I can freeze and frozen foods. The hot dogs I bought today took up almost all the free space in my little freezer.

#1 Song On The Day You Were Born

2009-06-06T09:09:00.000-07:00

So, I found this fun website that will tell you what the #1 song in the US was on the day you were born. Mine was "You Write The Songs" by Barry Manilow... BORING... never have been a Manilow fan... he's a little cheesy for my taste.

Michael's was "You're Having My Baby" by Paul Anka.... LOL! Did you know that Peg? Too funny.

Logan's was "Doesn't Really Matter" by Janet Jackson.

Ty's was "Promiscuous" by Nelly Furtado and Timbaland... Not a favorite... I'm not even sure I've heard it... probably don't want to.

You should try it out... kind of fun.

Memorial Day

2009-06-04T18:41:00.000-07:00

So... we went up to Richfield for Memorial Day and on Saturday we made a quick trip to Ephraim to decorate the graves of Max's parents, Ken & Vera Reid. It was a rainy and chilly day, but it's always nice to see Aunt Joy and Aunt Bonnie (Max's sisters) and Peg is great to teach the kids what Memorial Day is all about. She made the beautiful flag/scrapbook page to decorate the graves and the gorgeous wheelbarrow arrangement that you'll see in the pictures.

Ty sitting with his namesake... Kenneth is his middle name and Max's dad's name.

Kaydence and Ty were fascinated with the sheep and had a little dispute. Ty kept saying MOO... MOO... and when Kaydence tried to correct him, he kept saying "No! MOO..."

Michael telling Logan a little bit about his great grandparents.

Ty allowing me to give him a love... that's what he does... allows you the privilege of loving on him... I think he actually likes it though.

Kaydence smelling the flowers.

Four generations... Ken & Vera, Max, Michael, and the boys... Ty, Logan, and Mycah.

This picture is of course totally unrelated to Memorial Day weekend, but I just wanted to post a picture of Zion Helitack. Michael and the crew are already working very hard... lots of project work, training, and part of the crew even got to fight a little single tree, lightening sparked fire already. I guess it is June... tis the season. Anyway, I'm pretty proud of him and what he does everyday. He works so hard and takes such good care of us too.
Be safe honey.
From left to right: Iceman (Norm), Ben S., Ben T., Paul, Thea, Chris, Todd, and Michael up front.

Okay... I Think I Might Be Hooked!

2009-05-11T09:57:00.000-07:00

So... I started saving and clipping coupons a couple of weeks ago and I made a quick trip to Alberton's this morning and really saved some money! I think I might be hooked on this whole couponing thing. Anyway, last week at Alberton's they were running a promotion... if you purchased $20 in certain Proctor & Gamble products you would recieve a coupon at checkout for $5 off your next purchase.... I decided to stock up on Charmin toilet paper which was on sale for $6.99 for a 12 double roll pack, and I had a coupon from the newspaper for $0.25 off each package... just an okay deal really but when you factor in the $5 off your next purchase it's a pretty good deal... about $5.08 a package(I purchased 3 to reach $20). When I checked out I got the $5 off coupon as well as a $3 off coupon when you purchase 3 of a selection of Proctor & Gamble products... So today I needed contact solution, so I thought I'd go to Alberton's and use my $5 off coupon. I also wanted to use the $3 off coupon. So I purchased a 4 oz. bottle of contact solution at $5.49 and three large bottles of Joy dishsoap. The soap is normally $2.99 but was on sale for $1.99. If I had purchased these items at regular prices the total would have been $14.46 before tax. With the sale prices, and coupons I used my total before tax was $3.46 for a savings of $11!!! That made the toilet paper I bought a very good deal acutally. I was so excited. The only thing that would have made it better was if I had an additional coupon for the dishsoap and contact solution. Anyway... I know that probably wasn't too interesting for most of you. I never thought I would be so excited about buying toilet paper and dishsoap either, but it's been an adventure!

The Max Reid Trail!

2009-04-14T15:08:00.000-07:00

So, my in-laws, Max & Pegs, recently went to Texas for the NOHVCC convention. NOHVCC is the National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council. Max has worked closely with NOHVCC over the years through his work on the Piute ATV Trail, and Peg is currently serving as the Utah represenative for NOHVCC. They are all about promoting the responsible use of OHV recreation and providing information and special programs and other tools to help ensure a positive future for OHV recreation. The Piute ATV Trail on the Fishlake National Forest is one of the best trail systems in the nation... thanks to Max and all his hard work as the branch chief over recreation for the Fishlake National Forest. He worked for years to make it that way, and since he recently retired, there were many people who wanted to honor his hard work and dedication. So.... they named a portion of the trail after him! When they presented him with this honor they joked about how difficult it is to name a trail after someone who hasn't passed away... so they said after the presentation they would have to take him out back and shoot him... ha ha.... We are so excited for him. We went up to Richfield for Peg's birthday and Easter, and we all went out to see the trail head. The dedication on the stone reads:

"The Fishlake National Forest and Fremont Indian State Park in conjunction with the NOHVCC, the Piute Trail Committee, and the Southern Utah OHV Club hereby dedicate this section of the Piute Trail as the Max Reid Trail.
Max's dedication to public service, hard work, persistence, and commitment to a vision, has brought the Piute Trail System to reality. It stands, as not only one of the finest trail systems in the nation, but as a successful model of cooperative OHV management."

The trailhead is located off of I-70 inside Fremont Indian State Park, just south of Richfield... it's the 01 trail of the Piute Trail System. If your ever in the area, you should stop by to check it out. Congratulations Max!

Oh... just as a little side note.... Michael put together a geocache to stash out at the trailhead! It's not been published on the geocaching website just yet because we need to get permission from the Fremont Indian State Park people first, but it shouldn't be long... if they give the okay. We also got a chance to visit Peg's birthday cache that we stashed last year on her birthday! We used a plastic container and it has developed a crack in the lid, so we used some of Max's gorilla tape to help keep it from leaking and stocked it up with several trackable items we had collected. We had a great weekend... lots of things to celebrate!

A Day of Geocaching!

