Triple T's

$2 Tuesday.....Thanksgiving Point....Terrible!!!!!!

This is a little late for the warning since the $2 Tuesday ends in August, so sorry. It is not worth going to Thanksgiving Point during their $2 special-it is SO crazy!! Last week I had a doctor's appt. in the morning, so I wasn't babysitting all day. I thought this was a great opportunity to take the kids out since I was minus one kid. We went down to the dinosaur museum and saw the whole thing in super fast speedy motion. I was so scared I was going to lose somebody because their were so many people there. We still had a lot of fun, I just don't think we were able to enjoy it as much as we could have-we were to busy dodging people! The kids did love playing in the sand and water and then digging for dinosaur bones. I kept telling Kade "There's a scary dinosaur" and he would say, "No, I yike (like) it!)

Sayonara

adieu, adios, arrivederci, auf wiedersehen, au revoir, bye-bye, cheerio, goodbye, good day, sayonara, so long. It doesn't matter how you say it, It's hard to say goodbye especially to a dear dear friend. A friend that has been there for you through many many hard times. One that you could count on no matter the hour, no matter the trial. One that is such a good listener it just sits there and drowns out your sorrows. I am sad to announce this, but I have had to say good-bye to a dear dear friend.....My Dr. Pepper.

I have been struggling with some really bad stomach aches and REALLY bad headaches. After consulting with my Dr. he felt it was best for me to give it up. He advised me to go cold turkey on all forms of caffeine, including the Excedrin I was using for my headaches. And to also stop using the Ibuprofen I was using for my head. He thought maybe all of this was actually making my headaches worse. So last Monday (Yes it's been 11 days now!!!!) I quit everything completely. Needless to say I had a week from you know where. But I am happy to announce that I am feeling much better. I had one moment of weakness and Mike and I ordered a Dr. Pepper and it didn't even taste good! I was so happy, but a little disappointed.

After a really long week we were able to end the week with a fabulous weekend. My dad and Laura took the kids for the night on Friday night. Mike and I decided to go up to Park City and do a little shopping, and go out for a nice dinner. We were going to go out to a movie since Mike always complains that I never go out to movies, but we were both exhausted. It's funny how your body stays on the same clock with or without kids. So we decided to come home and rent a movie off our TV...which I'm so glad we decided to do this. We watched August Rush and it was SOOO good. It was just a feel good kind of movie. The next morning Mike had a ward golf tournament so I got to sleep in and then I woke up and got some much needed house work done. It was awesome.

The rest of this week has been up and down for me. Hopefully with trying out some new things, things will start to progress for me. Until then Mike has been so great to support me and deal with my unreasonable mood swings. He brought me home these beautiful flowers the other day, Flowers always make me happy:)

Blast from the Past....

Q: What television show or movie did you want to be in when you were little?
A: Saturday’s Warriors. I loved watching all the singing and dancing. I would always sing to ALL the songs and get up and dance with them.

Q: Which character or star?
A: Pam. Not wheelchair Pam, but Pam when she was dancing.

Q. Most embarrassing moment your friends will never let die?
A. I really don’t have many embarrassing moments but I do have one minor one that kind of pops into my head. When we were Seniors in high school my friend Lindsey and I had gone tanning and fried ourselves. Well, because the burn hurt so bad I decided to take my bra off. I guess I had forgotten that I took my bra off because later when we decided to compare how bad our burns were, I freely lifted my shirt to show her, not realizing I was giving her a show in the process. We still laugh about it.

Q: Your proudest moment or accomplishment?
A: My family. When Mike and I decided to get married, nobody thought we would make it. I just want to say to them, HA!

Q: What adult did you have a crush on when you were little?
A: Zac from Saved by the Bell. (not sure he was considered an adult at the time)

Q: What habit or personality trait do you have of your mother?
A: I think we both have the same kind of sense of humor. We find a lot of the same things funny. She laughs out loud at a lot more things, I’m not a laugh out loud kind of person. But if you go to a movie you are sure to hear her in the theater just giggling.

