This is what I discovered about Landon this afternoon.

He loves pencils. Mostly he just likes to buy the pencils from school. Each pencil bought at school costs 25 cents. Not to bad unless you are Landon and feel the need to have 40 pencils from school. A little while ago I cut him off. No more quarters from me and no more pilfering though all of my stuff looking for more quarters.

So today he came home with his treasure. 15 pencils purchased from school. So we had the following conversation:

Me: Landon I told you no more quarters which means since you took them without asking you stole from me.

Landon: I didn't get the quarters from you.

Me: Don't lie to me Landon where else would you have gotten that many quarters from.

Landon: My friends

Me: Well you need to give your friends back their money from your own wallet

Landon: It was my payment, I earned it

Me: Payment for what?

Landon: Playing wall ball with them

Me: You mean you charge your friends to play wall ball with them?

Landon: Yes every time they ask me to play I tell them that if they pay me 25 cents I will play wall ball with them next recess.

Apparently he is running quite the business since he made almost $4 in a week. I apologize to any of you whose children have been swindled by my son. I am in the process of getting the names from him so he can return their money. On the bright side Landon may become a great salesman later in life.

What the???

That is how my life feels these days. Honestly I am not sure if I could pack more things into my day. Having said that I did have a fabulous weekend with great friends one of whom flew in from Denver and so 4 of us girls chatted, shopped, and ate the weekend away forgetting that we had 4 bazillion loads of laundry, dinners to cook, kids to tend to, husbands turned babysitters, oh and that little thing called sleep, all waiting for us to return. It was so great to see you Kristin, Denver is calling our names next year.So now I have come back to reality and what a reality it is. This week has been non stop some of which was my own choosing. Like the cooking show I went to where I thought I would learn great and wondrous things along with receiving some samples of great food. Alas, it was not to be. I did get some good tips but they ran out of the bags with the cookbooks and have promised to mail me some (we'll see) and then not one morsel of food. I along with friends were starving so obviously that warranted a late visit to BJ's.

Thankfully this week is coming to an end. All we need to do is visit teach, give piano lessons, attend Ethan's first Pack meeting, go to craft night, have the boys birthday party, keep Ashton off of every counter and table in my house, also keep him from throwing anything he can get his hands on in the trash, and last but not least clean the dirty dwelling we are residing in so it can be called home again.

The craziness that is also known as the holidays is upon me. Pray for us as we attempt to take pictures of our kids and if we are really lucky a family picture as well. I really need to stick to what I say at the end of every year, "Next year I am going to keep it simple and not stress myself out". I think I need a support group for this. Anyone else need to join?

Halloween 2009

I love Halloween although I do not like getting ready for it. It seems like so much work and it stresses me out. I like to have a theme for my kids costumes (this is probably why I am stressed out). This year my kids just told me what they wanted to be and I said okay. Even though I didn't have a theme they kind of picked a theme. This year was "Classic Halloween". I decided to make all the costumes again this year. The prospect of getting to be creative and come up with ways to make the costumes look great is always so enticing to me until the day of Halloween when I am scrambling to get finished and make sure they look good. I did finish and we went to our usual trunk or treat and then made my way around my parents neighborhood. Now onto next years theme.

Chloe and Mackenzie at their school costume parade

Ashton's was the only costume I didn't make and he looked pretty cute in it.

Ethan, Tanner and Landon

Ethan's costume turned out better than I thought it would. He was pretty happy with the result

I think every year I will make Mackenzie's costume out of a tutu. They are so easy and there are so many cute costumes you can make.

Landon wanted to be a Ghost. First the Charlie Brown Ghost, then a Ghost with a hood, then a chain and the list went on. This kid is so hard to please. Of course there were no chains to be found so I had to make one with duck tape and rope. It was pretty ghetto. I also put some really cool make up on him and he was looking good until he decided he didn't like the makeup and wiped it off with a rag 2 minutes before we left. I can't talk about it without getting mad.

My niece Chloe was a 50's girl. I loved her costume(again made out of a tutu). Actually I think I just love the fact that she wore those glasses the whole time. She looked so cute in them.

