HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

So, this is the first year I have ever experienced snow and Halloween simultaneously. The boys are in complete heaven. The only thing that would have made this picture cuter is if Brayden were in it. He was napping while the boys built this cute little snow pumpkin man!

I know I have not blogged about our life in Evanston yet. I started a post about a month ago but since this computer is not at our house, I couldn't finish it before I had to leave to get home. I haven't carved out a time to get it done. BUT, it is on the to do list! It will get done!

Plus, our house is almost complete. We should be in it by mid November! I can't wait! I will surely make up for lost time once I get my beloved internet back:)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!

The Scoop

Okay folks! I know I have NOT been timely at all with "the scoop" but I really and truly have stepped back an entire decade here in Evanston! I literally have all of about ten minutes right now to sit down at Steve's school, where the computer can actually be hooked up to the internet, and do a quick update!

Right now, we are living in a rental town home, the likes of which I am sure NO ONE has ever seen before! It was built in the early eighties and had Muslim residents living in it before us. My walls are deep purple on the outside and crawling with mice families on the inside. My stair banister is hot pink and "sticky" (according to my nephew) and leads up to two bedrooms at the top of the stairs that collect all the heat (and smells) from the day making it ever so comfy to fall fast asleep. Sleeping with windows open has been interesting since it seems once you finally DO fall asleep, there is either a nice bird, a diesel truck, or far off train noise to wake you right back up around 5:30 a.m.! It has been something to get used to. I didn't realize how spoiled I was to live in St. George for so many years where it is not just a luxury to have full control of the indoor temperatures, but actually a necessity. No one in Evanston claims to need central air conditioning. Everyone seems completely content with leaving their rooms' temperatures up to mother nature. This is so new to me and something I have learned to adjust to.

Actually, it is funny how we seem to overcome one obstacle and immediately get met with a new one. The blasted hot rooms, the mice having free run of our house each night (eating up entire cupboards full of food), broken water heaters, refrigerator explosions etc. etc.! We really have had our share of 'country life' fun thus far! I feel like a true pioneer woman, albeit a very whiny and wussy one. I didn't realize how comfy and cushy my life actually was until we stepped into this time capsule life!

Things are constantly evolving for us here. One minute we're up to our eyeballs in some frightful dilemma and the next we're outside, sitting by the river, enjoying the cooler breezes and appreciating the last few days of summer. This has been the longest yet shortest summer of our lives. With school not starting for another entire week, we still have some fun things planned for the boys. But with the temperatures dropping so quickly, we already feel like it is mid Fall.

The boys have been keeping busy with neighborhood friends, building forts, riding their bikes non stop and occasionally joining in the fun Evanston Rec. Center activities that they have an abundance of here. They've participated in a few adventure camps, including a trip to Bear Lake and they competed in a youth triathlon too. They actually both took first place in their divisions and even made the Unita Herold Newspaper. Of course, the fact that only 17 kids competed DID help their wins a bit, but we try not to focus on that too much!

It is this sort of thing that makes me glad we moved here. The kids have had some GREAT opportunities, ALREADY, that they would never get to experience in a bigger city. Everyone we talk to about Evanston says that it is for this reason that it is a really great place to raise kids.

I sure hope they are right because, DANG, it is going to be BITTER cold here pretty quick and I am not sure how to go about that??? The pros MIGHT not out way the cons come December.

I am hoping that once we move into our new home (we are currently in the 'FRAMING' stages of building a house) it will feel a little more comfortable and a little less OLD SCHOOL. I will have internet access by then. I will have all of my things out of storage units. I will feel more like myself. I will not have to share my life with mice.

I am excited for this. We will keep trying to update every chance we get. I just wish I had more time to peek into YOUR lives. I miss your blogs and seeing all the cool, inspiring things you are all up to. Hope you'll all still be around when I get BACK TO THE FUTURE! Keep your fingers crossed that will be soon!

Wish I had time to upload some pictures. I would love for everyone to see my purple walls. I will try to get back to the computer a bit quicker next time and share some more dirt, in living color. Stay tuned:) Love to all!

In a Tiny Nutshell . . .

