The Burch Family

Thanksgiving Point ~ The Museum of Ancient Life

2009-06-21T18:57:00.000-07:00

May 15, 2009

My posts are going to be a little out of order but I'm going to post the easy things first! I promise there will be Hawaii photos to follow!!

I took Erika on a few field trips during her 3 weeks off track in May. We hadn't ever been to The Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point so that is one of the places we went. We also watched an IMAX film, "African Adventure."

Sunrise on the Wasatch

2009-04-27T11:24:00.001-07:00

I know I have posted sunrise pictures before but these were really cool.

Doggie Daycare

2009-03-25T11:45:00.000-07:00

I doubt anyone is even checking my blog now because I have been such a slacker. Anyway, this post is just really silly but the pictures are so funny, I had to share. The pictures are taken with my cell phone so again, not the best!

We are getting ready to go on a quick trip and I have been worrying about what to do with the dogs. I didn't want to ask anyone to watch 2 good sized dogs. So, I have been doing a lot of reading and researching online to find a place for them to go. I had decided on calling one of the places, then a guy at my work was looking at a doggie cam online. It just so happens that was the one that I was going to check out. There are many places that won't even consider taking a pitbull mix.

So, there is a 4 page application to fill out, shot records, county tags, everything you could imagine, including an emergency "mom"! Then, they were to come in for a 15 minute "interview", if they passed that they were required to stay at least 6 hours. After they passed that they would let me know if they would be willing to keep them for boarding. Quite a process but I was actually very impressed and not really concerned about leaving the dogs there.

It took them 10 minutes and they were playing with all their new friends. They didn't have any problems and the owners said they were wonderful! (Which I already knew) It took Rico less than 2 minutes to fall asleep when he got into the car.

Notice the lip on the door but the smile on his face! Yes, he smiles when he's happy!

He was fine sleeping like he was but Erika had to wake him up. It took her a while, he was completely worn out.

Trying to get comfortable again.

His foot stuck in the seatbelt and he didn't even care!

Bedtime

2009-01-09T11:16:00.000-08:00

This is just too cute not to share. This is what I found last night when I went to bed. The dog was also asleep until I got the camera out. This is usually the scene I see every night when I go to bed.

I don't know how this happened. I have NEVER had a dog sleep on the bed and especially NOT under the covers! She thinks that's where she belongs though. Usually right on top of my legs. I am glad she doesn't really shed.
The cat is angry at all of us because the dog took over his spot.

How has this happened? I'm sharing my nice big bed with an 8 year old and now a dog! Will Erika ever sleep in her own bed? She promises it will be before she's 20!! That's good to know. :-)

Dinner with the Christensen's

2009-01-07T11:10:00.000-08:00

Yes I know these posts are all out of order but that is just how it is!

In October, I found my old friend Kristin (Kimberlin) Christensen on facebook (another reason you should get on there if you aren't!!). I haven't seen her for way too long! They live just south of us about 50 miles. She invited us to her house for dinner and we had a great time. She's got a great family!

Erika on the porch. Such a cute house!

A lake on the adjoining property, they swim in it during the summer.

Corey and Barbie

Barbie not so happy!

Kimber, Mark, Erika, Kristin, Corey, Paula, Justine, and Colton

Notice Erika holding hands with Mark, it's a problem! She does it to everyone. I think she just misses having her Dad around.

Thanksgiving 2008

2009-01-06T11:47:00.001-08:00

Once again we packed up and drove to Winslow for Thanksgiving.
The kids were worried about missing more school so we didn't leave until after 2pm. That was a mistake! We had barely crossed over the mountains when the snow started to fall and it was already dark. What a long drive - we had snow, rain, fog, deer, coyotes and racoons! CRAZY!!

I failed to take very many pictures, I'm disappointed about that. Diane, Carl, Stacey, Ryan and Caden came on Friday. I had lunch with Virginia and Yolanda on Friday. Judy and Steven also came from Phoenix on Saturday. We had lots of company but it was great to see everyone. I miss my family and friends for sure.

Virginia, Paula and Yolanda - That was so great! I'm not even sure the last time we all got together.

Rest area - Dog stop! Colton's picture of the sun (technically the rail-always dreaming of snowboarding). We brought a puppy back to Jesse and Amber in Provo. That's 3 dogs and 3 kids in the car for 11+ hours! It was much longer on the way home.

Tawny

Denise and Grandma Jerry

Daniel, Cindy and Dad

We stayed with Dona and Gerry this year. I think we wore them out with all of our company!

Erika, Lyndsay and Corey

Mike and Cindy

Lyndsay and Colton

As many grandkids as we could find at the moment!

Cindy, Daniel, Mom and Paula - Missing my oldest brother David

Diane and Bean, the hosts of Thanksgiving dinner every year!

The Moon

2009-01-06T11:32:00.000-08:00

Colton set up the tripod to get a picture of the moon on Dec 12, 2008.
The moon was about 30 percent brighter and 14 percent larger than other full moons, the last time this occured was in 1993.

Izzy at school

2009-01-06T11:14:00.000-08:00

Erika has been begging me for years to take the dog or cat to school. Rico is just too much for me to handle with that many people around. He's 4 now but still too big and strong for me to control in a crowd.

Since we got Izzy, Erika was determined to take her to school. She asked me every day to walk her to school so the kids could see her dog. I didn't really think a dog at school first thing in the morning was the best idea (for the teacher's sake). So on the last day of school before Christmas break, Corey and I took Izzy to 3rd grade. Erika even dressed her up for the occasion!

According to Colton - this is humiliating!

There were a few kids that weren't crazy about the idea, one was even standing on his chair.

Most of them were chasing the dog around the room, I'm sure Ms. Giles was glad that they only had 30 minutes left of class. It was a little wild!

More dog pictures

2009-01-05T18:48:00.001-08:00

Playing in the snow

Rico at full speed!

Izzy jumping in the snow. She doesn't like to stay out too long, she doesn't have enough fur.

Where does the time go?

2009-01-05T17:58:00.001-08:00

As you can see I have taken a few months off from blogging. I don't have any excuses so I won't even try. I'm hoping life improves and I can get out of this rut I'm in.

We went to Winslow for Thanksgiving and saw lots of old friends and family. We had a great time, it was the first time traveling with 2 dogs. That was an adventure.

We spent a quiet Christmas at home. I bought a new camera and have pictures to download so I will hopefully get some posted soon.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

The new Burch baby

2008-11-15T18:21:00.000-08:00

What am I thinking??? We did not need another dog!

Our neighbor Debbie works at South Salt Lake animal shelter and she was going to bring a microchip home for Rico. Corey decided to go with her to pick it up and help her feed the animals on the weekend. That's all there was to it!

