A Trip Down Memory Lane

I just realized that tomorrow is April Fool's Day. In thinking of April Fool's pranks, my first thought was when dad got a cast on his arm so everyone thought he had broken it. And then who could forget the pancakes with paper in them? I did that one year to Megan, and she still has a hard time eating pancakes! Two years ago on April Fool's day I realized that our sweet kitty, Holly was actually a boy, so when I told Megan, she didn't believe me! So, what do you remember about April Fool's Day? And what are you going to do this year?

See Moss Mob

I took Dad's subtle hint and put a new post on the Moss Mob blog. I agree, we all need to post, even if your on facebook. I am more willing to share more intimate things with you all then with the facebook friends, and that is what we should be sharing here.

Mom and Dad

Mar. 25 I went in yesterday at 7 am and had an MRI. It cost about $4000. My part is $685. I also had some xrays. The MRI is really enclosing. I don’t know how anyone much heavier than me could do it. My hands were on my belly and were touching the top of the opening. My face was about 2 inches from the top. It lasted 40 minutes with a few minute break inbetween. It was very very noisy. I wore earplugs. Anyway its done.
I went in to see Dr. Root again this morning and he went over the MRI. He said I have three herniated disks that are causing my back pain. I am scheduled to go to the hospital and get shots of cortisone in my back Friday and then start physical therapy next week. They have a machine that stretches the spine and gives the disk room to retract back into place. It’s called decompression. It’s the same machine that you see chiropractors advertise, the TRX 9000 or something like that.
I didn’t go to the temple this week as I am on medical leave until my back is better.
Mar. 27
Scott and the girls arrived last night. We were in the middle of dinner with some of our friends. The Degens are going on a mission to Nauvoo and we invited some of the friends that have been getting together for a few years, the Carlsons, and the Wilburs. We have also had the Elmers, but Lane died and Deanna and her new husband have only joined us once since then. Anyway, Janiel fixed a lovely dinner which we all enjoyed and then sat around and visited for a couple of hours.
It was good to see the Fosters again and enjoy them.
Today Scott went to Vegas to make a presentation to the shop buy convention. We took the girls to Washington to watch Olivia play soccer. Olivia played well.
Afterwards we went to Costco and got some milk and some other things. Abby and Mikell went with Trents family. We also bought pizza and they all came home to eat tonight.
After Scott got home, he told us about his experience in Vegas and then talked to us about the business.

Chanieca and I celebrated our anniversary this weekend. Teri took our kids Friday night, so we went to Sundance Resort and tried snowboarding for the first time. Chanieca was pretty aprehensive about it, and it took a while with a lot of falls to get used to it but we ended up getting the hang of it pretty well and had a great time. We started by just walking up the hill a ways and practicing, then we went to the beginner tow rope where one of the workers gave us a few tips, and finally we went on the big lift and had a blast. We came back and had a really good burger at Five Guys burger and Fries then went to Iceberg for a shake. We just slept back at our house then Saturday morning we went to pick up our kids and help Teri with her house. After snowboarding and demolishing a tile floor I am really sore today. Last night I took Chanieca for a steak dinner. Today, which is our actual anniversary we just went to church and spent the day with the kids. It was a nice day so I took the kids on motorcycle rides and we went for a walk. Now its time for bed. The end.

4 Wheelin

Again, this is from my journal.
Mar. 13
Today we went 4 wheeling. We were told if it was raining not to come. There was a forecast of rain, but we went anyway. There were 16 vehicles in the group. Some are 4 wheelers and some are razors and rangers. We met at the chapel downtown at 9 am for prayer (we always have prayer before going and each day of the ride). We went out to the Joshua forest on the west side of Utah Summit about 8 miles past Castle Cliffs. We unloaded the vehicles and headed west to the Beaver Dam Wash. I was surprised at the amount of water. We had to raise our feet to keep them from getting wet. Most of the ride was on dirt roads. There were a few rough places, but it was the kind of ride Mom likes. Well, that is until it started raining. When we stopped for lunch, it was pretty nice, with a cold breeze blowing. That didn’t last long. It started to snow, then got quite hard. We weren’t through eating, but cleaned up and got on the road. Then a blizzard set in. It was freezing cold and the snow bit when it hit the skin. We weren’t at the end of where we were going, but we turned back toward the trucks. We were in blizzard conditions for about a half hour and then just a very strong, cold wind. We certainly did think of the pioneers coming across the plains in handcarts. They didn’t have pickups with heaters waiting for them. It was nice to get back to the truck and get the heater going. We were cold, but not wet. It was a …memorable ride.
We called Doug and Jill and went to dinner with them at Ruby Tuesdays and then stopped at their home for a game called Sequence. It is fun. We had played it with them once before.
Love, Dad

