Happy Halloween!

So, I have this neighbor who lives up the street. She moved in not long after we did, three years ago, and I've been trying to make neighborly chit chat with her ever since. It hasn't worked. I've introduced myself, she didn't seem to care much. I've tried to wave and say hello to her when she drives by, she just keeps driving. I've tried to say "beautiful night, isn't it?" when I pass her on my walk, but nope, no response.

The other day there was a knock on my door. I peeked out my window and here was this neighbor standing on my porch. I'm not going to lie, I was a little afraid to find out what she wanted. I opened the door slowly and peeked out. She smiled and tried to hand me a pickle jar, full of this...

"I found this on my walk this morning, I thought your boys might want it," she says. "Ahhhhh," I whisper. Everything in me wanted to slam the door in her face and move the furniture in front of the door. I hate little spiders, let alone the 4 inch variety. But this was my neighbor, who I had been trying to make nice with for 3 years.

Marc was home sick from school that day. Fortunately he sensed my hesitation and sprung from the couch to grab the jar. "Awesome, thanks so much," he told her. I was trying hard to recover from the shock, but I managed to muster up this, "Wow, that is so nice of you to think of us, we'll try to take good care of it!" I closed the door.

And so it is. I now have a friend in my neighbor, and a tarantula in my garage.

Baggin' The Big Buck

Last weekend we headed to the ranch in search of giant bucks. We figured that the two hours in between general conference sessions on Saturday would be quite enough time to find these monster deer (and that was all the time we had). So off we trudged into the wilderness, one hunter, one wife, two boys, one little girl who needed a nap, one dog, one muzzle loader, four fence posts, one chainsaw, and one big bundle of wire. (The hunter had some work to do along the way.)

We moved ever so quietly through the forest. Like stealth ninjas. Like stealth ninjas who carried chainsaws and fence posts. Strangely enough, we didn't see any deer.

Except for this one. He is not a mule deer however. We think he may be some sort of exotic species.

Daisy bravely protected us from wild beasts who were likely also in search of big bucks.

And we all got as dirty as possible.


I love hunting. I love my hunter. I love that my hunter thinks spending a fall afternoon with his family is much more fun than baggin' the big buck.

Long time, no post...

So here's what we've been up to...

Ghetto Swing SetGhetto swing sets are a pet peeve of mine. A couple of weeks ago, our swing set became a ghetto swing set when it was victimized by the Cedar City winds. The tarp on the fort shredded and blew off. It had lasted 2 years and 4 months. This was actually about 2 years and 3 months longer than I expected, so I can't complain. I came up with a new design plan and Darren provided the muscle. Here is the result. We love it!

Flip Flops

Does anyone remember my flip flops from the family reunion at Diamond Fork. You may remember that they broke, and against all odds I fixed them with shipping tape. Well I got tired of walking around with tape between my toes so I decided to throw them away. I put them in the garbage can on garbage day. I left to run some errands. When I came back, the can was empty, the garbage was gone, but this is how I found my flip flops. I think they refuse to die. Kudos to you 3 dollar Walgreens flip flops, kudos to you.

SKY FEST 2010

Living here in festival city, we have far too many opportunities to attend the various fests. Sure, you've heard of the Shakespearean Festival. But are you familiar with the Livestock Festival, Neil Simon Festival, Horse Festival, Renaissance Festival, Wildflower Festival or the Run A Bunch Of Sheep Down Main Street Festival? No? Well, all of this festiveness seems a little excessive, until my favorite fest comes around every September, SKY FEST!
Sky Fest, in my opinion, is the only decent reason to get out of bed before dawn. And the only decent reason to wear your jammies in public. We love to go and watch the balloons each morning, here are our favorite pics from this year

9 years

On the 12th Darren and our celebrated our 9th Anniversary. Nine years seems like twenty five. Not in bad way, REALLY! It's just that I don't often think about what life was like before this little family of mine. I feel like I've been with them forever. Darren says that it's because he knew me in the pre-existence. That's my favorite pick up line. Happy Anniversary Honey!

Why is the bottom of this post so long? I don't know, scroll down.

Sick of The Kissing Hand

Finally! Rylan started kindergarten today. The last two weeks since Marc started school have felt like an eternity. I took Rylan to his classroom, helped him get settled in and gave him a big hug. While I was hugging him, he looked up at me and said, "Are we going to have to do this everyday?" I guess not. I left.

For those of you who have never read The Kissing Hand, it's about a raccoon who is afraid to go to school. His mom kisses him on the hand before he leaves and tells him to hold on to the kiss until he misses her while he is at school. Then he is supposed to hold his hand up to his face to feel his mother's kiss. It's the cutest book, I tear up every time I read it to the kids. Anyway...

I waited for Rylan's bus. It pulled up and all the other kids got off. He stayed in his seat and waved at me out the window. That bus ride must of been the best part of the day because he had no intention of getting off. With some convincing he finally got off and started telling me about his day. He played with blocks, the sink in the bathroom turns it's self on, he got a piece of bubble gum, he has a new friend named Danny. "And Mom, we read The Kissing Hand. I AM SO SICK OF THAT KISSING HAND." Certainly not a sentimental boy my Rylan, but a good first day anyway.

The Optimist Goes Back To School

My little optimist went back to school today. He has been SO excited to go back. Unlike his pessimistic mother, he never has any anxiety about starting a new year. When we saw his new class list I said, "I don't see any of your friends on this list." He said, "I'm sure I'll make new friends." When I said, "Your new teacher is Mrs. Taylor, I don't know anything about her." He said, "I bet she's really nice." When I sighed, "Your classroom is clear at the back of the school." He said, "Yep, right next to the door where the bus drops me off!" Your glass is half full Marc, and I love you for it!

Rylan doesn't start kindergarten for another 10 days. But, thankfully his appointment to meet his teacher fell on this day. He got to meet his darling teacher Mrs. Ross and look around the classroom. On the way out he said, "Wow Mom, that didn't make my tummy hurt like swimming lessons did." He was very brave.....so was I. Ten more days to wear his backpack around the house and ask me five time a day, "How many more days until kindergarten?"

Moments To Share

18 months, can you believe it! Emery went to nursery on Sunday for the first time. I dressed her up extra cute hoping that even if she screamed the whole time, the nursery leader would still love her because she looked so darling. Apparently she didn't scream until the last 15 minutes, not bad. We'll see how next Sunday goes....

We spend last weekend at the ranch. We had a couple of spectacular thunderstorms rattle us out of bed. This was the view from the deck of the cabin Friday night.

As long as I live here, I'll never get used to the weird bugs we see in our yard. Here is a scorpion ready to strick Darren the other night in our driveway. September seems to be tarantula month, so get ready to see those pictures soon!

Forty

In case you can't quite see the candles on the cake, there is a four (4) followed by a zero (0). Happy Birthday babe, we love ya. We celebrated a day early because Darren had bishopric meetings tonight, party animal. Last night went to dinner at a Japanese steakhouse. We took the boys with us for their first hibachi experience. Rylan tried to hide under the table because he was afraid of the fire. Marc got pretty good at using his chopsticks. And I got hit in the eye by a shrimp that the cook was trying to flip into my mouth. Ooch!

Is this what you thought 40 would be like, honey? I hope it's even better.