2009-03-28T19:36:00.000-07:00

So... here it's been a while since I posted, but I'm excited that I have some fun pictures to post today! My poor Logan has been sick with pneumonia for the past 10 days... the poor kid. He's been super sick and cooped up in the house. He's finally starting to feel better and was also suffering from cabin fever, so we decided to go out and get rid of some of the travel bugs we've collected out of geocaches. We had a lot because Logan was going to do his science fair project on satellites in space and what we use them for... tying it back into geocaching, so he wanted to have some trackable items for him to display... then pneumonia happened and he missed the science fair. But we had fun today putting all of the items we had collected back into geocaches so they can continue on their journey. If anyone is interested in learning more about geocaching and travel bugs, you can visit geocaching.com to read all about it. We enjoy it very much.

This was a fun little cache along a popular walking path in St. George. It was hidden inside this green alligator. It was just a prescription pill bottle with a log to sign inside of it.

Here are my boys in front of the marshy area along the trail. Ty said it was gross. That's his favorite new word... almost everything is gross.

This is along the same path... you can see Logan is still a little pale, but he was glad to be out of the house and it was such a nice day today!

Ty was absolutely fascinated by this ant hill. The rest of the day he wanted to look for bugs.

This is the temple quarry trail in St. George... it leads to the basalt quarry where the stone for the St. George temple was cut out of the mountain. The St. George airport sits to the left across a small ravine. We didn't go all the way, but we are definitely going back when Logan's back to his old self.

This is on the temple quarry trail... the boys are displaying all of our travel bugs we needed to put into caches. The unfortunate thing is... the cache we were looking for on the temple quarry trail ended up being down a 4 X 4 road across the ravine just down the hill from the airport... but it was a fun walk anyway. Logan and Michael were faster than Ty and I, so they went ahead and down the other path and found the cache. We visited a couple of other caches back in Cedar before we came home. We all have a little sunburn on the back of our necks, but we're all feelin' fine after a great day outside.

Cards for Pay It Forward

2009-02-16T20:54:00.001-08:00

So... Mandy my friend... I'm making you cards for the Pay It Forward Challengs. Here are three that I made today, and I'm going to make more, but I thought I'd give you a little sneek peek. I know that you can make your own cards that are super cute, but I hope you'll be able to use them and enjoy them.

Michael gave me a Cricut machine for my birthday, and I used it for the lettering in the red card, and it was so quick and easy. I just love it, and I can't wait to use it a lot more. There are so many things people use that Cricut for... If any of you have one and have any great tips or tricks, I'd love for you to share.

Peg and Max gave me the super cute Owl Together Now stamp set from Stampin Up for my birthday, and it's my current favorite. Those little owls are just so cute. And I didn't come up with the idea for that card on my own... I rarely come up with my own ideas. I copied it from a talented stamper who posted it on a website called splitcoaststampers.com... there are some seriously talented people out there. I posted these in my gallery on splitcoast... if anyone is interested in more information about the supplies I used or where the ideas for the layouts came from, you can visit my gallery over there.

I also thought I better post a picture of my cute boys since I haven't forever. They watch a movie together in Logan's room almost every night before bedtime... Logan is such an awesome big brother... Ty just loves him to death. Tonight, Logan called me into the room and asked if they could have a drink. They love chocolate milk while they watch a movie in bed... I know, I know it's horrible for their teeth and I don't let them have it every night... I promise... anyway, Ty says, "Chocate, Ty and Bo?" He calls Logan bro... but it comes out sounding like boe. Just too stinkin' cute. How could I say no to that?

Pay It Forward!

2009-02-04T14:22:00.000-08:00

Pay It Forward Exchange is based on the concept of the movie "Pay it forward". I will send a hand made gift to the first three people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join the PIF exchange. All the gifts will be made and posted out 'sometime within the next year'. How exciting to not know when your surprise package will arrive! What you need to do in return, is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog. This Exchange is only open to those with active websites or blogs. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS PROMISE TO POST THIS SAME 'PAY IT FORWARD' MESSAGE ONTO YOUR BLOG, WHICH MUST BE ACTIVE IN ORDER TO PLAY. YOU WILL PAY IT FORWARD TO THREE PEOPLE WHO COMMENT ON YOUR BLOG. I'd love for you to join me! Will you? Other comments are welcome, but only the first three will be my Pay It Forward recipients. Come and join me who doesn't love a gift or giving gifts???

It has been a long time since I posted... I think I have a little blogger's block, but anyway... I thought this would be fun. I joined through a cute friend of mine from high school... thanks Jenny! And hey... I can make some cute stuff, so join me won't you?

Snow For Christmas!

2008-12-18T08:01:00.000-08:00

So we woke up to a lot of new snow. The 4-5 inches that was predicted turned out to be more like 10-12 inches. And by the way, Iron County doesn't cancel school for anything... ever. They also don't try very hard to get the roads plowed before school starts. Michael said there were cars slid off the road everywhere, and he almost didn't make it out of the subdivision.

I owe our good old Jeep an apology too. I've been cussing it lately because it's burning oil and it has at least 2 different oil leaks, but we would have been snowed in without it this morning. I guess a vehicle that is 10 years old with 170,000 miles on it is due for a couple of minor problems. We love you Jeepy!

Michael is excited because he says he has a good start on the snow pile for a snow fort. Another couple of storms like this, and we will definitely have enough. Thanks to his work truck that won't start, he didn't have to shovel the whole driveway... if we don't get that thing out of here soon, it might be snowed in for the whole winter.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

New Address

2008-12-04T21:41:00.000-08:00

So everyone... I want to get Christmas cards from you all in the mail, so I thought I should post our new address. I've just been a slacker about getting the information out there, so here it is!

879 S. 4225 W.
Cedar City, UT
84720

Hope everyone is enjoying the hustle and bustle of the holidays!

