Couldn't resist

Check out Logan serenading the dog....and here are the masterpieces from last night.

Disney Overload

Last week we decided to stop thinking about going to Disneyland. We needed to either quit filling Logan's mind with all of it's majesty and wonder, or buck up and go. So, us and the Harwoods all cozied up in the same vehicle and braved the adventure. And that, it was. I will share the highlights:)

• Justin maintained his serious co-dependency issue with the Onstar Navigation chick. We listened to her encouragement and advice beginning the instant we hit the freeway in St. George, and ending once safely home. (Doesn't sound so bad? Have your child's movie interrupted every 2 minutes only to hear a strange woman affirm that you are to 'stay on the I-15.')
  
• Reese and Logan enjoyed each other with every bit as much zeal as they used to terrorize each other. Lilly was marvelous the entire trip. Steph took one for the team whenever the princess-related lines called for patience.
  
• After Brad and Justin got us out of our stay at the 4-star rat hole known as the 'Annabella' they worked some swingin' deals on the rest of the stay at the Hyatt.
  
• I took tramadol mid-day and started jumping around like a firecracker just when everybody was utterly spent. Thus, we never made it past 9:00 in the park.
• Favorite Rides: Everything in California Adventures (Aladdin broadway show, Mickey-mouse playhouse, the parades, Bug's life, River raft, Cali screamer, tower of terror), and the old classics at Disney.
  
• Favorite lines: The wheelchair accessible ones, thanks to the friend who needed it. We couldn't imagine how miserable the days would have been waiting in the normal lines. They were insane.
• Justin was absolutely terrified to be in the gondola on the ferris wheel. Brad about wet his pants from laughing every time he got the opportunity to ride a roller coaster with Justin. This sound bit will explain it. YOU HAVE TO LISTEN:

Ode to October

We had a great time at the lake this last weekend. Friday- Quail Lake with the Farrers. Saturday- Sand Hollow with the Harwoods. Logan loves boating/double-dog daring with his little buddies. As for the adults, thank goodness we were shameless enough to wear my parent's oh-so-small rockin' wetsuits from the late 80's. They kept Brad and I toasty warm while we enjoyed the first good water we've had all year. They would have kept others warm if our friends would ever actually get in the water. We need new friends. Oh well....I have a feeling that the boating days are over for a while now. Boooo. Okay, I am over it now. Bring on the ground sports.




This is Logan getting his groove on!


Max got surfing lessons.

Totally freaked out

Okay, so I will post all about our family vacation to Cali. Tomorrow. For now, I just have to say that I am totally horrified and down right shocked. So what if Jessica Simpson's maltipoo got killed by coyotes? As if that would ever happen to my maltipoo. I have been sooo proud of Max lately. Barks at the door to go to the bathroom, no accidents, runs to me instead of away when he does sneak out, doesn't jump on the table to eat my food anymore, only mounts strangers..... All of the hard work is finally paying off! So in good faith, I have been letting him out without a leash at night to do his business. It just so happens that he is afraid of the dark, and therefore comes back inside the second he is done.

Well, he didn't come right back in tonight. I ran out to yell for him and spotted a coyote leaping out of my yard and into the street. The nerve. I swear that if I ever see that mongrel again, I will blow him up. Dirty, evil animal. He should really just stick to the dog-sized rabbits which are so plentiful in this place. I realized tonight that Max is our adorable baby and as such, he better be invincible. I think he found the event a bit exciting, as he is begging to go back out.... I said he was cute, not smart.

Cliff's notes on our month

Our daily life is definitely a complex, chaptered book. And if I have any hope to keep an up-to-date family journal, I am going to need to learn to settle with a quick reference version of our life. In pamphlet form. Bullet-point even. So here is a brainstorm as it pertains to the last several weeks:

• Found a way for the Harwood family to yet again be our neighbors, as it once was in the Idaho scene- same ward, street, and all. 
  
• Began Logan's adventures in soccer. Why is his jersey all wet in these pics? Because he ripped it off, threw it down, and then peed behind the city building with his shirt at his feet. Nice;)
• Watched Stephanie run by my house every morning while I contemplate what it might feel like to actually exercise. 
• Got my next round of prolotherapy. AND, it is totally working. Hallelujah, praise the heavens.
• Lots of movie parties and pool parties and extra bodies sleeping over in our home. I have loved having so many people around.
• Found a dead rat in the bottom of the pool and launched it into space with the net cleaner. Found a shiny, long, black and white King snake in Harwood's garage. Nasty
• Smiled as the cockroach population has drastically decreased with the cooler weather.
• Experienced weather in the 90's rather than the 100's. Lovely. 
• Went with Tiffany to Annie at the Tuacahn ampitheater.
• Celebrated Brad's 30th birthday with a media/technology overload. He is still giving me grief about not getting him a cake. I continue to explain that if we had more than 5 friends, the birthday would have warranted a celebration, and therefore, cake. 
• Taught Max to sit and got his peeing on the carpet habit down to once/day. uggghh. Max's vet called to our attention that in 6 weeks, he has grown from 3 pounds to 11.5 pounds. Now that's what I call a growth spurt. 

