Angie mom

First Day of School

2010-09-03T11:04:00.000-07:00

Lex lost his two front teeth
Logan and James with their friend Rylan
Logan has a cool orange wheelie backpack
James has a wheelie backpack too-he doesn't need to be cool, he even wore jeans with holes in both knees
Lex had to have cool hair, he will not let me touch it or the comb, at least I kept him from combing it straight back (I've explained that the cool hair these days hangs forward in the face, but he's not listening)
How is their mother feeling about them being in school now... . Good, but quiet around here
Also Logan started soccer and they ROCK (they won their first game, honestly I hope they get some competition)

the luckiest cat in the world

2010-05-20T14:29:00.000-07:00

(OK, not REALLY the luckiest cat, but at least she has love)

Lex dressed her up as Santa Claus

At least she doesn't bite :)

She annoys the hec out of us sometimes, so she owes it to us to put up with our kids

Asher is pretty good with her, he likes to lay his head on her and give her hugs. I haven't been able to get a picture of this yet.
We named her KC Cat. She was kicked out of her previous home for being so annoying so maybe she actually is a lucky cat (if not luckiest in the world) at least we let her in in the morning :) (think of crying cat sound at night hiding under your bed)

caucus -my big run for state delegate

2010-04-09T17:48:00.000-07:00

Actually it is a position you are voted into, but it's not something actually campaigned for. Let me do the semi-short story.

I have grown tired of wondering how the hell some politicians get voted in and why aren't there more good candidates. The story of seniority in congress is a long, nightmarish one, but an important one.

Bob Bennett being up for re-election got me interested in our neighborhood caucus. Apparently everyone else in Davis County had gotten interested for their own reasons because there was no parking if you weren't early. I had called everyone in my precinct I know and didn't know. I let them know my feelings about the incumbent and that it's a painful thing to get away from the seniority thing, but that I would not vote for Bennett. There is a strong sentiment and grassroots movement that government is on the wrong track and needs to change. (Sentiment not held by my liberal friends).

I absolutley loved the whole process (the meeting was efficient and I love efficient meetings as much as I DETEST inefficient meetings). So, I had to be nominated and get up with 7 or 8 others and say why I wanted to be a state delegate. No one else had even mentioned Bennett and so I announced my feelings and said each delegate should be asked if they would or would not vote for Bennett. (only one would vote for him) It went really well, not that I like getting up to speak in front of groups, but oh well! It was fun!

Oh, I'm an alternate delegate. (got 3rd highest amount of votes) which means I am getting contacted by all the candidates, but will only vote if one of the other 2 delegates can't go. (We're talking an all day convention that sounds anything but efficient... . So it's all good!

Cancun 2nd trip

2010-02-25T20:06:00.000-08:00

James Celebrates his Birthday in Cancun!!!

Shannon eating Yummy Crab!

2010-02-25T19:09:00.000-08:00

May 2008 is our first trip to Cancun and we did a condo/resort that we rented rooms in. We had to shop for our own food (WalMart- and cart our own food home on the bus-always interesting) BUT I have to admit we got out a lot more because there was not a buffet to park our butts at.. .

We love Cancun (OK truth is it's SOO cheap that we just have to choose Cancun everytime we want to travel with kids) Kids stay free (2 in our room, 2 in grandma and grandpa's room) all food and drink included for $1,100.00. Before the credit card companies wised up Angie was racking up enough free miles to get us there for only the award redemption fees (about $50 a person) So, long story short its a cheap beach vacation with ALL the amenities. Did I say ALL THE AMENITIES? (I love food, especially when someone else is cooking and serving it)

May 2008

Cancun in May was very hot and inland at Chichen Itza it was pretty brutal. Our three little guys were not thrilled with the sights and history of the ancient Mayan and the meaning of the archaeology. Mom and dad loved it and we had a great tour guide, Helaman, who gave us his "LDS" perspective.

Cancun is full of "cenotes" which are fractures/caves from the crater impact and so there are springs and deep water pools. We went swimming in one and it felt like going into the earth, you hike down in.

Our kids were so hot and whiny during our tour of Chichen Itza that our tour guide finally bought them popsicles to shut them up. (they were seriously annoying).

They got the hang of bodysurfing and had a great time riding in on the breaking surf with their boogy boards.