Busy September

Besides our trip to Hawaii, I took a trip to Utah earlier in the month. My Grandma Casper (my mom's mom) had not been doing so well and on Sept. 12 she passed away at the good ol' age of 90. Although we were sad we were also very happy that she was now where she wanted to be with all of her family and friends that had already passed on. I spent every summer of my life until I was 16 or so in Utah at her house. We all have many many wonderful memories of her and she will be missed. I found this picture of her with Ethan who was 2 at the time and Landon who was about a month old.

So on a Monday afternoon my mom, sister and I along with Ashton, the Twins, Mackenzie and Chloe loaded up and started the drive. Luckily my sister had just gotten a Yukon XL so we were able to fit 5 kids all in car seats, 3 adults, 3 playpens, 2 strollers, and all our luggage into one car. It was the most pleasant of drives and pretty much this picture of Owen sums up how all the adults felt while we were driving.

We did make it though and the funeral was very nice. My cousin sang, I played a piano solo, and then my Dad and I sang a song as well. For those that know my Dad and I well, yes we did actually sing. We should have video taped it because I am not sure when it will happen again. Although we weren't there for the happiest of occasions we did have a very nice time visiting with all of our family.

My Mom

Mackenzie, Lindsay and Chloe

My Cousins Jeff and Monte, and my two brothers Dustin and Matt

My Uncle Ross

Hawaii (part 4)

We spent 2 days at the Polynesian Cultural Center. We find all of the stuff there very interesting. Probably because I am not what you would call the outdoorsy survival type. One day I am going to take my kids here. Everything some of these cultures do involves screaming and dancing that resembles my 7 year olds freak outs. They would love this place. Jared and I thoroughly enjoyed all the stuff here.

This guy has been at the Cultural Center for a long time. I am pretty sure he was there the last time we were there 8 years ago. He was hysterical when showing us how to start fire, break coconuts, and telling us about his culture. He also performs in the night show with fire and it is fabulous. This picture also makes me love my camera even more. I had to take it with my flash turned off and it still turned out and didn't even need editing.


Jared and I had a great time in Hawaii. There were days where we drove all over the island seeing everything and days where we did nothing but lay by the pool and bake in the sun. It was extremely relaxing and the flights weren't bad either thanks to some wonderful medication called ativan. Hopefully it won't be another 10 years before we get to go back to Hawaii but until then....

ALOHA

Hawaii (part 3)

Outside Matsumoto's the famous shaved ice place. This was on our second visit here. The first time we were here the line was way out the door for a shaved ice.

One of the many sunsets we saw from our balcony.
A Buddhist temple. The entire thing was built without nails. It was impressive.

Hawaii (part 2)

Since we were also in Hawaii for a dental convention some of our friends from dental school were there. We got to have dinner with Ben and Rachel and of course I have no picture of that (why I don't know) and then Satvi, Meredith, and Angela asked if we wanted to hiking with them. We were going to go hike diamond head but they said someone from here told us we should hike Koko head. It was supposed to be much better than Diamond head. So we all met up at the bottom of this mountain also referred to as "stairway to heaven" and no joke that is exactly where I almost ended up.

I started to doubt whether I would be able to do this hike at all after seeing it. I thought that 1048 steps to the tops really wouldn't be that bad.

Jared and I near the start of our climb. I don't know if you can see but there are stairs behind us. Uneven, old wooden, not evenly spaced, actual stairs. Not good for someone short and out of shape like me.

I think the smart thing to do would have been to just stop here. I mean look at the view. I thought it was great but we all kept going since we were told the view at the top was unbelievable.

Not too long after this picture I thought I was going to have to be carried down this mountain on a stretcher. I had to start climbing the stairs bent over using my hands as a way to keep myself steady. I kept going though. Jared seemed to be doing just fine and started counting stairs for me trying to get me to go 50 at a time. It was working until I got to somewhere around step 950. Then I sat down on the stairs told jared to give me my water, take the camera and get some good pictures. My legs were like jello and I could not catch my breath. So I just stayed there until I felt like I could stand up again and then I started back down since I thought if I don't get moving now it will be midnight before I get down to the bottom.

This is the view Jared got while I was 100 stairs away having a near death experience.

Satvi, Jared, Angela, and Meredith

This was the view at the bottom when we were all done.
Even though it wasn't the leisurely hike I was expecting it was good to see old friends and it only took 7 days for me to be able to get up from sitting or to sit down without assistance.