Amy Dawn Wilde

July 04, 1978 ~ September 03, 2009

"Our Beloved Daughter and Sister returned home to her Heavenly Father to walk with the angels, leaving behind her parents; Theresa Larsen of Sandy, Utah and Scott and Karen Wilde and their family, Nichole, Brittany, and Nathan of Ammon, Idaho; her brothers, Eric (Laurice) Wilde of Orem, Utah and Christopher Truxal of Sandy, Utah; Her sisters, Hollie (Tyson) Crook of West Jordan, Utah and Natalie (Jeff ) Madsen of Hurricane, Utah. Amy also left behind 3 nephews and 1 niece who loved her dearly. Amy, you are free now, our sweet girl. You are the wind beneath our wings." This is the obituary of my sweet cousin. Amy was diagnosed with a form of Muscular Dystrophy called Fredrick's Ataxia when she was 9 years old. The doctors speculated that she would pass away by her teen years. She sure showed them wrong. She died at the age of 31, tired and ready to move on from such a compromising mortal existence. I wish that I had spent more time with her as adults. The perspective I could have gained.... Our Father in Heaven must only call very loyal souls to endure a life of so much pain and sorrow, in order to bring about a greater work. Now you can see and walk and run! No more electric wheelchair for you! Oh, what Heaven must feel like after being stuck in earthly confines for so long. Party on Amy, you lucky girl. And go find that gorgeous man who has been waiting for you to get to Heaven.

August Adventures

I am writing a note to self so that I can remember to fill in the blanks when I get more time. Here are the August happenings that I need to record/upload pics for:

• Much needed trip to Idaho to see our family, compliments to Marcie for driving us up
• Visit to Rach and Ty's with mom and dad for boating and yummy food
• Logan's first 2 weeks of preschool
• Logan's pool party for 10 4 year olds that he single-handedly planned and executed
• Pool party/ barbeque with 25 members of the Bergusen family
• Max update
• Logan's latest quotes and quirks
• Movie at the park
• weekend with Harwoods and grandpa Orin

Here are my thoughts

I am going to try just this once, and never again, to answer a tag for 20 random thoughts from my current brain waves. So you know who, don't ever tag me again:) Here she goes:

I could handle being back on Lake Blaine right now, smelling the meadow and loving the thick forest. The crickets here at the house are sooo blasted loud at night, it sounds like I have a nature CD playing. I love autumn. My back is thrilled about the 10 shots it got today. Everyone should get prolotherapy. Finishing the novel "A thousand splendid suns" today was a rude awakening, and everyone should read it. I am craving homemade freezer jam. Pictures of the temple are being sold at Costco right now for killer deals. Tomorrow wouldn't be too soon to adopt a baby. I love last minute happenings. This month I have had the privilege of transacting with an animal control officer, a police officer, the fire department and crew, and the gas company, all on seperate occasions. What does that mean about my behavior? I think that Suzie, Melanie, Heather, Tanya, Ambers, and all Stephanies and Emilys should move here to add to the toddler-aged children population. I need to get my root canals filled this month. I also need to get my passport before my mom-in-law disowns me. I love Chick-o-sticks. How do I get Max to stop peeing on my carpet? I yelled at Logan a lot today. Need to suppress the temper. I love to daydream about seeing the world. I want to get a Master's in International Development via the internet. Zyrtec is not making me sleepy tonight. The heater is broken on the hot tub. I have goals to learn spanish and the guitar. Not the two together, though. I miss my parents.

OKAY, now I know why I never respond when I am tagged. Now I have revealed what my brain has thought about since I came to bed tonight. And with that.......

Annual Harker Cabin Bash

We look so forward to coming to Montana every summer. This place is so temperate, green and peaceful. The cabin crowd is so diverse, loud, and hilarious. Two things never cease to amaze me about the Harker/Dernick family. The first is that they never, ever stop cooking while on vacation. Here is what has been whipped up by the queen bees since I showed up just yesterday: chocolate chip cookies, chocolate fudge ice cream, strawberry shortcake, pulled pork barbeque, breakfast burritos, chocolate triple-layer cake, chicken salad crossaints, huckleberry milkshakes, chicken enchiladas, pico and salsa galore, and blueberry muffins from scratch. I have realized that my cooking reprituar is very limited. Poor Brad when we get home:) The second is how many trips to town the group cumulatively makes in 1 day. Today was around 9.

Highlights thus far have included the following:

• Logan and I missing our plane after running like crazy people through the airport and meeting the most impossible lady employed by the airlines
• Logan and I waking up at 3:00 A.M. in the Luxor to catch our flight to the Missoula airport, 3 hours away from the desired destination
• Brad getting a blow-out on his way to get us, and the three of us seeing the worst car accident we've ever witnessed directly in front of us
• Brad using zero discretion and letting Logan ride into town with him on the Harley
• Logan putting in atleast 3 hours a day on the waverunner and not allowing anyone else to drive it
• Grandpa building a patio and a sandbox all in one week
• Mike shocking us by arriving with a stunning beard and full mustache. (looks a bit sophisticated but frightens the kids away)

To be continued......

Road trip!!