I said "NO, No more pets!" So we took Rico to the shelter and checked her out anyway. Corey was right - she was a great dog. Debbie let us bring her home to try her out overnight. Things were actually fine. Rico had to put her in her place a few times but now they are great friends. I think he's actually happier having someone to play with. She fits in great and she is so sweet, she loves to snuggle and thinks she's a lap dog!

We finally all agreed on the name Izzy and she's learning to come to it, she's about 6 months old.

Erika and Izzy

Corey, Paula and Izzy

Colton and Izzy

Rico and Izzy playing

They only look ferocious!!

Buddies

Paris September 08

2008-10-17T06:45:00.000-07:00

I've been working on this post for over a month and just can't get it finished. So I am just going to add some pictures and be done with it! I'm sorry it is so long.

Paris was the last city on our tour. We spent two nights with the tour group and then an extra two nights on our own. When we got to Paris we took a nighttime city tour, it was really pretty. I wish the pictures had come out a little nicer though. The next morning we took another city tour, we basically saw all the same things as we did during the nighttime tour.

After lunch a small group went to the Palace of Versailles. We had private guide so that was nice and then we had some time to walk in the Gardens. It was very beautiful. Three Kings of France lived there, Marie Antoinette was one of the wives.

After that tour, we had the bus drop us off with some people we met from Ohio. We walked through Notre Dame Cathedral and went to the Louvre and took pictures. Then we had a fun dinner with them before finding our way back to the hotel. Erika took an instant liking to Dave. She wanted to hold his hand all day. I felt bad because they were on vacation to get away from kids and here is my child hanging all over him! He was a good sport about it though, he didn't have any girls at home.

The next morning we slept in a little and missed everyone leaving because they all had flights to catch. I took the girls down the street to find a luggage store we had passed the night before. Erika's backpack was ripping and mine was so full we couldn't stuff one more thing into it. So we ended up buying 2 new suitcases that we didn't really need. We had tried to pack very light but the backpacks were not quite big enough for everything. It wasn't like we bought a ton of souveniers or anything either.

The kids waiting in the subway station

Pantheon

Louvre

Colton and Erika at the Louvre

Corey at Luxembourg Gardens

This was a game in the park. The girls gave it a try even though the questions were in French.

Luxembourg Gardens

Riding the carousel at Luxembourg Gardens. The girls were given sticks and a man held out rings for them to try to get on their sticks as they went past. When all the rings were gone he stopped the ride. Weird!

Napolean's burial place

View from the Eiffel Tower

Next to the Eiffel Tower

Corey and Erika with Ivo and Don from Ohio

Colton on the Eiffel Tower

Erika in her new beret on the Eiffel Tower

Corey on the Eiffel Tower

View from the Eiffel Tower

The Gardens at the Palace of Versailles

Colton at Versailles

The "King's Bed". What is really funny is that the Queen's bed was larger!

Hall of Mirrors at Versailles

Statue in the street by our hotel

Versailles

Erika at Versailles

Inside Notre Dame

Notre Dame. I'm not sure why I don't have a better picture of it.

Big Head statue -- not my kid laying on it!

Arc de Triomphe

Opera House

Montmartre - There are artists all over the place around there.

Erika, Dave from Ohio, and Corey

The girls and Steven having dinner at Montmartre.

The Eiffel Tower will be blue with yellow stars, representing the EU flag, for six months. It is to mark the start of France's six-month presidency of the European Union.

Mount Pilatus Swiss Alps

2008-10-16T12:54:00.000-07:00

Mount Pilatus is located above Lucerne, it is part of the Urner Alps. We took the world's steepest cogwheel railway to the top which was 7,000 feet. This was one of my favorite excursions. I am sure it was Colton's favorite too.

We went through the clouds and I was worried that the view would awful from the top but it was absolutely magnificent. It looks like the mountains are floating in the clouds. The guide said this was his 4th trip there this year and this was the best view he'd seen.

We took an aerial cableway down for about 5 minutes, it held several people. We then switched to the aerial gondolas which held 4 people each. The view was so beautiful. We all got a hat that was included with the excursion.

The view from the top.

This church was in the strangest place, just perched on the top of the mountain. I wonder how people get to it.

Corey

This was a hiking trail, it seems like it would have been easier to go straight up.

Paula and Erika

Colton. We climbed a lot of stairs to get to the highest peak.

This was a hotel and gift shop and where the train let us off.

Colton

Erika

Steven

The forest in the clouds.

Gondola ride down the mountain.

Switzerland September 2008

2008-10-10T16:34:00.001-07:00

Lucerne was our destination in Switzerland and I really liked it there. On the way, we stopped at the Rhine Falls. It was so beautiful. Things in Switzerland are really expensive though!

On the first evening in Lucerne, we went to a traditional Swiss dinner with lots of entertainment. We were right up front and they chose Corey to go up and try blowing the Alphorn. It was tougher than she thought it would be. They taught all of us to yodel and then called some people up on stage to practice with the host. Erika went up and didn't realize she'd be yodeling alone. I was worried she might chicken out but she didn't. She did a great job and got a mug of soda for her efforts.

Rhine Falls

Family at Rhine Falls

Lion Monument in Lucerne, it would have looked better if someone wasn't working on it while I was trying to take pictures!

Corey blowing the alphorn

Erika yodeling ALONE!

Erika's prize for yodeling, you can see the tray of beer on the stage - that's what everyone else got.

The swiss entertainment, they played for 2 hours. They had all sorts of different instruments I hadn't ever seen before.

Corey and Erika dancing

Colton with his Swiss version of Sprite

Chapel Bridge in Lucerne

Chapel Bridge at night

Erika and Paula at Rhine Falls

Germany September 2008

2008-10-10T15:58:00.000-07:00

We got on the bus AGAIN (it was getting old already) and headed to Germany. Cologne was the first place we stopped and got to do some sight seeing. There is a Hard Rock Cafe there and we did make it in plenty of time. We got some pizza while we were walking. It was kind of strange, it had corn on it!

Next was a cruise on the Rhine River for about an hour. We saw most of these castles while we were on the boat. Today was the only day it rained our whole trip though. It was cold and we were on top of the boat so we could get good pictures. Even the sweatshirts weren't enough.

We made it to Heidelberg to stay the night there. We took a tour around town and saw the famous Heidelberg castle. Much of the castle has been destroyed but they are working on it. They served us sauerkraut for dinner, I remember now why I don't like it!

Appearently there is a "fake" hard rock in Heidelberg, I didn't check on those so I didn't know it was there! We didn't go to it.

Cathedral in Cologne, Germany

Colton wanted to buy a scarf for snowboarding, we'll see if he really uses it!

I thought this was an interesting way to tow a vehicle.

Heidelberg Castle

The next morning we drove through the Black Forest and stopped at a cuckoo clock store. Erika was disappointed that I wouldn't buy one. We just didn't have room and where would I put it when we got home?

