The "Two Wheeler"

Jacob finally graduated from training wheels. At only 7 1/2 years old, he finally got sick of them and decided to teach himself to ride a two wheeler. He started teaching himself at his cousins, the Bradbury's house. Then he showed me that he could ride cousin Charity's bike at Grandpa's ranch yesterday. So today we took the training wheels off of his bike to see if he could do it. (His bike is a bigger bike than the others he had been riding.) Sure enough, off he went! So he is excited to take his own bike to Grandpa's ranch. We just have to keep him away from loose gravel and the barbed wire fence. No good can come of that...Just ask Katie!

Way to go Jacob! We're so proud of you!

My Children are Brilliant!

Many of you may or may not know that I love smelly candles. I love the sweet smelling ones, like warm vanilla, or spiced cider, or Cinnamon. I'm not a big fan of flowery or musky smelling scents.

I got a new Yankee candle called Home Sweet Home. It's lovely! So Saturday I decided to break it in. We had it lit for about an hour and the downstairs was being filled with it's fragrance. Mmmm! Lehi was cleaning out the litter box and I was cleaning the my bathroom. Lehi smelled something burning, so he comes out to see Emma standing over the candle with a hand full of tissues.

Turns out that they were waiving the tissues over the candle, trying to blow out the flame, but accidently lighting it on fire then waiving it around to attempt to blow it out. Now there is a burn mark in our carpet, about 1 1/2 inches wide. It's awesome! Let me tell you.

Of course they got in trouble and blamed it ALL on the other person. As is the often the case.

Way to go Jacob and Emma!

Hiking in the Grand Canyon

This is before we went on our nature hike.

(Me with Emma and Jacob)
Lehi with the kids.

A Visit with Allie and Rachel

Allie Orr and her daughter Rachel used to live by us in Spring, Texas. But a year ago they moved up to West Valley, Utah When Allie was remarried. We miss them so much!!! Anyway, we got to visit them after we went to Lake Powell. Emma and Rachel had matching PJ's. They looked so cute in them.
The kids had so much fun playing with each other again. They were watching High School Musical, and Rachel and Emma didn't make it through the movie before passing out.

The Grand Canyon

Jacob and Me at the Rim of the Grand Canyon

Jacob at the rim of the Grand Canyon

The Beautiful view at the Grand Canyon.

We got to spend two days in the Grand Canyon on our way up to Lake Powell. It was beautiful. Emma was too scared to get close enough to get a picture with. Lehi had teased her earlier that he would throw her over the edge. nice...

ALL ABOARD!!! The Grand Canyon Express

We got to ride on this restored train while we were in the Grand Canyon. Everyone had such a good time. It was a 45 minute ride. Above is pictured Sydney Robinson, my Emma, little Donald Payne, and My Jacob.
Sydney Robinson and Emma
Little Donald and Jacob
My boyfriend, Lehi and Me!

Why SUV's are better than Mini Vans!

While on our way to the Grand Canyon we ran into a little adventure. We were traveling with my Dad. We were in our van and he was driving Trish's Escalade truck. He told us that he was going to go off the main road and take a dirt road through the reservations, and he gave us the choice to follow him or to continue on the highway. We asked if our van would make it or if he thought that we should go on ahead. He of course said that there would be no problem, so we decided to blindly follow him. The road was a little rough at places, but nothing too bad...until we got to this riverbed. We were following him, but we should have watched him go across first and then when he was across, go ahead. But we followed right behind him. As the truck was going up out of the riverbed they started to slide back down, so we had to stop...BIG MISTAKE. We got stuck in the mud...that's kindof an understatement. The mud was all the way up to the bottom of the van.

Anyway, Pictured above is the riverbed after we got through, you cant really appreciate the depth of the tracks.

The happy husband...obviously NOT ammused!

Well, after trying to pull out the van and dig it out, and anyting we could think of, Dad hooked up his tow rope and pulled us out with the truck. 45 minutes Later...

It messed up our allignment, which made the van shimmy when we got up to 45 miles an hour. but nothing that couldn't be fixed, right?

Overall, I find the whole thing kinda funny, and I don't hold my dad accountable for anything.

The Fackrell's Home

While on our month long vacation we got to go to Shelley, Idaho and visit my sister Amy and her family. Pictured above: in front, Sydney Fackrell (5 yrs. old), and my Jacob (7 yrs. old), in back, Mackenzie (3 yrs. old), and Christian (8 yrs old). Everyone had such a good time playing with each other.

Below are pictures of the window treatments that Amy and I made while I was there for a week and a half. The red pannels are in her family room. And the black valance is in her kitchen.

We loved staying in thier home. They have a beautiful home, and they made us feel so comfortable. Thanks Amy! Love you!

I also got to know her husband Matthew better. He's a funny guy!

A visit with the Grays

Krystal (Johnson) Gray, her 2yr. old son Spencer, my Emma, Me, and Jacob.

While we were on our month long Family Vacation, I got to hook up with my very first Ricks College roommate. She was from Rexburg. We had not seen each other for 10 years. It was so much fun to be able to catch up and to finally meet her husband and her cute little boy. Her home in Herriman, Utah was beautiful and she made a yummy dinner for us! Hopefully it won't be another ten years before we get to see each other again.

1st Day of School

Here is Emma getting on the bus. This is the day she waited so long for!