So the morning after getting home from the AI concert, we headed with the Harwoods to San Diego to fight the pit crowd at a Coldplay concert. They played in an outdoor ampitheatre that held 20,000 loyal fans. Holy crap, it was much better than Salt Lake had been. The highlights of the trip were as follows: Stephanie practically beat (with a flailing glowstick) some low-life chickas that stepped in front of her at the concert. Don't mess with a 4'10" Coldplay groupie or you will get hurt. Justin has a legitimate phobia of bridges, which became appearant as he white knuckled and sweat bullets while driving us to Coronado Island. He also has a serious co-dependence problem with the lady on the navigation system. Brad insisted on Justin trusting him, but Justin couldn't do without the soothing voice letting us know to turn off in 4/10ths of a mile. Max travels well and attracts a scene. I took Tramadol both days, which causes me to say and slur conversations that should never be repeated. Death Valley was 122 degrees. What a great time with the Harwood fam.

Really, really happy week

Steph, Lora, Tanya, Kim, Nattie, Leah having fun w/o us

Steph, Nattie, Tanya, me, Steph

Savannah, Kiara, Kaile, Ryker, Logan, Halle (Nixon and Christian sleeping)


So this last week was a pretty wicked awesome one. And I am soooo paying for it now. My body has declared war on me since I arrived home. And it was worth every second. Steph Farrer and I drove to Salt Lake for a reunion with some of our girlie friends that we miss very much. We had a great time catching up. We got to see Tanya while she was in the country, Laura Denny before football season starts in Buffalo, Laura G. before her Malaysia/Tolman world trip, Natalie, Stephanie T, Kim, Leah, and all of the husbands and kiddos. I am a lucky girl to know such fabulous girls. Logan and I stayed with Rach and Ty, which is always a treat. Max broke in her carpet with a few accidents:) Sorry Rach. AND, I got to meet Jamie's manlove, Christian. They are so getting married before its all said and done.

And now for the highlight of the Salt Lake visit. Steph F. and I went to the American Idol Tour concert on Tues. night. Oh snap, it was one of the funnest nights of my life! We sat, well stood, in the middle of the second row. I can't decide if I should be more embarrased that I got on Steph's shoulders to get Adam to wave to us, or that we ran through sprinklers, tried to pay off little girls, and waited for over an hour to meet and get pics all of them. Or maybe I am most embarrased about what I talked about with Danny Gokey, or that I only got a pic of Steph's forehead while she was meeting Chris Allen cuz I was too excited to focus the camera. Oh, brother. Lil, Megan, and Anoop all sounded much better live. Matt and Chris RAILED on the piano, and Adam did a few things that made you feel like you should be closing your eyes. But boy can perform. And he did The Muse proud. Alison was perfect as always, and Chris was out of sight. The music was all sooo good. The Fray, the Killers, the Beatles, Bill Withers, Tears for Fears, Heart, Alicia Keys, Journey, Ray Charles, Pink...... now that is a shmorgasboard of artistry all in one night.

Yihoo for our favorite summer day!

God bless America. And Canada. And happy birthday to a really amazing person named Kate. So yesterday was a kick in the pants. So much so, that I was compelled to blog about it while everyone else is making dinner and wondering where I have gone and hid. So I woke up on the third feeling really sad that we wouldn't get to spend the day with some of our favorite people like in previous years, but soooo dang glad that we have the Harwoods and Farrers to share good times with. Also, we are lucky to have enjoyed Joe, our neighbor who entertained us with his unbelievable stories and reminded us about why we celebrate. He has seen and lived the ugliness of war after war like no one else I know. He loves this country with a profound depth that none of us, (especially Brad;)) can understand. And, he makes a wicked awesome batch of baked beans. We were really glad that Eric, Aspen, and Autumn Bueshae came out to spend the daynwith all of us.

We swam, we ate, we blew things up, we watched fireworks, we blew more things up, and we stayed up way too late making fun of each other. And Ralph, the neurotic schnauzer, survived yet another traumatizing 4th of July.

Quick update so that I can post July 4th

Baseball cupcakes for some hard-core atheletes

A fun swim day in the oh-so-hot sun

Logan's hilarious group of T-ball extraordinaires

Month of June happenings:

• Packing, moving, unpacking, greeting 1,000 subs/day who came to the rescue when things didn't work right
• Sandblasted the pool, killed the cockroach colonies, skowered the premise, scrubbed the house
• Got our first neighbor, good 'ole Joe. He deserves his own post, and will get one soon.
• Great days at the lake
• A fun visit from mom, Bailee and dad
• Busting through into the awkward phase of being introduced to the ward as a new visitor for several weeks in a row
• A weekend with Val
• Lots of beautiful walks
• Lots of Logan's T-ball games
• Way too much Benadryl, some sad tears, and a successful placement of Tillie into an adoptive family who loves her as much as we do. And they are cousins of mine, so we get to see her in town whenever we want. Okay, seriously.... the allergy problem became super, uber dysfunctional.

R.I.P cockroaches, R.I.P

Let me introduce myself. I am a cockroach, the most pointless and prevelant creature in these badlands. My 10,000,000 frinds and I own the greater Saint George area. Like all the others who have gone before me, I chose to die in the designated 'dead roach spot'. The Harkers wake up every morning of their life to many dead roaches around the premise, but always one right in this very place. It's the sweet spot.

