Let's Play Catch up!

Whew! It has been a crazy two weeks...

Here is what we have been up to-

Meg and I left our boys and took a girls trip to St. George the week before BEFORE Father's Day... but that was just swimming and sisters and drinking diet coke and laughing... not much to tell.

It all started with Father's Day.

Meg gave Caylor a bar-b-que apron that she bought at her reading store at school... he liked it better than the poinsettia tie she gave him for an early Christmas present.

You gotta love the "thrift" type of store that is a reward for reading minutes... Caylor LOVES all his apparel that Meg earns!

Caylor and I dug up some tubular 80's wear for Steve's 40th birthday party...

Caylor was not a fan of dressing up!

He said that if he would have wanted Thespian friends he would have made them with the Shakespearean Festival people while attending SUU.

We got him some white pants and a pink shirt... add a little scruff and the aviators and he passed as Sonny Crocket or George Michaels or a preppy- WHATEVER!

The real side show was the birthday boy himself...
Steve pulled out all the stops and really made Vegas sit up and take notice.
( That, my friends, is hard to do... WEIRDOS= VEGAS)

p.s those are RED SHINY SPANDEX in all their glory and Kamari made a great skanky hairband groupie!
For a ton more pics and to see the entire bitchin' bunch check out Mindi's blog here...

She has the awesome camera and a man who will hold her heavy camera laden purse

So... She was the official photographer!

After partying in Vegas like it was 1999... we all headed back to the land of milk and honey...

St. George for a week of fun in the sun.

We had family parties... this is Caylor and our niece... Brecken.
Mitch and Collin... just chillin' in the 108 degree weather...
( oh yeah.. this is Caylor's youngest brother.. we can't say little anymore- he is a whopping 6'6"+)
Nice headbands... everyone had to wear them to celebrate the 4th!
It was fun to be with Caylor's family.
All of his siblings were there and all the grandkids, except one that is vacationing in Australia...

We stayed at my sister's house while she was in California and tended her dog...
Meg was in heaven...
A dog -
A swimming pool-
and little cousins to play with!
She was such a great tender!
This is my littlest nephew, Briggs... so dang cute!

Oh... oops...this pic was out of order... oh well... I forgot to mention that Jackson's team took 3rd place this year. Pretty amazing considering they played like the Bad News Bears for most of the season.

We also got a brand new boy...

Mitch was my tall dark and handsome son-

now he is a blondie!

He had his aunt Mindy apply a little bleach to the hair...

We warned him that if he is in the pool too much the chlorine will turn his golden locks mossy green and he will have to have a ketchup wrap treatment.

YUCK!
He was very good at rinsing his hair after swimming. I wondered if he was going to make me buy him a swim cap.

While we were in St. George we took all the kids to Little Chefz.

So much fun.

Caylor's brother and his wife, Gen, own it and it is the cutest thing in the whole world.

It is a cooking school, preschool, baby sitter, etc., etc.

Last time we were down the kids all got to go and make their very own pizza.

This time they got to make cupcakes for the fourth of July.

They made the batter from scratch, rolled out fondant frosting, and added embellishments to make their cupcakes SPECTACULAR!

This is Meg and Aunt Gen... Little Chefz is such a fun place to be.

Meggie & Shay the Frosting Divas!

Meg said she was probably ready to go on Cake Boss now...

I love her confidence!

Jace can be the muffin man... or the cupcake kid. He said he wants to go back EVERY SINGLE DAY!

Kally was the QUEEN of the SPARKLES! She used every single sparkle and embellishment.

She is my kind of girl... More is MORE!

The kids had so much fun...

I would have put Mitch and Jackson's picture here, but they were way to busy going to movies.

One day they sat through two movies back-to-back.

So funny!

But what do we expect it was 108+ degrees outside...

I was sad to leave the fun and games of being with family all week...

but the party continues...literally!

Next week Viv and the sisters are coming up to help me throw a baby shower for one of our family's dearest friends.

She is having a baby boy... the colors are lime and brown... I think the theme is... Oh, BOY!

I was chatting with the expectant mother yesterday and she was having stress when I told her I haven't really thought about the shower yet.

The invites are out...

I am pondering on it.

VIV.. the QUEEN of all parties is on her way up...what else do we need to do? Inspiration will come...

Why worry- it will be FABULOUS!

That is what has been happening in my world... a little chaotic, a little crazy... for me- that's the norm!

I have missed blogging... I think I will try to do better!

An Update...

Whew! We have had the busiest summer of our lives!

I thought when we got back from Hawaii our lives would be settled a bit and we could relax in July... NOT SO! Today marks only the third -7 day stretch that I have been home this whole summer. July proved to be just as crazy! Here is what we have been up to lately...