Las Vegas

Thanks to all who have shared what is happening in your lives.
Mom and I went down to Vegas last a week ago Friday. I am going to put in part of what I wrote in my journal. We have a studio at Royal Resorts. When we checked in I asked them if we could get a one bedroom as Trent had called and asked if they could stay here tonight on their way to Hawaii. Anyway we got a one bedroom that has 2 sleeper beds. It was perfect for their family. Before they came we walked around and ended up signing up for a timeshare presentation at the Grandview. It is supposed to take 2 hours and we get a buffet at the Ex Caliber and a show. Trent's family got here around 10 pm and settled in.
Mar. 6
Trent got me up at 5 am to drive them to the airport. I was able to get him a parking pass so he is leaving his car here. He took his whole family to Hawaii for 3 days. We also got them a bonus time 2 bedroom in Hawaii through Worldmark (they paid) We went to our appointment at 8:45. We didn’t get back until around 2. It was supposed to be 2 hours and ended up being almost 5 hours. We were really disgusted. They showed us a wonderful plan. We were half tempted to buy, but we have too much already.
We spent the afternoon watching TV.
We went to the Excaliber Buffet for dinner. It was awful. The salad was good, and I liked the prime rib (Janiel didn’t). There wasn’t anything else except for the cookies that we liked. They charge $20 for the buffet. We gave 5 hours for it.
We then went to planet Hollywood for the Variety Show we had earned at Grandview. It was good. It was just that, a variety show. We had tickets for a hypnotist also at the same place. There were long lines to both shows. The hypnotist show seemed like a sham to me. I couldn’t see how he could hypnotize over 10 people in a group of 30, but he said he did. The show was funny until the last 2 things he did. They were sick We got up and left before it was out. We had also walked the mile of shops which was quite interesting. It was amazing that after midnight there were tons of people there and there was a line as long as the one we had stood in for the next show.
Mar. 7
We went over to Judy’s ward for church, We enjoyed the testimonies and then other meetings. We had dinner with the Lee’s. We spent the rest of the day with them. We enjoyed our visit.
Mar. 8
We just watched TV this morning and read our scriptures. This afternoon we went shopping for fabric for the curtains in our new home. I mainly sat in the car as my back has been bad for the whole time we have been down here. She did find the fabric she wanted in the 3rd store. It was also about half the cost of what she had seen in the other stores.
We invited the Lees over for a swim and pizza. I got in my swimsuit and sat in the Jacuzzi with Shawn. The jacuzzi felt real good on my back. We also swam the length of the pool 3 times. It is a big pool and a really nice pool area with 4 cabanas. Everyone enjoyed the swim. Janiel and Judy didn’t swim. Afterwards Janiel had bought pizza for all of us. It was a good night.
We were going to stay until Wed. and then travel home for our temple assignment. My back was still bothering me and we couldn't do much because of it, so we packed up and came home Tuesday. We gave the key to Judy and Shawn for them and their family to use. We had lunch at Terrible's buffet. It was better than Ex Calibur's, but nothing to write home about.
The next installment will be about our 4 wheeling ride on Saturday the 13th.
Hope the rest of you will jump in and tell us what is happening.
Love, Dad

Spring Break @ Disneyland!!

Our Disneyland trip was so much fun! We (Megan, Katelynn and I) left on Sunday afternoon. We stopped in Las Vegas and picked up our 4th partner in fun, Kenzie. We headed out for California and realized that Sunday afternoon is verrrrrry busy on that highway! We had hoped to get there in time to see that fireworks, but that totally didn't happen.

We stayed at the Grand California Hotel, and oh wow! It was amazing. Such a beautiful hotel. Monday morning, we went to California Adventure and had fun fun fun! I think everyone's favorite ride was the Toy Story Midway Madness. It was also the longest line we waited in. We did Soaring over California, California Screaming, Tower of Terror and saw lots of characters.

We ate a late lunch/early dinner at Ariel's Grotto. We saw many of the princesses starting with Ariel, then Cinderella, Aurora, and Mulan. We really had a super time!

We walked over to Disneyland and rode the rides until the park closed. It wasn't too busy, so we hardly had to wait in line at all. It rained a little bit, but overall it was a great day.