Cruise Pictures

2008-11-24T08:22:00.000-08:00

So I'm finally getting around to posting some pictures from our cruise. The first one is obviously a goofy self portrait taken somewhere on the ship. The next one is Alisha, her sister Angela, and their mom Rebecca in the Destiny dining room for dinner one night. Alisha was trying to sell the Cuban cigars that Angela had purchased for her husband...she didn't realize that she wouldn't be able to take them through customs into the US when we disembarked. Next is the gorgeous sunset outside our stateroom window while we were in port at Ensenada. Next Michael is on the bed with one of the folded towel animals they would leave every evening in our stateroom. We played several games of Pictionary one evening with Alisha and Angela. They were pretty competitive. The next one is the Carnival Paradise as we rode away in a smaller boat toward Catalina Island. The next one is another goofy self portrait during the mandatory safety drill the first evening... wearing our lovely life jackets. Michael and a seagull on the morning we anchored off the coast of Catalina Island is next, and then me looking toward Catalina. And last is a picture of La Buffadora, a large blow hole in Ensenada. We had an awesome tour guide take us out there. His name was Jesus, and he was so funny. I didn't really enjoy the flea market there at La Buffadora though... it was like running the guantlet trying to get through all the merchants. I guess I'm not a very good bargain shopper.

Playing Catch Up!

2008-11-17T09:12:00.000-08:00

So... I really need to do some catching up, and I promise I will soon... with pictures and everything. Right after we finally got moved out of the rental house we left on our little vacation that we had been planning on for about eight months. Michael's assistant manager Alicia invited us to go on a cruise that was planned to celebrate the retirement of an old co-worker of hers... it was a great deal for the 4 day cruise with ports of call in Ensenada, Mexico and Catalina Island. We have never done anything like that before, so we decided to go. We travelled along with Alicia and her Mom Rebeccah and her sister Angela, and it was a ton of fun. They were a great group to vacation with. I'll be posting some pictures very soon. The house is kind of still a mess. Michael organized the garage enough that we do have both vehicles in the garage which I didn't think was going to be possible for a while. He is a miracle worker. We still have a lot to do to get really organized, but we're getting there. We had a couple of glitches with the tankless hot water heater that haven't been exactly inexpensive to fix, but hopefully the discovery of glitches in the new construction is coming to an end. We just love the new house though... love the floor plan... love not paying rent anymore! Woo Hoo!!! I promise I'll post more soon with some specifics and pictures.

Logan's Baptism

2008-10-15T08:23:00.000-07:00

Thanks so much to everyone who traveled so far to come and support Logan for his baptism. It was on Saturday evening. Max & Peg were here along with Kelli, Carter & the kids. Robin and Paul and Triston made the long drive from Arizona. My parents came from Idaho as well as my sister Sarah and her family. Logan was a little nervous... he's my child for sure... a worry wart like his mom... but he did very well. Michael also did a wonderful job with the baptism and confirmation. It was so nice to have you all here. I didn't have much of an opportunity to take pictures, so I'm hoping Max and Robin will share some that they took with me. This picture was taken by the stake primary and I scanned it in, so it's not the best quality, but both of my guys still look so handsome. Your dad and I are so proud of you Logan!

Finally Under Contract!!!

2008-10-14T18:02:00.000-07:00

Front of the house.

Kitchen

In the living room looking into the kitchen

In the kitchen looking into the living room.

We finally are under contract to purchase a home!!! Our realtor called us last week and said there was a forclosure that we really needed to see out in the same subdivision as the last house we made an offer on. The floor plan is very similar, but everything in this house was just more finished and a little nicer. It has three bedrooms and two baths on the main floor along with the eat-in kitchen and living room. There is a huge bonus room above the three car garage, and it sits on a .5 acre lot. The garage is completely finished... drywalled and painted. This home also has solar panals and a tankless water heating system which will both probably save a little money on utilities. The front is landscaped, but the back is not... no fence or anything yet. We made the offer last week, and heard from the bank today that our offer had been accepted. We went right over to visit with our mortgage lady, who is so great by the way... and she said she can have us closed in two weeks! We're super excited... we'll be so glad to not be renting anymore. Woo Hoo!!!

Where Ty's Face Met the Driveway

2008-10-03T13:39:00.000-07:00

So... the boys and I decided to go out front and wait for Michael who was on his way home from work two nights ago. Ty was being a two year old boy and decided to run for the street down our sloped driveway... and of course tripped. I swear, every time that kid trips and falls his head hits first... it's like he's top heavy or something. Anyway... true to form, his head took the brunt of the impact. It actually looks much worse in person. Poor Logan almost felt worse than Ty did because he was worried that Ty's nose was bleeding. He's a tough little nut though. After the first 10 minutes, he didn't act like the wounds were bothering him at all... funny cute baby.

Happy 10th Anniversary To Us!

2008-09-24T19:25:00.000-07:00

I can hardly believe it, but we're having our 10th anniversary tomorrow. Look at us ten years ago... both thinner for one thing... Michael doesn't require his glasses anymore... my hair has continually gotten shorter and shorter... but still just happy to be together. I love you honey. Happy Anniversary!

An Afternoon Hike

2008-09-20T16:51:00.000-07:00

After Michael worked half a day, we took a short drive up Cedar Mountain to take a couple of short hikes, stretch our legs, and enjoy being outdoors in the mild fall weather. It was a little windy today... we even needed our jackets occasionally, but overall, it was a very nice day to be out.
We hiked the Bristlecone Pine trail which is a short loop of 0.6 miles but ends in an awesome overlook where you can see clear into Zion National Park. The bristlecone pines are really cool trees. They are thought to be some of the oldest known living organisms on the planet... some dating between 4000 and 5000 years old. The picture of Logan, Michael and Ty is in front of a particularly large and gnarled example. It
would have been an awesome tree to build a tree house in. After that, we drove on up the mountain to Navajo lake and to the Cascade Falls trailhead. It is 1.6 mile trail to a small waterfall that comes out of an old lava tube... the water coming through the tube drains from Navajo lake. About half way through the hike there is a sign that says the trail is closed, but I had been reading on a couple of web sites that people have still been hiking it.

The trail was washed out and eroded badly last year, but it didn't seem to be stopping anyone, even with little kids. So... we went on. The trail is a steep drop off on one side and goes steeply uphill on the other side... and it was a little tricky in places... very badly washed out and covered with rock slides. But, Michael carried Ty and we made it into the pristine little cascade. Ty wasn't happy about being carried at first... he was liking walking too much, but once Michael put him on his shoulders, he accepted his fate. The water coming down the fall was so so clear. I'm not sure I would do it again, but I'm glad we went all the way in. Ty and Logan both seemed to enjoy themselves and it was really good to get out and enjoy the great outdoors a little. It's such a short drive, we vowed to get up there more often and enjoy ourselves before the snow flies. There are a couple of other short hikes that would be fun to try.