Alright, I would call this picture some MAJOR foreshadowing. It was taken a couple of years ago when we went to visit my sister in Casper after she had her first baby. I had been to Wyoming before, but it was when I was a kid and truthfully, my recollection of it was not that wonderful. I remember feeling sorry for my sister when she said she was moving there. So, after she had the baby and we set off for this adventure, I wasn't expecting much. I actually wasn't expecting to have any sort of opinions about Wyoming at all. But, this particular trip was the first time seeing Wyoming through adult eyes and with Steve and the kids. It was a fun adventure, surprisingly, and I enjoyed seeing such dramatically different landscape compared to our own. It seemed we had to hop out of the car and take a picture by anything interesting we saw; the road sign, the random buffalo, any lush green hillside that caught our fancy. It was one of my favorite road trips with the kids (they were both older and easy to travel with) and everything we did was spontaneous and fun! I think this picture captures that essence!

As we drove along and took in all the scenery, I remember thinking it was sooooo rugged but beautiful. So green, yet so dusty. Everything about it seemed simple and no nonsense. A real "Home on the Range" type of place! A place fit for a cowboy, a definite step back in time. There were windmills, oil derricks, Union Pacific cars and railroad tracks around every bend. I saw mailboxes painted in loud colors perched along the highway and I kept thinking, "people actually LIVE here, along this highway and walk to these mailboxes everyday to get their mail." This was such a crazy concept for me, someone from the thick of true suburbia. Everything about Wyoming seemed so OLD SCHOOL, so retro, compared to my cushy little existence in St. George. I remember Steve veering off the side of the road several times because he was in awe of yet ANOTHER majestic antelope or moose or elk he spied off in the distance along the hills. I kept thinking, "Geez, if you've seen one antelope, you've seen them all!" I mean, I appreciate wildlife as much as the next girl, but that is just it, I AM A GIRL. Wyoming seems like the PERFECT place for a BOY to live out his life! There isn't any amazing shopping. There are no spas. There are plenty of wide open spaces and horses and trucks. Really, if you step back and look at it all, Wyoming is the perfect back drop for a household full of growing boys. There are lakes, streams, mountains, things to hunt, horses to ride, slopes to ski on etc. etc.

So, imagine my surprise when Steve announced to me, back in March, that he accepted a job there! What?! I was IMMEDIATELY taken back to all of my visions of Wyoming through the memory of this little road trip we took two years ago. I imagined us living in a little shack off the side of the highway and chasing Brayden down the dirt road in his diaper and cowboy boots. I saw the dust. I felt the surge of fear as Steve veered off the road to see that elk. I saw a completely different world, the world for boys, and now, SUDDENLY, I was being asked to find a way to fit into that.

Well, here I am now. In WYOMING! Living a simpler life. A life without air conditioning, outdoor swimming pools and Target. I live in a town where everyone knows everyone. Where the sheriff came to offer his help in unloading our U-HAUL, and where the town hot spot boasts road side views of giant elk and moose.

I am excited about our LONG term adventure here. It has already been fun to see the boys actually PLAYING outside, riding their bikes in the mid afternoon and not dying of 112 degree temperatures! We have no cable T.V. and we can't get our Wi Fi to work on our P.C. but we are still, some how, totally busy and engaged and enjoying our first summer here. Aside from Steve's lap top, that I have access to at night, I feel like I have stepped back into the 1990's! It's refreshing and annoying all at the same time.

If you would have asked me, two years ago how I felt about moving to Wyoming (heck, if you even asked me two weeks ago) I would have given an enthusiastic "HECK NO!" But, there is something special about this little place. The people here are super nice, curiously nice actually. They have some sort of secret to life. Something only "Home on the Range" can offer I guess. I am excited to see what all that is. Looks like I'll have PLENTY of time to figure it all out, 'cause INDEED, we are here, IN WYOMING, and it isn't just a road trip this time:)

If you're ever up for a great road trip yourself, stop by and visit us. Like the sign says, Wyoming ALWAYS welcomes you!

Survivor???

I am wondering lately if I would get booted off???! Life has been INSANE! I used to be able to tread water and at LEAST keep from drowning. Lately, if real water were in the equation, I would be a drowned rat! Dead and GONE!