We had the Tournament of Champions in Park City over the 24th of July weekend. Viv had the condo in Park City that week so all of my family reunited and had a great time. Cousins, bike rides, swimming, the Alpine Slide, puzzles, treats, and the Baja Cantina... it just doesn't get any better than that!
When we got home from Park City we had to hustle to get Mitch ready to go on TREK. The youth of our church went to Martin's Cove in Wyoming and participated in the whole pioneer thing for 4 days. I was excited for Mitch to go, but he wasn't as thrilled. I tried to tell him that it would be an amazing experience and he told me that boys don't have experiences, only girls do. WHATEVER! He had a great time- He said it was the hardest thing ever, but he was glad he went. I am very proud of him for being a good sport and going!
While Mitch was pulling a handcart... Jacks, Meg and I were going to movies, hanging out and enjoying a relaxing summer!

We were somewhat sad baseball is over. Mitch hung up his Crusher's jersey for good... next year he will try to play with the high school automotive team. soo...
Out with the old-

and, In with the NEW!
Today Mitch starts football season and it is a total commitment... practice everyday! So... no more trips or travel. We have got to wind the summer down, shop for school clothes, and get ready to be organized and structured again!
Yeah! It is the best time of year!
Football and new school clothes mean Fall... I just can't wait!

Oh... what do you do in the summertime?

When I was little one of my favorite songs to sing in primary was

"Oh... what do you do in the summertime"

This past week we all had a taste of my childhood...we played in the pool!

Growing up in St. George (with its 110 degree days) summertime meant swimming...EVERYDAY!

We didn't have a pool in our backyard then , but we would go to the Bloomington Country Club pool!

We would load up with our cousins, the Trumans...take a cooler of treats, get our nose plugs that looked like silly putty and head out!

I can't really remember that sunscreen was the top priority it is now... so we all got VERY TAN!

Sometimes for a really great treat we would all head up to Veyo pool.

Anyone that is a St. Georgeite has been to Veyo pool...

the corn dogs, cherry 7-ups.. and the wall of chewed gum... and the sign that said " welcome to our ool, notice there is no "P" in it...please keep it that way"...ahhh memories!

My favorite was when my dad would come swimming with us!

He would chuck us and let us dive off his shoulders he was the biggest kid in the pool.

As I got to be a teenager... Las Palmas was THE summer hang out.

My family bought a membership and we were there EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

I would go with my friends, but I had to take my little sisters and brother with me. We would be there from about 11:00 am to about 4:00 pm... one time we took one of Brock's friends... one of Brock's blonde- blue eyed, fair skinned friend. I wasn't very responsible with the sun screen. When it was time to go he was laying on the lawn chair with the towel wrapped around his sunburned eyes and face....OOPS!

I later taught that kid in high school and on the first day I reminded him about almost killing him... He could remember...YIKES!

There were diving boards, hot guys, fun music, and so many fun times. We ruled the world!

This past week we were in St. George and swam every single day. My 78 year old grandma even came down from Cedar City to sun and float in the sun. One day my dad came home for lunch and ended up swimming with all of the grandkids. He had them laughing and crying all at once... just like old times.

We had good treats, lots of cool drinks, & popsicles by the dozens... and this time the kids had sunscreen check every 30 minutes!

I was taken back in time... but, this go around I didn't look so hot in a swimsuit!

19 years...Really?

19 years really?

I am going to let you all know just how very old I am...

19 years ago I was a Freshman at College and was on the drill team!

Made such fun friends and had such a great time!

Fast forward 19 years to NOW...

Some of us connected on Facebook and decided it was high time we got together...

Since my house is kind of centrally located (and I volunteered) we all met at my house!

So. Much. Fun!

Here is the little invitation I sent out...

I know there are weird brown things on it... but, I am in the witness protection program and can't divulge my personal information...

Here we are 20 years later...
Karla, Amy, Sarah, Tracy, Deena, Monica, Me, & Megan
We were missing a few, but we will catch them next time!
Megan drove all the way from St. George and then turned around and went back.
She wins the award for the most effort made...

Here are a few pics of the buffet... minus some of the food
It was so fun to use my new copper chafing dishes! Yahoo!

We looked at old photo books, watched a video (scary), laughed at all our BIG 80's hair, ate, saw pics of our kids (32 between us all), and got all caught up with each other...

We just didn't want it to end!

It is amazing how fast time flies...

It seems like just a few years ago we were all at Dixie College!

Thanks to everyone for making the effort to come...

Let's do it again soon!

On top of the world!

