Club Socks

Merry Christmas

2012-01-24T19:49:00.000-08:00

We were home for Christmas this year. I guess this is our tradition. It is so nice to be home in our house for Christmas. We were very spoiled this year. I always say it will be a small Christmas and ends up being bigger than I meant it to be. Here is proof.

The best thing that happened this Christmas was that Grandpa got to move into his second home. We are so excited to have him here. He has 2 cars and 2 homes I guess now he just needs 2 girlfriends. Ha Ha I am really kidding about that one. We sure do love having him here. I am sure he is just glad he doesn't have to use my boy's bathroom anymore.

I love having a teacher for a husband we get to hang out during all our long breaks. This Christmas break we had a good time having many adventures. Mark crocheted a hat for our friend this Christmas. The boys really wanted to learn how to crochet so Mark gave them each a hook and some yarn. They lasted about 10 min.

Mark took us to Circus Circus between Christmas and New Years. Dad and Dane had a blast going on the Log ride and the roller coaster. Dane said the Roller coaster was so fast it cleaned the boogers right out of his nose. Mom and Slater chose to play mini golf and the 4d ride of Spongebob. Dad and Dane went on the log ride so much their feet were prunes. This does not mix with walking a lot. Mark got some wonderful blisters on the bottom of his feet. He was a sport to keep walking around with us the next day.

So that is our 2011 We are excited for 2012 and the end of the world.

Happy Halloween

2012-01-07T16:33:00.000-08:00

For Halloween this year we had a Nun, a Ninja, Dracula and Abraham Lincoln on vacation. I enjoyed the fun this year. We made root beer and partied too late for a school night. I think next year we will host our own party on the weekend and come in after trick or treating for bed. Ha Ha yeah right. We also had the chance to go up north and meet Synda and her girls at a corn maze. I am glad her teenage girls still humor getting together with us. Jordan drove her own car and left early to go hang out with friends. We still enjoyed having her there. We even got the teenagers to pose for pictures. Enjoy the pics.

Pinewood Derby

2012-01-03T15:21:00.000-08:00

Eight is a huge right of passage. Not only do you get baptized but you also get to enter into Cub Scouts. With Cub Scouts comes the ever so exciting Pinewood Derby. Dane wanted his car to be a slice of pizza. He has an amazing dad that can really do anything. Thank goodness cause mom lacks in that department.

Dane was very proud of his pizza slice. We had to add a lot of weight to get it to the qualifying weight. It was thin crust.

They won most imaginative.

That little pizza slice cruised. He made 2nd place. He only lost to one car. It was very exciting for our first Pinewood Derby.

Dane's Baptism 6 months ago....

2011-12-26T13:36:00.000-08:00

I got a new camera for Christmas from my sweet husband. I didn't ask for this. As I was opening all the accessories he got for me he said "I thought this would be a good hobby for you." He showed me how there is this awesome button that makes it really easy to add pictures right to my blog. Ok Mark I get it, I'm updating my blog. I am excited for my new hobby. Can you believe Dane turned 8. I love this guy he's challenge me in so many ways. He is a good smart boy that knows how to push mom's buttons. Mom just needs to learn to ignore those buttons. We had fun at his baptism with lots of family coming to visit. All of my family was there we totaled 6 (that's not including my little family) Some of Mark's family was able to make it. There were 14 of them and that's not even all of them. I was happy to have everyone there in flesh and in spirit. I couldn't be more proud of Dane. A couple weeks ago we took him and his friend to see the lights at the St George Temple. He was so excited to explain everything to his little friend about the Christmas Story. His friend is not a member of our Church. Dane loved having him listen to the little presentation they give in the Christus room. I hope that he keeps that innocent love of sharing the Love of Christ with others. He is a great example to me.

Dad's Birthday

2011-08-26T17:11:00.000-07:00

I am so behind. Mark had a birthday in May. He was a good sport and let everyone at his party have a chance to cut his hair. He even left it that way all night.

Gardening

2011-07-29T16:00:00.000-07:00

It is a little hard to get the gardening right down here in the harsh weather of Hell I mean southern Utah. Mark and I are better at gardening with things that need little attention. We are lucky that one of these things are artichokes. We planted 2 plants last year. They bloomed awesomely this year. We had Artichokes every night for dinner. The kids love them cause we dip them in butter. They also make a beautiful flower when you don't get them harvested quickly. Enjoy the pictures.

Happy General Conference

2011-04-03T15:41:00.000-07:00

I hope you all enjoyed Conference. We were super lucky this year we got to see Thomas S Monson in Legos. I love General Conference. Not only do I get to stay home from church but I get fed spiritually on top of it. There were some amazing talks this conference. I particularly enjoyed the one about sunrises. I think it was Elder Bednar but I must admit having church at home makes it hard to stay awake, and concentrate. Anyway he talked about waiting for the sun to come up and how you can see the starting of the sun hours before you actually see the sun. It's funny cause as he was describing this I can remember how much I have a hard time waiting for the sun to rise. I haven't experienced many sunrises, cause I really like the sun to wake me up. But the ones I have experienced I get really anxious to just have the sun up. I guess I can see that with my trials too. I do not have patience for them. I just want the darkness gone and the light back. I can learn alot from conference. You can check it out too here. www.lds.org I would love to hear what your favorite talk was. Unfortunatley you don't get to see it in Lego. That's just for us.

Birthday's and Anniversaries

2011-04-01T18:23:00.000-07:00

Well since it's been 3 months since I last blogged I have a lot of catching up to do. In March Slater turned 5 and he had his first friend party. He is a very party focused boy so all year long I here "mom, I want this birthday party." It changes constantly. So he settled on a Lego birthday party. We ended up having about 10 boys here. I was a little overwhelmed but had plenty of help and it was a lot of fun. The Lego guy (nephew Luke) even showed up and signed autographs. For Slater's actual day of his birthday he begged Grandpa Sid to stay home from Church with him. So he celebrated in real style and didn't get out of his jammies all day.

Mark and I celebrated 11 years of blissful marriage this year. I love it that we got married in 2000 so I don't have to do any math to remember how many years it's been. I love being married to my best friend. It's by far the best decision I've made and I'm glad he sticks around through all the crazy. So enjoy the birthday pics.

Who says Chickens aren't pets?

2011-01-09T13:15:00.000-08:00

We've had a few additions to our family this year. 11 Baby hens. Yeah I know what was I thinking. Eggs, that's what I was thinking. Little did I know the kids would fall in love with them.

They chase them and hold them. This is Slater and the boy's I babysit. They like to put them on their heads too, but I don't let them do that very often cause Chicken poo is pretty gross and I don't want it in hair.

They put them in the wagon and haul them around everywhere. Yesterday Dane took them to the neighbors across the street. What dog or cat would let you haul them in a wagon. So it's a new adventure and you can ask me when they start to lay eggs if they are worth it. Right now they are a much easier pet then anything I've had before. Minus the smell.

Christmas has come and gone.

2011-01-09T13:06:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas starts with the PJ tradition. I love how excited kids get to go to bed on Christmas. We should have a Santa visit every night. At about 11 pm on Christmas Eve I was getting things ready for Santa and I hear Dane "Mom I think I'm going to puke" He was so worried about not sleeping that he had made himself sick. So next year we are making sure he understands that he just has to be in bed not necessarily asleep. Thankfully Santa did arrive.

Grandpa Sid spent Christmas with us this year. We love having him come to visit. He spoiled us rotten this year. He gave each of the boys $100.00 bills. Slater was excited to have another dollar. Dane's eye's did the cartoon pop out. It was awesome. We spent all day Monday in SLC going to every Toy's R Us looking for a specific Lego set. Good thing we didn't find it.

Here is our beautiful family. If you were expecting a Christmas card don't feel bad if you didn't get one. I didn't send one. I really couldn't put this year on paper. So I'm in search of family traditions for us. This year I decided we would go to a movie on Christmas day. I put on my new Christmas clothes and told the family "let's go to the movie." Dane whined about having to leave his toys and Mark was tired and I wondered what I was thinking. I finally understand why my Mom always bought DVD's for Christmas, no need to go out to a movie. So our tradition now stands as staying in on Christmas day.

We went to SLC to get together with my family after Christmas. We all got together at Dad's. I think this is the first time we've all been together there since Mom's funeral. It was so nice to be together but I sure missed her. We played the Wii and were all laughing and having fun and I just kept thinking how much she would have loved it. I'm sure she was there in spirit. Aunt Synda did a good job spoiling my boys.

She found the coveted Lego set we had been searching for since Dane had received his $100.00 bill. Dane is an avid Lego builder. He put together 4 sets from Saturday to Wednesday. They were not small sets either. He didn't need any help. All in all it was a great Holiday. I hope yours was as good.

Santa's Personal Message

2010-12-03T18:56:00.000-08:00

Wow! Santa sent Slater a personal message! It's pretty exciting. He is getting more and more excited about the holiday. You can see his message at Portable North Pole.

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-29T08:29:00.000-08:00

We had some Pilgrims and Indians at our Thanksgiving this year. I am thankful that Thanksgiving is the official kick off of "The Holiday's" It's so relaxing and you are surrounded with family. Which is really what The Holiday's are all about. We spent our day at home. I cooked a turkey mashed some potatoes made some yams. Mark's parents came over with rolls and veggies and stuffing ( I don't put stuffing in my turkey I don't like it that way) They also brought Mark's Aunt Lois who brought green bean casserole. We stuffed ourselves until we couldn't move. Then we went over to Brad and Kimberly's for desert and stuffed ourselves again. My Dad came down on Friday to spend the weekend. By Sunday night I really felt like I had a Football hangover. So many games determined by that darn field goal. It was a wonderful weekend.

