Great Neighborhood

I've decided that I can't always wait to have pictures to go with every blog post. Once in awhile is great, but I've been avoiding blogging until I have pictures and I just don't have time to always get to it. So I'm ending the guilt of picture-free blogging.

We had a great housewarming BBQ over the weekend. I knew we would have most of our family come and I had anticipated around 30 people. By the time it was all said and done, we had about 50 people and it was so much fun! We've been boarding some neighbor's horses in our back field area and they were so nice to come over out of the blue and give all the little kids a ride around the field. They loved it and it was so much fun to watch the kids play and run around. We live in such a great neighborhood. It's just rural enough that the boys play outside constantly without fear of much traffic. There are about five houses between our side of the street and just across the road that the kids play all over the yards together. It's cute to watch this pack of about 10 kids running around together. We live just around the corner from a great park and on Friday the herd of friends all rode their bikes down for a primary activity. We have neighbors two houses down that raise homing pigeons. Their youngest son is 14 and is so good with the younger kids in the neighborhood. He took some of the kids over and showed them the pigeons. He took a couple out and let the kids touch them and check them out and then showed them how the pigeons fly right back to where they are supposed to be. Our boys thought it was amazing. Carson and Davis know that they have to be able to hear my whistle and they aren't allowed to play inside anyone's house without coming to check with me first. They always come running when they hear me and I haven't had to hunt them down yet. I'm sure that will come soon, but for now, it's wonderful.

Jason has done such a great job with bringing the yard back. I wasn't sure we would be able to have any grass this year and was convinced he should just let it go until next spring. But he was determined and the yard is really starting to look like....well, a yard. I want to extend our backyard quite a bit and tear down an old shed that has seen better days. Then, we'll fence in the larger backyard. Just behind the yard will be our garden and fruit trees. We'll leave the back .40 acres or so as a pasture area for horses or beef if we decide to raise one next spring. Jason wants to get the chicken coop built before winter hits, so hopefully we'll have some fresh eggs daily before too long! It's so rewarding to watch our boys blossom in this house. I think when we have a few more animals and can teach them about caring for and raising them that they will thrive even more.

I found I've gotten used to the quiet in our neighborhood. It really is pretty far west (about 1 mile from the shores of the Salt Lake) and so we don't have a lot of traffic. There is still quite a bit of agricultural land. It's so nice to wake up in the morning and just hear the occasional rooster or cow and enjoy the peace and quiet.

A neighbor that lives kitty-corner from us has some migratory bats living between the brick and interior walls of his house. They come in through the attic soffets (sp?) on the outside at the top of his house. Apparently they used to nest a few houses further down, but those homeowners put up screens in the winter after the bats left and so the bats found a new house. We'll be putting up screens about the time the "bat" house does so that we're not the next nesting ground. The owner of the bat house called some wildlife experts to find out how to get rid of the bats. They told him that he shouldn't try to block them out until they have migrated to New Mexico for the winter because he would trap some baby bats inside and then have rotting, smelly bats in his walls. So for now, we get to watch about 300 bats come out of his house every night around dusk. The come out 3-4 at a time for about an hour straight. The wildlife expert said that each bat eats around 1/2 pound of mosquitoes each night. I am glad for that!

All in all, we LOVE where we live. I feel so fortunate that we found this place for such a great price with the land we wanted and plenty of space. We've got a couple of extra bedrooms, so if anyone is ready for a trip to our place, we're ready to have you!

August already?

I can't believe we're already into August.... the END of August no less! We've had quite the summer of change around here and I just haven't had the time to update the old blog. So, here goes.....

We moved out of our apartment in Holladay at the end of June. Jason stayed with Grandma Jean while the boys and I headed off on a road trip to visit GoGo and PawPaw in Texas for awhile. We had so much fun and it was nice to give the boys a change of pace. They loved playing in the water and watching movies. And it was pretty amazing that we shot off our own fourth of July fireworks right in the backyard with PawPaw and Moose. Gotta love Texas!

We came back and stayed with my mom (aka Grandma B) for a few weeks. She was so patient and good natured to put up with us for so long and still be "grandma" at the end of the day. It was nice to have a place for awhile! We should have closed on our house July 21st, but through a series of mistakes and delays, we didn't end up closing until August 9. Needless to say everyone was OVER it and just wanted to stop living out of suitcases! We picked up the keys, set up our beds and started painting the first night. We love our new home and Jason is working miracles making the yard come back to life and trimming the overgrowth.