The dog is still alive :)

Well, we must love this little girl much more than anticipated. I think that the following facts prove that Brad and I are forever-changed people:

• Tillie has peed on interior soft surfaces over 30 times
• As our allergy becomes more desensitized, we pop less benadryl
  
• She sheds black hair on our white sheets, and I don't freak out
  
• She got super-duper sick and spread her diarrhea at least 20 times in the house within a 24 hour period, and we cleaned the green goo up every time (not that we had a choice)
  
• We spent the second half of the night, the next two days, and way too much money at the animal ER to save her little canine life
• We both just about lost it to hysterics (okay, that was just me) when we thought she was dying of parvo
  
• We are getting her shirts that are far cuter than anything in our current wardrobes

So we are totally loving this little cutie, and crossing our fingers that she will do well in our next house.Why wouldn't she? Well for starters, she can't swim and I can't find any cat-size life jackets out there so far. Secondly,we have been warned by 3 separate people not to leave her outside alone. Ever. Reason? So that one of the giant hawks out where we live does not pick her up and fly her away as a hearty meal. Are you kidding me? Wish her luck =-)

This is going to be a long blog session

Today is Friday! Yihoo! But it is also 6 weeks since my last entry, so I will try to journal the recent happenings of our life here in St. George. I think I will resort to list form in order to keep my thoughts on track. Here it goes:

End of April- May

• Continued coaching gymnastic classes at Logan's school/gym until my ambition lost out to my physical therapist's voice of warning. So, we put that one on hold for now.
• Lots of evening bike rides, including one worth remembering. I took Logan down into a deep canyon trail behind the house, only to discover that the only ways out were to hike up a ravine, or walk through super deep sand while pushing the bike. Brad found us and climbed down to our rescue just after dark. Logan thought we should have camped out with all of the bunnies. 
• We drove home to Idaho to spend time with the family, see my sister's new home,  and see mom home from her trip to India. Poor mom was very sick for too long after she got back. What an unbelievable adventure she had. We were so lucky to be in Idaho Falls for Laura's wedding. We got to spend a day with many of Brad's cousins, their kids, and Grandma Peggy. Seeing our friends and neighbors definitely pulled at the heart strings. But the kicker was saying bye to nieces and nephews. 
• Kim and Peyton came to spend that next week with us! We tried to squeeze a lot into a little bit of time, and we LOVED having them here with us. 
• Harwoods slept over again and joined us in Zion's park for the day. 
• Mom and Dad Harker came to St. George two different times. On the second visit we drove all through the park, and then joined a lovely polygamist family for the bus tour. Val is the greatest person on the planet to accompany you anywhere that is remotely fascinating. I thought her Oooohhh's and Aaaaah's were going to cause her a heart attack:) We love ya Val. The scene truly was stunning that day-like heaven on earth. Oh yeah, and I contemplated crossing the Virgin River to get back to the fam after taking a long, wrong path. (Any patterns forming?:)
• Logan graduated from preschool with a bang. His part, "Uranus is the seventh planet from the sun," was delivered with virtually no flaws. Well, except for the fact that he can't say "from". The program was hilarious.
• Logan also started T-ball with a team in Santa Clara. Wow, what a player he is. He even tackles his own teammates on occasion in attempt to get the ball. 
• We have spent some super-duper fun boating days on Sand Hollow lake with the Farrers, Nasals, and Harwoods. The water has thus far definitely lent itself more towards tubing than wakeboarding. The surfing, however, has been fab. 
• We spent the Memorial Day weekend with the Harwoods in Vegas so that we could all experience Lake Mead on an uber windy day. We still had a great time watching Reese tear it up on the surfboard, and Hoover Dam is lookin' good. 
• Brad is headed to Idaho this weekend to load up our house and get it ready for the renters that will be moving in this week.

This next event was life-altering, impulsive, and just plain stupid. We are the semi-proud new owners of a ......... well, we aren't really sure what she is. Brad thinks she is a miniature pinscher. I think she has a little bit of chiwawa, beagle, or maybe pug. Actually, she slightly resembles a cute rat. We got a bit of wool pulled over our eyes from a nice lady in North Vegas. The dog's name is Tillie, she poops and pees A LOT, and she acts as though she has just had too much caffeine all.......day........long. Despite the chaos, Logan is in high-heaven. Knowing that it will take a while to find new friends at our next house, we felt like he needed something to occupy his time. It's working!!

I would say that the level of intensity in our family is quite high, but we are staying sane through all the changes. Brad is doing well at work and handles the stress of the industry with patience and grace. I am definitely lacking in that department when it comes to my unsolved mysteries. As far as expanding the human numbers in our family, no dice yet. I did have a hystersalpingogram and a repeated round of blood work this month. Fortunately, everything still checks out to be totally normal. We are trying to decide which route to take next. We love our ObGyn, but need to find a good AI Doc in the Salt Lake or Vegas area. I feel a much greater deal of stress regarding my hips/back/pelvis than I do about fertility. Pretty sure that something needs to happen to my body before pregnancy takes place. I am totally burned out from  the pain. It just hurts so dang bad, all the time. Seriously, I don't know what is happening after 4 years of trying to fix it all! I sometimes wonder if trying to stay of my feet for a few months would let everything heal. But that is totally impossible to do. Besides, someone would have to drug-induce a coma to get me to stay down that long. So many emotions. So desperate and exhausted. Soooooo over it. :)

So that's a wrap. We are having a very fun and adventurous summer. I am so grateful to live in a place surrounded by beautiful things everywhere, and to have fam and friends close enough to see. I am going to put up some fun pics of Logan to go along with the journal recap. But first I am going to pick up Tillie's poop. Aahh, bliss. 