Jacob abord the bus! WAHOO!!!!!

This is Jacob and Emma on thier first day of school. I tried to post them before but I was having technical difficulties. Please don't be blinded by the reflector tape on Jacob's backpack...We firmly believe in safety first!

FREEDOM...or Sadness?

The long awaited day finally came yesterday. I put both my kids on the school bus, and I was free for eight hours. I felt differently about sending Emma to Kindergarten than I had Jacob.
I don't know who was more excited when Jacob started kindergarten, him or me. When the bus came that first morning, I put him on that big yellow bus he had been waiting so long to ride, and as a turned back to walk into the house huge wave of excitement and freedom flowed through me. I never really looked back. But with Emma, I started to really worry the night before, asking myself such questions as, "Is she really ready for this? Am I really ready for this? just kidding! Of course I am ready! Is she mature enough? responsible enough? She's so Young!" I had to wonder, "Do I feel this way because she's my baby, or because she's a girl, are these all real concerns? Why was I feeling so different about Emma than Jacob?"
Emma was very excited to go to Kindergarten finally and to get to ride the bus with her big brother. As I turned to walk back into the house I decided that I felt both, freedom to be alone for that long, and yet sadness that another phase of my life is coming to a close. My babies are growing up. I'm sure the answer, for me, is not to go have another, but to enjoy each phase as they come.
I got good reports from both of my children when they got off the bus. Jacob said that school was fun and it was a short day, because they had early dissmisal. (they didn't. I guess it's been too long since he was in school.) Emma was excited to tell me that she didn't even get put in time-out. Yeah Emma! We're so proud! And in Emma's defense, she made sure to tell me several times that she needed to take her folder back today. I guess she was more ready than I had thought.

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

Here it is, my thirty-third birthday!!! Unlike many others, I have always loved my birthdays. It doesn't bother me to get older. It's just a fact of life, right? I could sit and reflect on the many things that the past 33 years have meant to me, but I will spare all. Instead, let's just have a moment of silence...that was good! Now, on with your busy lives.

Pause it!

This afternoon as I was reading to Jacob and Emma from the Magic School Bus, Emma hops up and yells, "pause it!", then she runs to the restroom. When she returns she yells, "press play!" Ya, my kids don't spend too much time watching TV or anything. I had a good laugh that instead of her saying, something like wait, or hold on, she says, pause it. Really, what did she want me press?

This rememinded me of when we were very young children, long before the days of tvs in cars, we would go on family road trips. My mom would recite from memory Classic Stories, Nursury Rhymes and Fairy Tales. I loved to listen to her tell these stories. Anyway, if Mom would ever stop talking for even a second, my little sister Amy, who was probably about 3 years old at the time, would tell mom, "wead, wead!" meaning to read. That used to make us all laugh.

Good times...

Seriously!

Why is it that whenever I think of posting about my day or family life the beloved quote, "There's nothing wrong with this place" comes to mind. Maybe it's an attempt of talking myself into feeling better about life. Like, This is all normal...???

Oh well! Here's to the good times of being a mom; the kids who one minute just might kill each other and the next minute love each other and play so nicely together, the never ending laundry pile and constant chance to do the dishes and the blessing of full time school, the never ending supply of hugs and kisses and bedtime. I just keep thinking to myself whenever my kids want to sit or lay all over me, or beg to be tucked in at night, or beg for my attention when I am so busy, There will come a day when they don't want this anymore. Then I will miss it. I love that great country song by Trace Adkins called You're Gunna Miss This. It's a good reminder.

So you think you can dance, dance, dance, dance.

Yes, this show and American Idol are guilty pleasures of mine. In keeping with the spirit of "fast and testimony meeting" this past Sunday, (Thanks Matt for the little reminder/horror story http://mattandamyras.blogspot.com/2008/07/so-sometimes-crazy-stuff-happens-at.html) I would just like to add a big Amen to the comments made by the full-time paid judges this week. (They of course asked me to be a judge, but I was unable to accept, due to my jam-packed social life and their inability to pay the required salary.)

I feel that Mia's comments to Jessica about her holding Will back were right on the money. She actually came right out and told Will, "You need another partner". It was great! A bit embarrassing, but great! I agree with Nigel when he said that he wished we could have sent home two girls. That would have obviously been Comfort and Jessica. The Boys this year are stronger dancers than the girls. I personally wasn't ready for Thayne to go home, but at this point in the competition it's going to stink because someone has to go home.

It will be interesting to see this next week, with the top ten, picking different partners and dance styles. Let's see how things are when partners are changed up. I personally love Twitchington, Joshua & Katee, and Marc & Chelsie, and Will.

These are a few of my favorite things!

These are listed in no particular order: Vera Bradley bags, ipods with great play lists, happy children, Mexican food, family, friends, quilting, scrapbooking, a clean house, good communication, Mississippi mud, rocky road ice cream, air conditioning, swimming, making jewelry, good hair, phone calls, reliable vehicles, webkinz, reality TV, etc.

I can't take it anymore!

Okay, I'm totally giving into all the peer pressure of creating a blog. Not so much because I think my life is so exciting and I'm just dying to share it with the world, but because...Let's be honest...is the "why" really all that important? Ya, didn't think so. Hopefully I can really get into this and post regularly and it will be enjoyable for all.
Enough from me, let's hear from you. How do you feel about me?