This last weekend we traveled to St. George for a little visit with the fam! Caylor and the boys knew that I was going to be "sistering" ( the activity that happens when I go to St. George and hook up with my sisters and mom and cousins and friends and any other woman that likes to drink Diet Coke, laugh and have a good time) so they decided they were going to do something fun and unique...they went to Zion's National Park to hike Angel's Landing. This is something I am kindof embarrassed to say that I have NEVER done... ( not THAT embarrassed because you didn't see me loading in the car to go with them). Caylor, Mitch, Jacks and my two nephews ( Raycen & Riley) all ventured to the mecca for all people German to hike the mountain. Mitch teased Jacks all the way to St. George that he would be afraid to climb the chain and go to the top...well when they got there- Jacks , Raycen and Caylor climbed the chain while Mitch & Riley kicked back in the safe zone and watched. I was really proud of all the boys for doing it. They had a great time and did something really great! I was also proud of Caylor for taking the boys and getting out of the glitter zone ( we did glitter crafts at Viv's house while the little girls swam). It was a fun weekend all around. I missed out on seeing my friends, but had a great time hanging with the sisters and mom ( that includes my sister-in-law...whom we consider one of the sisters). It was beautiful weather, fun company, and just an all around excellent weekend.

19- 19-1998!

You Belong in 1998

With you anything goes! You're grunge one day, ghetto fabulous the next. It's all good!

Well I took this little quiz that is floating around my blog pod ( the people that my people and I all blurk) and thought is was quite funny... The last line, "It is all good" is really one of my favorite lines in my real life. In 1998 I was the mother of 2... teaching full time high school, weighed ALOT less than I do now, and drove an AWESOME White Isuzu Rodeo. I had lots of hair...sometimes curly and sometimes straight- I was on top of my game. I loved how it says I am sometimes grunge and sometimes Ghetto Fabulous- somewhat true...it changes every day! It figures that I am stuck there... It was when I was at my best! This is really a fun thing to do... try it out and then tell us what you were doing that year! p.s. I tried to find a photo of my from that year...NO DICE! That would have been funny

Take me out to the ballgame

My mouth is completely raw from eating sunflower seeds and I about had a sun stroke- all for the love of the game. This past weekend (July 24-26) we were in Park City and Heber for the Tournament of Champions baseball tournament. Mitch is on a competition baseball team, the Utah Crushers- a brand new team that has only played this year. We lost our first game in extra innings, and then won the other three so we secured a spot in the championship game on Saturday. I think we were a little tired, for we kinof beat ourselves... the score was 3-3 for most of the game and then we allowed a home-run on errors. Yes... the Bad News Bears came out to play for an inning. We ended up losing 3-4 and coming in 2nd in the whole tournament- which really is awesome considering it is the best teams in Utah and Idaho that are invited. It has been a fun team to play on- the other families are tons of fun and we have a great time. The kids started playing in January- hitting and practicing in an indoor facility. We have played several tourny's and double headers every Saturday. It will seem crazy not to have to play baseball! Mich is a good player and has a lot of fun with the other kids on the team. I can tell summer is winding down.... not by looking at the calendar or feeling the 102 degree weather... I can tell that fall is right around the corner because Mitch starts football today! Yes... he is going to be practising for the best sport of all starting today! I love football season and in our family football is KING! Jacks never wants to play because he doesn't want to get "creamed". So off of one sport and on to another... love the life of being a mom to boys! Play Ball!

Got Balls?

BASEBALLS!

Tis' the season... for sunflower seeds, hot dogs, sports chairs, freezing games, sweltering games, and homeruns! Yes, it is true ...it is baseball season once again at our house! Last year was crazy because Jacks was playing rec league ( 2 games a week) and Mitch was playing rec league ( 2 games a week) as well as comp ball (1 game during the weekdays and 2 games on Saturdays) . Some weeks we had 7 games! YIKES. It will be better this year- Mitch is only playing comp ball. With a schedule like that no wonder Meg hasn't quite joined any sports teams yet. After two brothers I am okay with her not being an athlete...we'll let her dance. As a baby she didn't wear overalls either or a whole lot of blue. She gets used to taking her blanket and coloring books and barbies to the ball parks around the valley. Last year she said, "Mom, when are we going to have a real dinner- with vegetables?" Baseball season= Spring Cuisine... the value meal at the ballpark...hot dog, soda, and a bag of chips. SO HEALTY! I sound like I am complaining... no! I really do like to watch the boys play. Big Daddy is great during baseball seson- he takes them early, sets up camp at the Saturday double headers and tournys, and is their biggest fan. I also love that Caylor's dad is a huge fan too! Sometimes he will travel from St. George just to catch a few of the boy's games. Last year Caylor, Mitch , and Papa went to Cooperstown, N.Y. for MItch to play in a tourny. Those three had a ball and the momories are priceless! So needless to say...we do love it- we'd better because here it is until late July!

so...PLAY BALL!