Black Forest

Amsterdam

2008-10-02T16:42:00.000-07:00

We took the Eurostar train from London to Belgium. It goes under water and we went 230 mph. We got on a bus in Brussels and went to Amsterdam. Everyone rides bikes there and they are crazy. You have to be careful not to get hit by them!
We took a canal cruise which was really cool and then had the evening free. We walked around for 2 hours before we finally got to the Hard Rock Cafe. People kept telling us to go in the opposite direction.

Just a random ambulance, it was so bright!

Canal cruise

The bike parking and this picture doesn't even come close to showing it all.

Canal cruise

The guide said that there aren't a lot of these old windmills left. They are replacing them with the giant ones we have in the US.

London

2008-10-02T14:20:00.000-07:00

We are finally back from our long vacation. I think I will just break these posts into countries or cities because we saw so many things and went so many places. It may take me a while to get them all done. We took a 10 day land tour and then stayed 2 extra nights in Paris. The kids were given educational leave and we had a blast. Steven Toledo went with us for a little security, it gave me some peace of mind.

We stayed 2 nights in London. We went to the Hard Rock Cafe (of course)! The first day was rough trying to adjust to the time difference, so we didn't get a whole lot done that day. The bad part is that a lot of the pictures were taken from the bus and didn't turn out too great. I will post some of the better pictures though.

Windsor Castle, the Queen's quarters are behind us.

Looking out from Windsor Castle

I just thought this was funny, it was high up on the post so you could reach it when you were on horse back.

Erika in the classic telephone booth picture

Changing of the Guards

There were police officers at the gate where the guards were going to come out and they were keeping people off of that side of the street. This officer held hands with a little old lady all the way down the street. It was so cute!

Erika not getting too close!

St. Paul's Cathedral

Hiking at Brighton

2008-08-30T18:18:00.000-07:00

We got up early and drove up to Brighton Ski Resort. Rico was begging to go with us and so we figured why not? NOT A GOOD IDEA!!!

Colton was doing the navigating so we didn't go up the trail that everyone else was going up. Just as we met up with the trail and started to see people and only had a half a mile to make it to the lake, a nice man told us that dogs were NOT allowed in Big Cottonwood Canyon and that if we got caught it was a $500 fine. OUCH!!

I took the girls and Rico and promptly headed back down the mountain, again not on the trail because we didn't want anyone to see us. We got a few dirty looks. Colton and Chad went to the lake without us. We had a few mishaps on the way down, Erika and Rico both fell into the river. We made it to the car and out of the canyon without getting caught. It would have been a really fun day if not for the dog problems. Next time we'll know!

Corey and Erika

Colton and Chad

Rock Garden

Yes in a hat, there is a first time for everything!

Colton

Erika at the waterfall

Canning Dill Pickles

2008-08-27T21:35:00.001-07:00

There hasn't been much to post this month. Colton and Corey just started school this past Monday. Colton is in 10th grade and just started at Riverton High School. I think I already mentioned they have over 3,000 kids enrolled for 10-12 grades. Crazy, but he likes it so far and promises he will be getting good grades this year.

Corey just started middle school at South Hills Middle School, she really loves it. She is taking Algebra in 7th grade and very proud of that fact too.

Erika started 3rd grade on July 25th and is already out on break for 3 weeks. It will be hard having one in year round and the other two in traditional school.

Two years ago my cousin Susie taught Courtnie and I how to make dill pickles. We got roped into having a little class on it yesterday at my house. We made 35 quarts yesterday and another 21 quarts today. That's a lot of pickles, obviously not all of them are in the pictures. Erika and Shelbi helped us the most by washing and cutting cucumbers.

Erika's Baptism

2008-08-02T13:49:00.000-07:00

August 2, 2008

Erika has been waiting for this day for 6 weeks and it is finally here!
They do things a little differently here than they would back home. There were
3 kids from our ward getting baptized so we were only responsible for a prayer and choosing a song. That just made it easy on me because I didn't have to prepare a talk.

Susie's husband Jon, baptized and confirmed Erika. Others that were there were the Cederholms, the Gerbers (came all the way from Roosevelt), and Candie Montoya (Erika's babysitter for 2 years when we moved here and her 2nd grade teacher - she's also Chad's mom). We sure missed having all of our family here for this special occasion.

We had a nice lunch with the Gerbers before they had to go back home.

Jon and Erika

Susie, Jon, Erika and Sara

Maria and Lynn Gerber

Colton, Erika, Paula and Corey

Another Roadtrip!!!

2008-07-27T12:32:00.000-07:00

That didn't take long did it? I just can't sit still for very long!

I had been wanting to get out of town for a long time but just didn't know how I could manage. I had 9 days off of work but Corey had girl's camp. Erika only had 3 1/2 weeks off of school and Colton was taking summer school. I called Marques (my cousin Susie's son) and asked him if he'd be willing to keep Rico and he said sure.

So I planned this trip in a matter of just a few days. It didn't turn out too bad though. I wanted to go to San Francisco because there are 3 Hard Rock Cafe's between here and there.

We got kind of a later start than I wanted to on Saturday and we drove ALL day! We went through South Lake Tahoe which was very beautiful. It would have been nice if that had been our final destination. We went to Hard Rock there and just walked around for a bit.

We continued on to San Francisco and got there about 10:50pm local time, it was about 14 1/2 hours in the car. We stayed fairly close to Fisherman's Wharf in a nice hotel. It thankfully had parking available but it was tight and kind of tough to get the Suburban into the tiny stall.

We took off walking in the morning and went through Chinatown. We made it to Fisherman's Wharf hoping to get an Alcatraz tour but they were sold out for the whole next week. We bought a ticket for a cruise that went around Alcatraz and underneath the Golden Gate Bridge. So, Colton and Corey didn't listen when I said to bring a sweatshirt and WALKING shoes. Colton only had shorts and flip flops. Corey wore my jacket but then I was freezing so of course we had to stop and buy sweatshirts! It was much colder than I thought it would be.

The highlights at Fisherman's Wharf were lunch at Hard Rock, Aquarium of the Bay, The Wax Museum, a bike taxi (the kids talked me into taking it), the hour and a half boat tour, and dinner at Rainforest Cafe. We spent all day taking in as much as we could because it was really the only day we had. We got a taxi back to the hotel about 10:30pm.

The next morning I decided we needed a GPS, I should have bought one a long time ago with as many trips as we like to take. The one I wanted was sold online only so I ended up getting one that wasn't quite as good. Oh well, it did the job and we had fun playing with it. We drove to Muir Woods to see the giant redwoods, however the parking lots were full and Erika decided she needed to go to the bathroom and couldn't hold it another minute. I finally just left without getting out of the car. I was disappointed that they didn't get to see them, it is one of those vivid memories I have from my childhood.

We stopped in Sacramento at the Hard Rock and then we made our way to Winnemucca, NV. I was hoping it was a little farther than half way home. It was just a little town in the middle of nowhere. It was late and we drove through quite a thunderstorm for about an hour or so. The next morning we still had 6 1/2 hours to drive home.