New use for old things

2010-11-15T19:53:00.000-08:00

By accident I found out this Halloween that A) in St George the gel clings for your window's will melt, and B) they are excellent fly catchers. Those flies are stuck in the residue of what was the head of this skeleton. It actually made a cute Halloween decoration creepy. Because of technical difficulties page on down to see more festivities of our Halloween.

Stocking family Halloween

2010-11-15T19:50:00.000-08:00

Here we are in our trick or treating glory. I am Sue Sylvester. The cheer leading coach from Glee. I tried to say some snarky one liners, I couldn't I'm just not mean like her. There is a ghost in there right between Ab Lincoln and the wall. We had fun on Halloween trick or treating and then heading over to friends houses for treats and games. I do have to say that I'm excited to have Halloween on a Monday next year, I hope that we can get through it with only one day of dress up and parties instead of 4. I sound like a party pooper but by Monday morning this year I was exhausted.

Happy Halloween

2010-11-15T19:46:00.000-08:00

My computer is being so lame so you get a few posts of the same thing. For Halloween Dane was Frankenstein, Mark was Abraham Lincoln and Slater was ET as the ghost. Mark made his top hat and Slater's ET hand. He also made the bolts that are on Dane's neck. I don't know what I'd do without him my kids would definetly have a lame Halloween. They'd be dressed in the lame packaged costumes from Wal-mart. Funny note Mark and I were at the Temple on Saturday (Nov 13) the man performing the sealings stopped to talk to us and proceeded to tell Mark how much he looked like Abraham Lincoln. This man was a big fan of President Lincoln. Mark was such a good Lincoln he didn't even have to have on a suit and top hat to look like him. Slater had a hard time keeping the ghost costume on. By the end of the weekend we had cut out a mouth hole and arm holes. The hand is made of bamboo and paper mache. Dane was very proud of his costume. He was a little anoyed at everyone asking him how he got his bolts in he neck. Mark used a hack saw blade that he bent and then fastened the bolts to that. Oh he did shave off the saw blades so there was no cutting into Dane's neck. Lastly he made his top hat out of black card stock and silk. Again I'm amazed at the talent he has. I love him.

Boo-ed

2010-10-28T15:03:00.000-07:00

I always think of Mom. This time of year makes me think of her even more. She loved fall. But what I really think about is her experience with being boo-ed. I'm not sure you are all familiar with this tradition. Somebody makes a photo copy of a ghost, then they place a goody on your step with the said ghost and you've been boo-ed. Now that you've been boo-ed you in turn must boo someone else. So one year my mom was boo-ed. Mom was not in the kitchen much she'd rather read a good book or watch a good movie or do some scrapbooking. So she went to the store and got her treat to take to the person she'd chosen to boo. She waited until the cover of dark. The point is to not get caught booing someone. It's like doorbell ditching only you leave a treat. She got her treats all on the plate and the ghost photocopied to take to her neighbor. She went up to the door and rang the doorbell. Then she ran to the back yard to hide from the neighbor. It had been raining that day so needless to say there was a lot of mud. Her shoe stuck in the mud. As she tried to get out of the mud she somehow tripped and her other shoe flew off into the window well of her neighbors basement. She wen't home and was one short one shoe and muddy, only to be greeted by another treat with another ghost on her porch. When she told me this story I laughed so hard. She was embarrassed that she lost her shoe, she never did try to retrieve it. I asked her what she was going to do with the other ghost. She said "I already boo-ed someone I'm not doing that again." Thanks mom for making the booing so memorable.

Fan Mail

2010-10-25T10:19:00.000-07:00

Dear Wierd All Yankouvic
My name is Dane. I am 7 years old and in 2nd grade. I live in St Gorge Utah. I love math. But I also like your band. I lisen to your album wile I do homework. Relly I am lisening wile I write this letter to. The album is Dare to be stuped. My cuzin likes Yoda the best. Your Friend Dane. P.S. I have five songs on my M.P.3

This letter gave me a smile this weekend. I really needed one thanks Dane. Mark and I are trying to get him to re-write this letter to ask Wierd Al to come play in St George. How could you deny such a sweet 2nd grader that loves math?

Mark's new hobby

2010-10-20T07:44:00.000-07:00

Mark has proudly announced that he is now a wood burner. I guess he's found his hobby for when he retires. He made this sign for his Dad's 70th birthday. Keith had a pretty big smile on his face when he opened it. I can't believe we pulled off the surprise of all of us being in Idaho for his 70th birthday last weekend. It was fun and exhausting as gatherings in Idaho usually are. It was nice to get a touch of fall finally, and even better to see all of the family. We missed you Tera, Hannah, and Piper. This is a saying that Keith would always say when they were on long road trips. Mark sanded the wood and bought a little wood burning tool and burned this into the wood. Then he stained it. He's very excited. I tried to talk him into vinyl lettering. When he finished he said "I'm so glad I didn't use the vinyl lettering cause this looks cooler". I'm glad too if he's found a new hobby that doesn't include a keyboard or a game controller. Or something that starts with Fantasy.

Halloween preview

2010-10-15T08:11:00.000-07:00

In the middle of the week I had a house full of boys playing dress up. They are so excited for Halloween. Slater actually dresses up everyday as something or other. They had fun running all over the circle in their costumes. Slater helps them get into character. We have lots of kids in our circle right now, it's a real party all of the time. We enjoy them. The amazing thing they are all boys that are around 5 years old. They will start school next year I think it might be hard for them at first as they have so much fun at home playing. We love our "hood". We have been here 2 years now and it seems to get better each year. What are you going to be for Halloween?

Lots of First's.

2010-09-08T12:28:00.000-07:00

We've had a lot of first's this year. First trip to Lego Land, first swim in the ocean, first time at Lagoon, first professional baseball game, first demolition derby, first BYU football game and first lost tooth.

It looks more painful than it was. The tooth was barely hanging in there. However he had to have his top tooth pulled by the dentist and the dentist didn't really numb the area quite right. So you can understand the anxiety right? Which is why I'm counting this one as the official first lost tooth. Pulling just doesn't count.

I'm trying to talk him into being a jack o' lantern for Halloween, but my baby is 7 so he has to be something a little more scary, like Frankenstien or something. Sigh no more dressing them up cute. The other first was the first day of preschool for Slater.

I think I was a little more excited for this moment than Slater was. I get 2 hours to myself on Tuesday and Thursday. So far I've used those 2 hours to go to the gym. I can't wait until that starts to actually show. I think he would enjoy preschool much better if I let him dress up in his Halloween costume from last year. He wears it all the time. We went to SLC for the Labor Day weekend. This is how Slater spent the ride:

He wears this costume all day long. I had to hide it on the ride home so I could finally wash it. He goes between being Link or Ash from The Amazing Mister Fox movie. He sure makes life interesting. When he's in character he won't answer questions for Slater he kindly says: "Mom, I'm Ash, you need to call me Ash" or Link, or Buzz whatever person he is. I'm glad he has such an imagination. Dane spent the ride like this:

We gave him an MP3 player for his birthday this year. He is constantly asking Dad to add and remove songs. Sometimes I feel like he's skipped right to being a teenager. I can remember he's not by looking at him and by picking up the MP3 player to hear the songs he's picking. Some top choices : Phineas and Ferb soundtrack, crazy frog, gummy bear songs, waffle song. He does have some songs on there I can tolerate, they are the ones I put on there. He refuses to have any songs sang by girls cause they are "Lame" I hope that by the time he's a real teenager we have figured out how to communicate with him, so he knows exactly what we want and we know exactly what he wants.

Mark and I also have a first coming up. I bought tickets for us to see Belle and Sebastian in Hollywood come October. I have added a playlist of some of my favorite songs so you can get a taste for them. Feel free to mute it I won't know, or post your thoughts of their music. I will for sure be posting many pictures of this event. I can't wait. Hope you enjoy some of our first's.

First day of school.

2010-08-17T15:29:00.000-07:00

I forgot to take a picture of Dane before the first day of school. When he got home he asked if he could play Club Penguin. I told him only if he read a book for 30 minutes. I'm so glad school is back in session. But wait, when school started last week we were only hitting about 100 degrees. This week we are back up to 106 uggh. I thought when school started it was supposed to cool down. I stand corrected. This is my last year of having someone at home and not in school. Slater starts preschool the beginning of September. That means one year until I probably start working again. It stresses me out thinking about applying for jobs. I look now and then at what is out there. Slim pickings people. Makes me wish I had a degree in something specific not something so broad as Spanish. I am not sure what I want to do for a career. I'm not sure I'm ready for my babies to grow up so quickly.