We are so grateful to all of the family that helped us move, paint, use trucks and trailers, emptied storage units late at night and brought us dinner. We wouldn't have survived the move without all the help. The neighbors have been amazingly wonderful. We've had fresh garden produce, desserts, and sweet little notes brought by. We couldn 't have asked for a better place for the boys to play. There are lots of kids and lots of space and they are loving it!

Unpacking is ALMOST done. It's that final stretch that I just can't quite seem to make myself do. But I'm determined to get it done today and get the house cleaned so I can be ready for a relaxing weekend. We'll see if that actually happens!

Carson starts school on Monday. He is in first grade at West Point Elementary. I can't believe it. His teacher's name is Mrs. Jones and we found out from a neighborhood friend that she has a pet tarantula. She is instantly cool to Carson.

In a short week and a half we are off to visit Texas for an end-of-summer Hoorah at a waterpark in the Dallas area with GoGo, PawPaw, Tom and his family, Kat and Bill. I am SOO looking forward to it!

June-ish

June is definitely one crazy month for our little family! We were told at the end of May that the owners of the home where we rent our apartment would be needing the space for their home based business. Fortunately, we were able to stay until July 1st, but packing up a family of four is NO FUN! I've slowly been working on a few boxes here and there, thinking that I had plenty of time because there was a WHOLE month, right? Last Sunday I realized we had two weeks. That's it. I decided that we (meaning I) definitely had to kick it into high gear. So, the boys' room is officially empty and packed. They are sleeping on the floor and living out of a suitcase, which is pretty much a party to them. Now for the rest of the house...... blah. We don't know for sure where we'll end up just yet, but we'll definitely be SOMEWHERE permanent by August so that Carson can start school on time and stay in one place. We're keeping our fingers crossed that we can end up in this house in West Point:

It sits on almost a full acre, which I think may just be enough room for the boys to run around and wear themselves out. The property line goes clear back to where you can see those tall, dead trees just before the neighbor's house. And, for those of you who know Jason, it has animal rights. Nothing is for sure and we're still on the hunt, but so far, this is our favorite.

It seems our days have just been hectic with trying to pack and finding things to keep Carson and Davis entertained. Their cousin Ryan invited them to his 11th birthday party at a Fun Center. They LOVED it and it gave us a much needed break from the clutter of a semi-packed house. We rented some Razor scooters and the boys loved it. I was amazed they didn't fall very much.

Davis learned to ride his bike without training wheels. I was pretty surprised, considering he is just 4. It was more out of necessity than anything. Carson and Davis have been riding their bikes so much that Davis basically wore the training wheels right off. We finally decided to take them off and about 30 minutes later, he was keeping pace with Carson without skipping a beat. He just seems too small to be riding on his own. We have the smallest bike with the seat all the way down, and he can just touch enough to get going. He loves it. I have a feeling he's going to keep me on my toes as he gets older.

Carson has taken a new interest in building with Legos. He's just old enough that he finally can read the directions and get everything assembled by himself for the most part. He has a great dad that has the patience to help him out, but still make him feel like he did it on his own. I am so grateful to have such a loving husband. I couldn't have picked anyone better!

Mish - Mosh of May and June

It seems like we've been doing lots of little things, nothing which constitutes a WHOLE blog. So I decided to just do a mish mosh of the things we have been up to.

First would be Carsons surprise party.... that he requested. He even told us where and when it should be. We did our best to follow his orders. We pulled it off and were in the right spot for everyone to yell "SURPRISE!!" which he loved. Thanks to Grandma B and PaPa who kept everyone fed and were so kind to have it in their backyard!


He had received his "BIG" birthday celebration on his actual party when we went to a local bowling alley (Fat Cats), play some arcade games, and he came home to a new air hockey table from mom and dad. He loved spending the gift cards from GoGo and PaPa and bought some serious spy gear to share with Davis, so be on the lookout. You never know WHO may be lurking round!

Davis loved dancing to the lights and Carson was way too cool to dance to the lights. Be we caught him doing it a couple of times anyway! Then we used our tokens (it takes about a million of them to buy anything..... I wonder how those arcades make money?) and headed on our way!