My New Nephew

2008-09-12T15:43:00.000-07:00

This is my new nephew Marshall! My little sister Lillian had him on Michael's birthday! I thought they maybe should name him after Michael... haha.... I guess they kind of already had a name picked out... Marshall Kent Asay. Kent is the middle name of both my Dad and Lillian's father-in-law. Cora is the big sister. She just turned 2 on the 28th of August, and you can see she likes her new brother.

A walk down memory lane...

2008-09-03T17:15:00.000-07:00

Sherri did this on her blog, and I thought I'd give it a go, but my memory isn't all that reliable lately. Hopefully I can recall enough to make it interesting :)

20 years ago I...

1. Was a new beehive going into young women's.
2. Was in the 6th grade in Mr. Greenhalgh's class at Parker-Egin Elementary.
3. Was trying really hard to be popular.

10 years ago I...

1. Was a little less than one month away from getting married in the Manti temple to the man of my dreams... that's right... it's our 10th anniversary this year... can't believe it.
2. Was being trained as a dental assistant in an office in Monroe, UT.
3. Was living with my future in-laws until the wedding.

5 years ago I...

1. Was living in Richfield, UT in our in our first home... a cute little townhome we actually owned.
2. Was chasing around an active 3 year old Logan.
3. Was excited that Michael got his first permanent appointment as the lead crewmember of Richfield Helitack.

1 year ago I...

1. Was missing Michael while he was on a fire assignment in Yellowstone National Park.
2. Was just past the birthday rush of Ty's 1st birthday, Logan's 7th birthday, & Michael's 33rd.
3. Was seriously starting to think about looking for a house to buy in Cedar.

So far this year I...

1. Have made 3 offers on homes but I'm still a renter.
2. Have started an online medical transcription course & will hopefully complete it before the end of the year.
3. Am getting ready for Logan's baptism.

Yesterday I...

1. Walked 3 miles on the Coal Creek Trail.
2. Made a whirlwind trip to Richfield to deliver some stuff to Peg and made it home before Logan's bus.
3. Snacked too much on Michael's leftover birthday cake.

Today I...

1. Mailed the cards from the August card swap to everyone.
2. Had lunch with my honey and our friend Alicia at Chili's.
3. Spent a couple of hours working on my transcription course.

Tomorrow I...

1. Will walk three miles on the Coal Creek Trail.
2. Mop the kitchen floor.
3. Hopefully spend some time with Michael on his partial day off... he has to go in tomorrow morning just for a little while... hopefully not too long.

I guess I didn't do too badly. Now... it's your turn!

Happy Birthday Michael!

2008-09-01T07:08:00.000-07:00

So my Michael turns the big 34 today! We didn't know until about 7 PM last night whether he would be able to take the day off or not... not much time to plan a party, but that's just how it goes this time of year. We don't make many plans... although I did order a birthday cake. Turns out, the big boss at the Park decided that Michael's whole crew should take the day off because he said he doesn't have the money to pay them holiday pay for Labor Day and pay them to work on the holiday as well... and besides the weather is very mild today... only 75 for the high and rain predicted as well. We're all just glad he gets to have the day off! He needs it... he suffered awful heat exhaustion on a fire on Saturday. He got to the point where he blacked out for a couple of seconds and fell to the ground, & coudn't stop throwing up. Thankfully, he has several EMT's on his crew who knew how to take care of him. He still probably should have gone to the hospital for IV fluids, but he seems to have made a complete recovery by this morning. He just works too hard.

One of his crewmembers invited him to go golfing this morning, so he and Logan decided to go, even though it's awfully windy. I don't expect them to stay out too long. You can see that Ty wasn't very thrilled about being left home with Mom. In fact he was punishing Michael and Logan by refusing to even cooporate for a picture... silly boy.

Happy of the happiest to you my handsome husband. The boys and I love you so much. We don't know what we'd do without you. We can hardly stand being away from you during fire season as it is. Thank you for working so hard to take care of us.

Happy 8th Birthday to Logan!

2008-08-24T09:05:00.000-07:00

Logan with his 2 new Webkinz... Goldie the cocker spaniel, & Black Eye the cow!

My little Logan isn't little anymore. I just can't believe how grown up he is... 8 and going to be baptized. It's crazy. It really doesn't seem that long ago that we brought him home to our newly purchased town home in Richfield. He is such a good boy, and he's such a great big brother. Ty is so lucky to have an older bro that loves to play with him, and who's biggest goal is to make him laugh as much as he can. The two of them really are great buddies despite the age difference

We were able to run up to Richfield on Friday afternoon and stay for Saturday to have a little birthday party with Grams & Gramps. We put a number on each of his gifts, and every hour on the hour he would draw a number out of a bowl and get to open that gift... it made the presents last almost all day long. Big thanks to Max & Peg for hosting the celebration... we had a great time!

We also set a date for his baptism... we're going to have it on Saturday, October 11th at 6 PM, and we'll confirm him the same night.

I just love you so much Logan. You bring your Dad and Ty and me so much joy. We're all so glad you are ours! Happy Birthday!

Response to Michael's Blog

2008-08-13T06:47:00.000-07:00

I stole this picture from Michael's Zion Helitack blog. He took it as he headed back into the helibase following his experience helping to coordinate the rescue efforts at the sight of the helicopter crash on the Buckhorn fire of the Iron Complex. If you haven't had a chance to read Michael's account of the events on his blog, you should take a minute to do so. It's very heartfelt, and I think it was helpful to him to get it all out. He didn't realize what a response he would receive. The blog has had somewhere between 6000 and 7000 hits since Michael published the post. He has also recieved many wonderful and encouraging comments, as well as a couple of rude anonymous comments. It always bugs me when someone wants to criticize what others have done, but doesn't have the guts to put their name to it. He has added a couple of follow up posts since the original post to address some of those comments. I told him I didn't think he needed to, but he said he wanted to for his own peace of mind. I'm so proud of him and how he handled himself in such a stressful situation. It's my own personal belief that it was no mistake that Michael ended up in that situation and others like it that he has experienced in the past. He was there that night for a specific purpose and accomplished what he needed to in order to help. I love you Michael. I'm so glad you're mine forever.