Bucket List

2010-07-30T21:54:00.000-07:00

I don't really have a bucket list but if I did I totally get to check one off this year. The first time I heard of Wicked was on Ugly Betty. I know I know, but it got me thinking about it a lot. So I read the book. Not recommended by they way cause the play tells the story so much better. Well, then I downloaded the soundtrack onto my Ipod. The rest is history. I love the music. I was obsessed. I tried to get tickets when it came to SLC. Impossible. So, when I suggested to Synda that we take a girls trip to San Francisco this summer it was really so that I could go see Wicked. No other reason than that. Our wonderful cousin Cammi was our host and she helped us get the tickets to the show. She is a local so she knew all the ins and outs of the city. Our original plan was to pick me up from the airport get ready for the play go to a little restaurant for dinner and then catch the play at 8 pm. Of course my flight was delayed so it was changed from that to me changing in the airport restroom, going from the airport to the play. We made it in perfect time. I loved it from open to finish. It was one of the only times I can remember getting to intermission and not thinking we still have so long to go. Defying Gravity gave me chills. It is a great play if you get the chance to go see it, do it. Oh and it was a little trip down memory lane as we parked the car in the very hotel Mark and I spent our Honeymoon in. Ah the memories on Market Street. Cammi was an excellent host. She showed me a side of San Francisco I hadn't seen before. The shopping district with all girls it was great. We spent a day touring Stanford University for my niece Jordan. I love a college campus it's so full of hopes and dreams. We also went to the beach for a day. The boardwalk at Santa Cruz. It was a great vacation and I will remember it forever. Thank you Cammi for helping us decompress a little from the crazy year we've had.

Finality

2010-07-29T20:51:00.000-07:00

It still doesn't feel real. It's been 6 months in August since mom entered her worst nightmare. Her 2nd open heart surgery. Life is going on. I'll be somewhere and think about calling mom to tell her the funny things Slater says to me. Like when he tripped in the hallway and told me someone under the ground was pushing up the ground and making him trip. I feel a little sad when I can't just call her. You might all want to commit me with this admission but I kinda have an on going conversation with her in my head at all times. I finally went up to dad and mom's a week ago. I wasn't sure how it would be. I admit I was nervous. It was fine. Nothing has really changed, except dad got a new TV for upstairs and new carpet. I could still feel her there. It was a little hard when Dad and I were watching the news and he sat in mom's chair. I kept waiting for her to come wandering down the hall in her jammies so Dad could rub her hand. That was a little hard. But mostly I still feel calm. Dad's birthday was last Sunday, that was a really hard and emotional day. I think because when I think of Mom I have peace when I think of Dad without Mom I am sad for him. It must have been hard to not have your sweetheart there to wish you a happy birthday after 41 years of doing so. I'm sorry Dad that you are alone right now. I wonder if it will ever really sink in that she's gone. It doesn't feel real.

2010-07-15T18:12:00.001-07:00

Dane loved it. Slater and Bethany...not so much.

As promised

2010-07-13T15:23:00.000-07:00

This is a picture only post.

Lego Land

2010-07-09T11:51:00.000-07:00

Where has the summer gone? June was a whirlwind. We started the month off by heading out for our family vacation. We went to Southern California. We stayed our first night in Victorville. We were at the red roof inn. When we checked in they had us on the third floor. Slater was pretty impressed with looking off the balcony. He and Mark were looking over the balcony and Slater says: "Hey Dad if you're going to puke then puke over the railing ok!" It cracked me up. I could only think of Garth on Wayne's World. The pool in Victorville was so cold. Each of the boy's were brave enough to jump in but mom could only put in a toe. They had a little hot tub like pool that was a little warmer. Dane swam in that the water was green. I'm pretty sure the head cold we brought home with us was from that pool.

On Monday we were off to Los Angeles. We first went to Griffith Park where they have the Greek theater, and the Observatory. This is also near my mission so I was able to take the boys on a small tour of the Glendale area. I had totally forgotten how ghetto my mission was. It was eye opening for me to go back as a non-missionary. We went to a swap meet in La Habra. There was alot of junk there. We ate pupusa's (hand made quesadilla like things from El Slavador) I was greatful they had those cause the carnitas and lengua and cabeza just weren't going to hit the spot. We did have some hand made churros the beat the costco churro's hands down. We then went to the Beach. We picked Seal Beach. The boy's absolutely loved it. I realized that I could probably cancel all other plans and just play on the Beach the whole vacation. I did forget to put on the sunscreen so we all got a little red. From the Beach we went to the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball game. The boy's got free Manny Ramirez jersey's. It was lots of fun.

On Tuesday we spent the whole day at Lego Land. Slater was very brave and went on the roller coasters with us. The boy's were really impressed with Miniature world. They had many famous cities built out of Legos. The last ride we went on was the Technic roller coaster. Slater was so brave the whole time we were in line. He didn't really make a peep on the roller coaster ( I think he was trying not to wet his pants) When we got done with the roller coaster I took him to the bathroom, I told him we had one more roller coaster we hadn't been on yet. He said "Mom I've done all the roller coasters I need." It was a lot of fun. Lego land is really great for kids that are just getting big enough to enjoy rides like that and the lines are not at all as long as Disneyland.

Wednesday was our last day in California. We went down to the beach and we are in love. I could've just spent everyday on the beach playing in the Ocean and saved my money from Lego Land. I miss the ocean and the beach. It keeps things so cool. It would be hard to move from the coast to the desert. We drove to the San Diego Temple to visit it. It was covered in scaffolding. Apparently they were doing some repairs. It was still very beautiful. We drove from the Temple all the way to Bakersfield. The temperature went from 70 and breezy to 98 and dry. So I have pictures to go with this but my computer is messed up so I will upload the pictures later. Stay Tuned.

Season finales and Diets

2010-05-29T21:57:00.000-07:00

What do the two have in common you ask? I'm not sure I'll be able to make this clear but I'll try. All of "my show's" have come to a summer break. My favorite show will not be returning. It's funny that at this time of year I breathe a sigh of relief because the shows have ended. If I'm so relieved they have ended then why do I watch them in the first place? Maybe subconsciously I just know that the season finale means summer is here. What I take it as is that I'm really just taking in something that's probably not good for me anyway. But it fills something. Just like eating junk food, or food that is not good for me. Oh how the junk fills those spaces. Numbs the mind (food does this for me too) So I've come to the conclusion. I'm on a diet. A TV diet. That means I'm not planning my evening around what's on (sorry no DVR in this house). I'm hoping to fill in with some better things. My diet will be a spiritual diet which means I will read my scriptures instead of watching "my shows" I will meditate and ponder. I will spend more time with my kids instead of rushing them to bed so I can see said show's. I hope that this fall when the shows start up again I will stay away from them. I guess really the only one left that I faithfully watch is The Office. Just like Chocolate there's no way I could give up chocolate and thankfully they will never be able to cancel chocolate.

Happy Birthday to Mark

2010-05-17T10:21:00.000-07:00

I was looking for pictures of Mark. I'm not very good at getting them. I guess this should be my goal, take more pictures at random times instead of just birthday's or christmas. I love this picture. It shows Mark in his true form. A kid at heart and a great dad. He works so hard for us. I really appreciate that. He really loves his boys and he plays with them all the time even when he's been working all week and is exhausted. He loves me and all my craziness. For that he deserves the greates thing he can even think of. I'm glad he chose to marry me. I'm glad that we get to be an eternal family. I'm glad that I get to share this life with him cause he really makes things fun. Thanks Mark for sharing you with us. We Love You. Happy 33rd birthday. I don't feel like so much of a cougar now that we are only a year apart instead of two.

Anticipation

2010-05-04T19:11:00.000-07:00

Even my ice maker is anticipating summer. We are ready for the heat, we are ready to make snow cones. Most of all we are ready to be out of school. The weather has been so gorgeous for the last couple of days. I can't wait to not have to be stuck to a schedule. We are starting our summer off with a trip to California. Dodgers game, Lego land and I get to show my family where I served my mission. I can't wait. I wonder if we will ever catch up with our ice machine the thing never stops. I guess I better enjoy it while it produces cause I've heard rumors that we can count on this brand of fridge going caput soon. Maybe it's cause it really does get used alot in the summer time.

Happy Earth Day

2010-04-26T14:21:00.000-07:00

I know I'm a few days late but hey I've had alot to do the past couple of weeks. At least I remembered to celebrate it. I decided last year that for earth day each year I would do one thing to show respect to the planet I live on. Last year I bought a giant garbage can to help me begin recycling. For not having a recycling program here I feel like I'm doing a pretty good job. I make sure that all milk jugs and juice containers make it in there. And anything else I can think of that will be here on earth longer than me (except for disposable diapers which we don't use anymore) So this year I did 2 things. I bought some of those handy cloth grocery bags. I also made me a note to put on my dashboard reminding me to use said bags. I also bought a refillable mug at my favorite gas satation cause I realized how much waste I was producing by getting a new cup everytime I got a drink. Plus I save like .20 cents each time I get a drink. I promise I only get one drink a day if that. So I'm trying to do my part to by contributing a little less to the garbage my kids and grandkids will have to live with. What do you do to celebrate Earth day?

