Camping

We love to go camping, it's the one activity we do faithfully every summer at least once or twice per month. Memorial Day is our first camping trip of the year and this year was a great success. I little cool, but we didn't get rained on, a first for every camping trip during the previous 3 years. We discovered a little campground just outside of Kanosh (near Fillmore) a couple of years ago and it has become one of our favorites. It's not a fancy campground, but it's close to a river, 4 wheeling trails a plenty, water and potties. My parents, Grandma and Grandpa Gary came with us and we had a great time. Going on 4 wheeler rides, playing cards and eating way to much good food are the general pastimes of all good camping trips.

This was also the first camping trip with our new dog Sadie. For the most part she was pretty good, but the first 4 wheeler ride we went on we tied her up and took off. According to the neighbors she howled the entire time (1 1/2 hours). So after that we had to devise a better way to care for the dog. I thought back to when by kids were little and how I kept them on the 4 wheelers with us, and remembered I would take a long sleeve button down shirt, but it around them and tie it behind by back to make a sling to help hold them on. So we tried that with the dog. Bless her heart if she didn't just sit there and let me tie her in and she sat on my lap while Mitchell drove her on her first ride. For the rest of the weekend she sat with one of the kids while I drove and some of those rides were a couple of hours long and kind of bumpy. She would sit between the driver and the passenger and peek her head around the driver to feel the wind in her face. I never could tell if she really liked it, but it was better than being left alone at camp. I'll have to devise a better way, a harness or duffel bag or something, but at least I know she won't panic and try to jump off the four wheeler.

Wild hair

I've never been one to fight too much about my kids hair. I try subtle little hints, "Is your hair in your face, would you like to go get it trimed?". Mitchell is just getting to the age where he is aware of his hairstyle, he combs it, puts styling gunk in it and wants it to look like Percy Jackson. Last spring we tried to bleach it blond and it turned out more orange than blond, poor kid. I thought that would cure the desire for bleached blond hair, but alas, this spring he wanted to bleach it again. So to the store we went and after an evening of converting the kitchen to a hair salon, I now have a very blond son again. Not as orange this year.

New Camera

I finally gave up on trying to find my camera and bought a new one. It's a Kodak, like my other one which makes the software easy because I don't have to learn another one. I was having fun updating the software and looking through old pictures and I had a ton of pictures that I had totally forgotten about. I uploaded them to my digital picture frame and WOW, talk about walk down memory lane. It was fun.

I finally got pictures of our new dog, Sadie. She's adjusting to life with a new family and life as an inside dog. She is usually pretty good, but she had an accident in the house yesterday while we were gone. We were gone longer than we thought we would be and didn't get home in time to let her out. Otherwise, she's a pretty good dog, and the kids love her to pieces, and that's the main reason we got her anyway.

Family Day Out=Girls day and Boys day

Boyd decided he wanted to go to the motorcycle freestyle show in Salt Lake today, and Mitch really wanted to go too. So us girls thought we should have a day out too. JoLyn wanted to go to the living planet aquarium, so we all drove up, we dropped the boys off at the TRAX station and rode the train into downtown, and the girls took of to see ocean life. Well the aquarium is really cool the first time you go (last summer), but it's not as interesting the second time, so we only spent an hour, then went to the big mall that's just down the street and spent 3 hours looking at everything from the china patterns in Dillards, pretty foofoo dresses at Deb's, wild nail polish at clair's, ice cream by the carousel and finishing off the afternoon with a round of glow in the dark mini golf. Yep you heard me, glow in the dark mini golf. It was actually really fun. JoLyn and I had a fabulous day together. It's days like this that remind me that we need some one on one time with our children and all together as a family out of the house doing something fun. We've been cooped up in the house way too much this winter. Still stressing about my camera, maybe I'll just go buy a new one.