Q: What did you want to change your name to when you were little?
A: Kylie Jordan. This is kind of where Kaylee Jordan came from. I liked Kylie but Mike liked Kaylee better. He won.

Q: Who was your first kiss?
A: Chris Holland (sorry Becca)

Q: What are 3 adjectives that someone from high school or middle school would use to describe you? A: I don’t know. Maybe some of my friends can help with this one. Then again, maybe not. Maybe we should just skip this question.

Q: What hairstyle, clothes, or other accessories did you rock back in the day when it was cool?
A: Girbaud & Guess jeans. I loved wearing those cotton outfits I think they were called Units. The ones that you would put a cotton belt around your waist with a big plastic buckle. I loved the big baggy shirts and then tying them in a knot with some stretchy pants. I also always “pegged” my jeans and I thought it was cool to have one strap of my overalls hanging down. I had the really big hair with big bangs.

Q: What job did those long and annoying surveys in school say you would be good at?
A: schoolteacher

Q: And what did you try and make the test result outcome be?
A: schoolteacher

Q: What made you laugh harder than you have ever laughed before?
A: The Blue Shoe. Only Lindsay was there to witness this. It was one of those stupid, tired moments that you can’t stop laughing. We were trying to think of a way to ask Mike and her boyfriend to a dance and we couldn’t stop saying The Blue Shoe. It was so dumb. But we were laughing so hard.

Q: Favorite memories of hanging out with your best friends?
A: Writing “notes to each other. Sharing boyfriend stories with each other. Late night slumbers, state street finding boys in the big brown van, good ole cheer days. Scrap nights with the girls, just eating junk and talking.

Q: What is the most trouble you have ever gotten in with your parents?
A: I never got into a lot of trouble. When I was little I learned the fine art of tattling on my brothers and making them look REALLY bad. I was always the angel child.

Q: What was your 5-year plan when you had to write it out in high school?
A: Graduate, Go to college, Get married, Become a teacher, Then have kids. It obviously didn’t work out that way. My 5 year plan kind of quit once I got married, and then had kids. Kaylee was asking me if I went to college and when I told her I did she was stunned. She said, “I didn’t know you could go to college to become a mommy.”

Q: What is your 5-year plan now?
A: I really don’t know. This is what I’m trying to figure out right now. My kids are starting school and in just a couple years they will all be gone all day. I don’t know what is best to do with my time. It seems like it was just yesterday we were just newly married and starting our family. I thought I had a while before I had to figure all this out.

Day 2....and she missed me!!!!!

What am I to do?

Last week Brayden started 2nd grade. When he got home from school he said it was the best day EVER! He was so excited to start because his teacher, Mrs. Montoya, has been in our ward (she just recently moved.) A lot of his same friend are in his class and he loves that he doesn't have to wait so long for lunch (first graders had to wait til after 1:00.) On his first day of school Kaylee got to go and meet her Kindergarten teacher. So we all got ready and walked Brayden to school. I'm glad I had an excuse to go to the school because I'm not sure he would have let me walk him any other way. Sad. Kade had to be included and put on his back pack. As soon as we were at the school he was off with his buddies, 2nd graders are so silly. I just felt like I was so not needed. He was just growing up and he could handle it on his own. He knew what he needed to do. So off I took Kaylee to the Kindergarten area.

Well today, after counting down the days for over a month, Kaylee finally got to start Kindergarten. I had some anxiety over it....not her. I got the kids ready to walk them to school and she asked me why I was coming with them?!? I guess she doesn't understand what it's like when your child starts Kindergarten! But off she went with her friends WAY in front of me. She even crossed at the crossing guard before I could tell her the rules. By the time I caught up to her she had reached the Kindergarten area, dropped her bag in line, found a friend and was playing on the playground. She didn't need me, in fact she had forgotten was even walking with her. Why are my children so independent? Maybe this would be easier if I felt they were going to miss me just a little? I felt a little nervous leaving her, maybe it was the fact that she was a whole head shorter then everybody in her class, maybe it was because I didn't know what I was going to do when I got home. But I did it, I turned my back and I walked away.