"Urrrrrranus is the seventh planet of, uhh for the sun."

Graduation Day

Let's get this over with

Meet Tillie.

She likes to bite.

She doesn't know how to feel about Brad:)

Sheesh, what a week

Sunday was Easter. Monday was Logan's big birthday party. (I'll write about it later.) Logan started school . The teachers were totally impressed with his creative jail-breaks as he would sneak into the gym while I was coaching, and beg me to let him stay. We cut at the apron strings all week, and they finally broke. Well, kind of. Brad went out of town Tues-Thurs. and had clients in town until late Friday night. I was ridiculously nauseated all week. Pregnant? Nice try:) I verified this at the Doc's office on Friday. Brad thinks that I should start just buying cases of 1,000 pregnancy tests off of the internet. I should own stock shares in those babies by now. Anyhoos, while I was filling out ppr work at the office, a sweet little hispanic babe somehow managed to take my phone out of my purse and into his momma's diaper bag. I left the office and spent the next 3 hours like a crazed woman looking for my phone. By 5:00 I went back to check the Doc's office for myself after calling them 4 times from various stranger's call phones.

I walk in and the manager explains, "An interpereter from the City offices just came by frantically explaining that the woman with her, who had been here for an appt. earlier in the day had found this cell phone in her bag after arriving at home. She spoke no english, and so drove around to each place she had been that day, hoping to find the owner. But no one at the Doc's office, which was her last errand, spoke any spanish. Finally, she went to the city building to find an interpereter to assist her in communicating with me about the situation. They came by just now, and here we are." 

Seriously? How lucky can a girl get? The funniest part about the deal was that whilst my phone was MIA, Brad's mom Val was lost in Las Vegas traffic, without her cell phone, trying to call me from pay phones to get directions to our house in St. George. But as Val always does when fighting any type of traffic, she changed course and went to the temple for a session instead.

The three of us headed down to Vegas to see the parents on Saturday. SO MUCH FUN to be this close to Val and Orin as they frequent sin city. So sad that I missed out on a girl's weekend with my sisters in Utah. We spent the day at the Radical race track in Purhump. Orin gave me my first ride on the track in his radical, and I never imagined that taking corners at 80 mph with 2-3 g's would be so much fun. The rush was a totally different feeling than being on the track in the Lambo, or Ferrari, the only common thread being that 'I could die any second' feeling. I really wish that Orin could decide to take up a hobby that was a little less life-threatening. I think that I would rather that Brad pursues his pilot dreams than the racing ones. 

Sunday was spent showing Val and Orin the St. George valley. After saying goodbye, we took Logan to the park for the evening so that we could read. He found a new friend and kept calling him 'Whackin'. His name was Bracken. Good thing his mom had a sense of humor. It's getting hot outside. We have no idea what hot is really going to feel like. 

Happy Easter, kids?

I couldn't resist jotting down the following event from the weekend: Logan and his 2 friends prepared for a wicked-awesome easter egg hunt in the park on Sunday evening. Daddies hid the 60 eggs filled with money and candy, while we enjoyed the watching the kites at the other end of the very large park. The dads drove back to pick us up. We return to the place of the hidden eggs to find that we had been straight-up robbed. The kids exclaim in horror, “The Easter Bunny stole everything and left all of the eggs. That is sooooo mean!” The dads grumble, “What the h%@*? Let’s go find them and beat them up.” The moms, laughing our heads off, interject, “Quick, take some pictures for the blog!” Not an event that I would have planned to experience on the most significant holiday of the year. Thank the heavens literally for the Atonement, those robbers are in need of some forgiveness. Pictures to follow this week. 

 

Share this....

Happy Easter! Today is a beautiful day. Take time to share these great Easter messages with your families. Youtube is not all bad, just mostly:( But the LDS Church now posts a lot of super videos on youtube, so you can subscribe to the LDS-sponsered channel. I hope everyone is enjoying this day. We are so blessed to understand and know that our Savior lives. 

Sincere Prayer

Logan was saying the family prayer last night, and the last thing he prayed for was as follows:     ".... and please bless that I won't have a stupid day tomorrow, Amen." Ya might as well say it like it is, right? 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to all 7 of you!!!

Just sending a quick shout out to some of my most favorite people in the whole world, whose birthdays dominate the month of April. Sorry to the family abroad, for being lame and not contributing to the celebration. I love you all very much. 

Val- You are one of the most phenomenal women that I will ever know. You are a tremendously important player in our lives. Logan sums it up best.  "Grandma Val is a really, really fun and silly Grandma. She likes to buy me cool shoes and play crazy games all the time. What's the one with the pan and string again? Oh yeah. See, she is the game grandma. But I like car Grandpas too."

Dad- You will be our favorite person in the world if you will come visit us. Until then, you are still a really great dad. And you just get younger every year. We really do miss you, and Logan is dying to learn how to fish at the ranch. Happy 45th B-day;-)

Mikey- How does it feel to be 22 and still be called Mikey? We like having you in the United States for as long as we can. Though we do realize that you are out at the first opportunity:) I hope you had an ultra fab B-day, and that you got a new tie to replace that insanely hideous one you've been sporting as of late. We love ya, bring your camera to see us soon. 