We have too much going on right now in our little world. Maybe I will be able to catch you up sometime in the near future (my last two to three remaining blog fans- that is)! Until then, re-read this funny that has been on the email circuit the past few years. It rings so true. Too true!

THE
NEXT SURVIVOR
SERIES
Six married men
will be dropped on an island with one car and
3 kids each for six weeks.

Each kid will play two sports
and take either music or dance classes.

There is no fast food.

Each man must
take care of his 3 kids;
keep his assigned house clean,

correct all homework,
complete science projects,
cook,
do laundry,
and pay a list of 'pretend' bills
with not enough money.

In
addition, each man
will have to budget in money
for groceries each week.

Each man
must remember the birthdays
of all their friends and relatives,
and send cards out on time--no emailing.

Each man must also take each child
to a doctor's appointment,
a dentist appointment
and a haircut appointment.

He must make one unscheduled and
inconvenient visit per child to the Urgent Care.

He must also make cookies or cupcakes
for a social function.

Each man will be responsible for
decorating his own assigned house,

planting flowers outside, and keeping it
presentable at all times.

The men will only have access to television
when the kids are asleep and all chores are done.

The men must shave their legs,

wear makeup daily,

adorn
themselves with jewelry,

wear uncomfortable yet stylish shoes,

keep fingernails polished,

and eyebrows groomed

During one of the six weeks,

the men will have to endure severe
abdominal cramps, back aches, head aches,
have extreme, unexplained mood swings
but never once complain or slow down
from other duties.

They must attend weekly school meetings and
church,
and find time at least once to spend
the afternoon at the park or a similar
setting.


They will need to read a book to the kids
each night and in the morning,
feed them,
dress them,
brush their teeth and
comb their hair
by 7:00 am.


A test
will be given at the end of the six weeks, and each father will be
required to know all of the following information:
each child's
birthday,
height, weight,
shoe size, clothes size,
doctor's name,
the child's weight at birth,
length, time of birth,
and length of labor,
each child's favorite color,
middle name,
favorite snack,
favorite song,
favorite drink,
favorite toy,
biggest fear,
and what they want to be when they grow up.

The kids vote them off the island based on performance.

The last man wins only if...
he still
has enough energy
to be intimate with his spouse
at a moment's
notice.


If the last man does win,
he can play the game over and over and over
again for the next 18-25 years,
eventually earning the right
to be called Mother!

Happy Mother's Day Week!

Thanks Steve!

Steve gave me tickets to the Colbie Caillat concert for Valentine's Day. This past Friday was the night we got to leave all the kids and worries behind and just enjoy! We had a fabulous time and Colbie put on a great show! In comparing to the concert she did 2008 at Tuachan, I am still up in the air as to which I liked best. I LOVED the Tuachan concert 2 years ago, simply because it was at BEAUTIFUL Tuachan and how can you beat THAT backdrop? But, I didn't know as many of her songs then, so THIS concert was more exciting that way. Actually,once I heard the opening song BOOMING, I got so excited! I have both of her CDs and I knew all the songs this time. I was more invested! In fact, maybe the only thing I didn't like about this concert compared with her other, is that this one was over too fast. She didn't sing NEAR enough songs and I was surprised at the ones she didn't get to, like even her new album's title track, "Breakthrough." Her encore performance only included two songs, Lucky and Bubbly. Maybe if the audience would have shouted more or chanted her name, maybe she could have thrown in a couple more songs for us! But, nonetheless, every song she DID sing was fantastic! I added my fave of the night, her Bob Marley "Turn Your Lights Down Low" cover to my playlist. This version isn't as fabulous as the live performance she gave, which included an AWESOME bridge that is not included on this playlist download, but at least it's a bit of a reminder of the greatness that is was. Her back up singer and guitarist, and the night's opening performer, Justin Young, was pretty good too.

She is just such a talented performer and songwriter and I love her laid back, beachy vibe. She has some fun video links on her website that are fun to watch. Since her concert ended too soon for us, Steve and I came home and did some browsing through her site just to get a little more! She's great. If you can swing it, you should check out some more of her tour dates and invite someone YOU love to this excellent, fun concert! It was a really terrific evening! Thanks Steve!

Keeps Getting BETTER!