Helicopter Crash Update

2008-08-06T15:38:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post a quick update on the helicopter crash. There were 13 people on board, and only 4 survived. The helicopter was totally consumed in flames, so for now they're reporting that the nine others are missing and presumed dead. Michael and his pilot had just lifted off heading for the same hill the helicopter that crashed had just lifted off from to pick up firefighters. The crash happened right as Michael took off, so Michael's helicopter was first on the scene. They ended up acting as air attack. Air attack is normally a plane that flies over a fire when there are multiple and varied aircraft flying at once to act as air traffic control basically. The air attack plane had already left the fire for the day, so Michael and his pilot flew over the wreckage and helped guide in the emergency crews and the medivac helicopters that came in to transport the survivors. He still was able to start his trip home today. They left at about four o'clock and will go into Reno tonight and then make the flight from Reno to Cedar tomorrow morning. I guess it's about a four hour flight for them tomorrow. So anyway, that's a little more information. There's a lot of information available on the internet now as well.

Michael and His Crew are Okay...

2008-08-05T21:33:00.000-07:00

You might hear on the news tonight or in the morning that a helicopter crashed on the Iron Complex in California which is the fire Michael has been working on. I just spoke to him on the phone for a minute and he wanted me to spread the word that neither his crew nor his helicopter were involved. It was a local Shasta/Trinity National Forest helicopter and had thirteen on board, and the word was coming back that it looks like only four survived. He was pretty shaken up when we talked, and he only had a minute as he was heading into a briefing concerning the crash. Please remember him in your prayers. It's always difficult when something like this happens as you can imagine.

Blog Posting Slacker

2008-08-02T19:20:00.000-07:00

I've been a slacker about posting on the blog. I've been thinking about it... really I have, but in the end I haven't been able to think of anything new or funny or interesting to say. So I'll just give you all a quick update on Michael. He's still in Northern California on the Iron Complex of fires which is northwest of Redding (did I spell that right?) on the Shasta Trinity National Forest. At times the smoke has been too thick for the helicopters to fly, but all in all they've been able to fly a lot of missions. He did find out that he will be home by the end of the day on Thursday... WOO HOO! By the way.... If you ever want to check out information on wildfires anywhere in the country, you can check the Wildfire Situation Report at this website. It's divided into regions and is updated once a day with the latest information.

Happy Birthday Baby Ty!

2008-07-21T07:39:00.000-07:00

So I guess I need to stop calling him baby Ty... he's not really a baby anymore. He's so funny. He found Logan's old worn out snow boots in the coat closet, and he puts them on and stomps around the house. I guess it's a good thing that he doesn't really realize it's his birthday, because I haven't even done any shopping for him yet. No cake, no party... no nothing. Hopefully we'll be celebrating in the near future. He's been such a mama's boy lately that I can't leave him with anyone to even go do his own birthday shopping without him screaming his little head off. I should have planned ahead a little better, but I'm afraid my brain just isn't in plan ahead mode lately... Anyway, none of us can imagine our little family without Mr. Grouchy Pants. He's really not grouchy all the time... most of the time he's so much fun. Happiest of days to you our little Ty! We all just love you so much.

Home From Idaho

2008-07-17T21:24:00.000-07:00

The next several posts are from my trip to Idaho with Logan and Ty to visit my Mom and Dad and brothers and sisters. We had a really good time. We should have stayed longer... we came home to an empty house. While I was driving home Michael called to let me know that his helicopter and crew had received an off district assignment to Northern California. They went as far as Reno tonight and will go the rest of the way in the morning. I was already gone a week and now he will be gone for at least two weeks, so I'm trying to be a good fire wife and not let it get to me. It's like Max always tells me... " You have to make hay while the sun shines." I know that's true and I'm so thankful Michael is willing to work so hard to support us without complaint... I'm not always as good at the not complaining part. Thanks for putting up with me Honey! I love you... and be careful.

Day in Yellowstone!

2008-07-17T21:10:00.000-07:00

While we were at my Mom and Dad's we got to go to Yellowstone NP for the day on Monday. It was nice because I haven't been in a while. July isn't exactly the best time to go... there are a ton of people and you usually don't see as much wildlife because of the heat.... but it was still fun. My sister Sarah and her little girl Allie and my nephew Cameron came with my Mom, me, and the boys... We took several walks to keep the kids from being too cranky in the car, and we saw bull elk, cow elk with their babies, coyotes, buffalo with their babies, and all kinds of birds. The wildflowers were spectacular and still in full bloom due to the fact that the spring was so mild that the snow hasn't been melted there for very long. Yellowstone is one of my most favorite places in the whole world. While I was growing up, we took family day trips at least twice a year. Michael and I went there on our honeymoon, and Michael has been hooked ever since, so we've been back for many trips as well.

Playing at Blacktail in the Boat!

2008-07-17T20:49:00.000-07:00

My sister Sarah and my brother-in-law Tim just recently purchased a ski boat, and were kind enough to take us out for some fun. I have to admit that I'm not much of a water person... I don't mind pools, but lakes and rivers are a different story. I think it might have something to do with the fact that you can't see through the water... it's dark and spooky... and it might also have more to do with some bad experiences I had as a teenager with a certain boyfriend and his ski boat, one of which included the boat breaking down and going over a small water diversion dam and thinking I was going to drown... and also, I'm not a great swimmer... but enough of Shan's confessions. I have never attempted water skiing and probably never will. Anyway... we headed out and just drove around for awhile and then Tim asked Logan if he wanted to ride on the tube. I thought Logan would say no way, but he hesitated which told me he was kind of thinking about it but was a little unsure. Tim went first to show Logan how it worked and then Logan took the leap and went with Tim while Sarah drove the boat. After his first try with Tim, he asked me if he could go by himself, and he did and loved it. I was so proud of him. He did something I have always been too big of a chicken to try. Ty and Sarah's little girl Allie both seemed to like riding in the boat. Ty especially like the bouncing up and down when we were sitting in the front of the boat.