Rhonda Lee Nanney Stohl March 22, 1948 - April 16, 2010

2010-04-18T08:17:00.000-07:00

I want to share my experience of the past couple of weeks. Mom has been suffering immensly since she had her surgery on Feburary 10. She was in the ICU for one month the entire time on a ventialtor that was down her throat. We had her in Provo at a long term accute care center. She did have the tracheotomy removed but after that was always coughing large amounts of phlem that was just exruciatingly painful for her. I remember watching her at the hospital and just worrying and feeling so bad for her. She was exhausted. On April 8 the Dr informed us that she was in Congestive heart failure yet again. With her heart condition this was actually quiet common. The fluid would begin to build up on her body and fill up her lungs. She was so tired that she just couldn't fight it anymore. We decided to follow her wishes and take her home. On Tuesday I came up from St George and spent a couple of hours with her in the hospital. On Wednesday morning I went back and spent the morning with her as we waited for the Ambulance to bring her home. She was still just struggling with her coughs and breathing. I hated seeing her that way. They pulled her chest tube at about 2:30 Wednesday afternoon. We got her home at about 3:45 - 4:00. She was comfortably in her room finally for the last time. The Hospice nurses came in and showed us how to take care of her and then left us all alone. I admit it I was scared. I didn't want to watch her suffer the way she had at the hospital and have it be my fault cause I wasn't taking care of her. She was an amazing patient. We gave her meds on time. She didn't care if we spilled them down her back she just told us "It all went down my back" or "I'm leaking" She really let us take care of her. She told Dad that someone had to be with her all the time and that he couldn't be in there cause he couldn't hear here. At night we slept in shifts. It felt like I was taking care of a new born. Actually death is alot like birth in a way. Thursday she was peaceful as we continued to give her meds and keep her comfortable. It was amazing to see the steady stream of people coming in to tell her what they meant to her. That night we gave her a pain med at 10 pm. She rested so peacefully the entire night. No sleep meds or anything. If any of you know mom I know this made her happy to know she was on very limited medicine. I made sure she knew so she could be proud of that. Friday morning the nurse came in to check on her and told us it wouldn't be long. I knew that. I can only explain the spirit that was in this house as that of the temple. Only it was stronger. We allowed some close friends to come in and see her for a little while. At about 1:30 pm dad went in and rubbed her hands with lotion. Since her stroke this is a nightly ritual for them. I'm glad he did it one last time. At 2:00 pm I was reading the scriptures to her she was just really moving and trying to sit up I think. So I told Dad to come in and sit with her. He asked if we were ready to give her a blessing. We all agreed it was time. He asked mom if she wanted one and she said yes. She was very ready for that blessing cause we were trying to warm up the oil and she was really trying to tell us something. I think it was hurry up. Dad started the blessing and told her that we loved her and would miss her. Then he said "Rhonda I release you into the arms of our Heavenly Father" She was gone. It was amazing to witness. Amazing to witness the power of the priesthood and the faith that mom had in that priesthood. I will miss her but how can I be sad when I know that this is the face that met her on the other side?

He's 4

2010-04-10T18:57:00.000-07:00

I can't believe my baby is 4. We celebrated his birthday all day. He was such a sweetie. We were actually driving up to SLC on his birthday. We stopped first at a picnic for Mark's dad's cousins and kids. He was so nice to wait to open his presents until we got to "the far away grandma's" He was a little worried when we were driving and the sun started to go down he thought his birthday was over. I reassured him that it wasn't over until he went to bed. Slater is such a sweet kid. He loves to give me hugs and kisses. I'm so glad he's part of my life.

We spent half of our spring break up in SLC so I could spend some time with Mom. At the time she was still in the ICU in Murray. Mark was so good to keep the boy's entertained in my parents home while I was at the hospital and my dad was working. I know it must have been a little boring and wierd hanging out by himself at my parents home. It meant so much to me that he was willing to spend his spring break doing this for me. Actually Mark has really been amazing through the whole illness with mom. Each time I get called up there on emergency he takes on the role of mom and dad very well. I know it wears him out. I am so grateful. I know he couldn't do it without the help of my amazing mother and sister - in - law that are down here either. Family is just so awesome isn't it.

My 34th Birthday

2010-03-18T12:02:00.000-07:00

For my 34th birthday we headed down to Las Vegas to see the Mandalay Bay Shark Reef. We started first at Toy's R Us. We don't have a Toy's R Us in St George. The boy's had a blast looking at all the toys. As Slater's birthday was only 6 days away we bought his birthday presents. I love it that we can shop with him there buy the presents and he was totally ok with not having them right away. He waited very patiently for 6 day's to open those presents. We went to lunch at a place called Roberto's. A mexican restaurant that has a buffet. It was so delicious and just what the birthday girl wanted. Slater wasn't very excited to sit in our booth when he saw the Bar that had TV's and lots of lights etc. We talked him into it. After lunch we were on to the Shark reef. There is a cool sign at the entrance that you can walk in front of and it makes it ripple. The boys had fun with that. So much fun that Dane wasn't paying attention to what he was doing and ran right into the wall jamming his thumb. It hurt pretty bad. It was hard not to laugh at him everytime he started to pout about his thumb cause then I would picture him running straight into the wall. The Shark Reef was neato. They have lots of fish to see. You get to walk under the aquarium. Slater was a little freaked out about that. They gave us audio wands to listen to and Dane had to listen to every station. Dane was brave enough to touch the sting ray. Look closely at the picture of the Shark even they get red eye, only it's white. Slater and Dane both loved the giant turtle. After the Shark reef we ventured out onto the strip. Our destination was the M&M factory. When we got there I had to of course use the bathroom. So I left Mark in charge of the boys and went to wait in a slow line. I was gone for about 15 min. when I got back Mark had purchased some M&M's each of our favorite colors. Most expensive potty break ever. Apparently 1 pound of favorite color M&M's will set you back $15.00 There's a reason they don't put the price on them. No one would buy them. When we were going upstairs I helped Slater get on the escalator. He didn't have his balance just right and tumbled backwards face first on them. Scared me and him to death. He did scrape his nose a little bit. I was sure he was going to get his nose pinched in the awful jaws of the stairs. They should make the stairs look safer. It doesn't help that they usually glow green. I hope he'll get over his fear of escalators soon. It was a fun trip and a fun birthday. To sum it all up as we sum up pretty much all of our trips to Vegas, when we got home Slater said "Dad, don't make me go there ever again."

2 weeks

2010-02-25T12:26:00.000-08:00

Well, we are at two weeks and slowly slowly progressing. Mom is still on the ventilator. So she hasn't been able to drink, eat or speak for 2 weeks. Poor woman. Mind you she's fully alert now. I think the only pain med she is on is Lortab, so she gets some relief for a couple hours when she first takes it cause you know it knocks you out for a while. She had to get a drain put in her chest to remove excess fluid. As of last night they've taken off about a liter. We hope that this will relieve the pressure on her lung so it will un-collapse and in time get her off that Damn ventilator. This is so hard not being able to talk to her on the phone. I'm sure it's worse for her. I've been listening to "The Life Of Pi" I imagine that mom feels alot like Pi when he's shipwrecked. I'm sure there are many many times that she feels desolation but always at the end of that desolation there is a light which is God and he's always there. It's a good book.

On a lighter note. I'm getting new furniture tomorrow. A new couch and a new bed. What a great way to start my birthday weekend. My birthday is on Sunday so I will be celebrating all weekend. Plus after the past two weeks, I really need a reason to celebrate and be happy.

I will let you all know when that ventilator comes out and I can talk to my mom. I miss her voice.

One week

2010-02-16T11:34:00.000-08:00

Well it's been one week since mom was checked into the hospital. Tomorrow will be the one week mark of her surgery. I'm sure she'd tell you it feels like one year. She is progressing. They still have her in the ICU. They've been able to take down the Nitric oxide and her lungs and heart are tollerating it. They took out her chest tubes yesterday HOORAY!! The physical therapist came and helped her sit up and dangle her feet off the bed. Today she will be up in the morning and also in the evening. She is in good hands at IHC in Murray. They seem to really care about her. Keep her in your prayers she has a long painful road ahead. I'll update more when she gets her ventilator out, I know we are looking forward to that.

My mom

2010-02-12T08:16:00.000-08:00

"Tomorrow will be more hopeful than this awful piece of time called today." The Hunger Games.

It has been a long week. On Tuesday evening I got a call from Dad telling me that mom's mitrovalve (a cermaic valve in her heart) had failed and it was stuck open. Our only 2 options were open heart surgery or take mom home and make her comfortable and say goodbye. I was in St George and I've never felt so far away in my life. Mom has had 2 open chest surgeries. Her last one was for her lung 2 years ago. At that time they saw that her right valve was also leaking and told her eventually she would have to have surgery to repair that valve as well. She told us flat out that day she would never have open heart surgery again. So you could imagine my alarm when they told us the only option for her to live was to have open heart surgery. I was frantically packing my bag getting ready for the worst when I got a second phone call from Josh. He was in the hospital with my family. I spoke with him for a moment and asked to speak to Synda who was helping me get up there ASAP. My mom got on the phone. I could tell how serious the situation was just talking to her. She told me she was going to have the surgery. I asked her if she was sure she wanted to cause she really was so adamant 2 years ago that she would never do this again. She said to me "I'm no quitter" She's not, I know it, I never thought she was.

