I Love Halloween

We had a great Halloween. Very packed with fun fun fun.



After we went trick-r-treating for four city blocks downtown we went to a trunk-r-treat.



Brook's family and Itchy and his kids all joined us for the festivities. We were in the presence of greatness: a doctor, adventurers, football player, Wolverine, baseball player, and then there was Fat Jack the clown/mechanic (although you really don't want him to bend over your car, he had the biggest wedgie I've ever seen).



Big D got a really bad haircut, we fired his barber, Beaner was a beautiful witch, Bear and Bud were ninjas.



RC was always at attention and Bug was a rat creature, she got the idea from her Bone book. Itchy was just praying for it to all be over because he helped Big D bust out concrete all day and was exhausted.



Beaner and I decided to wear fake eyelashes. Hers turned out great, they matched her outfit and she loved them.



I tried to dress up, I bought a witches hat and put on my lashes but when I tried to find a witches dress there wasn't anything modest so I just wore dark clothing, which looked stupid. I almost had to wear the lashes to church the next day because I was too scared to tear them off, I made Beaner do hers first.



By the end of the evening Fat Jack got a hair cut...



then got fresh with Big D.

After the truck-r-treat we went to our neighborhood and some walked up and down six more blocks. Needless to say, we will probably be needing a dentist soon. Beaner couldn't even carry her bag anymore, it was too heavy. Although she does love the power of having the most candy.

We figured we should counter balance the candy with some healthy food so we went to Brook and Andy's for pizza when we were all too tired to walk anymore.

Guilt, It's a Powerful Thing

Sandra, the daughter of the lady we were going to buy the house across the street from, came over yesterday. She told us that someone has put earnest $$ down on the house.

Personally, I knew she didn't have to come and tell me, but it was an answer to my prayers.

Every morning walking up my stairs and seeing the house across the street still available and screaming at me, "Why don't you want to buy me?"

A part of me was holding out hope that one day Big D would come home and say he'd changed his mind and he really wants to move across the street. I knew that hope would die if someone would just hurry and purchase the home.

I've been praying that this self induced torture would end and someone in this rechid economy would free me, and now they have.

I sent Big D an email telling him HIS good news, because I've been driving him nuts. Just last week they put a "Price Reduced" sign up and I approached Big D about how he felt about that. I knew then that I needed to quit sharing my feelings with him or I'm going to send him to an early grave.

When he got home from work he asked me how my day was, knowing full well that I was on the verge of tears. I told him that I threw myself into the task of finding us a new cell phone and plan.

I told him a couple days ago that I'd really like to get a Blackberry, but after my research I found out it would cost us about $100 a month. I don't know if you know this or not but that is $1,200 a year, are you kidding me.

Big D gave me some other ideas on where to look and we decided to go try going through our land line phone company to see if they could give us a better deal.

Needless to say when he came home from work yesterday he was on the phone calling people working out a deal and he bought me a pink Blackberry, I really wanted red but pink will do.

When we went to bed last night and all was said and done I asked him if he got me the Blackberry to make up for not getting the house? He could have easily told me I needed to get a less expensive phone and live with it, I have been for the past ten years or so.

He laughed and said No, but a part of me still wonders. I know he loves me and he wants to give me every thing I want. Plus, I know that I have champagne taste on a beer budget, I think I inherited that from my dad.

A couple years ago Big D and I got into a fight because he called me high maintainence. After I explained to him my definition of "high maintainence" he recanted, but I think he was right. I've brought up that fight off and on asking him how he feels about it now, but I think he was right even back then.

When we go camping we have to pay to drive a gas guzzling RV just so I can have a shower, a bed, and a toilet. When we are buying a cell phone the one I get my heart set on is a $150 phone (and that's not including the plan). When we finally get our cute little abode right where we want it, I want a bigger one so I can have family over for Thanksgiving.

We are a one income family. My husband works very hard so that I can stay home and raise our four beautiful children. Everyone comments on what good kids they are and Big D always gives me the credit, but I know the truth they have an awesome dad.

Big D knows I am high maintainence and he still loves me. He still does every thing in his power to give me the desires of my heart and it crushes him when it is just not possible.

I love my Big D to eternity and beyond! I can only hope that I make him feel as loved as he makes me feel. I don't need a bigger house or a Blackberry to be happy. As long as I have my family together and we are all healthy I am the luckiest woman in the world.