When we got home I got all emotional. It was so weird...the house was so quiet. Without Kaylee around things are too quiet. I've been used to her going to preschool a couple days a week, but this was different, it was longer and it will be everyday. I realized from here on out, it's just going to get longer. I've been waiting for this day for so long and now I was sad about it. I feel like I'm losing my kids little by little, and to top it off I don't know what to do with myself. I came home and walked around. Of course my house is in total disarray because I've had other priorities (Breaking Dawn) but I didn't want to do any of that. So me and Kade decided to go to Target and walk around there. I know I can't get in that habit, so hopefully soon I can figure out what to do with myself. Let me know if you have any ideas....

I LOVE STEPHENIE MEYER!!!!!!!!!!!

If it were possible, I think I would want to become a vampire in my next life. I am totally converted! This book was SOOOOO awesome, My favorite of the 4. So if you haven't read it yet, stop everything you're doing and just finish it! Don't worry about your kids they'll be fine, my kids have lived off bread and water the last couple days and they're still ok.

Oh their is so much I have to say about this book. I wish I was in school and could write a book report...that would be fun. But for now I won't ruin anything for anyone and I will keep my secret vampire obsessions to myself.

Have fun reading...

PS. Did I mention how much I love Stephenie Meyer for writing these books?!?

Fun times swimming with cousins

Idaho Falls...Highlights and Low lights

Over the weekend we went up to Idaho Falls to visit Mike's Grandparents. Our trip was filled with highlights and low lights. I will share a few.

*Highlight-We made it there safely.

*Low light-It was a very long car ride. Complete with Kade closing his eyes and plugging his ears when I told him to do something. Isn't he too young to be this sassy?

*Low light-Once we got there our brakes went out and we had to get our car into the shop. $300 later we were ready to be back on the road!

*Highlight-Going to the Falls and feeding the ducks. Grandma always gets bags and bags of bread for the kids to feed the ducks. It was great that they were able to get out of the house. They have been sick for quite sometime and neither one is healthy enough to go anywhere. Kade loved doing this and could have spent hours there.

*Low light-Ducky feeding ended up with Kade playing in the mud and splashing mud all over his brand new shoes and myself. Isn't he nice enough to clean me off though?

*Highlight-We were able to go to the Idaho Falls Zoo. It was my kind of zoo. It was shaded and small and not very busy. The kids thought it was perfect. The tiger, crane, leopard, panda, and snake were all a hit...wonder why?? (Kung Fu Panda.) Kade loved the turtles and the monkeys.

*Low light-We left the zoo with Kade in a screaming fit! It was a long day for him and right about nap time. It also didn't help that you had to walk through a gift shop to get out and he has such mean parents that wouldn't buy him anything.

*Highlight- We got to stay in a hotel, complete with this cool rock cave and a swimming pool. It

would have been too much having the kids at Grandma and Grandpa's the whole time, so we decided to stay at a hotel.

*Low light- It was about 11:00 pm before any of the kids fell asleep.

*Highlight-We got to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house. While we were there we got to go down to Grandpa Bill's old room. It was a neat reminder of him and some of things he did when he was younger. We were able to bring home a few of his things from his youth. This will be a nice treasure to have and a good reminder of him.

*Lowlight- Being at their house made is seem wrong that Grandpa Bill wasn't there also. This was the home he grew up in. Also seeing the condition that Grandma and Grandpa are in was really hard.

*Highlight-We got to spend some valuable time with Grandma and Grandpa.

*Low light- We wonder how much of the trip they will actually remember. We also wonder if there will be a next time.....