Lost Camera

I've been waiting to post a new blog until I can get pictures of our new dog Sadie. But I've lost my camera. I haven't seen it since Christmas, which makes me think it might be down south at family's house somewhere. This may also be a good excuse for a new camera, haha. Now that I am done with school for the time being, I have a little more time to keep the blog updated. Our Christmas as really nice. For the first time since the kids were little we spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at home. We usually travel down south to be with family, but this was my year to work Christmas so we made a big Christmas feast and spent Christmas together as a family which was really nice. JoLyn got a new dog for Christmas, she is a 4 year old beagle and she is adjusting to life with her new family. The kids absolutely love her, she is so patient with them, she lets them hug her and love her without getting angry. I've never heard her growl and she only barks if she really needs to go outside and when people leave her all alone. Boyd and I are doing well. I've started teaching first semester nursing students at Utah Valley University's nursing program which has been a good introduction to education. I teach with two other instructors, so I'm not alone, and I just follow the outline and syllabus they have already created. It's interesting to watch the thought processes of nursing students. They expect specific answers to any situation, except part of nursing is that every patient is different and what works with one doesn't work with another. Nurses have to learn to critically think and problem solve and that is difficult to teach. It's been fun though. Makes me really glad that I'm not starting nursing school. Hopefully I'll find my camera and get some new pictures posted soon.

Mother Daughter Date

Last week JoLyn and I decided to have a mother/daughter day. Boyd was in St. George and Mitchell was at camp, so it was just the girls at home. JoLyn got to choose the destinations and she decided on the Hoogle Zoo and the Living Planet Aquarium. We went to the zoo in the morning, just after it opened and spent the morning hours there. It was a cool, cloudy day which I've decided is the best time to visit the zoo. I've never seen so many active animals so close up before. The bird show was great!

In the afternoon we went to the aquarium and JoLyn's favorite display was the sting ray pool. They swim around and let you pet them which is way cool! JoLyn sat with her arm in the water petting sting rays for a FULL HOUR!!!! Oh, well, it was her day to do what she wanted.

Later we went to dinner and rented "Marley and Me". We had a great day just the girls.

Hello, my name is Albert Einstein.....

Sometimes schools get really creative when they teach kids about history. Mitch & Jo's school recently held a "wax museum", done by the 5th grade. Each student was assigned a historical figure, they had to research that person, write a report and make a poster about that individual. Then they dressed up as that person, and had a huge wax museum. They set up in the gymnasium, all dressed up in front of their posters with a "button" that people pushed. The student then stood and gave 30 seconds of information in the first person about their historical figure. Mitchell was Albert Einstein. All decked out with a lab coat kindly "donated" for a couple of days from the hospital, with hair standing on end and sprayed white, Mitchell looked the part. I was really impressed with the students and all the different historical people they got to be for the day. Here's Mitchell with his friend Logen who lives next door. I learned a lot about historical figures and was really proud of those kids, it was really scary to stand up in front of strangers over and over again. The whole museum took about an hour to go through and there were tons of people there.

JoLyn's Spelling Bee

JoLyn participated in the Wilson Elementary 3rd and 4th grade spelling bee. There were about 25 kids that participated and it finally came down to JoLyn and one other girl. I think I have an ulcer now. It lasted about 30 minutes and the last few words my hands were shaking, but she handled it like a champ. Here are a few pictures. During the first couple of rounds of the spelling bee.

I took video of the last few words, it's not very loud.

The Big Winner!!!!!!

Again....Winter or Spring?

Another great example of spring, or is it still winter?

Then the next week...............

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Yep, those are tulips. I learned last year that onions take an entire year to grow, I never could figure out why my onions always were so small, so I left them in the ground and they are starting to grow again, who knew? The adventures of gardening.

The last week has been beautiful, kids riding bikes, going for walks, but still cool in the evenings.

Winter or Spring?

This last weekend remided me of why it is so wonderful to live in Utah. The weather was beautiful over the weekend. On Saturday we took down the rest of the outside Christmas lights because the snow finally melted off the roof, it was warm, sunny and an absolutely beautiful day. On Sunday we took the kids skiing at Sundance. They had a wonderful time. It amazes me how quickly kids grasp new concepts. They had been skiing once before, but Mitchell was sick that day and actually didn't ski at all, so he was a day behind JoLyn. I've confirmed the fact that I'm not a natural snow skiier. Mitchell went a little slower so he and I stayed together most of the day. JoLyn kept wanting to go faster, so Boyd stayed with her. At the end of the day we all got back together and I couldn't believe the difference in them. I tried to ski with JoLyn because I hadn't been with her most of the day and I physically couldn't keep up with her. She went flying down the mountain and dusted me. She seems to have enough control to stop and turn when she needs to, but otherwise she just flies straight down. Mitchell on the other hand was a little more awkward, almost doing the splits while snowplowing down the mountain. He started to get enought speed towards the end of the day, so I didn't feel like I was always waiting. I couldn't go much fast than him anyway, so we made good pair. Boyd is always waiting for me at the bottom of the hill and he said with JoLyn he could ski like he is used to. Anyway, I kept forgetting my camera in the truck and didn't take any pictures, but I hope to take them skiing one more time this year. They kept talking about how much fun they had, which is the important part anyway. This time of year is wonderful in Northern Utah, skiing in the mountains and warm in the valleys.