So they thickened her blood and scheduled the surgery for Wednesday morning. I wanted to be in SLC as soon as I could so I could be there for whatever happened. I booked a flight out of St George for 9:06 am. Can you believe the flight was canceled due to fog!! FOG in St George does that ever happen? Maybe once in a blue moon. And we did have a blue moon this year. Never fear I made it to SLC in plenty of time but could have been there in the same time if I would have drove. Oh well. Wednesday had to have been the longest day of this families life. Mom was in surgery from 8am until 8pm. 12 Hours of heart surgery. The surgery went very well they were able to replace the ceramic valve with a pig valve. They repaired the right ventrical with no problem. However, her heart had been leaking for so long it didn't have the strength to work correctly. It's like when you learn to do an exercise the correct way and you are so weak doing it until you practice. The Dr's told us at 6:30 pm they had tried 3 times to get her off of the bypass machine and she wasn't able to do it. Those are very discouraging words. They had one more chance to get her off by using Nitric oxide to open up her lungs to give her heart some help in filling the lungs. The next 4 hours were the longest 4 hours ever. Not only had we been sitting in the ICU waiting room all day hadn't eaten since lunch and were all emotionally and physically exauhsted, we had to sit and wait for the Surgeon to call us to tell us if it was successful.

Thankfully at 10 pm we got the call that she was off the bypass machine and her heart was beating by itself. We got to go see her before we went home to bed. She is on a ventilator and completly sedated (thank goodness) She has made it past a huge hurdle of getting her off the bypass. Now we have 500 more to go. She was pretty stable throughout the day yesterday. They are letting her heart recover from the trauma of the surgery. It's amazing what these surgeons can do.

My mom is one of my best friends. I've shared her with most of you my whole life. I was so lucky to have her work at the High School I went to. She is such an example to me. She's smart and enjoys learning. She has an amazing testimony of Jesus Christ. She's been brought to the brink of death 4 times now and come back. Please keep her in your prayers as she has a long and very painful road ahead. Also include Dad cause he has a lot of work coming to him. I'm amazed at how close this illness has brought mom and dad. It just shows you that the Lord really knows what he's doing.

Year New Happy

2010-01-05T12:47:00.000-08:00

Dane drew this picture on New Years Eve. I asked him why he put a christmas tree on it "It's a christmas tree in it's box cause now it's the new year" Maybe I put away christmas too quickly?

Look what I did

2010-01-05T12:40:00.000-08:00

I chopped my hair off. It was to the middle of my back. I had the ponytail saved to send to Wigs for Kids. I made the mistake of letting the boys hold it and then turning my back. They were playing tug of war with it and it didn't survive. I had to put it all in the garbage. I love my new hairdo. Hope you do.

This was my main motivator. I have had to cut the hair out of my vaccumm twice since buying it. I've only had it since Halloween. It was time for the hair to come off.

Merry Christmas

2010-01-05T12:27:00.000-08:00

I wish I could read computer. I really hate it that when you are composing a post that it doesn't show your pictures just a bunch of computer Jargon. So I will explain the pictures and hope I get them in order. One day I will take the time to do it all nice and in order. We had a fun christmas. Grandma and Grandpa Stohl came down and slept here Christmas Eve. Santa found them thankfully. The boys got their traditional christmas jammies. So sorry the picture is on it's side. In the picture Dane wouldn't hold still so he was always posing funny. Dane asked specifically this year for a "Best son ever" mug. He gave Mark the "Best Dad ever" mug last year. So Mark went and made a picture in foto shop and uploaded it to Wal-mart and voila they have matching mugs. We weren't sure the other son would feel jilted that he didn't get a Best son ever mug so Mark made him a "world's greates son" mug. Now I feel left out where is the "best mom ever" mug? Can you believe Mark fell asleep on that tiny couch. That's alot of tall man to cram onto that. It was nice to catch up on some much needed sleep over the break. Now we are back to the real life again. I'm babysitting right now. They are watching Bolt. A little bit of peace for me.

Heaven is . . . .

2009-12-28T22:34:00.000-08:00

Heaven is listening to my boys play toy story legos together for one whole hour and no fights. They know the show pretty well. Dane was Woody he would say "you are a toy." I also heard "you can't fly" to which Slater aka Buzz replied " I could fly around this room with my eyes closed" I guess I'm not the only one that has the show memorized. Pixar is one of the only franchises that I can watch most of their shows over and over and over. It's wonderful to listen to my boys play together. I hope that they are always best friends.

Let vacation begin and never end.

2009-12-23T08:38:00.000-08:00

This is how we will be spending most of our vacation. The boys can't wait to start the video games. The mom begs them to get out of the house and finally just leaves and goes and does her own thing with no kids. It's wonderful to have everyone home. I don't think Mark and I will ever be the "mom and dad can hardly wait for school to start again" types. Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas.

A post for November in December . . .

2009-12-23T08:28:00.000-08:00

One day after school before Mark had to go to Home Depot he sat our boys down and made this little decoration with them. It was fun to sit around the table and have the boys be able to do this all by themselves. They are both getting so big and independent. We no longer have babies or toddlers in our home. They are first graders and preschoolers. They are still very loud and love to wake us up at 7 am no matter the day we are working on teaching them to stay out of our room until at least 9. I'm really enjoying the holiday season this year. I started groaning when the day of Halloween I heard christmas carols in the stores and even the christmas station was on. But the more I thought of it the more it cheered me. Isn't it great that there is one time of the year that we can hear songs of our Savior while in Target? So I've decided that I like it that they bring out the carols so early. It gives me more time to feel that great spirit of our Lord. The whole reason we have christmas.

Happy Halloween . . . . is over.

2009-11-02T14:39:00.000-08:00

Here we are in our glory. Mark with all of his spare time this year made a costume for each of us. The costume for Princess Zelda is store bought. The boys were Link from Zelda. Mark sewed these costumes from graduation gowns. He made the swords and shields with Brad last spring. He crocheted the R2D2 hat for christmas a few years ago. He sewed the buttons on his shirt so his body would look like R2D2 too. He was nice enough to make a cape for me so I could come out in my true form as a witch. I wore these boots and my feet still hurt from walking. We had alot of fun trick or treating. We even took Princess with us. Mark's friend from Home Depot made a haunted garage so we went there to see it. Slater cried and cried that he didn't want to go in. When we got there I held his little hand as we walked up to the garage his little palms were so sweaty. I didn't make him go in. The haunted garage even had a chainsaw at the end. It was funny to see the kids come running out. It was only a 3 car garage so they new they were walking right into the chainsaw but it still scared them every time. I enjoyed the day but I'm so glad it's over. Bring on the holidays.

Let the wild rumpus start

2009-10-20T20:35:00.001-07:00

We went to see "Where the wild things are" on opening day. I loved it. We got the king size popcorn and 2 king size drinks. Slater was on the edge of his seat by the end. We aren't sure if it was because 1) he loved the movie so much 2) his blood was pumping pure root beer or 3) he really had to pee. When Max shouted "LET THE WILD RUMPUS START" I really wanted to get up and dance with them all. The music was amazing. Spike Jonze is my hero. This will be one of those movies that my boys look back at and say "They just don't make movies like the used to." If you haven't seen this movie yet I say get out and see it. I will be going again when it's at the 2.00 movie.

We Adopted a Princess!

2009-09-28T18:33:00.000-07:00

Meet the newest member of our family. We're trying to call her Princess, but she used to be called Dusty. Slater wanted to call her Zelda, so we settled on Princess Zelda, and shortened it to Princess. She is about 9 months old and she is a beagle/shitzu mutt. A beagle mutt. A butt. We are all smitten by her. OK, so Dane is taking a little while to adjust, but he has been brave enought to touch her back. Slater loves her like crazy. Mom is enjoying having another girl in the family. Dad thinks she will be a prize winning frizbee catcher some day.

The mind of a three year old

2009-09-10T13:15:00.001-07:00

Today Slater and I were walking together and he held my hand. I made a comment about how much I love it when he holds my hand so then he gave my hand a kiss. I told him that I really LOVE when he kisses me. He then proceeds to say: "Mom today on Spongebob Squarpants Mr Krabs had a hurt back. Someone should have given him a kiss on his back and then he'd be better." I wish kisses would fix everything. Another conversation we had, well they aren't really conversations cause my 3 year old is a talker. He said "Mom wouldn't it be freaky if our house flooded and then it floated down the river and just floated and floated and floated." Yeah I said that would be freaky.

When we were in Idaho in July we were at Perkins family restaurant Slater was running a very high fever so he was just sitting at the table staring and listening. He looks up at Dad and this comes out, "Dad what happens if your eyeball falls out, do you get a fake one?" That one had me laughing for day's. I love to hear the thoughts of a three year old just put out there. They are so innocent and lovely.

I have a First Grader?

2009-09-04T21:33:00.000-07:00

He was so excited for the first day of school. He was so ready to get there and see his friends that he hadn't seen all summer. He got bumped off the bus this year cause we don't technically live in the boundaries. We are a block away from the bus stop but we have to have special permission to get on the bus. Still waiting for that permission. He didn't have time to play on the playground before school on the first day so I'm not alowed to take him anymore. He rides with dad and plays on the playground for a good 30 minutes before the bell rings.
Here he's saying "Come on Mom it's just school. Do you have to keep taking pictures?"

I did just fine dropping him off watching him go inside his class without a worry in the world. Until Slater started crying that he wanted to stay at school with Dane. Poor guy he was a little lost with out big brother to help him out with the Lego's. He has a hard time seeing Dad and Dane leave without him. So I held it together until Slater cried. I still miss him during the day. Do you ever stop missing them as they grow up and get further away from you? When he got home I asked him how he liked his first day of school. "It's so long mom." His favorite thing at school so far is Lunch and Recess. He was a little upset on his first day when his friends were playing chase the chickens at recess. The boys had to pretend to be chickens and the girls chased them. He wanted to chase but the other boys said that only the girls could chase. Funny that the boys wanted to be "chickens". I only wish I could have watched them strutting around like chickens.