Finally, we found ourselves camping near Arches National Park with our dear friends Steven and his wife Tiesha and their sweet little Elizabeth. We had fun visiting, watching our boys master their bikes (Davis now has NO training wheels and can ride with NO HELP!) and watching Carson try to teach him how to do every more dangerous trick. It kept the boys distracted and for that I am very grateful! We had fun hiking and see all the different arches. No if only the weather would cooperate! And by cooperate I mean not be so hot and sunny. Cool and slightly overcast would have been just perfect. It IS southern Utah though, so we expected the warm weather and had a great time!!
Mom and Carson

The Family hot and sweaty!
By the end of the day, the boys were pretty sure
that even the statues needed some water!

Anyone figured out how to make time stop yet?

My Oldest Child Turned 6 today. The time just won't stop and I can't make him stay small and it really does make me a little sad to see him become his own person and independent enough to not need mom so much. Reminded me of a poem someone gave me at my babshower and I have echoed its words many times.
"I hope my child looks back on today
and remembers a Mom who had time to play
There will be years for cleaning and cooking
But children grow up when we are not looking
Cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
because babies grow fast, we learn to our sorrow
So settle down cobwebs, dust go to sleep
I'm cuddling my baby, and babies don't keep"

Kindergarten Program

Kindergarten programs are so entertaining. It's seriously like crack for moms. Not necessarily for the amazing script or choreography, but because the kids are all so fun to watch and seeing your little munchkin up there swinging his hips and singing his songs is about as good as it gets. Watching all the other kids is equally entertaining. You can pretty quickly identify the kids that don't pay attention by the fact that they are the last to stand up when it's time or are staring and twirling around when they should be paying attention. The little free spirits that decide to throw all previous instructions from the teacher out the window and do their own routine. It's just so funny!

Carson's program was this last week. He did a great job and it was so fun to watch him. The theme was "To Kindergarten and Beyond". This is going to be some great material for when he gets a little older. It's days like these that make staying at home with my boys worth every tantrum, load of laundry and burnt dinner. There are more videos available upon request to those grandparents who might actually want to watch more than 45 seconds at a time :-)

This is what I like to call the "Number Macarena"

Spring Break and Easter

This week and weekend has been so unexpectedly nice. First, we headed to southern Utah near St. George for a few days of camping and hiking/shopping. I will be the first to admit that I was NOT looking forward to this trip. First, I'm not a huge fan of southern Utah.... it's just dirt and red rocks, hot weather and wind. Second, our vacation destination was called Sand Hollow State Park. If the name alone wasn't enough to make me cringe, the weather was supposed to be rain and LOTS of wind - gusting up to 30mph while we were in a tent in the sand. HOWEVER, it turned out to be actually quite nice. Imagine my surprise! We did arrive a little later than I wanted to but we were able to get our tent up before dark. The wind blew pretty hard the first night, but after that it was so pleasant and perfect weather. And while it was sandy, it was definitely beautiful too. Carson and Davis LOVED climbing on all the rocks and exploring the campgrounds. They were quite fascinated with the cactus. I explained to them several times about how much it would hurt if they got any cactus spines in them, but despite my warnings, we still had to pick some out of Carson's hands. There was hiking and game playing and I thoroughly enjoyed the shopping in St. George!



Sunday was Easter. We were back home and unpacked, ready for a relaxing day. Our friends' daughter Linsey came over to get away from the dorm life and stayed the night Saturday. Carson and Davis were up bright and early to see what the Easter bunny had delivered and to hunt down all the eggs that were hidden. Linsey was also surprised to find the Easter bunny had brought HER a basket and hidden some special eggs just for her. We had family over for lunch, listened to conference, watched a movie or two and were just lazy most of the day. It was pretty nice!

And I came to the realization

About October and for a little while (I'd say a total of about 6 months or so) I've been having someone come in to clean once a week. GASP! SHOCK! I've heard all the reactions. Some think it's very lazy on my part to have someone else come clean my house. Others think it's great. For me, it was a way to buy myself a little more time during the day to spend with my boys who are growing by the second and I can't get them to stop, so I just have to run along side and hope I don't miss too much. BUT, after some minor uncertainties in Jason's job, we decided to cut out the "fluff" expenses as we like to label them on our budget. I happily volunteered the cleaning lady since I've been cleaning my own house for years and done a very nice job. It was definitely a luxury to have her come once a week and finish up whatever I didn't get to, but certainly something we could do without.