New Bathroon, Boyd's Korea Trip

We finished the new bathroom downstairs and it turned out really nice, the kids are loving it. The bad thing is it makes me want to remodel the whole house now. I bought enough tile to be able to re-do the upstairs bathrooms, so that will be on our agenda in the next couple of months I hope.

Boyd left for Korea on Saturday morning. He flew to San Francisco, then to Korea. The plane ride was 13 hours from San Francisco to Korea. Because of the time change, Korea is 15 hours ahead of us, he arrived Sunday evening. The hotel had arranged a car to pick him up at the airport and take him to the hotel, then the production plant he was working with sent a car to take him to and from the airport which was nice, he didn't have to worry about how to get around town. He was in Seoul, which he said is a huge city, 10 million people, high rise skyscrapers all over the place. He said even the residential areas he saw were all high rise apartment complexes.

There was a mall under the hotel he was staying at and he went out one night with one of the guys from the plant who took him to a flee market, out to dinner and for drinks which he said was kind of fun. He was surprised that most people knew a little English and usually one other language, which is different from the US where we expect everyone else to know English, but we won't learn any other language. He was also surprised at the condition of the hotel and airport, he said the hotel was nicer than most hotels he had been in the the states, and their airport was very clean, well maintained and the staff was very friendly, but in San Francisco things were run down, messy and the staff was rude. We think we are so great in the US, and it turns out, we're not as great as we think.

The kids and I went ice skating while Boyd was gone. We had a great time, the kids did pretty good once they got the hang of it. JoLyn has a bruise the size of a baseball on her butt, otherwise we came out injury free.

Hope everyone is happy and healthy, hopefully we'll see you soon.

Snow and Christmas

Merry Christmas!!!!

I'm finally getting into the Christmas spirit. With school and kids and work and everything else going on I haven't done much for Christmas this year. The kids are a little concerned that there is not one single present under the tree, but that just adds to the fun, hee hee. We put our tree in the middle of the living room again this year. The kids think that's a great place and who am I to say different? The weather has turned cold and snowy and I think that adds to the Christmas spirit. It feels like Christmas now.

The kids have really loved the snow. Mitch and Jo play outside more now than they did in the summer. They've started a snow boarding ramp down our big driveway and they board down the hill. The funny part is that they don't have snowboards, so they ride down the hill on planks of wood left over from the basement. I'm personally amazed they slide at all. I think we will have to take them snow boarding at Sundance this year.

New phones, aughhhhhhhh!

There's nothing in the world that makes me feel more stupid than a new cell phone. This has been my adventure over the last couple of weeks. It all started with my work started to send out mass text messages to the staff when there is an open shift, sick call that needs filled, ect. Easier in the sense that they can send out one text message to everyone and let the staff call in if they are interested in the extra shift instead of calling 50 staff members one by one and having the majority of them say no. Smart idea, I thought. My old phone was never set up to text so I gave them Boyd's cell phone number. After a couple of weeks Boyd finally said that he didn't think NuSkin would appreciate paying for all my text messages from work. So I went to change my service with Qwest to add text messaging and they are changing over their service to Verizon so all new changes are made through them, which also means that my old phone wouldn't work and I needed a new phone. Now the dilemma. Since I am not a good texter I decided I wanted a phone with a standard keyboard, but also wanted a phone that was small enough to fit in my pocket. After browsing and looking at all the cool new phones I got a Samsung Glyde. A cool looking phone with a touch pad screen for all number pad functions and a full keyboard that slides out for texting. The touch pad was heat sensitive, so if you have cold hands (which I do most of the time) it doesn't work so well. After a week of getting ready to throw the phone across the room I decided to call Verizon and tell the troubles I was having. They were really nice and said they have had multiple complaints about the same thing, and since it was within 30 days of purchase I could exchange the phone without any penalties, and recommending that I go into one of their stores and try out the different phones to see which one I liked the most. So, a shopping I go. I finally decided on a Samsung Alias. It's a flip phone that when opened normally, which push button keypad for numbers, then it opens the long way to reveal a full keyboard the other way. It's kind of cool. I played with 2 different phones I was deciding against for 45 minutes until I decided on the right one. It was also $40 cheaper!!!! They transferred over my contacts and everything!!! They were really nice and helped me fix this problem. Now if I can just keep Mitchell off it I'll be a happy woman.