The greates hits of summer. . . .

2009-09-04T21:05:00.000-07:00

Ok I know it I slacked alot these past 2 months. Sorry about that. Well, now that it is Labor Day weekend I'm sure everyone is in school by now. I thought I'd share some pictures of our whirlwind summer. It was nice to have Mark home this summer. Even if he did have to go into work at 8pm still we had him home all day. We were able to go to Bryce Canyon which you can scroll down and see the pictures of that highlight. We spent July 4th with my family up in SLC. We were able to go to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house.

On our way home we hit a piece of wood on the highway. It bent the rim of our tire and temporary flattened the tire. We had to replace the rim but the tire itself was fine. This is what the rim looked like after hitting the wood. We are lucky all we got was a flat tire.

After fixing said rim we were off to a great adventure in Idaho. Our friends The Anderson's were nice enough to hook us up with some jet ski fun on the Snake River.

We went swimming at Indian Springs AKA The NAT. Mark was a real trooper and swam all over that pool chasing our niece Hannah to catch her. There were times she would jump before he got there. It was exciting. He was worn out near the end.

Mark and Matt talked Keith into the tradition of Pizza and Rootbeer. Keith made the dough for the pizza and let the boys put on the toppings. He taught them how to make the homemade rootbeer. Unfortunatley we had a casualty during the stirring of the rootbeer. The wooden spoon that Keith and Margaret have had for years broke in half. You should have heard Mark begging Matt not to tell Mom and Dad. It was pretty comical. He had to take a picture of the spoon for memories.

The rest of our summer was spent pretty much at a park in the water, at a pool in the water or at the river in the water. Now we bid adiue to summer and welcome fall. Hopefully soon cause I really am looking forward to cooler temperatures.

if a movie were made of you who would play you?

2009-07-08T20:37:00.000-07:00

I can't tell you how many times I've been watching The Office and think Mark is on the screen. He has had many people comment to him at The Home Depot how much he looks like Jim. I think that's the whole reason I kept watching I had a crush on Jim. But I have better than Jim here. I still haven't found an actress to play me there just aren't any good enough.

what happens at grandma's stays at grandma's

2009-07-08T20:29:00.000-07:00

We went to SLC this weekend for the 4th. We left Dane behind as we will be heading back to Idaho this Saturday. We've had twice a day updates from Dane of what he's been up to. Grandma and Grandpa are spoiling him rotten. I hope they are surviving. When we left him he had shaggy surfer hair. They took him to get his hair cut and sent us picks of what he chose. Mark said "obviously they gave him the standard cut for West Valley" Last night they went out to dinner at Golden Corral they entered Dane in a drawing to win a new bike. Guess who won? That's right Dane get's rid of his parents and suddenly he's got good luck. Mark thinks they took pitty on him due to his hair cut and going to dinner with Grandma and Grandpa. They think he has dead beat parents :) I am glad he has been having such a great time. I'm sure that nothing can surpass the excitement of winning a new bike. I don't know how grandma and grandpa will top this visit. Hopefully he doesn't expect this everytime he goes to stay with them. Thanks grandma and grandpa for showing him such a great time.

And now He's 6

2009-06-29T20:47:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it Dane turned 6 this year. He's building Lego sets all by himself. Riding his bike and he'll be in First grade. What will I do without him home? It will be more of an adjustment for mom and Slater than Dane. We had a great time celebrating. He got a keyboard and has already mastered Axel F and peter peter pumpkin eater. It's fun to hear him tinker around on the keyboard. I love this boy so much.

That's not what they really look like?

2009-06-29T20:43:00.001-07:00

Go ahead and add your own caption in the comments if you want. He stared down like that for about a minute before he finally looked up. It was pretty funny.

Bryce Canyon

2009-06-29T20:32:00.000-07:00

We are having a great summer and it's going so fast. We took a little weekend vacation up to Bryce Canyon in the middle of June. We stayed at the KOA in a little A-frame cabin. It was big enough for a double bunkbed and a table. I called it our almost camping trip as we had public restrooms and a swimming pool. Also we didn't have to sleep on the ground. It was a ton of fun. There are some amazing sights there. The hikes were fun and the boys did them pretty well. Mark was so kind to carry Slater up out of the gorge we hiked down into. Hopefully next year Slater will no longer request to be carried and if he does we'll have to say no. He's getting too big. I hope you enjoy the pics.

I LOVE SUMMER!!!!

2009-06-04T12:41:00.000-07:00

I have a house full of Kids and I'm such a wimp I've locked myself in the computer room to let Mark take care of it. Which is why this title is I LOVE SUMMER. How do I live without this guy at home all school year? Yesterday the man made doughnuts yes Made doughnuts. He even let the boy's help. I was clean up and I didn't really mind cause the kids were so quiet all day and we had yummy treats after. This morning he got up and made Crepes. It's so good to see Mark emerge out of zombie mode. I really hope summer doesn't go too fast. This is just too good. PS if ever my spelling or punctuation is bad on this blog forgive me. All grammar goes out the window when I sit down at the computer. I don't know why? Maybe cause it's summer :)

Going Medieval

2009-06-04T12:27:00.000-07:00

So on the last day of school we went to the Medieval fair. It was fun to see all the people that were able to get out their costumes. To see the joust. To go through the Dragon Maze 12 times with Slater. We have been very lucky this year as far as weather goes. We haven't even hit 100 yet. It's wonderful. So we were able to stay outside and not roast. Of course in the Medieval times there were knights and what are knights without swords and shields. The day after the fair Mark and Brad spent their whole Saturday making swords and shields for 5 boys. I thought it was fun that they were so devoted to it. Until they gave those swords to said boys and well you know what happens when boys get weapons. A tiny stick can be a weapon they don't need a sharpened 2X4 to help them. But they are cute and the boys have fun with them. Here are some pics of The Stocking Boys being knighted.

After Pictures

2009-05-22T09:57:00.000-07:00

OK the long awaited after pictures. I hope you can tell where they are. Our garden is growing great weeds and all. Our radishes went to seed so we had to pull those out. We planted too many so they were really tiny as we waited for them to get bigger they never did. I wonder what the growers for grocery stores do to make their produce so big? Maybe I don't want to know. Anyway, today is the last day of school so we get Mark home during the day for a couple of months. We are all looking forward to it. Enjoy the pics.

Before shots. . .

2009-04-09T21:34:00.000-07:00

We are having so much fun with our house. I'm sure because it is new and it's the first time ever that we've been able to plant a garden and landscape. So I'm posting some before pictures on here of what our backyard looked like in February. Mark is really excited about our garden. I will take pictures of the current backyard and post them this weekend so you better be back to see them.

Dane planting a bean.

He's 3 and one month

2009-04-09T21:22:00.000-07:00

My baby turned 3 this year. We had a great party. We went to Pirate Island Pizza had an awesome Yoshi cake and opened many presents. He asks me on a daily basis if it's his birthday today. I thought that when you were 3 you would magically be potty trained. Not true we are still working on that. Needless to say Video games only come out on special occasion cause that's his incentive. Dane is getting so smart. He reads very well and I can't believe he'll be a 1st grader next year. School's out in 4 weeks but whose counting. I can't wait. I know Mark can't either. We need a rest from the marathon of working. So here's some pictures of the Birthday shindig. Enjoy.

My handsome boys

2009-02-04T21:35:00.000-08:00

Aren't they cute and good Hikers too.

Loving the High Pressure

2009-02-04T21:34:00.000-08:00

I love the inversion here. We get warm calm weather. The past couple of weekends have been in the high 60's so we've been getting out and making the most of it. One weekend we hiked up the bluff that is near Mark's school. It was a pretty tough hike with a 2 1/2 year old. Mark was a trooper and carried him on the straight up portions. Glad I had him there. We also went out last weekend to snow canyon and hiked with Mark's parents and Brother. It's wonderful to get out and feel the sun on our skin. Make sure you tune in soon cause Mark is going to teach me how to put video's on the blog I have a great video of my boy's at their very first rave in their bedroom.

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

2009-01-05T20:19:00.000-08:00

The boy's had an awesome christmas. Filled with Mario and Yoshi. Even though the slippers were a little late. Darn that elf why did he have to go sledding and break his arm? Mark worked very hard on a picture for Dane. He cut paint stirring sticks into little squares spray painted each one and then glued them on a board to make a mario picture. It is now on Dane's wall. Today was the first day back to school and Mark's crazy work all day schedule. This was Dane's quote tonight "everytime I look at the mario picture I miss dad." What a sweet guy. Slater is still singing Santa Clause is coming to town and Grandma got ran over by a reindeer. Today he did finish the night by singing It's the 100th day of school. I'm not sure where he learned that song. He fills our house with lots of song. So enjoy the pictures of our festivities.

2008-12-27T12:18:00.000-08:00

The boys got a couple of fun (dangerous!) new toys for Christmas.