An Unwelcome Guest

We have a fever bug hoping from kid to kid in our house. I gotta say, I am not liking this bug right now. I wish it would go away, preferably before I get sick.

I hate seeing my babies sick. Bear had it starting last Friday and now Bud has it. I was laying in bed last night thinking it is a good thing I'm not in school this semester because I'd have to miss school. I am already missing my institute class for a second time this semester.

I feel bad when my babies hurt and there is nothing I can do about it. Bear is taking it pretty good. He had to miss a party on Saturday that everyone else got to go to. I thought he was going to whine about it but he didn't. My other chillywonkas were so cute, they brought Bear home some goodies from the fish pond, that made him feel special.

Bud is missing school today and he loves school. He's been trading Pokemon cards with friends lately. Apparently they are all the rage among five year olds. He loves coming home showing me all the new cards he got, but today he won't get the chance.

I just wonder who is going to come down with this fever next. Hopefully it won't be Big D. He's got a lot on his plate and I'm scared if he gets sick he'd be down for a month. He doesn't get sick very often but when he does it knocks him out for a while.

Oh the joys of being a mother, and a wife.

Goal #37 Run Away with Sisters for Weekend

Okay the goal said to run away with my sisters, but there was a substitution. My brother, Lowell, and I went down to visit my sister Ann for her birthday. Marie was home visiting so she wasn't there.

Ann celebrated her big 3-0 this month. She was feeling down because she feels like she hasn't accomplished anything in her thirty years. She feels even worse when she compares herself to me: married and gave birth to all my kids by 28.

I think she's accomplished a lot. She's getting her education which is soooo important. She's gone ski diving, something I would love to do. She's wrestled herself into every one's hearts and made us all feel special and loved.

She has served a two year mission to Jackson, Mississippi, that is something I can't do until all my kids are raised.

Ann is a strong, beautiful person on the inside and out. She has always been the peace giver in our family. She has a angelic singing voice that I've always been jealous of, but I am very grateful she has such a talent.

I love how she hates to write but she always encourages me to. She loves to share her ideas with me and then push me to write a story about it.

Ann is always the first one to jump in with a hug or a kind word when she knows you're down.

I love being around her because she inspires me to be a better me.

I think Ann is one of the best sisters anyone could have, Marie is right there with her. I wish Ann knew how special she is to her whole family. I hope we gave her a small clue by coming down just for her, and I would do it again in a heart beat.

Happy Birthday! I love you to Eternity and Beyond!

Newsletter

As most of you who read my blog know, I wrote the family newsletter this month for the first time in about two years.

I hope everyone who wanted a copy got one, let me know if you didn't and I will try again.

I really enjoyed putting it together. I forgot how much time it takes but I loved every minute. I've already started on next months just so I can spread it out and not get caught at the end of the month with my pants down.

Family newsletters can have a bad rap. I know some people don't like them that much, which is fine each to their own.

The reason I wanted to start doing one again is because I feel so detached from a lot of my family members whether it be because of distance or just lack of time to socialize.

I find when I am forced to call everyone once a month to get updates I love to just chat and feel like I am a part of your lives. Some of you I only get to see on special occasions and that can be few and far between.

I don't know how long I'm going to be able to do the newsletter again. Once I'm back in school I might have to try doing one every three months instead of once a month, which I know will make some happy.

Over all I hope you are happy with the newsletter and me butting into your lives again. I am trying to get more people involved this go around so you don't have to just hear from me and my ideas.

Thank you to all who helped with this last one and to all of you, please let me know if you want to contribute to any future ones.

Goal #46 No Out To Eat

I so didn't think this goal was going to be as hard as it was. I didn't realize how many times we fell back on the fast food system. Wow, I'm a bad mom.

I think it was really good for our family to take one month and not go out to eat. Not only did it help our pocket book it also helped us with our healthy goals. I'm not saying that one month of no fast food made us healthy, but it did help us feel better and realize what we are doing to our body putting that crap in it.

The funny thing is, to celebrate not going out to eat, I went out to eat at Mama Inez for their Wednesday night Nachos with some girlfriends. They were not that good so I only had a couple bites and ate ice chips the rest of the night.

I think the world as a whole is getting way too dependent on the McDonald's and Taco Bells. And then we whine about being a fat nation.

Well I know I'm fat and I know why and I still whine about it. I wish things could be different, I wish milkshakes didn't take so darn good. And how come healthy food can't taste divine? The world would be a better place if chocolate was the biggest element on the food pyramid. Maybe some day, who knows.