We also had our first snow storm of the season. The kids were so excited and played in the snow all day. The snow has now melted and the weather is beautiful again. But on the way to school the other day, JoLyn exclaimed, "I tired of beautiful days!! We need some snow!!!!" I'm sure she'll get her wish soon enough. For now, we'll just go put up Christmas light on the roof and the trees while we have the chance.

Happy Halloween!!!!!

I love Halloween, in fact I love from October 1 through the New Year. We had a great time this Halloween. Boyd dressed up for work as a rock start. His coworkers said that didn't suprise them much, it fit him. I told him his alter ego wasn't as well hidden as he thought. The kids had a great time dressing up for school and in the parade. He came home and carved pumpkins, then went to dinner and trick or treat around the gym at the church. Then hit the streets for some good old fashioned trick or treating. Both Mitch and JoLyn had friends that came with us which I think made it more fun for both of them. We were tired when we got home, but had a great time. I hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween.

School Pictures

The kids got their school pictures for this year yesterday. I can't believe how grown up they look this year. It amazes me how fast they are growing up. I thought I would share their new photos with everyone. We are getting ready to go down south for the weekend. The kids and i are coming down Thursday afternoon and Boyd is coming down Friday night. I think Boyd is planning on camping out while deer hunting. The kids and I are just going to play. Can't wait to see everyone.

Happy Birthday JoLyn!!!

JoLyn turned 9 on Saturday and we had a very busy day. Mitchell and Boyd went to scout activity at 7am, so JoLyn woke me up at 9 and we played board games and had breakfast together. JoLyn was scheduled to take her ATV license class that afternoon, so we went and bought her some new riding boots, went to lunch then went to her class. She has been studying for weeks for this class and the written test. There are two portions to the class, the written test, then the riding part. She did just fine on both parts. Here are some pictures of her in the class. She looked so small out there with all the big machines, but she kept up with all the big kids and rode like a champ. She was so excited to have her license.

After the 4 wheeler class, we went home, showered and got Little Ceasars Pizza and she invited a couple of friends over for a movie night. She had a wonderful time. We were exhausted by the end of the night though.

When in Rome......

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. When living in Happy Valley (Utah County) this means go to the BYU football games. I went to my first BYU football game on Saturday. Boyd got tickets through work and we had nothing else going on. We got there a little late and the score was BYU 7, UCLA 0. When we left at the end of the 3rd quarter the score was BYU 52, UCLA 0. BLOWOUT!!!!!!! Being in the atmosphere is the fun part. I don't really care if BYU wins or not, but it's fun to be there, watch the players, the halftime show and get caught up in the excitement.

School for me is in full swing. I've started clinicals with the nurse educator in the ER at Utah Valley which I think will be really good for my overall work experience at the Valley. It's good to see the behind the scenes stuff too. Well, I'm off to make dinner.

Awesome!!!!!

Hi sometimes life is complecated.But when you set your mind to it you will sucseed.Mind my manners my name is Jolyn and I forgot.

Ahhh, the attention span of a 9 year old. JoLyn decided she wanted to add something to the blog too.

We are doing great here in Payson. The weather is starting to cool off at night and still be warm in the daytime. My tomatoes are going crazy, I have tomatoes gallore. So far I've canned 2 batches of salsa, one batch of chille sauce and one batch of diced tomatoes. My plants still look like I haven't picked any tomatoes and I'm out of bottles. Oh, well, that's what I wanted anyway.

The kids are taking swimming class and they think that is the greatest thing ever. They are learning freestyle, the backstroke and the dolphin kick. We found a swimming teacher in Spanish Fork who has a enclosed pool in her back yard.

School has been great. The kids like their teachers and are doing really well. I started school last week too and it looks like this semester won't bee too hard. But there is a lot of clinical hours that I have to do. I'm doing my clinicals at Utah Valley ER, so that will help me in my job too.

My First Blog

Jamie has inspired me, I've decided that this is a good way to keep a journal and keep family members informed of our goings on. This is going to be a learning curve for me. It might make me take a few more pictures, I think the only pictures I've taken this year is of Christmas and birthdays. More to follow.