Proof of our snow day

2008-12-20T13:36:00.000-08:00

This is our snow day. I included pictures of our neighborhood streets so you could all get a good chuckle of what merits a snow day for St George. The pictures of the roads were taken at about 10 am. This is the first year that we've been able to build a snow fort, we've had snow before christmas and the snow has stayed on the ground for more than a day. In fact it usually melts and only the big black mountain keeps the snow so for us it still looks like a winter wonderland. It can stay until christmas and then I want my 40 - 50 degree highs back. Mark wanted to challenge all of you up north to a snowball fight unfortunatley I don't think we'll win, all that is left is a small pile of our fort on the front lawn. We are excited to get a white christmas. I thought I missed it, now I know I really don't I'll sing I'm dreaming of a red christmas. Because the rocks here are so red. Merry Christmas everyone.

SNOW DAY!!!!

2008-12-17T21:30:00.000-08:00

Our white christmas is a week early. As I am typing this we have about an inch of snow on our grass and they have canceled school tomorrow. Mark got his christmas wish an extra day of christmas break. Obviously we'll have to make it up some where and the kids are going to be out of control on Friday but we get to have a whole day with Mark tomorrow. I will post pictures and you guys can vote wether our weather deserved a snow break. I love it here. http://www.washk12.org/ that is a link to our school district home page so I can prove I'm not lying. Merry Christmas.

The Aquabats!

2008-12-06T08:31:00.000-08:00

Dane is the newest member of the AQUABATS! For Bethany's christmas present we went to see Yo Gabba Gabba and the aquabats perform at the Electric Theater here in St. George. Dane doesn't like loud noises, so he found a new love for foam ear plugs. He wasn't excited about seeing "the baby show" Yo Gabba Gabba, but after Brobee and Plex came out, he was up on his feet moving with the rest of the crowd. By 11:00 he had just about enough dancing and was looking for sleep. Dad had to hold him while they danced to "Pool Party." Mom had a great time, this being her fourth time seeing the Aquabats! Slater stayed home, but after he saw the picture of Dane with D.J. Lance Rock from Yo Gabba Gabba, he was really sad and kept saying, "I wanted to go wich you to see em."

Dane Quote

2008-12-04T21:31:00.000-08:00

the other day Dane had his friend over playing this is what I over heard.

Friend: Dude let's go play outside (he'd been saying dude at the beginning of every sentence he said to Dane)

Dane: Do you know my name?

Friend: Yeah Dane.

Dane: then why do you keep calling me dude?

I laughed out loud.

Am I crazy or cool?

2008-12-04T21:17:00.000-08:00

So Mark and I were christmas shopping at the mall last Saturday. We went to Hot Topic looking for Nintendo / Mario stuff. Mark walks over to a wall and what do we see. A poster advertising The Aquabats playing in little old St George. Those of you who don't know me well I have seen this band in concert 3 times. They are just so much fun to see live. So I told Mark you are taking me to this concert. He immediatley started saying we should take Dane. He loves the aquabats as well. Like mother like son. I was hesitant thinking back to my concert days of sweaty people screaming and pushing maybe not the best climate for a 5 year old who can't even flush the toilet cause it's too loud. Well when I was driving past the Electric Theatre I read that DJ Lance from Yo Gabba Gabba will be playing with them, so I gave in. I am taking my 5 year old to his first ska concert tomorrow night. I let you know how it goes. If you haven't seen Yo Gabba Gabba on Nickelodeon you should check it out on you tube. If I was a cool blogger I could add a link for you or just put a video on here but alas I don't know how. I just want you all to know that I am so excited for this concert.

Zoinks Scooby like there's a ghost over there.

2008-11-02T09:30:00.000-08:00

The boys were scooby doo and shaggy this year. Which I think fits them perfectly cause they are kinda fraidy cats and they eat like crazy and they are best buds. Just like shaggy and scoob. Dane was a little reluctant at school cause the kindergartners kept asking him what he was. One boy actually said "you are nothing." All we had to do was get a green shirt and brown pants and then we drew a beard on his face. It was lots of fun. Slater wanted to walk the parade with him. I'm glad that Dane is at Horizon Elementary. Mark was able to see him at the parade and that is alot of fun.

finally a month past

2008-11-02T09:22:00.001-08:00

So we paid our first mortgage this week. It's a little shocking to have to pay bills after 3 years of not really having any. It's sad to watch the balance in your checking account disappear before you even get the money in the account. But it is so worth it. There was thunder storm last night and it rattled the windows. I could hear the rain on my roof. I missed that. I can't tell you how great it is to sit and listen to the laundry dry. The last three years I've had to haul the laundry outside to the "laundry room" Now I have my own personal washer and dryer and I can do laundry whenever I want to and not have to get dressed up. Yeah. So here is a picture of our house. It was built in 1994 there are 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. We have a covered patio in the backyard. Oh we have a backyard. We are in a culdesac and so far we love it. Please come and visit us. We would love to have anyone here. We bought bunk beds for the boys they go between loving and hating it. Mostly loving it. Mom on the other hand hates making them. If you think making a bed is hard try a top bunk near impossible. Enjoy the pics.

Quick up-date

2008-10-23T09:09:00.000-07:00

I'm so sorry it's been 2 whole months since I last posted anything. I have a good excuse though. We bought a house and moved at the beginning of October. Since then my boy's have both been sick and had to take antibiotics and last night I got the stomache flu uggh. We didn't have internet for about 2 weeks and no TV either. I felt a bit out of touch. I was very happy to get the internet back up. For now we don't have any kind of connection for the TV and I kinda like it. I feel like I'm waking up out of a TV coma. Plus I have no idea what is going on in the economy and I don't have to see all of those mud-slinging political commercials. It's been great. Besides with the internet I can still see all of my favorite shows (i.e. The office) and avoid commercials. I think I'll just have the internet. I'll be updating with Pictures of our new house as soon as I get my camera back. Don't give up on me, now that I have no TV I'll probably be updating this blog a lot more.

who's this cuttie

2008-08-21T21:42:00.000-07:00

Mark had to take a photo to school of him as a baby. Isn't he so cute. He looks a little dazed do you think he saw his first computer in this shot :) You can leave a comment of what you think this adorable baby is thinking.

Slater's first roller coaster

2008-08-21T21:19:00.000-07:00

I'm with my brother who loves roller coasters this can't be too bad. Plus it's a dragon and I do love dragon's bring it on.

As you can tell by the end he was not very happy. It was one of the little coasters at the carnival that go around the track about 10 times. I hope we haven't scared him for life. Hopefully he forgets. I guess a grownup should have gone with him instead of his Adrenalin junky brother.

It's a bummer summer is over

2008-08-21T21:04:00.000-07:00

We had a very fun summer this year. Mark had a grant he got suckered into so he was stuck in a classroom all summer. It was ok though we kept close to home and he learned alot about US history. Which by the way he doesn't even teach to his 4th graders. So some of our highlights include a baseball game. The roadrunners play in our back yard so we went to one of their games this year. Now everytime they play the boys have to shout Charge !! after they play the charge song. Living so close to the baseball game means we get to have fireworks upclose and personal they shoot them off above our house. I wonder if that's why my boy's have such a hard time with loud noises. On the 4th of July we were actually up north at Bear Lake with Mark's whole family. We stayed in a condo at Ideal Beach. It was alot of fun. We went sailing one evening with our friends the Anderson's that live in Logan. The picture of us on the boat is not a flattering one of me sorry. The boy's did really good on the boat they even got up on the front of it. There wasn't alot of wind that night but enough for me I think. Bear Lake is so beautiful. It was alot of fun to be together with all of Mark's family too. That was our big adventure this summer. I guess some of the other highlights were discovering the cartoon "the misadventures of flapjack" Looking at houses every weekend almost. Putting in offers on 4 and still living in Bluestone apartments. Hopefully next summer we'll get to go on some of our own adventures even if it's just looking for candy.

Dane's awesome first day of school

2008-08-12T21:36:00.000-07:00

I'm not very good at figuring out text added to picture so here is the picture of Dane by himself on his first day of kindergarten. And yes he's wearing his awesome shirt he just doesn't have on his awesome camo shorts or it would be perfect. I think it's an appropriate t-shirt for the first day of school as a kindergartner.

Dane's first, first day of school 8/12/08

2008-08-12T21:25:00.000-07:00

It's official. Dane is a kindergartner. He is so excited to be in school. He went for four days and then he's been out all this week for testing. He is asks me every day if I've done laundry so he can wear his awesome shirts. In fact tonight he asked me what would happen if he wore all of his awesome shirts at the same time. I can't get him to wear just plain old t-shirts they have to have a picture on them. Maybe one day I'll do a greatest hit t-shirt blog for him. So here are the rug rats on his first day I couldn't get Slater to stay out of the picture plus this is just a cute picture of them anyway. I finally got Dane by himself and yes he has morning kindergarten and he has chocolate on his face and yes I did make him wash it off. Am I an awesome mom or what chocolate in the morning? (it was taken after school oops)

Memories of Bethany

2008-07-24T22:56:00.000-07:00

I've seen this on many blogs and I couldn't resist. Here are the directions: 1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember! 2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty cool (and funny) to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. :) If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments... Please Play! :)

2008-07-12T20:49:00.000-07:00

Our fish, Mario and Peach, have been living interesting lives lately. Mario has found comfort sleeping on the top of the bubbler motor because Peach nips at his fins every time he swims around the castle. She has claimed the castle as her domain and waits longingly in the top of her tower for a prince to rescue her from the tank.