Rach- I have no doubt that you will be doing something really fun for your day. I am thinking that you should really go out on a limb for this birthday and ask for a purse. Every girl ought to have one or two.... or would one more make 35? :) You can't help it if you happen to be ridiculously beautiful and have great style. Your birthday reminds me that I am feeling old. Thanks a lot. 

Ella- You can't read, but your momma sure can so I wish to congratulate you, Nic, on entering the terrible twos! Yeah!! I love you so much little girl. I miss your giggles and silly monkey comments. Have a really special birthday and get cake everywhere! xoxoxoxox

Camden- Holy smokes! Are you 4 already? You should really tell your mom that she is the best birthday party thrower ever. Call me and tell me all about it, okay buddie? We miss you. You really should consider America for a change, don't you think, Cam? I remind Logan that you were born 7 days before him, and he is certain that this makes him 1 week newer. I think it's better to be 1 week older though, don't you?

Logan- Well, I am not so certain that this guy can be 4 yet. We told him that he has to act 4 if he wants to turn 4. We shall see what next Wednesday brings to the table. We have six days left to make enough friends to throw a birthday party :) Sweet.

Real quick, can someone give me a name of a good dentist/endodontist in St. George? The mouths in this family need some help. Gracias.

Our son is a piece of work ;-)

Ahhh, conference weekend always seems to be a special one -unique from all other spring weekends. This weekend was one not to be soon forgotten, mostly thanks to Logan.

He kicked it off by giving his mowhawk a little trim. It served me right. I was upstairs packing our swimming paraphanilia before leaving to meet friends at the pool. I got distracted with a phone call. Twenty minutes later, Logan hadn't come up to hurry me along. I rushed down the stairs to find him sitting on the couch with a guilty face, the scissors hiding on the floor amidst the chunks of hair. "Mom, my hair was getting way too long, so I cut a little here, and a little here "(pointing to each side of the point of his mohawk). I tried to act mad, but couldn't help laughing as I realized that by looking with Logan at Finley and Cannon's recent accidents via blogs, I had totally planted the seed in his little head. Oh well.

Saturday took us on a long drive through the valley, followed by spending time at the park while we waited for the husbands to come home. We went to our house with the Farrers to watch Slumdog Millionare. What a fantastic, and suprisingly clean show. However, I am now not very excited about my mom serving a short health mission in Mumbai. Yikes mom, take your pepper spray. Okay, so here were the quotes to remember from Logan that day:

"Mom, so Obama is our newest prophet. Did you know that?" 

"When Jesus comes and gets rid of all the bad guys, he will leave daddy long-legs because they are actually nice to us. "

Today brought the weekend to a great close. Logan started this day by yelling for me from the bathtub. I found him with a razor and a bloody bottom lip. "Mom, ouch, oowwww! I was shaving and I got cut!" Great. He asserted himself to a quick fix by slapping on a spiderman bandaid across his lips. Not 5 minutes later, he was yelling for me from the bathroom again. He had left the tub running while he got out to go #2, and the tub was  over-flowing because the flood drain couldn't keep up. He was on the toilet with his goggles on. "Mom, I was practicing diving in my swimming pool and then I needed to poop, and now I can't shut the pool off because I dropped Chick Hicks in the pottie and I am not leaving him there." Seriously? Well, I did what any mom would do to avoid having to buy a new chick hicks. I fished it out, and bleached it out. Good grief.Then I took advantage of the soapy water and let it mop the bathroom. We finally got out of the house and up to Snow Canyon for tinfoil dinners and exploring the park. With the exception of our forgotten firewood, the evening was pretty darn fun. Brad likes to pretend that he is Bear Grils with his flint and pocket knife. Cody is not ever allowed to cook the french fries again. 

Fender girl

Current Events

I can't help but be quite surprised about how different the day-to-day of our new life has been. First of all, I feel like we are finally awake again. Does my family hibernate in the winter? A comparison between the aliveness from the last season to the current, would show that our bodies and brains are now functioning at double the previous capacity. I personally think that I run on solar energy. No more napping, no more sleeping in, ever. Not even for Brad. He is up and out the door by 8:00. Weird. 

Second, I am reading like a book-crazed feign. Could it be boredom, or motivation? I think that I actually owe most of my new-found addiction to Miss Bella Swan and Edward Cullen. 9 days, four books, a billion pages. Why, oh why did I give in to the phenom? The current projects are "These is my Words" and "Hunger Games." The next noticable difference is that I never clean anymore! What the he#%? I am not lying when I say that I have not dusted in over 3 weeks. It's freaky, how much time you can spend on not keeping house. I can't decide if its more grimey than it is liberating. (Not that the decision will change the new behavior.) 

Lastly, Logan resembles a puppy that has to pee when he gets dressed and darts for the door every morning. I can't keep the kid inside anymore. He has to have a daily plan to swim, play at the park, throw a ball, or ride his bike up these ridiculous hills that are making his calf muscles mutate before my eyes. School starts next week, so hopefully he won't be so hard-up for being entertained all ...    day   ...   long. I have started to coach some gymnastics classes at his Montessori school for 6 or so hours a week so that I don't have to donate my internal organs to afford tuition. 

