"Mom" I feel like a real Man!!

John and I went to Deer Valley for 3 day's. It was a long awaited break. John's Dad was kind enough to stay with our kids with Ashlee acting as his assistant. Between the 2 of them the goal was to keep Syd and Connor alive. I came home on Fri. and was warmly greeted by Syd, Ash, and Gpa. But Connor was not home. "Where is Connor" I ask. "Oh hes at the club house at the bottom of the culdesac" Hmnm. I don't know of the club house.. I walked all over the neighborhood knocking on doors, investigating back yards No boys, No club house, No Connor. That panic was setting in a bit. This is unusual behavior for Connor. He's easy to locate and never goes beyond the neighborhood boundaries. I couldn't contain the fear. Syd said that the club house was by the railroad tracks, near a park. That spot is way to far for him to wander and if he did................I had Ashlee get in her car with syd to go check out the park area. She called me and couldn't find him anywhere. It's now been a good 30 min. Do I call the police?? I tried to be cool, I asked syd again, she said by the railroad tracks. She seemed quite certain. I grabbed my neighbor and we headed in the direction of Mr. Glad's farm. Across a busy street towards a field, and abandoned railroad tracks. I yelled and screamed and heard nothing. Mr. Glad just so happened to be driving by and we flagged him down. "Have you seen our boys?" Oh yes, they had wood, Hammers, nails and power tools. He had that smile that comforted me. He knew these boys were just being boys, the old fashioned way that they don't get to be anymore. I said "where are they, where is their club house?" He said, " not sure, but if I were a little boy, I would be down in that field to the right under the Big tree!" As I'm walking toward the tree that seemed so far away, I had flashbacks to my childhood days growing up on a farm, with a field and trees all over. I remember leaving in the morning on adventures and being gone all day. I remembered building forts and palaces in trees and ditches. It brought back that age old feeling of good clean old fashioned (cant believe my childhood seems old fashioned) Fun. As we approached the tree, We spotted our boys. They built the best little tree house. They hammered wood and made a platform to sit on, it had a "lookout point" and a rope swing, one boy brought the R.I.P. headstones to scare off intruders. When I laid eyes on my boy, the feeling of wanting to yell at him melted away when I saw the layers of black dirt smeared all over his body. I could have carved on his cheek "Clean me" with my fingernail. It was a heartwarming find. We had a talk with the boys about safety and informing parents where they were. I gave connor the walkie talkies and our communication worries were all sorted. The next day Connor said,

"Mom, I feel like a real man!" "why ?" I said. "Because Ive never built anything before and now Ive built a tree house!" I'm thankful for the field in our suburbia. I'm glad that our boys could enjoy the outdoors and be creative! I'm glad I found Connor. I need to not worry so much!!

Fall runway fashion trend 2008

So our cute Sam (from England) had her bridal shower. The party was in south weber, but tragicaly on that very evening a Huge tanker rolled on the freeway closing all north bound traffic. It was evident that we would not make it and had to re-locate to a restraunt in down town salt Lake. It was great. They had a private room and got us in right away. The Problem..........It may have been 100 degrees outside, but in this private room it felt like 10 degrees below. FREEZING. We kindly requested a thermostat adjustment, but they argued it would mess up the entire restraunt. So we tried covering the vent with menu's but as you can see, It wasn't really working. We wandered into a stock room and found the checked table cloths, and all wrapped up in one. It was a funny sight. Now don't be shocked if you see this new look on the runways this fall. Watch out pashmina, checked table cloths are making a comeback!

Unplanned entertainment can be the best. It all worked out. And in typical Sam style, she went with the flow and didn't seem upset that the original plan was de-railed.

"May I have 2 toothpicks please"

I'ts a question Connor asks almost every waiter/waitress in every restraunt we go into. "may I have 2 toothpicks please?" This is a magic trick passed down from his big borther Ian. He loves
to impress on lookers with this impossible balancing trick.

Corrupted the sequel

My sister thought that her 18 month old daughter was corrupted when she found

her in the back yard holding a chicken. I argue that our corruption is worse, or just grosser!!

Grandpa Don LOVES fried pig skins. In fact, his favorite breakfast entree would be a plate of fried pigskins with melted cheese. We were at a Mexican fiesta for Johns sister, and part of the buffet included the largest skins ever. One of them had the FDA stamp fried right on it.. I'm kicking myself as we speak for not taking a picture of that one. Any of you who know me, understand that this is so gross to me. I can't imagine eating the deep fat fried skin of a pig. Imagine my horror when I found my "Girlie girl" gnawing on a pig skin almost as tall as her!! I prefer the more creative use "telescope" but still......she really liked it, so did connor. But I told them not to get used to it because it would not be found in their lunchbox any time soon. Grandpa Don and I joke around alot as he offers me a sampling of his pig skins. I wrinkle my nose and act disgusted, then we both laugh about it. So the jumbo, large pig, size skins made for a good picture moment, and offered "Corrupted the sequel"

"My most favrotist place on earth"

For Connor's 9th birthday, we told him he could choose any restraunt for dinner. He didn't hesitate when he said "Saweet Tomatoes!!!" "Why?" I asked, Because it's my most favoritist place on earth. "Sweet tomatoes it is then." Wonder why?? Let me break it down.

Appetizer....Dill pickles, croutons, boiled eggs. (all you can eat)

Main course....cheese pizza (a couple of slices will do)

But the Reason of all reasons..... Brace yourself,

DESSERT.....Chocolate brownie, followed by 2 icecream cones dipped in oreo cookie crumbs, and then just for fun, some old fashioned jello slurping. No fork required. Pucker your lips and suck really hard, those jello squares slide in to give you the final sugar surge. Aren't these the cravings of a pregnant woman??

Happy Birthday Bugs....We love you!!!!

True loves first kiss

Don't need to say much the pix speaks for its self. Johns Dad is so awesome and the kids just love him!!

A Big Heart

My dad gave us all quite a scare. He had symptoms of Heart trouble. After an iodine stress test, the doctors knew something was wrong. They scheduled him the next day for a procedure to go through the vein in his leg and scope out the arteries. They found 2 blockages. Gratefully they put in 2 stints and feel that it will greatly improve his quality of life. There is an aneurysm that is being watched. We are all so grateful for his darling wife Pat!! Her nursing skills and love nudged him into the doctors office and ultimately saved him! Thanks Pat. We love you both and are blessed that this procedure is making you feel better. Aren't they so cute!!!

Beauty ZZZZZZ"S

This is Syd. EVERY time we go somewhere in the car, she brings as much as she can carry in her little purse. The purse falls on the floor and all of the little things spill out. Needless to say, the floor of the car looks like the floor of the play-room. I swear I will make her take everything back in the house. Yeah it never happens. I have polly pocket bits, melted lipgloss in every flavor and color, we melted a whole box of crayons, that was a fine art project. I think I found skittles from the year 2000, way under the seat!!! She picked up this eye patch thing from a friend, It was on the ride to costco that she realized she would give it a try. If you ever wondered... They totally work. Check her out. I laughed so hard I cried when I turned around and found her snoozing.

Neighborhood Clean Up Canine

Meet "Duke" he is lovingly referred to as our neighborhood dog. Duke is the size of a small pony. He loves to invite himself to a BBQ. He really loves it when there is a birthday! He kindly thanks us for the impromptu visits by cleaning all of the garbage. He licks all of the frosting and BBQ sauce from every plate, and then proudly leaves the cleaned paper products all over the lawn to show how much he cares!! Its almost as though he thinks we can re-use them for next time. "Thanks Duke!" We love Ya!!

Happy 17th Birthday Ash!!