The kids were actually really good and we had a lot of fun. Can't wait to go again!

Salt flats in NW Utah - I hadn't ever seen this before, pretty weird.

South Lake Tahoe

Heavenly Resort at Tahoe, now Colton wants to go back to snowboard.

Aquarium of the Bay

Aquarium of the Bay

Hard Rock Cafe San Francisco

Golden Gate Bridge

San Francisco from the water

Alcatraz in the background

I paid this guy so I could take pictures of Corey and Erika with his iguana. He was creepy!

The bike taxi, taken with the cell phone so not too clear.

Abraham Lincoln at the wax museum. My camera had died by this time and so I took pictures with the phone. They aren't the best. Donny and Marie were also in wax, that made me laugh.

Muir Woods

Hard Rock Cafe Sacramento

Baby Kangaroo

2008-07-23T16:45:00.000-07:00

This 6 month old kangaroo came to visit the ER today. She is used as pet therapy for Alzheimer patients. She was very sweet and didn't mind as every passed her around.
We were told that the facility "borrows" the kangaroo until it starts to hop too much, when that happens it is then returned to a type of breeding facility.

Utah Museum of Natural History

2008-07-07T18:07:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the Natural History Museum at the University of Utah. On the first Monday of the month they have free admission. There were several different exhibits, but the dinosaur bones are always a favorite. Some of the other collections were Anthropology, Botany, Entomology, Mineralogy, Paleontology, Vertebrates and DNA. It was educational and the kids had fun.

Shelbi, Erika, and Preston

Keaton and Corey

Corey

Digging for dinosaur bones
Erika, Keaton, Shelbi, Preston and Corey

Mammoth
Erika, Shelbi, Preston, Keaton and Corey

Independence Day

2008-07-06T21:37:00.000-07:00

Grandma and Grandpa were still here on the 4th. They watched the fireworks from our yard, we had plenty of people in our neighborhood with illegal fireworks. I went to work at 7pm and was pretty bummed out about it. Then when I got to work realized I would be in triage all night. I was almost convinced it could be a good thing because we were right across the street from Murray Park where there was a big fireworks show. No such luck, we were even busier when the fireworks started. Shouldn't people have taken a break from going to the ER during the fireworks show? You would think so!! I think I saw about 4 out the window.

We actually had our fireworks show on the 5th. We got together with our neighbors, the Cederholms and the Pedersons and lit off our fireworks. We didn't have any illegal ones though, nothing that explodes in the air. In Utah it is legal to light fireworks 3 days before the holiday and 3 days after. We still have some left and on the 24th of July (Pioneer Day - an actual paid holiday here) we will light the rest.

Corey, Cody, Erika, Preston, Tyler and Shelbi

Fishing

2008-07-04T09:53:00.000-07:00

My Mom and Gordon came to visit this week. Gordon bought a 3 day fishing license and has been taking the kids fishing at Daybreak. It has been great to get some time alone with my Mom.

Erika was the photographer and there aren't any pictures of her but she was there and had a great time too.

Colton

Gordon

Corey feeding a duck

Corey caught a big catfish and had to show the whole neighborhood before they filleted him. She will be eating it for dinner tonight!

Sunrise

2008-06-26T19:48:00.000-07:00

I was getting ready for work yesterday morning and saw this wonderful sunrise. I love to watch the sun coming up over the mountains, it is so beautiful. And all from my back porch!!

Corey's School Play

2008-06-26T18:36:00.001-07:00

Corey's 6th grade class performed Shakespeare's "The Tempest" today. Some of the kids had their parts memorized (Corey had them all memorized except for the end) but a lot didn't. They did a great job though. Only 3 days left of school... yea!!
Corey was also the assistant director.

Prospero (Hunter) and Miranda (Corey)

Alonso (Mckinzie), Gonzalo (Elina), Sebastian (Kolton), and Antonio (Krista)

Caliban (Josh), Stephano (Juan), and Trinculo (BJ)

The love scene with Ferdinand (Isley) and Miranda (Corey)
Isley is the 6th grade heartthrob!

Most of Mrs Horn's 6th grade class

Happy Birthday Erika!!

2008-06-17T18:29:00.001-07:00

Friday, June 13... Erika's 8th Birthday! We are not superstitious at our house! 13 is Erika's lucky number. Once again, I worked all day so we had a little party with the Cederholms after I got off work. The kids were having a water balloon fight at 10pm. Judy sent the tiger and Grandma Linda made a denim book bag with a great book inside.

Today Erika had a little party with her friends. They got to soak their feet and they all had pedicures by Corey and Sara. They also made really cute flip flops. They were all princesses. Grandma Diane was here from Saturday to Tuesday so she got to be in on the party. Carl came for one day, he took the girls fishing and they had a wonderful time. Because of the way they do baptisms here, Erika won't be baptized until August 2.

The Wizard of Oz

2008-06-09T20:33:00.001-07:00

I've waited a month to post this until I got the photo CD from the Wizard of Oz performance and it was a huge disappointment. Most of the pictures they took were blurry and my kids were only in a few of them anyway. I only took pictures before and after so I don't have any of them during the performance. They had a great time but I must say I am glad they aren't practicing every night anymore.

Erika with a few of the munchkins

Corey and Brin

Erika and Corey

Katie and Corey

Full cast

Sunset

2008-05-19T16:21:00.001-07:00

Colton took these pictures yesterday, they are pretty cool.

Happy Birthday Colton!

2008-05-19T15:53:00.000-07:00

May 17th - Colton turned 15... gosh I am really feeling old with this birthday.

I was off in the morning but had to work later in the day so we got up early to get as much in as we could. Colton invited Chad's little brother Alex to go with us. Chad was out of town playing basketball.

First we went to watch Prince Caspian, it was good but a lot like the first one.
Then we got a quick lunch and came home for cake. Erika picked the Indiana Jones cake, there wasn't a huge selection but Colton was ok with it.
Colton wanted to go to the driving range so they each got a bucket of balls and had a great time, it was actually a really warm day, like 90*!

I will still take him to dinner at the restaurant of his choice.

The Indiana Jones Cake

Colton

Colton at the driving range

Alex

Colton got this new snowboard and bindings for his birthday, he actually used it for the first time when we went to Breckenridge. He got presents from both of his Grandmas and some money from Judy, but not a lot to open on his birthday.

Beehive House

2008-05-15T19:54:00.001-07:00

Our last field trip before the kids go back on track next Monday. We went downtown and saw the Capitol building and also the Beehive House. The Beehive House was built in 1854. It was the home of Brigham Young, the second prophet of the LDS church. He was also the territorial governor.

Corey chose to stay home and babysit for a neighbor instead of going today.

