My Parents

With Thanksgiving fresh on my mind I thought I would post a little comment about my Parents. I am so thankful for their example to me in my life. The older I get, the deeper my appreciation grows for them. They are the most loving, genuine, hard working couple I have ever met. They would give the shirt off their back to anyone. My Dad spent yesterday in the ER with stomach pains. He had a bad case of pancreatitis a few years ago that almost took his life. He also is having problems with glaucoma, a bad shoulder and other aches and pains. He always jokes around about it and never complains. My Mom has also had some health problems with heart pains, acid reflex, etc... It really scares me to think of losing my parents. SO, as a tribute to Thanksgiving I am SO thankful for my Parents and hope I can be half the parent to my children that they were to me.

Jubilee of Trees

This afternoon I took the girls to the Jubilee of trees. It is an annual family event we go to. This year was a little more laid back...not as many people as in past years. Jenna was thrilled to see the Three Falls Elementary kindergarten tree she helped make. I think my favorite one was the Grinch. It was really creative. I had to bribe Holli and Lindsay to get a picture with Santa...silly girls. While waiting in line Lindsay and Holli both said, "We are NOT getting our picture with Santa, Mom!" I was racking my brain trying to think of a bribe I could offer them..or a threat...HUM, The older they get ya can't say, "Do you want a spanking?" or "Do you want a time-out?" etc...SO, When all else fails...MONEY:) hee hee All I had to do is say, "If you will let me take a picture of you with Santa I will pay you $5.00", and walllllah! It worked:) Ya I know, I am a bad Mom but hey whatever works to capture the memory. It was a fun afternoon and free to boot.

Happy Birthday to us...YEAH!

Well, as most of you know Jenna and I share the same birthday. Today I turned 35.... whoosh that's getting up there...and Jenna turned 6. We were both showered with lots of gifts and visitors which made it a very special day. I am so thankful for all my friends and family:) Jenna wanted a bike SO BAD, so we broke down and bought her one. Santa was going to bring her one but ....that's ok. Any hew, while running a quick errand I mentioned to Josie and Holli that sometime in the next few days I want to dress the girls up really cute and take autumn pics before all the beautiful leaves fall off the trees. They both said, "Let's do some right now for your birthday picture with Jenna." So, as a spur of the moment thing, we stopped at the house across from Josie's and snapped a few. Josie and Holli thought up some way cute poses. I am just posting a few. It was so much fun that I want to take the other girls tomorrow and take some of them. Hopefully Jenna wont be such a little goon ball tomorrow. She kept making funny faces and being goofy. But that's just Jen Ben. I sure do love her and can't believe how fast time has flown since she came into our family. Happy Birthday Jen...we love you!

Just some of the fam!

Yesterday I was invited to my sister Rula's house to make plans for Thanksgiving. My sister Suzie and sister in law Danielle were invited as well. When my kids heard about it they all wanted to come SO BAD because..."BOO HOO" they don't get to see their cousins very often. At first I said "NO WAY"!..."It's a school day"....After some serious arm twisting by the kids I decided what the heck....gave in and let them all have a "ditch school day". Holli and Lindsay both have 4.0 GPA's and they used the "Mom we deserve an award for getting good grades" guilt trip on me....I know I know...Not the mother of the year award for me....BUT we did have a TON of fun visiting with my Sisters and their kiddies. The kids had SO MUCH FUN jumping on the tramp, playing "kidnapper", hide and go seek, riding bikes, etc...at one point there were 21 of them all in the living room playing polly pockets so I decided, hey this would be something fun to blog about. The kids are our 4 girls, Rulas 6, Suzies 7, and the two little ones I babysit...Baylee and Will....ya can't forget them. They are just like family to me. They fit right in with the rest of them. Rula has this really cool toy truck with a horse trailer that Will played with the entire time. Now I know what to buy him for Christmas:) There were actually more kids than this. Danielle's 4 kids had already left.Rulas's oldest boy "Junior" DID NOT want his picture with all those girls. Hee Hee but after Aunt Suzie offered him a $3.00 bribe he agreed. He should be used to it: He has 6 sisters. Anyhew, It should be a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. We have 8 family's coming. WOOOOSH..that is like a small village..but hey where I came from , THE MORE THE MERRIER> I am so thankful for big families! I think anyone who lives in Utah will relate and agree.

I passed my Clinicals...YEAH!