Sparta and Pioneer Cup

At the end of soccer season last year, Mike and I decided that we needed to find a soccer team for Brayden that challenged him a little bit more. We were both a little indecisive about what to do since he is still a little young. We didn't know if it was too early to get him into the competition aspect of the game. Mike grew up playing for a team called Sparta but they play on the east side. He said that if he was going to play he would prefer for him to play for this team as well. I knew it would be a HUGE time commitment and didn't know if we (I) were ready for that. We checked out a few options on this side of the valley but weren't overly impressed, I think Mike was just biased for his team. So in the end Mike won out, Brayden tried out for the team, and that is what we have been doing with our time for the past month. It has been a big time commitment not too mention gas expense getting him to practice 3 times a week, but over all I am glad we decided to do it. He is having a great time, he has a great coach, and a GREAT team!

We had to keep the family tradition...... (Mike is going to love that I posted this picture!)

Like father, like son

On the 24th of July the boys played in their first tournament The Pioneer Cup up in Layton. They played 2 games on the 24th and then they played in the semi-finals on the 25th. Since Brayden's age group doesn't really compete they were entered in the 9 year old age division, considering they were playing kids 2 years older then them, they did awesome! They lost their first game 3-1. They won their second game 1-0. And then they lost in the semi final game. They ended the game tied 1-1 and then took it into double over time and then ended the game in a shoot out. It was funny seeing these little kids play at such an intense level. I forget watching them that they are only 7. Brayden was really upset with himself because he had a chance to shoot in the shoot out, he kicked the ball before the whistle was blown and he made it, but it didn't count. So then he kicked again but then missed. It wasn't his fault that they lost though, other's missed as well. Overall they played so good.

Here is Brayden with some of his buddies in between the games. It was so hot! We had to take advantage of the shade when we could.

This was Brayden's first real experience with goalies, a referee, having to check in for the game (he even had to use his game card.) He was so excited, you would have thought he was playing for the MLS. Kade loves watching his big brother play, problem is he wants to be in the middle of it all!

This is The Place and Thanksgiving Gardens....

This Is The Place

Last Friday my Mom took us up to This Is The Place Monument. It was SO fun. It was such a great way for the kids to learn a little about history, especially with Pioneer day coming up. Brayden was really into it, and wanted to go into every building and wanted to know every story behind every house. We weren't sure exactly what their was to do up there, but once we got there we weren't able to do everything they had to offer. They had pony rides, carriage rides, train rides, a petting zoo, a puppet show, and crafts in a lot of the different houses. They had people on the streets interacting with the people.

The kids got to learn how the Pioneers combed the sheep wool and then how it was turned into yarn. They also got to see how they washed and ironed their clothes. They decided they wouldn't like to have to do their laundry that way. (They especially loved it because their was a story about it in the Friend this month.)

They got to see how the men went to the Barber shop and got their face shaved. Brayden thought it was kind of silly but played along for us.

They learned how they had to hunt, and one of Brigham Young's bodyguards shot this boar. Afterwards they got to make Arrowhead necklaces.

They also helped with the printing press and made their own Declaration of Independence. They made red, white and blue necklaces. They learned how leather was imprinted and got to make their own design. We also met Sister Hinckley's sister and saw the tiny little cabin that their father was born in. We heard so many neat stories and it really makes you appreciate the ones that came before us. We can't wait to go back and see all the things that we missed out on because of some tired kids.

Thanksgiving Gardens

Today we went down to the Thanksgiving Gardens. The kids had fun playing in their splash park, and exploring the bear caves. They also felt victorious after going through their maze. The park is so pretty and it was fun to walk around and see the beautiful flowers. They had fun playing with Brooks and Breckon. Kade and Breckon are like two peas in a pod, they are so funny to watch.

Now, why can't I have flowers like these in my yard. Oh, ya...it would take effort.

These kids really wear me out when we try leaving the house, so I talked my little brother into going to help me with crowd control. He is so great with the kids. He plays with them and keeps them engaged. They just love RyRy. Even other little kids at the park were coming up to him and talking to him. This one little girl sat and talked to him for about 20 min. Her mom thought it was so funny, she was taking pictures of her little girl with him. He just has such a lovable quality about him.

He was even crawling through tunnels that he didn't fit in, just to make the kids happy.



One more week to squeeze in some fun and the kids are back to school!!!!