Goal 24: Go To Temple Once a Month

I really enjoyed passing off this goal. When I started back in April I went with my sister to the Salt Lake Temple, my favorite temple. I love the architecture and the history. They spent a lot of time on the detail work and it's every where from the moldings to the windows. Each room is perfectly decorated and the murals are spectacular. I think the live sessions just add to the ambiance of the whole experience.

A couple months back, I think about three or four, my brother Brook and his new wife Andy started coming with us. Andy tries to go once a month and she started inviting us along with them to help Brook feel more comfortable. He went through the temple for the first time in May when they got married. The temple can be a bit overwhelming and I feel so grateful that he wanted to share his experience with us.

After Brook and Andy started going with us we started inviting my other brother Lowell and his wife Rae. Rae just blessed me with a new niece in May so she's been a bit tied down with all of that. Yesterday was her first time coming with us and it really added to the whole evening. I love getting to know my sister-in-laws better and what a better way to get to know them.

I have really enjoyed making the temple a monthly goal. I hope that now that I'm done with that goal I continue to make my temple attendance a priority. I've found that I'm a lot better person when I go once a month rather than the once a year that I was doing. I think it's just way too easy to let life get in the way so I had to stop and ask myself what I was really doing here; trying to get ahead in the world or trying to get ahead spiritually? Sometimes it's nice to be reminded what's important.

August Summed Up

We had a very busy August.



At the end of July at our family birthday party we crowned ourselves a queen. This is T.T., Brook's step-son. T.T. asked Brook to paint a motorcycle on is forehead, Brook is a very good artist but I don't think this is a motorcycle. It's a good thing T.T. has a good sense of humor. The next day he had to go to church with the outline of the crown because he got too much sun the day before.



In the spirit of competition the boys decided to see who could eat half a pie first. Brook needed to take his skirt off, he was too scared to get his new shirt dirty so he came in dead last. I think he may have tied with his sister Lowell.



Big D put forth a good effort but came up short. I just hope he keeps it all down because I don't want to clean it up.



Next we had a watermelon seed spitting contest.



Yes Bud has horns, he also had a great spit.



As you can tell from the angle of the camera Big D is aiming his spit at me. It was a good strategy because he almost won. The guy aiming at his mother-in-law took the prize though, can you blame him.



The next weekend our whole family traveled to Bear Lake for a family reunion with Papa Guy and Grandma Honey. The kids enjoyed some smores.



Believe it or not this is how the kids road down to the water. They loved this four wheeler.



Big D never turned anyone for a ride he just gave them one rule: they had to catch him first.



We went back down to the water after dinner. We were die hards for fun. Auntie Ann was done with water volleyball so she got to watch the nieces and nephews.



We played volleyball until we couldn't see the ball anymore. Next year we vowed to bring a glow in the dark ball.



I don't think the kidies had as much fun as the adults, they were freezing and headed back to camp without us.



Poor Kinnzi probably wants to turn us into to PETA for making her put up with that much sand. She hated it! But I think she hated the water even more. Papa Guy would throw frisbees in the water for his dog Dottie (a Polmeranian the same size as Kinnzi) and Kinnzi would run as fast as she could, right to the edge of the water and then stop. I think she may suffer from princess syndrome.



Grandma Honey sewed all these cool pirate hats for the kids. Honey is truly a pirate at heart.



When the kids go out to her house to stay they don't have to brush their hair because pirates don't do that. The kids love it.



After Bear Lake we got together at Brook and Andy's for a BBQ/water party. I often has to ask who the biggest kid at the party is.



It certainly isn't this beauty. This is the newest member of our family, Rae Rae. She did qualify for the cutest one at the party.



It seemes like every time these guys get together it turns into a competition.



I think the only thing they were really competing for is who is the biggest goof, and they all tied.



After the BBQ we went to another family reunion, not in the same day. Here is my dad with all of his siblings. From left to right: Papa Guy, Becky, Jeff, Lynette, and Mike. What a handsome family! The only one missing was the youngest brother, Rob.



We did 4H for the first time this summer. Beaner and Bud made pillow cases and stitched their names on them, I had to hurry and throw one together for Bear because he was feeling left out. Bug sewed PJ bottoms and I sewed her the top. She got to model it in the county fair. She got a blue ribbon on it so now she gets to model her outfit at the state fair next month. She was nervous but she did great.



After all that hard work we needed some relaxing time so we went boating. This was Bud's first time jumping off the boat since the rafting incident in Montana. I was so proud of him. He wanted to show us that he could do a cannonball.