Relaxing In Idaho

2008-07-17T20:28:00.000-07:00

The boys and I had such a good time in Idaho at my Mom and Dad's. Since we don't have any lawn to play on at our rental, the boys were in hog heaven playing outside. They played in the water about three times a day, and just ran and ran and ran to their hearts delight. My nephew Taylor is 12 and belongs to by oldest brother Travis. He didn't like to get really wet, but he loved helping Logan and Ty get really wet. He taught Ty to drink from the hose and made sure Logan had enough water in the pool.

On The Road Again...

2008-07-09T16:24:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd post a quick update before Logan, Ty, and I hit the road tomorrow. I made an impromptu decision on Monday or Tuesday to take a trip to Idaho to visit my family. I knew I wanted to make a trip before school started, but I just didn't know it would be right now. Anyway, my Mom's work schedule was such that this would be the best time, so off we go! Hopefully we will be able to take a day trip to Yellowstone while I"m there which is exciting. I haven't been in a couple of years. I haven't posted any pictures in a while, and I stupidly forgot my camera on our trip to Arizona for the 4th of July, so hopefully I'll have some new photos to post when I get back from Idaho. Michael actually didn't get out on a fire yesterday and hasn't so far today, but dry lightning is predicted for tomorrow afternoon, so I'm sure he will be off and running again.

Real Estate Challenged...

2008-07-01T16:21:00.000-07:00

That's what Michael and I are... real estate challenged. We couldn't get a house under contract if our lives depended on it. Our deadline passed and the only information our realtor could give us from the bank was that it could take another 30 days... "forget that" is what we said. Plus... when we made our offer, everything in the house was in good condition, but about two weeks later we drove by and noticed one of the front windows was cracked. We told our realtor we wanted to look at the house again and by the time we got inside, both of the front windows had cracks in three different panes. So we wrote up an addendum to our offer stating we wanted a professional to determine why the windows were cracking and we wanted the problem fixed and the windows replaced. Well, the owner of the home responded by writing a letter stating the home was being sold as is and that he would not be responsible for any repairs, but we could feel free to contact the contractor who built the house and see if he would warranty any of the work. Well, a call to the contractor brought the revelation that he is in bankruptcy and will not be fixing anything either. So you could say that bothered me a little. So... we let the offer lapse past the deadline which now means our offer is cancelled and we're back to square one again. Lovely. I think house hunting might have to wait until the end of fire season at this point. It's just too stressful to have the weight of big decisions on my shoulders and not even knowing if I'll be able to reach Michael... so that's the story.

Deadline Day.

2008-06-30T06:53:00.000-07:00

So today is the deadline day for our house offer. If we don't receive some kind of response from the bank by 5 PM Mountain Time today then our offer is null and void. Our agent is really wanting us to sign an extension for that date, but I don't think we will. We may make another offer, but it will be for less money than our original offer, and we won't be giving them as much time to sit on our offer either. A couple of other short sales in the same neighborhood recently were dropped in price, so I really think we can offer a little less. So that's the house update. I'll let you know if we hear anything this evening.

Michael has been over in the Escalante/Boulder area fighting fire again... since about Thursday afternoon. I hate it over there because the cell service is nonexistent to very spotty. The fire they were originally working on is contained, but they had some thunder storm cells go through the area yesterday with no moisture but plenty of lightning, so most of the day was spent doing initial attack on several new starts. He's thinking his helicopter may be released to come back to Cedar today or tomorrow, but there is also a chance of more dry lightning this afternoon... but regardless, he is in deperate need of days off... he's been going 21 days straight without a day off... and he will be heading back probably Tuesday afternoon or at the very latest Wednesday morning to take Thursday, Friday, and Saturday off and we will be going to Arizona for The 4th.

And... last of all... did you hear about the midair collision between two medical helicopters in Flagstaff on Sunday afternoon? I hate hearing about helicopter crashes and yet I get obsessed with finding out as much information about them as I can. One of the helicopters involved is owned by Classic Helicopters out of Woods Cross, UT which is the same company that provided the ship for Michael's fire contract in 2005. Three of the four people on board were killed, including the pilot, the medic, and the patient... the flight nurse was seriously injured. We don't know yet if the pilot was was the same that flew for Michael... the names haven't been released yet. The other helicopter involved had three people on board, the pilot the medic and a patient who were all killed. At least two paramedics on the ground were also injured in an explosion while trying to extricate the victims in one of the helicopters. Hearing news like this always gives me a firm push back into the reality of the dangers Michael faces in his job that I usually try not to think about too much. Keep him in your prayers... he's working awful hard.

House Update

2008-06-18T07:07:00.000-07:00

Hi all... I wish I actually had something to update. We're still waiting to hear from the bank. I'm super frustrated with our agent, and we probably should have found a new one a long time ago, but my problem is she is also our rental property manager, so I see her at least once a month when I take the rent in to her. I just don't feel like she's really working for us. I think if she was putting a little more pressure on the listing agent to put a little pressure on the bank maybe it wouldn't take so long, but maybe it would. I'm just tired of waiting. I'm not very patient. Anyway, even our agent thought we ought to be hearing something from the bank this week, but she's been wrong before. I'm kind of sounding a little "glass half empty" this morning... hope I didn't put a downer on your day.

Sundays Are Rough...

2008-06-02T07:13:00.000-07:00

So... Sundays are a little rough lately. Michael is working Sundays now, and our church is at 1:00 which I really dislike. Occasionally I can get Ty to take a nap before church, but about 90% of the time it doesn't happen... like yesterday. He also isn't happy about going to nursery which presents a problem with my calling... playing the piano in relief society. The ladies in the nursery are great though. I go up with him during Sunday School and then I leave him bawling his little head off to go play the opening song and the practice song. Then I go back up and he's usually purple in the face by this time from crying. Then I usually take him in with me to play the closing song and hope he won't try to help me play. By the time we get home he's had it and I've had it too. I was making dinner yesterday and realized he was being very quiet and I found him like this... poor little guy... fell asleep right on top of his toys. Every week I'm tempted to find a sub to play for me, but then I tell myself he's never going to go if I don't take him every week, so we muddle through it.

Another Offer On Another House!