Okay, this last difference is kind of funny. I need more music.  So, I am learning to play the guitar while my violin just stares at me in horror. Despite the neglect, we will be auditioning for the Dixie symphony. I'm not going to count on a positive outcome, so the back-up is going to be rockin' out in the bedroom, conviently located above a realtor/developer's office. Here is a pic of my future musical love affair, and no Brad, i'm not refering to Adam Lambert. 

Procrastination

I realize that I haven't journaled in a while.... So many things to say, but nothing that I feel like sharing with the cyber world. I've decided that I should go private- only me being invited-as I spew out my thoughts and lessons learned and ideas and good and bad experiences and.... Maybe I should rely on my memory for most of that recall, but I happen to be well aware of my tendencies to forget some of the things that one ought to not forget:) The second pickle when it comes to blogging is that I spend my free time writing things -sometimes lengthy blurbs- about pieces of life that strike me. If I were to post them, I think I would inflict migraines for anyone who doesn't enjoy hanging out in left field once in a while;) I would hate to contribute to the already inevitable headaches of the allergy season, so  i'll have to figure out another  place to put my oh-so-earth shattering writing before it eats up all the remaining space on my hard drive.  

So I made a lady cry in church on Sunday. Being the only one in relief society under the age of 60, I sat by this cute lady that told me all about her life. I opened my big mouth about whether or not she was married, and then I did her in. She told me that her hubby died and that she was seeing the man next door, who just died too. Way to go Andrea. Other than that, it was a great day. On Saturday, the three of us went through Zion's. Logan thought it reminded him a lot of Radiator Springs:) We are excited to go again in a few weeks when everything has greened up. 

I checked out this uber fabulous house up in the Ledges a few days ago. It was unlocked and vacant, so Logan and I helped ourselves. Next thing I know, he is running right past the pool house and on to the bathroom. He had a bad tummy, and I didn't realize that the water throughout the house was shut off. Oh man, I felt bad about that one. I think i'll forget that it ever happened.

The next bit of excitement is that Logan and I are officially in  love with the Summit Athletic Club. Snap.  So nice. I took Logan swimming after I worked out this morning and he was loving the new friends. The little scaredy pants finally went under the water today. He came back up and said, "I DID IT! It was like magic, and I didn't die!" We got some major stares with that one. They probably thought I had tried too many fear tactics to keep my kid from learning to swim. We both got sunburned- lesson learned. Braddo has a conference in Vegas so we will be meeting up with the Harker fam in Vegas tomorrow night through Sunday to watch grandpa O race his car and hang out with Mikey before he is back in school. We are excited to see everybody;)

A few thoughts on the day....

Note to self: ALWAYS stay at least 10 meters behind the snowbird folk. I think I almost got smash-crashed by 5 different sweet elderly people today. Despite the scares on the road, I sure have been on them a lot. Logan and I have an odd habit of getting ourselves intentionally lost. He calls it 'peaking' until it's dark, then we are 'sneaking'. I have spent too much time in the car for my own good, but I had to check this place out. And there is a lot of stretched-out land to discover. Logan and I met Stephanie, Taylor, and Kai at the Washington City rec center today for a 3 hour swim. To my surprise, it was awesome. With the exception of running as fast as he could when the bucket tipped, Logan was uncharacteristically brave on the tube slides and water jungle gyms. That place is beautiful, big, and clean. It will definitely become part of the general routine. So I ran into a good friend, Arielle, there today, followed by 2 guys who grew up in my ward, at Cafe Rio. Small LDS world down here for sure.
Brad is working 11-12 hour days! He gone by 7:30 and home around then as well. I am really excited for his new job, as he is enjoying it very much. I am also CRAVING a hard day's work (not in the form of a job:)), responsibility, schedule, obligations, you know, the usual that moms go through with only one little tike running around. I look forward to finding ways of getting involved in some kind of something that pushes and challenges me. Alright, enough of trying to catch up this journal. My fam is the greatest and I hope all is going well for each one of them. If any of you read this, visit or call Grandpa F, okay? He really loves company. Alrighty, signing off!

Home, home in the desert....

Well, I suppose that it is time to update my blog as the wintry scene of Idaho has taken direction south  to a quite summer-ish desert landscape! We officially moved to Saint George this past weekend. The move came abruptly in my opinion, for which I am thankful. As my dear friend Suzie assured me, "Ripping the band-aid off is less painful than slowly tugging at it." To that, I agree. I am gawking out my bedroom window at the hustle-bustle of a busy freeway, the comfort of vast blue mountains in the distance, and the orange atmosphere most adjacent. I think I can hear it screaming, "Put on your Chacos, go buy a fanny pack, and let's go climbing!" I even ate granola for breakfast this morning, He-he:) Greening palm trees add a nice touch to this crazy sight, I must say. 

Amidst settling in to the housing provided by Brad's new boss, the three of us decided to guess which ward we belonged to. We were told 1:00 pm. and were feeling pretty confident about a nearby stake center, just one of the million LDS-bannered  steeples you can see in each direction. After walking in and looking around, we doubted. A younger man commented to us that this temporary branch is exlusively full of wonderfully old people. With that, we hurried across the parking lot to another church building. After the sacrament meeting, a kind bishop informed us that the ward we should be attending is in Redcliffs, and that we would fit in just fine among the newly-wed and nearly dead. (Leg slapper, I know.) 