Tuesday morning was our "Magic Morning" where we got into Disneyland an hour before it opened. Since it was such an early morning, we ordered Room Service for breakfast. The best part was the yummy hot chocolate - almost as good as Joni's. At the park, we had a blast all day! The weather was really nice - sunny but not hot. We really liked the Temple of Doom, Pirates, and the Haunted Mansion (of course!) We ate at the Blue Bayou and were lucky enough to get a table right by the water. That evening we went on Splash Mountain, except Katelynn who was the only one sane enough to realize that getting wet after the sun went down was a bad idea! So Megan, Kenzie and I went, and when the ride was over, the operater asked us if we wanted to go again - without getting out and getting back in line! That's never happened to me at Disneyland before. Since we were already wet, we went again. We were pretty cold after that, so we rode Mr. Toad's Wild Ride since part of the ride is in "Hell" and it is really warm in there! When the park closed we walked back to the hotel - Megan and I warmed ourselved at the huge fireplace in the lobby for awhile.

Wednesday was our last day and we started with breakfast at the Storyteller's cafe with Chip and Dale and Brother Bear, Turk and Meeko. We then went to Toontown and saw Goofy, Minnie, Mickey and Donald. It was fun to see their cute houses and Chip and Dale's treehouse. We spent time back at California Adventure (more Midway Madness!) before leaving for home.

It was a super trip! I'm so glad I was able to spend time with three of the greatest girls on the planet!

Well nothing much has changed in my life. I work, work, work and then more work. It has been a crazy month there, but really whats new about that. I do love my job and the people I work with, so it works out. I have two events this month and I'm short handed on staff already. Therefore I'm in for another crazy month, possibly a little more crazy than usual crazy.
Things are good at home, Chad, Karen, Liz and I have a fun time together. Last week I taught them how to play five crowns. It got a little lonely while they were going for a week in February, but I did have the cat to keep me company. It is nice to have my own space, but also to have others here too.
Like I said things are pretty much the same with me, but thats okay by me. I love my job and friends so what more could I want.

We are doing well. Still trying to organize our house and settle in. I am almost done with Caysen's room - just have a few finishing touches left. We're very happy with how it turned out. I'm also working on putting some shelves in the garage and getting it organized - right now you can't even walk through our garage.
The kids are doing well in school and seem to enjoy it. Caysen just finished his basketball season - his team did pretty good but due to a couple ball hogs, he didn't see the ball a whole lot. He just finished the requirements for his arrow of light and will earn 20 badges. Elia is in headstart and really likes that. Ashlin is still wild as ever. Caysen and Jayli are doing good with piano and are putting up with their impatient new teacher (their dad).
On Monday we were invited by a mortgage company to go to a customer party at an ice rink (it's the company that declined our loan, but the loan officer is the dad of some friends in St. George) and we had a great time.
Chanieca is teaching Relief Society and doing a great job. I get to go babysit a bunch of weird 11 yr olds once a week.
Thats all I have to say right now

Snow day! 2/20/10

We had a fun snow day at Pine Valley. When we got there it was stormy but warm & we stayed at the tubing hill in town. We paved a trail with our tubes on the side of the road. Soon the sun came out & we were really warm & enjoying ourselves.

My little ANGELS!

Of course the kids made their snow angels & Lainee attempted a snow cave but decided it was good enough as a chair! Rigby enjoyed kicking back & eating snow (not the yellow kind!) & looking at the clouds!



Soon about 30 people showed up to our hill so we left! We didn't want to share! So we went up to the reservoir dam & scored the best spot before another 5 groups showed up there! I was amazed at how brave my 2 youngest were! Going down that steep hill! And climbing the steep hill! In fact, it was so steep that they were able to slide down it on their bums & they went pretty fast!


In the previous pictures you can see blue skies but that didn't last long! It quickly turned into a blizzard but it didn't seem to phase the kids! They loved it! We figured that they would be done after a few hours but it turned into a full day activity! It was a lot of fun!