Utah State Capitol Building

The tulips and flowers downtown were so beautiful

The Beehive House

Living Room

School Room

Bedroom

Dining Room

Preston, Keaton, Erika and Shelbi
My camera battery died and this is a picture from my cell phone, it turned out a little better than I thought it would.

We had a pretty eventful 3 weeks off track, even though I worked 11 of those days. We also went to the library twice, two movies, cleaned out our cold storage room (and even took inventory!) and weeded the front yard. Not to mention play practice every night and the 6 performances last weekend (I'll post pictures when I get the CD they made). Wow, we've been busy! I think I'm ready for the girls to go back to school for another 7 weeks. :)

Mother's Day

2008-05-12T15:32:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to all of you wonderful mothers!
Especially to my Mom, she's the best!

The kids got me cards and the girls bought me flowers, Diane also sent me flowers. They tried really hard to make it a special day for me. I got my fingernails and toenails painted and even got a back rub from Erika.

Flowers from Corey

Flowers from Erika

Fowers from Diane

Copperton Park

2008-05-09T19:17:00.000-07:00

After we went to the copper mine, we went to play in the park. Copperton is a small, old mining town with a great big park!

Erika and Preston

Corey

Erika

Shelbi

Preston

Keaton and Courtnie

Corey

Shelbi and Corey

Erika

Bingham Canyon Copper Mine

2008-05-09T10:55:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we decided to visit the copper mine, it is less than a 10 minute drive from our house. They say it is the largest open pit mine in the world. There was a visitor's center with a short video about the mine.

This size of tire is used on the trucks below. They cost about $20,000 a piece and have to be replaced every 9 months. The trucks look tiny but they are as big as a house.

Inside the visitor's center, we had 2 extra kids today.

This is what it looks like from the outside of the mine. We can see this from our house, the colors look amazing.

Clouds and Flowers

2008-05-07T15:36:00.000-07:00

Awesome storm clouds, not sure the picture does it justice

My tulips... I love when the bulbs bloom.

Cool ladybug

The Great Salt Lake

2008-05-07T14:50:00.000-07:00

Hillary kindly reminded me that I needed to post an update so here it is.

The kids are off track now so Courtnie and I were trying to think of some new things we could do that might be fun for them and get us out of the house.

So, you are asking yourself, Why would they want to go to the Great Salt Lake?? I've heard that question a lot this week! Well, WHY NOT?? If you can get past the salt, bugs and sulfur smell it isn't so bad. First we went to the marina. There is a little look out that they must have built for the Olympics. We climbed down the rocks to the water, which was somewhat comical in flip flops.

Then we drove a little farther down and started walking trying to make it to the water to play for a little while, it was quite a walk! There was no way to get through the mud but straight through it. The water wasn't deep and the kids had a great time running and splashing.

The marina

Erika

Touching the water

All the kids on the lookout (Courtnie babysits so we had an extra boy today)

Seagull in flight

Antelope Island in the distance

Keaton climbing on the rocks

Preston

Courtnie

Shelbi and Corey - notice the ankle deep mud

Playing in the water

Girls running and splashing

Keaton running in the water

We have another outing planned for tomorrow, weather permitting, so check back soon!

Did you say Roadtrip?!?

2008-04-21T19:23:00.000-07:00

Why does a roadtrip always sound like a good idea? There is always a point during the trip when I say to myself, "What was I thinking?" This time was going to be different, I knew exactly how to do it! I have driven to AZ and CA several times but I was a little nervous this time because I haven't ever really gone some place, alone with the kids, where I didn't meet friends or family when I got there.

First let me give you a little history on why I chose to go to Denver. This may sound lame but, I like to go to the Hard Rock Cafe and I have been to several but last year when I was in Hawaii, I met a couple who were also big fans. He told me that I should be buying pins when I go and that if I signed up for the "pin club" they would track what cafes I had been to. Since I got my card in July, I have been to 8. Before I got the card I had been to the Bahamas, Grand Cayman, Amsterdam and 3 in Hawaii. Oh darn, I'll just have to go back!

Back to this trip...my major problems on a trip like this would be a teenager talking back and Erika's evil twin (whom we call Sybil- she doesn't get it but it fits perfectly). She's had this Jekyll and Hyde personality since we went to Boston in '03, but that's a whole different story. Anyway, we had a talk before we left and she promised that Sybil wasn't coming on this trip. I also invited Colton's friend Chad so that he wouldn't be bored, plus I planned it so we could stay at a resort and they would have a day to ski and snowboard. The perfect trip right??
Well almost, until Colton started in and Sybil started screaming in the car while we were driving home today and of course it was all at the same time. By that time I was ready to pull my hair out. I got things calmed down and put in my headphones and told them not to talk until everyone could be nice.

We drove to Breckenridge, Colorado on Friday where I had rented a 2 bedroom condo. We stayed there two nights. Colton and Chad hit the slopes early on Saturday, the condo was only 1/2 a block from one of the chair lifts (they had 22). I guess we waited too late in the season to go because the conditions were not the best. It was really icy and Colton hit his tailbone twice. They ended up only going half a day because Colton could barely even walk. The girls and I had a fun day though, I took them ice skating, we took 2 walking treks into the quaint little town for shopping. The second time we went, we found a concert in the park. They watched for about 4 songs and got bored, not their kind of music I guess. We bought some playing cards and played games for the rest of the evening.

We drove to Denver the next morning and went to the famous 16th Street Mall, where the Hard Rock Cafe is and ate lunch there as well. We did some shopping and then we went to an aquarium. It was really fun, the kids fed the stingrays and Corey and Erika climbed fake trees. We went to the hotel and the kids swam for a few hours. Today we made the long drive home, it took 9 hours from Denver. Corey sat in the front seat with me and was my navigator and photographer, she did a really great job.

I must say if you haven't driven I-70 in Colorado, you should. It was absolutely beautiful. They even have several clean rest areas! I was impressed. We drove home through Wyoming today on I-80. Most of the drive looks like Northern Arizona until you get close to Utah. Rico stayed with Susie and Jon and also went to their son's house part of the time. I hope he behaved himself, he must have had a wonderful time, he is worn out!

All in all, I think we had a great time and I am sure the kids would say the same. Hey, when is our next trip?

Downtown Breckenridge

Downtown Breckenridge

Corey giving Erika some pointers on ice skating

We drove to the top of another mountain to take this picture of the runs at Breckenridge, you can see the city off to the right

Erika is a big Bronco's fan, I'm not sure where she gets that!

We found the chocolate factory

Colton and Chad

Erika decided that was as high as she was going

Corey at the top of the tree

Chad feeding the stingray

Colton feeding the stingray

Denver's Downtown Aquarium

Hard Rock Cafe

Wedding Shower

2008-04-12T19:07:00.000-07:00

Hillary asked if I would host a wedding shower with her for Raquel. We all used to work together at the old hospital. Hillary has since moved on to bigger and better things, so we don't get to see her too much anymore. :) We had the shower this afternoon at Hillary's townhouse. Her roommate Andrea did a lot of the work. It was fun to get together. Good luck Raquel!