Shannon stayed busy surfing or catching crabs or whatever wildlife he could find.

Building onto our existing home

2010-02-19T17:14:00.000-08:00

This is the inside of our house, mostly finished now, YEAH! Shannon cut the concrete designs and we stained it with acid
We like nature themes if you can't tell, I love the flowers and plants
What do we do with hundreds of fossils, well how bout a wall of fossils?

Shannon slapped them onto the wall that connects our old and new rooms

Shannon didn't make the bed this morning (ever) before taking this picture
Shannon incorporated fossils into the tile work in our bathrooms too

These boys are spoiled-a hanging swing, lofts, cubby's, and a big room.

`

The Last 2 1/2 years have been crazy at best, but after the chaos... . an awesome house custom tailored to us. Shannon is amazing and he has no fear (I won't say no planning) ;) He just dove into everything and learned whatever he didn't already know. So, We had LOTS of help (all free of charge) (or is it really free?) Just Kidding. So THANK YOU! You know who you are. We couldn't have done it without you. Our parents, brothers, cousins are the BEST in all the world!

So, 2006-7 Shannon's first priority was a Ginormous garage to house all things seed, homebuilding and otherwise storage (no cars allowed I'm afraid). So, monster garage finished, we started tearing into the house, Shane and Shannon tore off the roof and that was an interesting winter with the tarp for the front of our house. I wondered as we poured the concrete pad (which would be our indoor floor too) what it would look like and we were putting leaf imprints in as we went and not really knowing exactly what would be where etc. We got very cool leaves and also our cat (kitty he's usually called) got his cute little paw prints in the GreatRoom too. There are too many pics to post it all now. Let me just say this first year of building chaos was crazy, but mostly for Shannon and his free helpers. Shane (brother) did a great job on the electrical and Shannon's dad did a great job of building our stairs. We hired out only the dry wall! Shannon is SO LUCKY to have the winter off to build during. Oh, did I mention Shannon also designed the house plans all by himself. What a man!

Pictures of the finished product (well mostly finished) coming soon.

BTW the kids loved the domolition of the walls ( what was the back walal in our kitchen got knocked out where the window was and below it, but the header had to stay above it so it's kind of an arch/entryway into the new part of the house. Shannon did the coolest fossil wall--pics to come!

just more lizards -oh and scorpions!

2010-02-19T16:19:00.000-08:00

More lizard and snake pictures- Oh and James with the scorpion. We're camping in the San Rafael Swell.

snakes lizards and a few birds

2010-02-19T15:25:00.000-08:00

We love lizards, the boys love snakes (mom not so much) Animals are amazing. I've enjoyed the birds that Shannon has brought home. Our last trip was to St. George, UT (Feb. 13th-18th 2010) and the only lizards we found were the tiny ones. The big Chuckawallas and Gila Monsters come out after it hits 70 degrees (it was warm, but not 70). We hiked the Red Cliffs/Silver Reef area and enjoyed it immensely. Pictures do not match the trip--sorry. The picture of the snake head with the cool tongue is, yes, a real rattlesnake.

Next trip LOTS of pictures of sea life on the Oregon coast with Tamara and Chris. Yeah! (Just don't tell the kids how long the drive is) Also, maybe Angie will figure out how to label pictures before we post them.. .

It's Not Just You It's All Moms

2007-10-18T20:41:00.000-07:00

I would like to write this book (same as blog title). All moms think they are failures at least half the time. All moms get frustrated, tired, etc. I would like to write a book, but I doubt it would sell half as well as the one written by the Mormon guy about staying home to be the "mom". (I'll look it up and maybe even read it). So, do I just start typing in my Microsoft word program??? Maybe some planning and research would be good.

kitty adventures

2007-09-16T08:16:00.000-07:00

My name is Logan. I have a cat. It's name is Nibbles, but we call it kitty. I scared Mr. Kitty. It was funny. He chased a bird and he jumped up to try to grab a tree branch and he fell off. That was funny too.

campfire

2007-08-27T09:49:00.000-07:00

We went to the Boulder mountains to collect seed. The seed wasn't ripe yet so we only camped one night, but it was fun. Logan tried mountain biking down the hill and he yelled the whole way down. He LOVED it. Next time we will make sure not to forget helmets.