The girls are turning into little show offs.



Beaner was trying to get her little friend, Hailey, to losen up a bit. One second she'd say she was having fun and the next she'd have a huge scrowl on her face. Some times it's hard for people to realize that if they fall off the tube they are just landing in the water, the soft water. Beaner is usually my timid one but I think she stood up before Bug did.



The kids figured out what to do with all those boxes after I unpacked. They made an apartment building. Beaner is on the top, then its Bug, both boys are in the next, and in the bottom is Kinnzi.



Thank goodness the first day of school. Now maybe I can have a breather.

I'm Back Baby

Sorry I took so long off. I was a bit down after the house debacle and I didn't think anyone would want to read about me feeling sorry for myself.

I'm feeling better now thanks to a lot of loving people showing me that 1. I have a great life just the way it is, and 2. I was acting like a spoiled rotten brat who didn't get my way, you know who you are, YOU KNOW.

I really haven't been up to much this month. My family went to Bear Lake with all my brother's, my sister's and Papa Guy and Grandma Honey. We had a great time swimming, playing volleyball, and four wheeling in the sand. The guys had to have a wheelie contest on the four wheelers, none of them broke anything so I'm happy.

The water was beautiful this year. It seems like every year we have storms that roll in at the same time every day but this year it was perfect.

I understand that the next weekend was pretty bad with wind and rain, sorry about that Ann, Lowell and Rae.

Today is the last day for that cash for clunkers scam. I tried to find a car for my sister, to help her get through college, to no avail. We had $7300 to put down on a $19,000 car and the lowest we could get the price was $15,000. I'm not the best at math but that doesn't add up or subtract to me, how about you? I was proud of Ann, I knew she wanted the car but she walked away. I wish I could have helped her find a good deal.

When I was in my pissed off mood I decided to paint my front room, bad idea. I still really liked my sage green walls with hand painted cream stripes. Now it is all primer white and I don't know what to do. I thought about bright red, you know to reflect my anger, but I didn't think my shabby chic furniture would go well.

Plus the whole reason I decided to paint the room is because an appraiser told me my house had too much personality. I don't think red gets away from that.

HELP! I don't know what color to paint the room. My house is totally destroyed right now. I have boxes that still need to be unpacked and all my front room furniture in the middle of the floor and scattered in other rooms.

My Home teachers came over last night and we all had to huddle in our quiet room to visit. Boy did it get hot in there on top of really stinky (the paint fumes).

My poor husband starts school this week and the one thing he asked me to do is get the quiet room, which is our version of a den, organized so he has a place to study.

He's been such a great guy through this whole debacle. He knows how bad I wanted the house and when we pulled out, and I melted, he stepped up and loved me even when I wasn't very lovable. I sure have a great guy!!!

I guess what I want to accomplish in this blog is to let everyone know that I am okay and I will try to do better on my blogging if for nothing else than for me to focus on something.

Thank you to all my fans, I've always wanted to say that. Thank you for being here for me and I will do my best to be there for you.

No House

Big D and I have decided to pull out on purchasing a new house. We feel it just isn't the right move for our family at this time.

Wow, that all sounds very sterile.

We've been going back and forth on this house for a couple months now. I kept thinking if I just gave Big D time to process then he'd come around, I was wrong. We started fighting, which we never do, and finally I talked Big D into getting blessings to see if that would help.

Lowell gave me one and Brook gave Big D one, by the way that was Brooks first time EVER giving a blessing and he did awesome.

In my blessing I was told to listen to my husbands council as he uses his priesthood to harken unto the Lord. In other words I was told to shut up sit down and quit interferring.

The next night we walked over to the ice cream parlor for some fresh air. I told Big D I was going to give him until the count of ten to make a decision and we were sticking with it.

The count of ten lasted ten minutes. I asked him for his decision and he said he didn't want to do it, and so we're not.

A house is sooooo not worth fighting over in my book. I love having a peaceful happy home and if we move into a home where we are always fighting then it's not going to be very peaceful and happy.

I'm not going to say that I'm not dissappointed, I am. I love the house and now I have to stare at it every day.

I guess I was just ready for a new adventure. I saw this house as a blank canvas just begging me to splash a little Tiffany all over it.

I'm very proud of Big D for making a tough decision. That's one of the reasons I love him soooo much, his ability to do what is right even when it's not the most popular with his wife. What a great guy I married!