Not to my suprise, I found myself at the Home Depot garden center for a few hours yesterday. I can finally grow my coveted 'firesticks' euphorbia, and don't think I won't! I also potted some annuals and re-potted my tulip bulbs just before their grand showing. One more memory from the weekend: Logan began his 24-hour puking party on the floor at Tai Pan, and wound the excitement up a day later in my bed. Glad that bug has come and gone. 

I miss my family. Nichole and Joe just concluded their move into the new house without the help of the parents, who escaped to Maui just in time to miss both moving projects. Ah shucks, right mom and dad? Rachel and Tyler went on the Maui trip with them. They are having a marvelous time. Kim and Jesse are in Rexburg until we blindfold, kidnap, and bring them here to Saint George. I love the people of Idaho Falls, Shadow mountain ward and always will. We met and made some of the greatest people we know while there, and it will always feel like home. 

A journal entry about the BOSS

His pajama shirt that states, "I'm the boss around here," has become a self-fulfilling prophesy. Logan is always making me laugh with his silly logic and peculiar habits. He loves to hide whenever dad comes home. He drinks and pees more than anyone I have ever met. He absorbs new information like a spunge and is quite insightful. He loves being with his mom and really treasures all of his grandparents. He is a great cook, a super-duper reader, and works hard at school. He has become quite an ice hockey player and loves to pretend that he is a basketball star. Infact, he wears his jersey and shorts whenever his spiderman costume is not on. HOWEVER, this nearly 4 year-old little boy has transitioned from a sensitive, adaptable, easy going, mommy/daddy pleaser to a tyrant in a spidey man costume. As I sit here, he is chasing three friends with a gun in each hand. Last night he started to become so delirious after after resisting bedtime that he ran himself right into the closed door! (His sleep hygeine is a joke.) He can throw a tantrum lately that shakes the roof. And he has mastered whining rather than talking. He has been sassy and incouragable the last few days. Seriously, I will go ahead and blame myself for pampering him. The kid pretty much gets our attention whenever he wants or needs it. What else would I do? He knows that I have the time. The little dude is always with me. Where is the happy medium between spoiling and neglecting when you only have one child? I will have to keep working this one out in my head. In the mean time, I am going to go break up a fight.

Abrubt End

Maddy moved out. 

Digging deep to find it....

In the depths of winter I finally learned 
there was in me an invincible summer.

~ Albert Camus

Multimedia message

Great grandpa is teaching logan how to paint!

We will miss you

This is my beautiful, sweet Grandma, Jaquoline Ferney. She was loved very much by her family. My grandpa took wonderful care of her. She was a fantastic woman and a very good friend. Grandma had a strong testimony of the truth that she learned through her life. She and my grandpa were married for 61 years, and were sealed in the temple 13 years ago. She was a talented skiier, golfer, socialite, and storyteller. She had a serious obsession for shoes and jewelry. She usually wore atleast 6 rings at a time. Grandma even had a fake pinkie fingernail that was dipped in gold. She loved to dance growing up. Grandma spent most of her time fishing and camping in the summers. She took her girlfriends on fishing trips in Island Park. She loved her ladies golf league and organizing the Women's day ski trips at Targhee. She took suntanning seriously and once showed me how to surround your body with tinfoil to attract the sun rays. She really loved little children. Logan adored his grandma as much as she did him. I have been a lucky girl to live only blocks away the last 2 years. She died on Sunday night, at the age of 78. I will never forget that night together. She motivates me to attempt to make life as fun and exhilirating as she did. Party on grandma, I love you love you love you. 

A quick catch-up

This past Saturday Brad, Logan, Maddy and I started home from Calgary. Due to some monstrous roads, we detoured over to the cabin outside of Kalispel for the night. Upon our arrival, we discovered that the driveway had remained peacefully undisturbed by any neighboring snow plows through the winter. Moreover, the area had experienced some record-worthy snow dumps. What a wonderful surprise to greet a path of fluffy snow that measured above Brad's waist! Well, being the dignified man of the family, be began to dig with a shovel until he could envision his manly truck busting through the drifts and onto the trail:) We tried, we got stuck, and we got neighbors to help us out. We then loaded some essentials onto Logan's sled and followed the deer trails down into the cabin. Logan loved every minute. After sharing a bath tub (clothes on)between the four of us to warm up the frozen piggies, we went to bed anticipating the rest of the next day's drive.

Okay, now I have to just record a few of Logan's latest and greatest words. I forget whatever pearls of wisdom he shares unless I record them promptly after regaining my composure.

"Mom, do you have hair under your arms? Nope. Hold on, I'll be right back. Daaaaad! Do you have hair in your arm pits? Woah! That is awesome. I want some!"

(After refusing for the umpteenth time to go climb into bed, he starts to sob as I tell him that he will be grounded and to get up those stairs and into his room.) "Mom, I love you but I just can't do this."

"Heavenly Father, please bless mom that she will start excersizing." (He had heard me recite my New Year's resolution to start lifting weights more regularly.)

"Logan, you are so cute." (very angrily) "MOOOMMMM! STOP IT! I am not cute! I am cool and you know that."

Make a Smilebox slideshow