2008-06-01T07:11:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm not sure why most of the pictures are tiny, but hopefully you can see them. This is our fourth house offer in about six months. It's another short sale. It's about 4 or 5 miles to the west of where we live now in a subdivision called Westview Estates. It's just under 2000 square feet. It's 3 bed, 2 bath with a huge bonus room over the garage. It's brand new. It doesn't look like anyone has ever lived in it. It sits on an unlandscaped 1/2 acre corner lot which is a ton of room. The home owner approved our offer yesterday which means it now goes to the bank that holds the mortgage. The nice thing this time is we know we're not competing with any other offers so we're cautiously optomistic that it's going to work out... we hope so anyway.

Third time isn't the charm...

2008-05-27T16:33:00.000-07:00

So, we didn't get the house again. I'm a little frustrated with our agent and frustrated overall with real estate in Cedar City. I know it will work out eventually, and I'm definately learning patience with the whole process. We'll just keep looking.

New House Offer...

2008-05-23T17:44:00.000-07:00

So... we made an offer on a house today... because of the holiday weekend we won't hear anything earlier than Tuesday of course. It's a HUD Repo, and besides the fact that they took the stove and the stove hood with them, it's in really good shape. They didn't kick a bunch of holes in the walls or anything like that. These pictures are from the listing on the internet. It's the same layout as the house we're renting except that you come in the front door into the formal living room, then the kitchen sits behind the living room and the family room is down below where the kitchen is in the house we live in now. I hope that makes sense. Anyway, we know it was on the market about 18 months ago and that the people who bought it put quite a bit of work into it so the carpet is in great shape, the most of the paint looks really good. They added some nice crown molding in several of the rooms. The kitchen has a nice hardwood floor that extends a walkway through the living room to the front door. It's 2 bedroom, 3 bath. One thing that I will miss compared to where we live now is that this house doesn't have the half bath on the main floor, but that's because the house is a little smaller total square footage than our rental so every room is a little smaller and there isn't room for a half bath and the laundry is in the unfinished basement. If it didn't have the unfinished basement for storage, the house would probably be too small for us, so we're glad it has the basement. We're super excited. It's in the Fiddler's Canyon neighborhood on the north end of town which is a nice established neighborhood. This rental has spoiled us in a lot of ways... great view, open spaces, three car garage... I can spy on Michael at the air center from our deck... but we will be so grateful to have a yard the boys can play in and level sidewalks for learning to ride bikes and playing baseball without worrying about your ball or your bike rolling away. We'll keep you posted. Also on a side note... Michael's helicopter arrives on Monday. Say a little prayer for him as he heads into this fire season.

Free Piano!!!

2008-05-03T13:40:00.000-07:00

I know... it's not the prettiest thing to look at, but it's really mine. I was playing postlude in relief society last Sunday when this nice lady, Ruth Brooks, who I know by name only, came up to me and said she had heard that I could use a piano. Not sure what she was getting at, I said yes that I could use one and she said she had one she was going to take to DI unless she could find someone who wanted it, so if I wanted it I could have it. I couldn't believe it. So on Tuesday Michael enlisted the help of his fire crew... Ice & Ben, and former fire crew... Paul & Danny, and they moved it home. It's got a lot of scratches and dings. It could use refinishing and needs tuning and probably a complete overhaul, but I can at least practice for church now which will be such a relief. Ty is so funny playing it. He just get his little pointer finger out and plunks away. I also am excited to start teaching Logan. He's just started expressing some interest lately, so it's just such a blessing.

Ice Cream Anyone?

2008-04-28T15:44:00.000-07:00

We went out for a celebratory ice cream cone the other night when Michael got home from his week in Boise teaching, and Logan couldn't finish his, so Ty got to try his had with a cone for the first time. He enjoyed it I think.

Peg's Birthday Weekend

2008-04-22T15:19:00.000-07:00

So I'm finally getting around to posting some of the pictures from the weekend we spent in Richfield for Peg's birthday. One of the gifts we gave her was a geocache in her honor called the birthday cache. We had a lot of fun going out and stashing it. Gramps reccomended the old Belnap ranger station location, and it is a cool place. All that's left of the ranger station is the foundation of the building, the still standing wooden flagpole, and a cave they blasted out of the rock to use for cold storage. From the pictures you can probably tell where we hid the cache. It's right off of I-70 so hopefully it will see some traffic and get visited often. We also found several other caches including one at Richfield City Park. It was a great weekend of fun and relaxation.

House Update

2008-04-18T09:35:00.000-07:00

So... we heard news on the house offer yesterday, and unfortunately it wasn't what we were hoping to hear. The listing agent said the bank was moving on the highest offer... which wasn't ours... and then if that didn't work out for some reason they would move on the second highest offer... which wasn't ours... and if for some reason that didn't work out they would move on to the third offer... which is ours. So, it doesn't seem likely that both of the first two offers will fall through, so we're going to withdraw our offer, and if by some chance they do fall through we'll consider making another offer at that point. I can't say I'm not disappointed, but I know everything happens for a reason, and we'll find the right home eventually... I'm actually feeling more disappointed today than I was yesterday when we got the news, but I'm trying to not be too in the downy dumps about it.

House Offer...

2008-04-04T19:37:00.000-07:00

So... we made on offer on a house today. The only picture I have of it is the one from the listing on the internet and I know everyone will wonder what we're thinking because it doesn't really look like anything special from the front, but the inside is awesome. It's been totally remodeled... the kitchen was completely redone... new cabinets, new appliances... all the bathrooms have been redone. It's 3 bedroom, 3.5 bath, it has a living room and a family room, a small office, and a huge backyard that's totally landscaped complete with a playset. It's currently being sold as a short sale by the bank that holds the mortgage, and we know the bank has two other offers, but the bank can consider whichever offer it wants in whatever order it wants, so we're hoping we look better than the other offers. We may not know for a few days because the bank will also take its merry time deciding which offer to take, so we'll keep you posted. It's not too far from where we live now in a really good neighborhood, so we're keeping our fingers crossed.

News Update.