Delightful. It is the best word to describe this child right now. This baby is just nothing but DELIGHTFUL lately! He has definitely turned over a new leaf here in his ripe old age of NINE MONTHS! I think we have FINALLY figured him out and have him comfortable with life. Don't get me wrong, he has ALWAYS been nothing but pure joy, but I was always feeling a bit defeated and discouraged that I couldn't get him on a great sleeping pattern and keep him moving through the day happily. It has taken us a good NINE months to get to this PERFECT place of peace and contentment.

I think the turning point has been the sleep habits. I read FIVE different books, finally finding the MAGIC potion for success in this one, "Sleeping Through the Night." It was a gradual process with immediate rewards right away and each day getting better and better. It was gentle and sensible and Brayden is reaping the rewards.

It's so funny. I never had to read any "sleeping" books with the older boys. They were great sleepers from the very start. They basically did what I wanted them to do, no problem. Yes, Brayden has taken a little more brain power, but we GOT IT! And he actually giggles and smiles when we put him in his crib now. He ENJOYS a good rest as much as the rest of us now. AHHHHH. Makes him so much happier throughout the day.

He's got some other cute things going on at this age too. Probably the newest and cutest is his waving. He waves at his little glow sea horse when we leave his room after his naps. He waves at me in the mirror. He waves at his brothers, the neighbors, anything! I love that his little brain tells him to wave when he thinks it necessary.

Well, that's not quite a "waving" picture, but just look at the length of those fingers! CRAZY! Maybe a future basketball/piano player? He's also been a little dancer lately. Most of the time he is bopping up and down to the music playing in the background in the house throughout the day. Sometimes I catch him moving and grooving to whatever is going on in his head I guess! He definitely has some grooving skills:) It's especially fun to watch while he's in the jump up thingy.

He is super social and can't get ENOUGH of being out and about and around people. We went to Iggy's for a Valentine's Eve family meal and he was turned almost all the way around in his high chair grinning and "chatting" with the people at the table next to us. He jabbers a ton and enjoys anyone paying him attention to what he has to say. Love it!

I also love that he is at that EASY age where he can stay happy with any random item I happen to give him. Or anything the boys give him (like this girl-y hair band). You know, whatever happens to be close by, a sock (clean of course), a piece of ribbon, a packaged scrapbook supply (he loves the plastic-y sound). Just anything. He will stay happily entertained with a plastic cup for twenty minutes. LOVE this!


I am a little bugged that we are on the down hill stretch to this boy's first birthday though. What happened to this year?! He is getting way too big.

I have his nine month well check exam scheduled for this week. It will be interesting to see what his measurements will be. I feel like he is starting to thin out a bit. He is still a BIG, SOLID boy, but he has more length to him now and doesn't seem quite so chunky and dead weight.

One thing's for sure, he is still a little heart breaker! I love, LOVE everything about him. I just can't seem to get enough! It just keeps getting better and BETTER!

Conner's Sad Story

Once upon the grass there was a mom hippo and she had a baby and the baby did not appreciate her milk. So she went into the river to seek water. She walked around to find water but she could not find any water. "Mysteirious." She said at the age of zero. Then all of a sudden she saw water. She ran to the water on the way she died because her heart burst.

The End
Part of Conner's second grade homework is to draw a picture of suggested item and then describe the picture. Conner has been getting progressively more creative with his descriptions lately and usually pens some pretty good stories. Sometimes he focuses a lot on the picture and has even added three dimensional items, like cotton balls for clouds, in the past. Other times, he chooses his words carefully and writes and edits for a good, long while.



This time, it is safe to say he put some thought into the story and in what he wanted the reader to take away from it. When I asked him about the sudden tragic ending, I thought he was going to tell me he was just tired of writing and wanted to end it quick, but he surprised me with his response. He said he wanted it to be a sad story like "Stone Fox" when the dog dies because his heart bursts. He wanted people to feel bad for the hippo and maybe even shed a tear or two like some of the kids did when the dog died. Hmmm. Really?