Raquel

Cathy, Allie's baby Jensen, Andrea, Hillary and Allie

Annette (future mother in law) and Raquel

Allie and Raquel

Cathy and Jensen (Allie's baby)

Raquel's mom and future sister in law

Homemade Salsa

2008-04-12T18:12:00.001-07:00

Roasting the chili
The peeled chili peppers

The salsa!!

This is kind of random but I thought the chili looked so nice while they were roasting and even better after I peeled them. So, Courtnie asked me to help her make salsa this week. Her daughter was sick on the day we had planned to make it, so I did all the roasting and peeling before she even got home from the doctor. It made her feel bad but it wasn't a big deal.

I am not a great cook at all but thanks to my great friend Judy, I can make really good salsa. I just have to tone it down for my neighbors here. If I made it as hot as I liked it, I would be the only person eating it!

Judy and Frank and their sons, lived across the street from us when we lived in Phoenix. She taught me so much about being a mom and a wife. We were so lucky to have their family there for us. We miss them, I wish they still lived across the street.

Grandma Linda and Grandpa Gordon

2008-04-11T10:55:00.000-07:00

My Mom and Gordon came to visit this past weekend. They stayed an extra day because it snowed and I really wanted them to stay. We always have a good time, but things get wild with 4 dogs in the house. Rico LOVES it! Molly is the only one that wants to play with him though.

Grandma made Corey's skirt for the play, what a relief, one less thing I have to worry about doing. They left Tuesday morning and only got about 15 miles from our home when their brakes went out. They had to stop and have them replaced. At least they weren't in the middle of nowhere when it happened. They made it home safe and sound.

BeeBee

Molly
Minnie

Birthday Dinner

2008-03-31T19:23:00.000-07:00

Corey loves steak so I decided to take her to Texas Road House for her birthday dinner. Erika told the waiter it was her birthday and so they made her sit on a saddle while they yelled a big "Hee Haw." We forgot the camera in the car so we missed that photo opportunity.

I told Corey she could choose one friend to take with her tonight and she chose Katie.

Their first pedicures. They loved it!

Katie in the red and Corey in the pink.

Happy Birthday Corey!

2008-03-30T09:59:00.000-07:00

Keaton

March 29th - I can't believe that Corey is 12! Wow, time sure flies by fast. She asked for a tool box with tools and art supplies. Oh yes, and a razor. She finally gets to shave her legs (not that she really needed to though). I of course had to work again so we had a little party after I got home with the Cederholms. On Monday I am taking Corey and her friend, Katie, to dinner and to get pedicures. She has wanted to do that for a long time too.

Easter

2008-03-25T15:05:00.001-07:00

What else? More flowers! Sorry, these are the first daffodils that just bloomed. As you can tell, I love flowers.

Erika and Corey coloring Easter eggs. Colton didn't want to do it this year, what a party pooper!
We had a great Easter, Grandma Diane was here visiting again too.

Pedicures

2008-03-16T08:47:00.000-07:00

Courtnie took me to get a pedicure this past week for my birthday. This place we like to go is so great, it usually takes about an hour and a half. It's heaven! Anyway, we both usually get french tips but this time we both got full color. Courtnie decided to be a little festive for Easter. I just got the flowers and although mine look black in the picture they are really maroon. Thanks Courtnie!!

YEA!!! Spring is on it's way!

2008-03-10T17:38:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited that spring is actually getting close! I have the proof right here in my own yard. I am not not kidding myself though, I know the snow will continue for the next month or two.
I love this time of year when the grass starts turning green again and the bulbs start to bloom, it is great!

These bottom flowers Grandma Diane sent for my birthday. I had to work that day but the girls had planned a surprise party. They made a cake and got balloons and invited the Taylors and Cederholms over. Not that I like my birthday very much, but they were really excited about it and we had fun. Just as they were lighting the candles on the cake we were going to take pictures and the battery was dead. Bummer, no pictures !

Colton Snowboarding

2008-03-03T16:22:00.000-08:00

Colton said his Christmas present to me was a video of him snowboarding. I don't think this is it though. (I'm still waiting!) He put this together for one of his classes at school. This is his first real attempt at editing and he did a great job. He got a nice camera for Christmas and enjoys taking pictures.

Let me know if it doesn't work, I may need to change the format. Thanks!

Book Tag

2008-02-26T18:12:00.000-08:00

The Rules...

1. Pick up the nearest book (at least 123 pages).
2. Turn to page 123
3. Find the 5th sentence
4. Post the 5th sentence on your blog
5. Tag 5 people

Ok Hillary, I am finally doing one of your tags.
Corey found this book on one of the bookshelves this week. Wow, I haven't seen this book for a million years so I decided to read it again. The book is Jonathon Livingston Seagull.
Here is the sentence, "I don't understand how you manage to love a mob of birds that has just tried to kill you."

I'm tagging Jodee, Stephanie, Jackie, and Corri. Stacie is too busy with new twins finally at home!

Rock Band

2008-02-19T19:06:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I have finally given in! My neighbors are all playing Guitar Hero and I couldn't figure out what the fuss was. We've had it for over a year and I hadn't ever played. I guess I was missing out. :)
Well, the girls decided they wanted to buy Rock Band and so they pooled what money they had and I paid for the rest. What a blast! We are having too much fun! The best part is that we can all play together and no one is left out. Hey, at least we are having family time.

Grandma Diane

2008-02-15T22:07:00.000-08:00

Grandma Diane came to visit last Saturday from Phoenix. It was just a quick visit, she went home on Monday night. We had a good time and we got the girls' room clean. If anyone knows my daughters that will mean a lot! It is always a struggle but they promise they will keep it clean this time.
So, you might want to think twice about visiting us - we might put you to work!!

The Wizard of Oz

2008-02-09T12:57:00.000-08:00

Corey and Erika both wanted to try out for a community production of "The Wizard of Oz".

They both got parts and the performance will be in May. It will be at the Daybreak Community Center where they went to school last year.

They haven't started their practices yet so I'm not exactly sure what they will be doing. Erika is going to be a munchkin. Corey is in the youth chorus and the chorus will also be the flying monkeys, the tornado, the snow, the corn, the poppies and jitterbug dancers. Last year Corey had the lead part in her class play, Alice in Wonderland.

The lady who directed it will also be directing this one as well.

Black Cloud

2008-02-08T21:08:00.000-08:00

Everyone who knows me knows that I can always find something good in even the very worst situations. BUT, I feel like I have had a black cloud over my head going on 3 months now. I just can't shake it.

The most recent would be hitting a piece of flying tire on the freeway yesterday morning and breaking out the fog lamp on my car. The good thing was that I didn't get a flat tire and I still made it to work on time. Geez, when will it end??

This makes me think of 3 things that my Mom would say to me over the years:

1. This too shall pass

2. Life's not fair, you better get used to it. (I say this to my kids all the time) :)

AND

3. It could always be worse! (There is a children's book with this title, if you haven't read it before you should)

SO, there must be something really great headed my way. Things will surely change soon!

February 3rd

2008-02-04T14:04:00.000-08:00

Colton building a snow cave in front yard

Rico, Corey and Erika having a great time

I'm not sure if you can see the snow on the
rail but it was really deep.

Outside the front door

Colton shoveling

The finished drive, it took FOREVER!

I know I keep posting snow pictures but that is all that is happening here. This is the most snow we've had at our house since we've lived here. I'm not sure how deep it actually was because there were a lot of snow drifts. The news reported 11-18 inches in our area. The pictures don't actually do it justice.

We had some sad news yesterday too. Our ward was split again and this time our small street has to go to a brand new ward. I can't say that any of us are very happy about it. I know that change is good but I'm having a hard time seeing the good in this move. It really only affects 5 active families on our street. It stinks but what do you do? The church is still true no matter where you are right? We are also moving buildings, this will be the 3rd meetinghouse we've been in since we've lived here. Crazy!

Gordon B. Hinckley Funeral

2008-02-03T11:17:00.001-08:00

What a wonderful life, we will miss our beloved Prophet!

Colton's Haircut

2008-01-26T17:16:00.000-08:00

Before

During (isn't photoshop great?)

After

Yea!! Colton finally cut his hair! He had a good time
with photoshop playing a trick on his grandma.
I dread the day he can grow facial hair like that, and
if he's anything like Mike it won't be long.

January 21

2008-01-21T17:05:00.000-08:00

Today is my least favorite day of the whole year. It happened to be Martin Luther King Jr Day the day Mike died also. It has been 6 long years. On one hand it feels like yesterday but so much has happened since then. This isn't really a day we celebrate. We had planned on doing something together as a family since the kids were out of school, but the weather kind of changed that.

Corey wanted to go skiing and headed to the resort but they didn't make it because there was an avalanche and the road was blocked.

I had a dentist appointment to get a tooth pulled. Erika went with me. We left early because it dumped snow last night and was still snowing when we left. Some areas in the valley got over a foot of snow. The dentist numbed me up and I had the nitrous oxide and my ipod really loud - it didn't work. He pulled on it a few times and numbed me more and more. He just couldn't get it numb enough to pull. So, now it hurts even worse and I will have to get an appointment with an oral surgeon. Hopefully they can fit me in soon.

Colton wasn't happy with me because he didn't get to go snowboarding - he is still grounded from the resort. He has been out in the gully behind our house all day working on building up jumps and snowboarding as much as he can.

I went on a date with Erika right after the dentist. We went to see a movie, we had fun together. I spent the rest of the day under my electric blanket... I hate snow and I was not going to clean house today.

I have been thinking about this a lot lately. Everyone liked Mike, he was just that kind of guy. What do I miss most about him?
I really miss his smile that was only for me.
It makes me sad that he isn't here to see the kids growing up and that he can't be here to back me up with them. It is very hard without an enforcer. I think they would be different kids if their Dad were here. There are just a lot of things I miss.

I know a lot of people are looking at this blog, so let's hear from you leave me a comment!!

What do you miss about Mike?

Frozen Yard

2008-01-21T16:54:00.000-08:00

We found this great surprise as we were leaving to church on Sunday morning. SOMEONE, of course no one knows who, turned on our sprinklers which went off at midnight. It must have been a pretty cool show with the cold temperatures here. The kids had left the garage door open most of the day while I was gone to work so who really knows. (We have had the talk over and over again about the dangers of leaving it open.) Of course the water didn't stop coming out when I turned them off. Chris had to once again come over and help me. I won't be able to tell if we have any broken pipes until spring though. The driveway was a sheet of ice and the grass was covered with icicles as well. There must be a silver lining -- pretty cool pictures!

Snow Camping

2008-01-19T20:50:00.000-08:00

Colton went on a scout campout yesterday. They did some back country hiking and dug out snow caves to sleep in (the 2nd pic). Even though Colton is grounded from the resort, he is still finding a way to go snowboarding. They had to hike quite a bit but he is very determined to get better.

I'm not sure why anyone would find sleeping in the snow fun but the boys had a great time!

January 11th

2008-01-13T15:48:00.000-08:00

I am sorry my posts this month will probably be about Mike. This is kind of a hard month for me. There isn't anything going on here anyway, except for way too much work and way too much snow!

So the 11th would have been our 16th anniversary. Of course I had to work. My friend Debbie brought these pretty flowers, how nice was that?

On Saturday morning I got my hair cut, it is a little lighter than I wanted but I think I will like it. (The picture on the bottom)

Saturday evening, Chris and Courtnie took me out for a night of fun. :) I was a little apprehensive because I thought they should just go on a date themselves instead of dragging me along. How fun for them to have a 3rd wheel, Courtnie wouldn't even let me sit in the back seat. We did have a good time though. We went to watch "The Bucket List" (which I would highly recommend), then we went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner which was excellent, I even ate a mushroom and it was good! No, they couldn't stop there, we went to Cold Stone for ice cream. I am lucky to have such great friends here, it is hard sometimes being here alone with the kids.

Colton's Video

2008-01-03T16:55:00.000-08:00

This is a short video of Colton at Brighton last week.

New Year's Eve

2007-12-31T17:17:00.000-08:00

Today was really pretty. There was snow on the mountains and lots of clouds but the sky was so blue. I liked the sunset too. We don't have any big plans for tonight. We are just going to play some games and stay home, I don't have to work until tomorrow night. Not very exciting!

Happy Birthday Judy!!

Night Snowboarding

2007-12-27T18:02:00.000-08:00

Colton snowboarding on the rails last night at Brighton. I don't know how they can stand to be out in the cold for 10+ hours a day, but they just can't get enough of it. He is getting really good and is anxious for me to go with him, I am afraid of breaking my leg though! I bought some passes so I will have to go pretty soon.

Christmas Day

2007-12-26T15:51:00.000-08:00

I got up early and got ready for work and then woke up the kids at 7. They just hurried and opened presents so I wouldn't miss anything. I told them that they would have all day to play with everything. I worked until 5pm and then we went to dinner at the Taylor's house. We played air hockey and other games. It was a lot of fun. I even made eggnog pie, I think they liked it too! Chris built a stand for the tree last week, YEA!! Thank goodness I have great neighbors here. The Bullmore's were going to come and visit this week from Flagstaff but the forecast shows snow every day for the next week so they decided they better not come. The roads get really bad over the mountains so it is probably a good idea if they don't. We are disappointed though.

Christmas Eve

2007-12-26T14:33:00.000-08:00

First thing this morning we went to clean the church with 2 other families. The Taylor's went with us and when we were finished we went to lunch at a new Chinese restaurant close to our house, it was good. We went to watch "National Treasure" and when we came out of the theater it was snowing and the wind was blowing really hard. It did make for a nice white Christmas morning. We came home and the kids each opened a pair of pajamas. You can finally see Colton without braces. These are just snow covered flowers in the front yard, they looked kind of cool.

Colton Snowboarding

2007-12-15T17:53:00.000-08:00

Colton has been snowboarding 3 times this season so far. He would go every day if I would let him. He took these pictures last weekend but he resized them so they are kind of hard to see. Colton is wearing the Jazz jersey, Chad is in the green and white, and Dillon is wearing red. I am waiting for the day that he breaks something. I just tell him to make sure he tells the ambulance to take him to my hospital! Oh ya, Colton got his braces off last month but he hasn't let me take any pictures of him showing teeth yet.

All of us at Temple Square

2007-12-15T17:29:00.001-08:00

I'm not sure why we don't have any pictures of Corey but she was there! I'll take some better pictures of everyone looking at the camera next time. Those were pictures that the kids took.

1) Chris and Shelbi

2) Courtnie

3) Preston

4) Erika and Colton

5) Keaton

6) Erika and Shelbi

Temple Square

2007-12-15T17:14:00.000-08:00

For family night this week we went to downtown Salt Lake to see the Christmas lights at temple square. We went with the Cederholms and went to a Vietnamese restaurant for dinner. It was really cold but very beautiful, we had a good time.

Christmas Lights

2007-12-15T16:39:00.000-08:00

We are getting excited for Christmas. We had our Christmas tree up before we went to Arizona for Thanksgiving. The girls brought all the boxes up from the basement and put it together themselves. The tree has since been knocked down by the dog and the stand broke so we don't have a nice tree now! It is leaning against the wall in hopes that my neighbor Chris has a brilliant plan to build a new stand so we can have a tree for Christmas. The Cederholms (Chris and Courtnie) also put up our lights outside while we were out of town. What great neighbors we have!

Mike's Birthday

2007-12-10T16:13:00.000-08:00

December 8th.
Mike's birthday, it is one of those hard days but we try to make it a happy day instead of a sad day. We made a cake and sang happy birthday. We like to do this every year, just a little way to remember him on his special day.

December 1

2007-12-04T16:15:00.000-08:00

This is the first real snow that has fallen this year. Erika made a good attempt at shoveling the drive but she didn't get very far. Rico loves the snow too.

Our trip to Arizona

2007-11-26T17:17:00.000-08:00

I drove for 10 hours with 3 kids and a dog to Arizona for Thanksgiving. It makes for 2 really long days of driving! We had a great time with our family and friends, but it is always nice to be home. Corey took most of the scenery pictures, she says she wants to be a photographer when she grows up. She did a great job!

Thanksgiving Dinner

2007-11-26T16:26:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. It seems like it is the only time of year that everyone makes the effort to get together. Plus we get to have eggnog pie! YUMMY!!!! We were missing some people though. We had about 46 this year. These are just pictures of people that we saw and that were at our dinner, I am sorry that I didn't get pictures of everyone that was there.

Standin' on the corner

2007-11-26T15:16:00.000-08:00

When people ask me where I am from and I say Winslow, AZ most often they will say, 'Hey didn't the Eagles sing a song about Winslow?'
Since we were in Winslow for Thanksgiving we decided to do the touristy thing and stand on the corner!
I was born and raised in Winslow and most of my family lives there. http://www.winslowarizona.org/Visiting.htm

Intermountain Medical Center

2007-11-12T21:29:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago the hospital that I worked at closed its doors and we moved to a brand new hospital. There are a lot of changes involved with this move. We have had to merge our staff with another hospital's staff, new management, new schedule and senority, not to mention all the little things that just aren't the same. Change can be a good thing but I am having a hard time adjusting. Each shift seems to be slightly better than the last but it still isn't great. I love being a nurse but right now I dread going to work. This is a picture of the building I work in, it has 15 stories and the ER is on the lower level. There are 5 different buildings, each with their own specialty, such as the women's center, heart and lung, cancer center, etc.

Hopefully things will improve quickly and I will be happy to go to work again.

2007-11-11T09:29:00.001-08:00

Shawn Riley (with the shades) and Jason Kelly
My cousin, Stacie, and her husband Isaac have finally been blessed with not one, but two babies!

Born Oct 27, 2007 about 12 weeks early, they both weighed 2 lbs 14 1/2 oz.

The boys will be in the NICU for quite some time but they are making great progress. Now two weeks old in these pictures, they have been taken off the ventilators.

Congratulations! I can't wait to see them.

2007-11-05T16:41:00.000-08:00

I took Colton to Brighton this afternoon to pick up his season pass. He can't wait for the season to start. He thinks the world revolves around snowboarding!

2007-11-05T15:56:00.000-08:00

I went to Phoenix this past weekend and met my nephew Caden, born August 17. What a cutie! My sister in law Stacey and her husband Ryan are the proud parents.

Halloween 2007

2007-10-31T18:57:00.000-07:00

Erika was a belly dancer this year.

Corey and Katie dressed up for trick or treating.

Colton was mad that he had to stay home and pass out candy.

2007-10-31T15:34:00.000-07:00

Just playing around

Halloween

2007-10-31T15:23:00.001-07:00

Erika

posing

in her

Halloween

costume.

2007-10-28T23:08:00.000-07:00

July 4, 2007

We had a BBQ with the Cederholms, our neighbors, and just played games. We had

our own fireworks show in the street!

The kids loved these pictures because they said they could see their spirits.

Haiti photos

2007-10-27T22:43:00.000-07:00

Haiti

2007-10-27T22:17:00.000-07:00

I recently went on a humanitarian trip to Haiti. I signed up to go without knowing anyone, pretty out of character for me! I went with 12 total strangers, but everyone was very nice and we had a great time. I can't really explain why but this is just something I have always wanted to do, believe me I had plenty of people try to talk me out of it just because of the dangers.

We flew to Port-Au-Prince and then went to a small village called Timo, on the side of a mountain. We had to hike about 30 minutes down to the village with heavy backpacks and everything we needed for the week. The hike out took an hour! It was very steep and rough terrain. The natives put us to shame, they carried much more than we did, many of them barefoot. When we finally had a bath, it was in a river about shin deep. We bathed in the moonlight, the water was cold but very refreshing. We stayed with the natives in their homes, they gave up their homes and beds for us. It was very humbling. These were my interpreters, Zouty and Marco, what fun guys. They taught us some Creole also.

The main purpose in going was to set up a children's clinic. We had a medical and dental team. I even pulled a tooth! That was awesome. We took as many supplies as we could with us, hygiene kits, school kits, toys, vitamins and several different medications. It was very hot and we worked long hard days but what an experience. I must say this is one of the best things I have ever done in my life.