Top 10 things to do when it's 110

2008-07-02T22:27:00.000-07:00

10: stay inside and play the Wii

9: go to the nice cool movie theater and see a movie

8: go to the gym and play in the day care while mom works out

7: go to any park that has a water feature i.e. splash pad or river

6: go caving

5: go to the store

4: try not to be in the car for very long (too HOT)

3: Hike the Narrows at Zions

2: eat lots of Popsicles, ice cream, frozen go-gurts, you get it anything Frozen

1: You must have access to a Pool.

"Tomorrow's the 19th and it's going to be the most awesome day ever"

2008-07-02T22:25:00.000-07:00

That was Danes quote the day before his birthday. We celebrated Dane's 5th birthday on June 19th. He had alot of fun with us (mom and Dad) on Thursday. But I'm sure the highlight was his party the next day with all of his friends. We had about 9 kids 5 and under at our house. We played Duck Duck Goose except we said Mario Mario Luigi. Then we had a coin hunt outside. Luckily I found some bubble gum coins so they didn't melt while we hunted them. We also had a Mario Kart race. They raced little pull back cars. I was so busy that the only picture I got were of the Mushroom cupcakes and one of all the kids in the Mario circle. I can't believe my baby is 5 and he's going to Kindergarten on August 12th. I always say I can't wait but now that it's on the doorstep I'm a little sad. Dane's ready. I will miss you mom but I'll come home when I'm done. Here is a picture of his cool cupcakes that mom and dad made with lots of TLC.

June

2008-06-13T19:51:00.000-07:00

So we are halfway through June today being Friday the 13th. Unbelievably there are no scary movies on TV right now so I thought I'd post a little something. Summer is in full swing. Mark is in workshops all month, still working at Home Depot at nights. We try to squeeze fun things in on days he gets out early or has a day free. It is supposed to be 105 or so tomorrow and sadly our AC has gone out the fan will not turn on. It was about 98 today and the house only got to 83 so maybe we'll be ok through the weekend. The Bateman's from Logan came to visit us last week and it was tons of fun. Good thing they weren't here this weekend with no AC. They went on to Disneyland on Saturday and we were invited but Mark was too tired. Next time. We have put in another offer on another short sale home. This is our third offer. Is it third times a charm or three strikes you're out? Dane turns 5 next thursday I can't believe it. Anyway that's kinda what we are up to right now. Next week I'll have B-day pics to put on.

Happy Birthday to Mark

2008-05-16T23:17:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Mark 31 big ones. Here is how he shall celebrate. Get home from working at Home Depot at 12:25 am. Immediatley raid refegirator for favorite after work snack, Nachos with jalepenos. Get into bed and sigh thinking I finally get to sleep in tomorrow only to realize as he's turning off his alarm that he has to go to a Track Meet tomorrow at 8 am for elementary kids so he can chaperone. (Teachers are pretty much slaves because their salary's are less than Mark's age if you times it by 10) After said Track meet he shall return home to help his beautiful wife and assistant webelos leader pass off another badge for their one webelo. After his church calling duty is fulfilled he shall then set 3 toilets in the apartments that we live in so the kids can shit in their toilets instead of on us. This should only take 30 min however will then take 5 hours. He will then come into his home hoping for a wonderful dinner and instead wife will give him 15 dollars and one kid to go to IN-N-OUT Burger cause she's done with cooking. After dinner will collapse comatose on couch and will not wake up again until 12:30 pm as his wife is yelling at him that we are going to be late for church if he doesn't get up and help with the kids. I love you Mark for all the hard work you do for this family. Happy Birthday

Release of the teeny bop

2008-05-16T23:09:00.000-07:00

Ok so I must admit that I laughed very hard at all the little girls screaming when 'Nsync would play their songs. They were little boy's dancing and singing funny songs. Where were their instruments are they really musicians? Well today I was reminded that not too long ago I was one of those girls screaming for "the boy band" and guess what the teeny bop inside never goes away. I happened to be flipping through channels today and low and behold who was on the TV The New Kids On The Block. Oh my goodness I was singing and almost jumping on the bed I was very excited to see them on my TV. It just brought back so many memories. I'm surprised I can still remember their movie that they made for Step by Step. I can do all of their dances maybe better than them now. The only thing I didn't like is I cringe now every time I see Jordan Knight because of the Surreal Life. But he never was my favorite. I always loved Jon the most. Who was your favorite New Kid, I know you have one, and aren't we lucky that they are back!

play

2008-05-05T15:33:00.000-07:00

The other day Dane was playing with a frisby in our "front yard"*. It went under a car so he came and got me and asked me to get it out from under the car. I told him it was too far under and I couldn't get it. He came to me triumphant that he had got it. How do you like what our front yard does to our boys? He climbed under the car and rubbed his face on the black top to get that frisby. This black stuff was ground into his face. And I wonder why my tub has a black ring around it after baths. *for those of you who haven't been to our apartment our front yard is a parking lot.

Get me away I'm dying

2008-04-23T14:09:00.000-07:00

So in the past 48 hours I've had to mediate a roommate meeting with an apartment of 6 girls. They were hiding things of one of the roommates who wouldn't keep her things picked up. Today I have to do the same thing for 2 boys that live together. One keeps taking the other's things cause he leaves them out. Come on people! Leave me alone. I need a new place to live. I think maybe we've worn our welcome here. I love not paying rent but I'm so ready to just be left alone. I shouldn't complain but please someone humor me and tell me I have the right to be bothered. Who wants this job it's open to anyone?

It's Here

2008-04-22T08:11:00.000-07:00

Today is the opening day of IN-N-OUT Burger. We are very excited to have it in our city. Now when we go to visit Las Vegas we can find somewhere new to eat. Maybe El Pollo Loco. So if any of you are craving a delicious burger and phenomonal fries come visit us. Plus it's been between 75 - 80 degrees all week. Spring is here.

An ode to Bill Murray

2008-03-18T21:52:00.000-07:00

I am sitting here late at night waiting for Mark to get home. I am watching "What about Bob" and laughing my head off. I think this movie was the inspiration for the show "Monk" Which got me to thinking about the many movies by Bill Murray that I enjoy watching over and over and still laugh. How about "Ground Hog Day" I don't make through a February without seeing it at least once. He is so great in "Ghostbusters" anyway if any of you are looking for something to make you laugh go find some Bill Murray movies. Here are a list of his movies. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000195/ My personal favorites:
Ghostbusters
What about Bob
Ground Hog Day
Rushmore
Scrooged
Royal Tenenbaums
Little shop of horrors
And who can forget Caddy Shack

Holding true to Stocking tradition

2008-03-18T20:04:00.001-07:00

Dane knocked his front tooth out. He was jumping on my bed with Slater and bumped Slater's head with the tooth. It went for about a week and then he started crying whenever he ate something hard. He had a list of foods he could eat with his front tooth: brownies, pizza, waffles, ice cream etc. I took him to the dentist and they said it would probably fall out earlier than normal and put him on an antibiotic to clear up the infection. Well 13 days later the infection was still there and we took him back. The Dentist pulled it. He was so brave. He even got 5 dollars from the tooth fairy for it. So now all of the Oldest Stocking boys have nocked at least one front tooth out. I guess they are just in a hurry to grow up. He is pretty excited that he can spit out of it.

Happy Birthday

2008-03-18T19:56:00.000-07:00

Guess who's 2. Slater's birthday was on March 6 he's sooo two. Today he's decided to pee in the potty. He pulls his pants down and stands at the potty then says "I Tant" I really hope he's serious about potty training that would make my day. He loves to talk, in fact he never shuts up. He is alot of fun to have around. He copies everything that Dane does. When I pick Dane up from pre-school Slater repeats every word that he says. Dane always explains to Slater that he wasn't at school so he didn't do any of those things. It's pretty funny. We enjoy them both.

Home Alone

2008-02-22T21:53:00.000-08:00

So my kids are staying with their Aunt Kimberly tonight. I have the Stake women's conference tomorrow and I had to help decorate tonight. We got done alot sooner than I thought we would. So I'm home and thought it would be so great to be alone for a few hours. But really I'm bored and I can't hear Slater banging his toys on the crib bars or Dane telling me that Slater isn't sleeping. And most of all I don't get to peek in on my kids and get one last laugh for the night. Looks like they aren't the best wrestlers eh? In case you are wondering that is Dane with Hova on his face and Slater's butt sticking out from under spongebob.

Baby Octopus

2008-02-09T13:08:00.000-08:00

I am so proud of Dane last night we went to Lucky's Buffet, they had baby octopus. So we wanted to know who would really eat some. Mark got one on his plate, all he could do was lick it. Dane actually bit off a tenatcle and ate it! You go Dane! "it was a little spicy" he also asked "can you take the dots off first". It was a fun night. Slater touched the baby octopus but he wouldn't eat it. As for Mom she couldn't even look at it. Dane is our star today.

Hello and Welcome

2008-02-05T16:29:00.000-08:00

OK so I am starting this blog so that I can post cute pictures of my kids and tell everyone about the funny things they say cause they say funny things. I hope you enjoy my banter and that you don't take anything too seriously that I say. So most of all just enjoy. Cause isn't that what the internet has been invented for. Now I'll be able to kill some time on the internet but I'm sure Mark will still beat me. I mean killing time on the internet not really beating me :)