All I know is this sad story might have had the opposite effect on me. I especially grin when I think of his opening line, "Once upon the grass" or how he used the word "appreciate" instead of boring old "like." He also ALMOST spelled "mysterious" right, pretty good for a seven year old. Of course, the picture is adorable too. Not so sure he's going to get the reaction he's anticipating once he hands this in to his teacher, but I sure thought it was enjoyable; and SAD too. I made sure to tell Conner that.

PROJECT LIFE!

A picture each day for the entire year! I wanted to do this last year (it was called Project 365) but missed the boat on ordering the kit before it sold out. Luckily, Becky Higgins (BTW, I included links in this post, click on the colored words for more info) is a smart girl and realized she could make a fortune launching her own company based on this idea (wait a minute, why didn't IIIII think of this first????) and set to work on creating this year's version of the concept, PROJECT LIFE. It came in the mail at the beginning of the month and I have dutifully kept it up to date with a picture for each day! It hasn't been hard for me to take a picture a day. In fact, I have always been one to have my camera with me most of the time, so that part has been easy. Actually, the trickiest part for me has been DECIDING which picture to feature each day. Like for this week, "Saturday" I could choose:

Lewis' last basketball game,

Brayden airborne after a massive BLOW OUT!

or me with one of my Mia Maids after the Best of Especially for Youth activity this morning?

Obviously, some pictures turned out better than others, but what was the most important story for that day? Hmmm. It is a dilemma.

Or, there was this past THURSDAY that I am trying to figure out. Thursday was the Pinewood Derby and Lewis won First Place! Which picture do I choose?

The one with all the cute cars (Lewis' is the blue Utah Jazz)?

The one with Lewis receiving his prizes?

Or this one with Dad who helped him build his car?

It really is hard to narrow it down. I hope I get better at that part.

The whole concept is great. I am forced to tell the story of our family in a much more in depth, raw and true way. It is really fun and I am remembering to jot down the experiences and day to day things that I might normally forget about and might consider too boring to scrapbook. This set up gives me permission to talk about whatever strikes my fancy for the day, since I know that tomorrow, I can focus on something totally different and new!

Everything about this project has been easy and fun and I can't wait for BH to offer some more album options like school year books and baby albums. I also love that she is going digital and once she works the bugs out there (I'll give it a good year for everyone else to be the guinea pigs) I will definitely go that route. I love the idea of being able to create ONE book, one time, and then print it several times for different people in my family to have copies of. I also like that I can replace it if it ever gets ruined. Digital is definitely the way to go, but, like I said, it isn't my favorite way to preserve memories yet. Up until now, I have struggled with digital scrapbooking in other venues. It is not quite EASY enough for me yet and I have dropped the ball on a few projects I have tried to do. In fact, it has been a full year since I started changing my blog into a printed book format- I am STILL working on THAT. (Unfortunately, I am one of the guinea pigs for that venue and I hate it. I wish the kinks would be all worked out there). I just don't enjoy staring at a computer for hours on end and I don't like dealing with technology (it is always so fickle). Plus, I like to be able to SEE all of my creative options spread out in front of me and then pick and choose and create. It is too hard to do that in the cyber world and there are too many endless choices for a perfectionist girl like me. But, because I love Becky Higgins stuff so much, I know I would feel no need to change anything because it would be perfect from the get go and I really could just drag and drop and move on! I just like anything and everything Becky Higgins gets her hands on. It is always streamlined and easy and beautiful.

This album that I ordered this year is a HUGE three ring binder with all the essentials all ready to go. I just have to add the photos and words. EASY. But, I don't like how BIG the book is, especially since I don't have a ton of places to store things in this house, I am looking forward to the skinnier, more compact digital version for next year.

For now though, I am LOVING getting back into the old school, printing of the pictures and slipping them into a book made of paper and plastic page protectors. I love that I can write the journaling in my own handwriting, add memorabilia, and change things up if I ever want to. For now, this is a great solution for me to get SCRAPPING since I haven't in a very long time! And, so far, we've got one month DOWN! Only eleven more to go!

One Day:

Happy 8 Month BIRTHDAY to You Baby! We have LOVED every DAY, minute, smile, giggle, dirty diaper, crying fit of rage, hug and all the rest! YOU are the BEST!

FUNNY

An added bonus is that we can see his sweet little baby teeth when he tries to devour his sippy cup lid. So funny:)

Happy New Year!