Hawaii (part 1)

Wow it has been a long time since I have posted something. We have been very busy just like everyone else is I am sure. September was a crazy month, but at the very end Jared and I got a much needed break. For our ten year anniversary (and the dental convention for tax purposes) we took a week long trip to Hawaii. A big big thank you to my parents who watched all four of our kids while we were gone.

The view from our hotel room. We would sit out on the balcony and talk, play games on our phones, and just relax all with a fabulous view.


Jared wanted to try surfing. He actually did really well for his first time. Although next time he will be sure to take some dramamine before going out since he got seasick while surfing. I have heard of lots of things happening to people while surfing (broken limbs, cut up face, shark bites) but I have never heard of someone getting seasick.

This was Jared's instructor. Obviously very good at surfing.

I had to get a picture of the dog surfing. It is hard to first spot in the picture because he just blends right in. That dog stayed out there and up on that board for a long time.

10 down.....

We started out like this 10 years ago today

Now 1 college degree, 1 dental degree, 4 kids, too many moves to count across 4 different states, and lots and lots of memories later.....

This is us now.

10 years have flown by sometimes faster and sometimes slower than I want them to. It has been one crazy ride of which I would change absolutely nothing. Okay there are some things I would change like my bouquet since it turned out being nothing like what I wanted but whatever we still got married and everything worked out. We have had a great 10 years together. I am sure the next 10 will be even better (minus the teenage years ahead).

Side Note: Yes at one time Jared did have hair. Anyone who has not known him a long time is always surprised when they see these pictures that he has hair. Sometimes I think I should photoshop the picture so he doesn't have hair and put it in a frame. Then my kids will stop asking who is in the picture with me.

We made it through the summer and to the first day of school. It was a fun summer but at the same time it was a long summer. We were all excited about it myself more than the boys.

Mackenzie couldn't be left out of a picture.
Landon......my thoughts exactly.

Ethan's top front teeth have FINALLY started to come in.

Landon refused to smile this morning, surprise surprise, so this is all I got.

All in all it was a great day. We had trouble coordinating the pick up since the kids have to walk now (thank you budget cuts) so no one was really sure where to go. Landon lost his lunch box, Ethan got a hole in his brand new shirt, and I got my house somewhat clean today. I guess we'll call it good and hope for a smoother run tomorrow.

It is that time again.......

Best commercial ever made!

Results

It's over.
Finally.

No more swim team.

At least for a few weeks or months.

I loved it. Even though it meant some serious commitment with practices and meets by both the kids and I, it was great fun. I want them to swim year round. Although I have been informed (by Jared) that they are only 7 and 5. I say whatever they will swim year round. Yes, I am one of those moms. They are good at it and they can only get better. So here are a few pictures of the last swim meets along with their best times. They both qualified for the finals in the Championship meet and they both did great. We are so proud of them. They had so much improvement throughout the entire swim season.

Landon:

25 yard Freestyle: 27.03 sec.

25 yard Backstroke: 38.88 sec.

25 yard Butterfly: 32.78 sec.

Ethan:

25 yard Freestyle: 21.19 sec.

25 yard Backstroke: 27.48 sec.

25 yard Butterfly: 30.87 sec.

The 4th

Ward Breakfast at the park (I honestly did not see my other two kids until we left the park so no pictures of them)

Ashton thoroughly enjoyed the watermelon including the rhine.


Swimming with friends

We had 12 adults and 17 kids swimming. Laura's mom is a saint. She was so calm and laid back during all of this.

Then we made homemade ice cream. Laura and Brian got this portable ice cream maker as a gift. The ice cream goes in the middle and then you fill the plastic ball up with the ice and start rolling it. The kids rolled it for a little while then got tired of having to work for their treat so the adults started rolling. That ball was not light so they just threw it any way they could. Sorry Laura this picture had to be posted.

Then we went to my parents house to watch the big fireworks show the country club always does. We got there at 9 and waited until about 9:45 before we decided that maybe the stinkin economy was going to deny us our free fireworks show. So we packed up and headed home and as we turned the corner out of my parents neighborhood we saw them start. It was 10 pm. My kids were done. Although we have some very smart friends the Shaffers (a very big thank you) who actually brought fireworks to my parents and were nice enough to share with all the kids while we waited. Next year we will know not to start waiting for big fireworks until about 9:45 and to buy some ourselves.

We had a great 4th spent with great friends, great food and great fun....all in the greatest country of all! A big thank you to all of those that make it possible!