2008-04-03T14:47:00.000-07:00

So, it may come as a surprise to most of you because we didn't want to tell anyone until we had something to tell... anyway... Michael applied for a job in Boise as the Helicopter Coordination Officer at NICC (National Interagency Coordination Center). It was an GS 11/12 position which would have been a great pay upgrade, but we just found out he didn't get it. Michael told me not to get my hopes up about it because it was a new position that we knew was generating a lot of interest. We know he made the final consideration list, and we don't know yet who got it, but it's really okay because we're happy where we're at. It would have been a great opportunity, but it's not like we're trying to get out of Cedar City, so we're both okay with it. Now we're probably going to take back up the house hunting and see if we can find a house to buy finally. We actually have one we really like, but it's always about the money and what we can and can't afford, so we're usually slow enough trying to decide to make an offer that we miss out and move on to the next house. Hopefully I'll get more decisive soon or we'll never buy a house.

Spaghetti For Dinner

2008-03-28T09:58:00.000-07:00

So Ty really enjoyed his spaghetti for dinner last night. He kept saying Mmmmm... Mmmmm... over and over. At one point he was trying to get the last few pieces of spaghetti by putting the bowl up to his face and trying to lick them out like a dog... hence the sauce on his forehead... funny guy.

Easter Weekend

2008-03-24T07:27:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a nice Easter weekend. We had a really nice time at my parent's in Idaho. Although, I wasn't prepared for the fact that it's still winter up there. The piles of snow made by the plow are still ten feet high... no joke. There's still at least two feet in the yard. It was wild. I was shocked by the amount of snow. On the day we left it was 15 degrees and by the time we got home to Cedar it was 62... quite a climate change. We of course can't go anywhere without checking out geocaches. We stopped at several on our way to Idaho but Michael had a hard time finding the caches in Idaho due to the snow. He did find 4 of them, but got very cold and wet in the process. And my camera battery died and had to be charged after only a few shots, so I didn't take many pictures, but here are a couple. Hope everyone has a great week.

Haircuts.... Before & After.

2008-03-17T20:53:00.000-07:00

WHOA... Ty doesn't look too sure about letting a crazy man get near his head with those clippers, but he actually behaved very well for most of the experience. Logan was sure glad to have his mop top gone. I'm just glad Michael is willing to do it because I certainly don't want to. I have a mental block when it comes to cutting hair.

Richfield Geocaching

2008-03-17T12:23:00.000-07:00

We went up to Richfield to visit Grams & Gramps over the weekend, and of course we had to check out a couple of caches on West Mountain. It was cold and snowed on Saturday, but we had fairly nice weather for Saturday morning and got some good excercise scrambling over and up all kinds of rocky terrain. It was fun. Of course after hiking and rock scrambling for quite some time, we realized we were not going to be able to get to the cache we were hunting for from where we were, so we hiked back to the Jeep and Michael and Gramps went back later to find it. It was buried near some cool petroglyphs (I'm not sure I spelled that right or if it's even the correct term :) We also found a cool one called "Where's Elmo" that had a really neat geocoin inside that was up for adoption, so we're hoping to adopt it from it's owner, pennypacker. I thought I'd share a couple of the pictures. Thanks, Grams & Gramps for a fun weekend of geocaching, playing the Wii, and just relaxing. By the way... if you haven't seen the movie "August Rush"... it's a must see... we rented it and just loved it.

More Geocaching...

2008-03-11T15:03:00.000-07:00

Well, Russ and Sherri and Peyton came down to visit over the weekend and we did a little geocaching on Saturday despite the fact that it was a little chilly and rainy by the afternoon. I don't know who was in charge of the camera, but neither Michael nor I took very many pictures, but I thought I'd share two of the seven. We picked up a really cool geocoin out of an awful cache that was stuck by magnets to the bottom of a cattle guard covered with mud, so we knew we had to take such a cool coin to a better cache. As you can tell by Ty's face, he didn't have the best day. I don't think he felt good... that's my excuse anyway for his grouchy behaviour and his fits and his screaming. Sherri was wondering what happened to the quiet, stoic Ty... I don't really know where that Ty is... lately he's discovered screaming.... and not just any screaming but a high pitched girly scream. Needless to say, I've been suffering from headaches lately... haha. We had a good day. We'd love for anyone to come visit and spend some time caching with us. You never know what treasures we might find!

What Up Homey?

2008-03-05T17:11:00.000-08:00

Ty just loves Logan's red hat. He puts in on himself... always backwards and to the right side. It's the only hat he'll wear for more than two seconds. What a funny kid.

Weekend GeoCaching

2008-03-02T09:28:00.000-08:00

I just have to tell you about our latest family fun pasttime. It's called geocaching. There's a website called geocaching.com that keeps track of caches that people stash all over the place. Some right in town, and some out in the mountains... all over. You can get online, download the coordinates of the caches you'd like to visit onto a GPS, and then you go out on a treasure hunt! The caches are usually small tupperware containers or metal ammo containers and they have all kinds of small trinkets or toys inside of them. We then take along our own collection of items to trade. Once you find the cache, you trade an item, sign the logbook, and put the cache back. The funnest things to find in them are trackable items.... some are coins, some are little dogtags called travel bugs... you can get on the website, type in the tracking #, and see how far the items have travelled, where they've been, and most importantly where the original owner wants them to go. We then report on the website that we visited a cache and that we picked up a trackable item and we'll report again when we've stashed the item in another cache to send it along its way to it's goal. We picked up one yesterday called "take me to your leader". It's a little alien toy attached to the dogtag with the tracking # on it. It's goal is to make it all the way to Washington DC and if at all possible would like to be stashed in caches that are either in state capitals or county seats or other places where "leaders" can be found along the way... cute idea. Alth0ugh we picked it up in the middle of nowhere on a stretch of slick rock in between Cedar City and St. George... nowhere near any leaders. We are going to put together a couple of our own caches. We'd like to put one on West Mountain above Richfield, and maybe one on Lee's Pass up in Kolob Canyon that's a little memorial cache to John D. Lee. Anyway, we're having a blast. Thought I'd share a couple of pictures.

Welcome!

2008-02-29T10:33:00.001-08:00

Hello family and friends. I decided to create this blog as a way to share the adventures of our family with all of you. I hope to make it fun and full of pictures and hopefully some video. Michael has made a new public blog for his crew that he has made really fun, so he should be able to help me out. Anyway... check back often for new posts, and comment all you want... and check out Michael's blog as well at zionhelitack.blogspot.com.