Goodbye, Sugar

Goodbye, Sugar, my sweet white rabbit. Sugar has gone to rabbit heaven. (tear)
There are a few things a parent never wants to do, and one of those is have to tell their child that a pet has died, and then clean up that deceased pet. I had the unfortunate opportunity of doing that today. This evening while I was cooking dinner, Tylar went out and feed her rabbits. When she came in she said something was wrong with Sugar. She didn't come out to eat when she put the food in their kennel. I said she was probably fine and not to worry. She was very insistant that something was wrong. I told her not to worry, that I would check it out in a bit. After more persistance I left the stove and went into the garage, with Tylar close on my heels. When I opened the top, I found Sugar dead in the kennel. I gasped and shut the top as soon as I realized what I was looking at. Without trying to make it a big deal I told Ty to get in the house. She is not a stupid child, most kids would have thought it was sleeping, but not her. She knew right away what had happened. Sugar had died. She tried not to cry, but couldn't hold it. She burst into tears and I picked her up. I was trying hard not to cry myself, trying to stay composed for her. I grabbed the phone and called JD. I told him what had happened, as Tylar went and told her brother. We had lots of tears at our house for a little bit. I had to go pick the stiff rabbit up and gently wrapped it in a bag. This was so hard. I remember her being so soft and fragile, and now she was stiff and cold and hard. I put her in a box and closed the lid. Tears filled my eyes while I did this.
We are not sure what we are going to do with the rabbit corpse. It was a really hard evening. I am not sure why she died, either. Rabbits are prone to diseases and cancers, so maybe that was the issue, and we jsut didn't know it. Dinner was full of remembrance and questions, and more tears. A quick trip to maggie moo's helped the mood, but did not take the pain away. The mood now is a bit better, as long as we don't mention it. Tylar is a very mature little girl. When people would say they were sorry, she would reply, "It's not your fault. It's just somehting that happens." I'm sure the next couple of days will have a few more tears, but it will get better.
So, if you have a pet, be sure to prepare yourself on what you will do and say when the time comes for your pet to pass.
RIP Sugar: 12/29/2008 You will be missed! (Another tear)




Tylar getting Sugar for her birthday in Nov. 2007

Oh, Tylar!

Most of you know the personality of my daughter Tylar, She is something else! Anyway, she is always saying these hilarious things. Here's one from a few days beofre Christmas...
JD and I had gone to Costco for a few things and decided to get a couple of sets fo the snowball launchers for us, and one set for a friend of ours for Christmas. The next day we were getting ready to take the gift over, and Tylar said, "Can't we just take them out of the box and play with them? We can put them back when we're done!" I told her no, that we are not using someone else's gift. She replied, "Its just like a used car, other people drive it and then they give it back and then someone else uses it. It the same thing!"
Well...she did have a point! What makes it even funnier is that my husband sells cars. Needless to say we gave away the gift, and then played with our own snoball launchers!

Some props to my little, well younger, Bro!

This past weekend we went down to Cedar City to see my brother, his wife and their new cute baby (see previous post). While we were down there I got to go on a short ride-along with my brother, who is a Cedar City Police Officer. A ride-along is where a civilian (every-day person) gets to tag along and see what officers do during their shift. It was really fun. We went on a domestic violence call, but nothing too exciting there. We pulled a few people over, but no drug arrests or anything. Then we found one guy who was drunk and pulled him over. He blew a .198! He was totally wasted. Anyway, here are a few pics of my brother in his police uniform.
Props to you little bro! Way to serve and protect! XOXOXO



My brother hugging my kids at his Police Academy Graduation.



My sister, brother, and me after his graduation.



Him and his fancy-schmacy police cruiser.

Isn't he just handsome?
I am so proud of him. Love ya baby brother!

My first niece!

I would like to introduce my first niece...Chloe Ann Norris, born today. 7 lbs 10 oz., 20.5 inches. She looks alot like my brother. I can't wait to see her this weekend! XOXOXO Baby Chloe.

Big Butts...No Wammies!

I took the kids to breakfast with my mom at Village Inn yesterday. As many of you know, my little Tylar is quite spunky, for lack of a better word. So we were sitting at the table eating and she kept sliding down in her seat and kicking her brother under the table. After several times of asking her to stop, my mom finally said, "Ty, you're pressing you're luck!" With out hesitation, she sat upright in her seat, placed her hands over the table, started waving them around an imaginary button and shouted, "Big butts, no whammies. Big butts, no whammies...STOP!" She proceeded to slam her hands down on the table as if she were pushing the imaginary button. She threw her hands up in the air a moment later and said, "Oh! A whammy!" My mom, