Life is good today...

There is a country song on the radio that became the theme song for our vacation. These are the words:
I've got my toes in the water
My [bum] in the sand
Not a worry in the world
A cold drink in my hand
Life is good today
Yeah, life is good today.



A quick shout out once again to Russ for working so hard for our family and earning this fabulous trip for our family. Here he is getting recognized as one of the top 7 service managers in North America who earned this vacation.

Russ' performance in this contest is based on the performance of his employees. He has some great men that work for him. Many of them worked their booties off during this contest, yet only two others from Russ plant earned the trip. Meet John and Tracy...


I am so grateful for these guys who make Russ' job easier (most of the time). Also a shout out to Mike who was 36th in the RSR contest- the top 35 RSR's got to go. We were absolutely heart broken for him. And also to Kurt. This is the first time in like 13 years he didn't earn the vacation, but he finished just behind Mike. Thanks guys! Our family truly appreciates your hard work!



We flew to Puerto Vallarta on Thursday. The kids were very excited for the flights. We flew to Phoenix, had an hour lay over, then flew on to Puerto Vallarta. We flew with one of Russ' co-workers (John) and his wife (Marissa). When we walked off of the plane in Mexico we were engulfed in warm temperatures, slight humidity, and lots of sunshine. I knew I had arrived in heaven. We were all so happy to be on the ground and on our way to the resort. Here we are in the airport.

A tour bus picked us up at the airport and shuttled us to the resort, Paradise Village. We got checked in, given our "all-inclusive" bracelets, and escorted to our condo. We had a small kitchen, two bedrooms with king size beds, two full baths, a huge living area, and a double balcony that over-looked the ocean. It was incredible.
There were basically three restaurants we could eat at. One of the three restaurants hosted a buffet each night with a theme (ie. BBQ, Italian, Neptune (fish), Tropical, etc.). We could eat from the buffet or order from the menu. Each restaurant was located right on the beach with a view of the ocean. The boys ordered rib-eye steaks (we are talking huge-cover the entire plate-steaks) three of the nights. They were in absolute bliss. I was able to have some type of fish everyday... I, too, was in bliss. We had omelets made fresh to order every morning as well as waffles and pancakes, oatmeal, doughnuts, muffins, mexican breakfast casserols, bacon, sausage, yogurt, hashbrowns, salsas and guacomole. They had the greatest fresh fruit juices and all kinds of fresh diced fruit (watermelon, papaya, honeydew, cantaloupe, and pineapple that was to die for). In the afternoon we were served lunch while lying out on the beach or lying by the pool. The staff was so attentive and we felt like royalty. The food was fantastic and I think we each gained about ten pounds.
We also made the mistake of introducing the kids to virgin pina coladas, strawberry daiquiris and our new found favorite- virgin Miami Vices (a mixture of pina coladas and strawberry daiquiris). The kids each drank at least three a day. Gracie's drink of choice was Shirley Temples. Every time we looked at Grant he had some kind of fruity drink in his hand. By the look of some of the pictures of him you would think some of his drinks were alcoholic.

We played in the ocean every morning while the tide was in. Boogie boarding was by far the favorite activity. We had free boogie board rentals each day and we made the most of that. The kids had rashes on their stomaches from the first day of boogie boarding, until their mom taught them to wear their compression shirts. After that you could hardly get them out of the waves. Russ took his two co-workers out on boogie boards the first morning we were there. They were having a hard time catching the hang of it. They kept going out further and further for the bigger waves. Next thing we knew, they were caught and were being pulled out and unable to get in. An Alsco employee from San Diego who is a big surfer helped John in, but poor Tracy had to be rescued on a jet ski. I don't think they liked boogie boarding... we never saw them near the ocean, except to eat, again. Gracie loved playing in the sand and looking for sea shells. I was impressed by her enthusiasm for boogie boarding as well. At first she didn't want to try, but once she did we could hardly get her off of it. I loved to listen to her as she would just giggle the entire ride to shore.

When the tide would go out, we would move to the pool. The pools were amazing. They had huge crocodile water slides, under water caves, perfect temperature water, wading areas, and an enormous hot tub. Little Gracie can finally swim. She has been able to for some time now, but panics very easily. She always insisted on wearing a life jacket, which was great by me because I didn't have to worry about her drowning. However, after spending so much time in the water on this trip, she is very confident and swimming like a fish. She loved the pool and the slides and floating around on her raft, but spent most of her time relaxing in the "hot pool", or jacuzzi.

By our condo they had some caged tigers and parrots. I couldn't believe how close you could get to the animals. The kids thought that was pretty cool. They also liked all of the vegetation around the place, palm trees with coconuts, banana trees, beautiful flowers, etc. They were fascinated by how lush it was. I guess when you grow up in the desert, you would find those things amazing.

It was an amazing vacation. One we will never forget. I don't think the kids thought about school one time. Nor did I think of work. I think this is what heaven will be like.
Thanks Dad! We had the time of our lives. Viva Mexico!!!!

Hasta la vista

If you need me... I will be here!
Hope you have a great week. I know I will!

Am I DEAD yet?

So Russ woke up this morning and started hugging me as soon as he got out of bed. "You're not dead", he said. Apparently he had a dream that I said I was going to bed and then NEVER WOKE UP. So the questions began...

Do you think you were receiving personal revelation preparing you for the near future?

Did you feel sad or elated in your dream?

Were you able to figure out how to do Gracie's hair on your own? (Cause if I do die, someone will have to come over every morning and help this little girl out)

Did I die before or after our trip to Mexico- did I look tan?

Do I have time to write my own obituary, take out a life insurance plan, and repent of all my sins (that one could take months)?

Turns out, Russ is out of Pepcid. I think he was just having heartburn.

Busy B's

We have been overwhelmed with Baseball, Basketball, Birthdays, Boy Scouts, and Balls (Valentine Balls) that I have had very little time to Blog. I hate bulking a ton of events into one post because I lose so much of the details. Yet, I hate really long posts as well. I will do my best to keep this simple and detailed.

Baseball Garrett's tournament baseball team is in FULL SWING (Ha Ha). They played in their first tournament the last Saturday in January. They played three games back-to-back (six and a half hours of baseball). It was FREEZING cold. They won their first game and then lost the next two. They had not had very many practices prior to the first tournament because of all the rain we are getting. It's beginning to feel like we live in Seattle. It was good to see what they need to work on. Here is a video of Garrett's first AT BAT...

Basketball Garrett and Grant have both been playing basketball. Garrett's season just ended (and boy are we glad!). Garrett played in the Snow Canyon JUNGLE- I mean league. It wasn't that great of an experience. There was no structure. Whichever kid brought the ball down the court, shot the ball. It didn't matter if it was from half court, that kid was not going to pass the ball! Garrett was so frustrated and beat up. In his last play of the season he went up for a rebound and had both feet swiped out from under him. He came down on the back of his head. I think he spent more time on the ground than he did on his feet! It was bad. Grant on the other hand is having a great season. He is playing in the City of St. George league. He is one of the littlest guys on the team, but he is by far the most aggressive on defense. He takes on anyone. As soon as someone picks up their dribble, Grant is right there grabbing the ball. He causes about 20 jumpballs each game. It has been fun to watch him actually being assertive. He doesn't shoot too often, but has now scored in each of his last two games. Hopefully that will encourage him to shoot more. He is on the same team as his cousin Gavin- who is by far the biggest kid on the team. They like being on the same team and are having a fun season.

Birthdays I celebrated my birthday on the 3rd. This, for some reason, was a particularly hard birthday for me. I just seem REALLY old. It didn't help that just four days later my son celebrated his 12th birthday. I HAVE A 12 YEAR OLD SON! That is hard to swallow. I had a great birthday anyway, despite my self pity. Thanks for the phone calls, e-mails, texts, posts, gifts, etc. Russ and the kids made me breakfast in bed. Russ brought me lunch at work and then took me to dinner. I swear I just ate all day. To top it off, Russ bought a cake and while I was visiting with his mom and Paul, he lit 3 dozen candles on top of that cake. Let me tell you, I turned around when he started singing to see my kitchen A BLAZE. It was an experience. Garrett's birthday was on Sunday the 7th. We celebrated it as a family on Saturday. On Sunday Russ ordained Garrett a Deacon. It was sad for me not to have Garrett in Primary. He is ready to move on and Russ is grateful to have him in Young Men's. Garrett will have his party this Saturday. He and his friends are going to see Percy Jackson and the Olympians- the Lightning Thief. We read that book series last year and have been very excited for the movie to come out.

Boy Scouts All of the boys in my house have been occupied with scouts. Garrett just completed his first class ranking and has received 9 Merit Badges. He works on his scouting requirements faithfully each week. Russ, as the Scout Master, helps him each week. Every Sunday they take time going over what Garrett needs to work on for the week. It has been a great bonding experience for them. Grant is working hard to earn his Bear ranking. We had his Blue and Gold Banquet. I- oops I mean- He had to make a cake that had to do something with Hawaii... they were having a luau. He put the Hawaiian state flower, the hibiscus, on his cake with a bear paw print. It was very cute. Ball Valentine Ball that is. Each year the 4th grade classes learn 6 dances- the waltz, the fox trot, the swing, a line dance, the bunny hop, and the swing twist (different from the swing). They perform each dance twice with a different partner each time. Grant had to ask 6 girls to be his partner and then he was asked by six girls to be partners. They had to dress up- girls in dresses, boys in slacks, shirts, and ties. The parents were invited to come and watch. Poor LITTLE Grant had 10 out of 12 partners that were an entire head taller than him... here are a few pictures to show the heighth differences.It was hysterical. Nana was laughing so hard she had tears. It was really funny. I am so happy I was able to be there. Grant was most excited to dance with Bryli. She is such a cute girl. She was wearing the cutest dress. But this was not why he was excited to dance with her. Bryli is the one girl that was shorter than him. Here is a video of the two of them doing the Swing.

Here is a video of our cousin, Gavin doing the Fox Trot. I love how he watches his feet to make sure he is not stepping on any toes.

Anyway if you ever want to have a good laugh you should attend one of these. Anyway, that covers all of the B- topics we have been busy with. I forgot to add in Braces. We basically live at the orthodontist with two kids in braces and a third beginning next month!!! Next week I will move to the C's- church callings, cardiac rehab, capstone project proposals, etc. Just kidding.

Outta Space

So, Gracie is six and talks non-stop. She can make me crazy in 30 seconds or less. She always wants to be right next to me, doing EVERYTHING I do. Some days I can handle it, others NOT SO GOOD. I think I have mentioned this several times before (sorry to repeat), but I have a HUGE personal space. I want space. I need space. I love space. I need to feel like I can breathe. Gracie is in MY space all of the time. It is not that I don't love her to death. I think she is darling and fun to be around... as long as it is not too close.
Last night I was stressed out! I had to get 100 CD's burned for church this morning and one of our computers was out of commission. The other computer was so slow at burning the CD's. I could only burn 6-7 CD's each hour... that equates to a lot of hours. Well there was Gracie, trying to sit on the same chair I was sitting on, talking non-stop, wanting to touch every CD I put in or took out of the computer. It was taking everything in me not to lose my temper and scream at her. By 8:00 pm I had burned less than 20 of the CD's. My boys were crying that they were starving and needed to eat. I left the table and started making dinner. I tried to get a load of laundry started while dinner was cooking. When I was finished, I came back over to the table to find 3 more CD's burned and another on it's way. There sat Little Lou putting labels on the CD's she had burned and putting them in their jackets. I asked her if she even knew what she was doing. She walked me through the process. It was perfect. She said, "I watched you do it mom, and I know what to do". She sat at the table until midnight last night burning CD's. At one point Garrett came over to help. She told him he could put the labels on the CD's. After his first attempt she fired him. He had not taken his time to put the label on straight! She was so careful to do everything right. I just let her take over and she was so proud of the work she was doing. And I was able to get a couple of other projects finished that had been pushed aside all weekend.
I really am so grateful for this little girl. She is very smart. She is very helpful (if I will let her be). She loves unconditionally. She is witty and fun. After watching her last night, and seeing how much she wants to be a part of what I am doing... I have realized I need to focus on her good qualities more and be grateful I have her to share my space with.

Let the adventures begin...

Well we are just a couple of weeks into the new year. There is already so much going on.
Ginger- the hamster that lived
Meet Ginger, Grant's pet hamster. She has become quite entertaining. She runs around like crazy now. She lets the kids hold her without biting them. She loves the wheel in her cage (especially at 3:30 am). And she goes absolutely wild in her ball (thanks Lunds- that was an awesome Christmas gift!!!) She will get that thing moving so fast and then try and stop. She does a complete flip. It is quite funny to watch. Grant is in love with her. We are thrilled that he has a new friend.
The Caveman
Russ' scouting adventures continue. He started off the new year taking his scouts to the Klondike Derby. He had four hours before the boys had to go to bed and wanted to have something to pass the time by. So he built a huge snow cave. Three of his scouts slept in it that night (not Russ, he slept in his red snow cave - A.K.A. his car). The boys that slept in the snow cave said they stayed so warm. Anyway, they survived another campout. Russ really does enjoy his callings. He stays extremely busy and makes many sacrafices, but he loves those boys.
The Wise-r Man
Garrett started baseball and basketball this past week. He has already learned something new... where NOT to stand at 2nd base when a boy is sliding into the plate!
This is after 5 days of healing. Hopefully, we won't have too many more of these this season. His coach said he was just lucky Kyle wasn't wearing his metal cleats yet- OUCH! His coach said he was tough and only shed one BIG tear. Good job Garrett- I would have been crying like a baby for days!

Gone in the twinkling of an eye...

What happened to 2009? I swear I was just writing New Year Resolutions a couple of weeks ago! I was reading back through our blog about our 2009 events. We truly are a blessed family. I am so grateful for all that we have, all that we are able to do, and all of the wonderful people we are surrounded with. I am sometimes disappointed when I look back and see all of the things I didn't accomplish in the past year. There is always so much more I could have or should have done. But to dwell on those things would take away from the many things that we were able to do. It does help me see things that I would like to improve on this coming year.



We are SOOOO excited for 2010. We have many adventures planned. We have new challenges to face. And so much fun to be had. Here is a glimpse at what is PLANNED for 2010 (we reserve the right to change our minds at any time during the year):


Russ- This year he is taking our family to Puerta Vallarta in February. A little sun, a little tan, a little 80 degree weather- can't wait! Russ will also be travelling to Guatemala in April on a fly-fishing excursion. We are excited to see those sailfish photos. He will be taking his annual trips to the Henry's Fork and Yellowstone and probably one more big trip- to where? Heaven only knows. I will find out about one week before he departs. It will go something like this, "Oh, by the way, did I tell you I am going to ______ this Monday to fish for _______? I will be gone for about ten days. You cool with that?" He is a fly by the seat of his pants kinda guy, and I have grown to love it. Russ is also planning to run the St. George Marathon this year with Uncle Brent (This is where the "reserve the right to change our minds" comes into play).


Garrett- Is turning 12 and will be receiving the Aaronic Preisthood in February. I cannot believe he is already that old. He is excited to enter the Young Men's program and have his dad as his Scout Master and Young Men's leader. This year Garrett is playing on a tournament baseball team and will be playing all over the state. We are excited to see him improve. He has great, enthusiastic, devoted coaches. We are grateful they are willing to share their time and talents with Garrett. He will again play basketball and football as well. Rah-Rah-Rah every week filled with sports!

Grant- Is starting basketball this week with his cousin, Gavin. We love basketball season as it is short and sweet. Grant started in braces and has a mouth FULL of metal and rubber bands. We are anxious to see the results of his first phase. He has also entered into the blissful experience of pet ownership as he got a new hamster (after our terrible Christmas day experience). Ginger is his new hamster and she is very boring thus far. She stays buried in her wood chips ALL day and comes out at night to eat her food, drink a little water and then hide once again. She hisses if you stick your hand in her cage and tries to bite if you pick her up. She had a near death experience tonight when Garrett tried to hold her. She bit, he dropped her, she went back into the cage- under the wood chips. (We are not good pet owners!!!) But Grant loves her. He says she is a "cutie pie". If she ever comes out of the wood chips again, we might snap a few pictures.

Gracie- The poor little girly has been supporting her big brothers and their numerous activites for years. She cheers for them. She travels for them. She endures weather of all types for them. Well it is her turn. She will enter some sort of activity of her choice this year. I think she is wanting to try gymnastics. I would like her to begin piano as well... we will see. It will be entertaining I am sure. She is so enthusiastic about everything.

Happy 2010 to everyone!