Well, we miss her terribly. It's been about three months or so since she last came and unfortunately all traces of her are now covered by dust and fingerprints and some kind of residue I can't get out of my tub quite the same way she could. I try to get caught up on everything so that my house can be the oasis of clean I require for relaxation. But to listen to my boys, I haven't been relaxed for a couple of months now. So, do I trade off some time with my kids to get the house clean or just give in and let my awesome lady come back once a week. I know, I know. Millions of mothers have done my job for generations before me with no hired help. But my grandmother has long since passed away, and my mom's cleaning lady isn't nearly as good as mine..... so her advice goes out the window. This week will be the ultimate test. We have a week long trip to southern utah and camping in the sand (I do cringe a little as I type that). So we'll come home with gear full of sand to a clean house and I may very well lose my mind. Or just hire our cleaning lady back! :-)

Great thought

Jason's aunt Peggy posted this onFacebook. Thanks for the uplifting reminder of the importance of loving, caring parents and family.

"All children need a laptop. Not a computer, but a human laptop. Moms, dads, grannies and grandpas, aunts, uncles – someone to hold them, read to them, teach them. Loved ones who will embrace them and pass on the experience, rituals and knowledge of a hundred previous generations. Loved ones who will pass to the nex...t generation their expectations of them, their hopes, and their dreams." – General Colin L. Powell.

Date night with Davis and Jason

Mom kept Davis overnight alone on Thursday night, so Friday it was Carson's turn to head out and Davis got mom and dad all to himself. We did have to deliver Vanessa's Sweet 16 birthday cake. But we went to the Training Table (which Davis calls Training Wheels) restaurant for dinner and Davis loved being the center of attention.

After dinner we headed over to make our cake delivery which I think went well. Sandra and Vanessa both seemed to like the cake, so I really hope that they did. It was fun (and exhausting) to finish!
Carson has mastered riding his bike WITHOUT training wheels. He's very proud of his new trick (turning around) and loves to show how fast he can go. I just can't get over how fast he's growing! We're just itching for spring and summer so we can spend more time outside. Too bad we woke up to snow this morning! Sheesh.
In other news, we kept Jason's niece Sierra overnight for a few nights while her mom and dad packed up and moved all their belongings from Washington state. We're glad to have them closer to family, even if the transition is difficult. Sierra was such a good baby.... as long as she was sleeping or being held. I think that's pretty normal for that age. And she was so much fun to have. I'm glad I was able to spend some time with her.

Riding the train

This weekend Grandma B kept the boys overnight on Friday so Jason and I could have a date night. I decided to finally give in to the many repeated requests to ride the train. So, the boys and I jumped on at the downtown Salt Lake Station and rode it to Ogden where Grandma B was waiting on the platform. The boys had lots of fun. I think they mostly liked the Pez and Sprite I gave them as their snack.

After I rode the train back to Salt Lake and met Jason at home, we went shooting at an indoor range. It was pretty fun. I think Jason was ready to go before I was. I don't buy all the ammo we were shooting, so I could have kept going all night! It did make me feel good that I was completely out-shooting two guys next to us. I'm pretty sure it was their first time though.

The rest of the weekend was pretty quiet. We had all Jason's family come over for dinner on Sunday evening. It was a nice surprise! They even brought all the food to eat! Now that's my kind of company! :-)

Where to begin......

Since I don't scrapbook, and I don't keep a journal, I figured that posting every once in awhile on a blog would make up for both. It's a nice thought at least, right?

So, I'll begin at the beginning...... well at least at the beginning of this month. Carson has started school at Driggs Elementary and LOVES it. We had been doing an online school offered by the state and it had been going well. But, alas, he is almost 6 and getting more stubborn by the day so we decided it was probably in everyone's best interest to have someone else teaching him for the remainder of the year. He says his teacher is just a little nice, but he absolutely loves riding the bus and sitting by his friends. I have a hard time believing that he is actually big enough to go off on his own and ride the bus and get home. The over-protective mother in me wants to hook him up to one of those little leash backpacks you put on toddlers and keep him right next to me. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't allow it.
Davis on the other hand, is really having a hard time adjusting to life without Carson. We met some friends at the park today and Davis just stuck to my side like a sticker in my shoe lace. He becomes so shy and introverted whenever he doesn't have Carson to blaze a trail for him. It's been good for him to be on his own. It's definitely a growing experience for both of us.