Well today was my last clinical and I passed...whoot whoot! The past three saturdays I have worked at the St George Care Center from 5:30AM - 2:00PM. Getting up at 4:30 am was a little challenging. It was only 3 weeks but a ton of information to consume and a whole lot of interesting moments. There were 10 CNA students who did their clinicals with me. We had so much fun laughing at jokes and exchanging war stories after each shift report. Just for kicks I decided to grab a quick picture of us for my scrapbook. Anyhew...Just 3 more weeks until I get my certificate...that is IF I pass my State test and skills evaluation. It's amazing how fast 4 months flew by. Going to college has been very rewarding to me. The kids are all old enough to watch out for each other during my classes and Kim has been a great help and support.I have gained allot of self confidence and found that even though you feel maxed out some days, you can do more...you just have to prioritize:) I am not looking forward to working because I love staying home with my kids...but the insurance benefits will be so nice.

Wendy Fenton's challenge to me

About a month ago Wendy Fenton challenged me to this tag.The rules were to pick your fourth collection of pictures...then choose the fourth picture in that collection and blog about it. So here goes:)



This picture is of the first runner of the 2008 St George marathon at mile marker 13. This year Holli, Lindsay and I helped with the St George marathon.It was such an inspiring experience...One I hope to be able to do again. My CNA teacher asked our class if anyone would be willing to come help her at the mile 13 Nurses station. After everyone turned her down with one excuse or another I started thinking about what a great experience it would be see how the nurses care for people at a marathon. SO I reluctantly agreed to come help. WELL, after Holli and Lindsay heard I was going they wanted to help as well..So after a quick call to my teacher it was a thumbs up.

On the morning of the marathon we drove to St George at 4 am. In order for us to drive to mile marker 13, set up and be ready to go at 6am, we had to get up bright and early. The morning was a little chilly with sprinkles here and there...UNTIL we arrived at our destination. It started pouring rain around 5:30am. We all huddled under a tarp waiting for the first runner to appear. Let me tell ya...You wouldn't think it was that big of a deal to cheer runners on, but this was a definite memory I will keep for a long time...until I get "All timers" hee hee. It was so bloomin' cold that I had Holli and Lindsay sit in the truck so they didn't catch pneumonia. Basically what our nurses station did was assist people with oxygen who were hypothermic, apply bandages for blisters, hand out tongue compressors with Vaseline for the runners to rub on their areas where rash happens. I spent most of my time rubbing runners down with bengay. It was awesome to hear people's stories about why they were running this marathon. One guy said his Father had been training for it for 2 years but tragically died in a car accident the week before...so he was running it for his Dad. Anyhew...all in all it was a very positive experience that moved me to tears more than once. When it was all over we were drenched from head to toe with rain, but my heart was filled with the joy of having helped someone in need. Lots of Fun.I hope we get the chance to help again next year!

New Haircut

Ok so I feel kinda dumb posting about myself but it has been so long since I posted that I have to post about something. Hee hee. This afternoon I took Holli over to Julie's hair and nails to get her hair done. While I was waiting for her I looked at myself in the mirror and thought "Woah...I could use a hair-do myself" So...what the hey...We decided to make it a party. Holli has been wanting her hair dyed brown for SO LONG. I guess that's the "IN THING" in 9th grade. It turned out way cute but she is a silly and didn't want me to post a pic of her. So being the good Mom that I am UH HUM...I said ok. It's amazing how much better you feel about yourself when you get your hair done. The only problem is that when Holli took this pic of me she made this comment." Mom I totally love your hair BUT....I can totally tell what you're going to look like when you're an old grandma when I look at this Picture." I was like, "What?" OK..So I guess I'm lookin' old and crusty. Not to snivel and wine about the inevitable, but this past week when I renewed my drivers lisence, I was comparing my new drivers lisence pic with old one and WOAH>>.It's amazing how much I have changed in the past 5 years. Oh well, I guess ya just have to have a sense of humor about reality huh?

Happy Birthday Allison!

On November 4th, Alley celebrated her 9th Birthday. We are so lucky to have her in our family. I wish I could bottle up some of her happiness and save it for a rainy day. When we asked her what she wanted for her birthday she said, "Oh I dont know? Just whatever you want to buy me...hummmm? I think I have everything a kid could want Mom." We had cake and Ice cream and opened up a few presents. Next week she gets to pick a friend and go to the movies. It is so nice to have children that appreciate whatever you can afford. We love you Alley!