Grandma and Grandpas Activities

Hi All, It was fun to come and read the blogs that have been posted. Thanks. As you know, we were given tickets to the Jazz vs. Rockets game. We flew up to SLC (thanks Trent), rented a car and drove down to Teri's new home (The close on the 12th). It is very nice. It has 7 (yes 7) bedrooms. They have a lot of work to do to get it liveable, but it is a great home in a great neighborhood. When we got there a guy was aerating the lawn. Later Teri said they never hired anyone to do it. I wonder if he was at the wrong address. Jeff and Chanieca's family drove up too. We toured the home with Teri and Mikell. After the tour, we went out to lunch at the new In and Out in Draper. Then we drove down to Jeff and Chanieca's and visited. We left in time to go eat at McGraths. Our kids gave us a gift card to McGraths and to the game. When we got parked and walked to McGraths, they were "Closed for the season." So, we ate at Rumby's. It was good. We met Lonnie and Nancy Gubler in there. We went to the game and had an enjoyable time. We sat between two older couples who always get season tickets. It was a fun game. The Jazz led most of the game, so mom wasn't too nervous. She just enjoyed the game. There were a lot of 3 pointers and the Jazz had their highest scoring game in a decade. We stayed at Joni's. We played 5 crowns with her before going to bed. We left about 8 the next morning so we could get our rental car back by 9. When we walked into the airport we saw huge long lines everywhere. We tried to check in at a self help kiosk, but even though the right flight came up and had our names on it, it wouldn't complete the check in and we had to get in the long lines and check in with an attendant. We saw a few people in tears as they missed flights because of the long lines and other problems. We even let a gal with a helper dog in line because she was about to miss her flight. We finally got cleared and went to security. Another long line. We were glad we had made it early. I checked with customer service and she said it looked good to get on the plane. Well, we didn't. We not only missed the flight, we missed participating in David's ordination as a Priest. We really felt bad. We were glad some of you were able to be there. The next flight was a little after 3 and it looked like we were going to miss that one too, but we got on. We weren't sitting together, but a nice airline employee who was sitting by Janiel got talking to her and found I was in the back. He traded me seats so I could sit by my honey. That was very nice. When we got home, Trent and Bonnie's family and Judy and Shawn's family were at our home. We enjoyed being with them and then Jana came up. We ate and visited. We finally went up to David and Tamara's and got to see our priest grandson. It was good being with them. It is always good to be home.
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Here is what is going on in our family-

Kelsey is always busy being choir president, junior council secretary, keeping straight A's, 2nd counselor in Laurels, and of course the boyfriend. She just did solo ensemlbe and received a 1 as well as being chosen to go to state. Out of 100 girls 10 were chosen. She is in her school musical "Pajama Game", she just finished a variety show she put together at her school which featured the musical she wrote, and she is very excited to have gotten the part of Portia a stepsister in "Cinderella".

Kenzie had knee surgery 2 weeks ago. She was really scared having never had surgery before. She asked her seminary teacher to help her dad give her a blessing. He is also the 2nd counselor in the stake presidency. After the blessing he was talking to me and said a peace enveloped them when he laid his hands on her head. Later she told me that she just felt such a peace and that she knew everything would be alright. Her surgery went better than expected. Her knee wasn't as bad as the doctor had originally thought. She uses it completely but does have to wear a brace, and she doesn't mind her physical therapy.
She also tried out for her school musical, "Once on this Island" she got the part of Mama which was the part she wanted. she is enjoying it so very much. She is also a straight A student who loves to be with her friends. Kenzie is the president of the Mia Maids but is more than ready to leave them and be a Laurel.

Jacob decided to not try out for our Musical this year. He is hoping to be a jr. counselor at Fiesta Island Scout Camp. I do not think I can let him do this and be gone for the whole summer. Jake has worked hard this year and has improved on his grades, and I'm sure he will continue to do well. He applied to the East Technical school for Home construction, but we have to wait to see if he gets chosen it's just picked out of a hat so to speak.

Kierra is doing well. She started to have a few problems which scared her, but it seems she just had an infection. She is having good days now which we are grateful for. We do appreciate prayers that have been given on her behalf. She has done better in school as well. She didn't try out for the musical either as it is the same time as girls camp. She is first counselor in beehives and is looking forward to her first year at girls camp.

Keriann and Jarom are doing well as straight A students in elementary. Keriann is in gate which she loves and Jarom was just tested for Gate. They are both in the Drama Club there and love to perform.. They both tried out for "Cinderella" and are both in it; Jarom being the footman. Keriann loves activity days but misses her sister there, and Jarom was made to be in scouts. Jarom is now working on his Pinewood Derby Car.

Shawn and I are just trying to keep up with everyones busy schedules. We still know nothing about our house. The loan company says we need to talk to our lawyers and our lawyers know nothing about it. We just keep going on faith and know whether we move or not that all will be well. We just celebrated our 18th anniversary and are still in love and best friends. LIFE IS GOOD!!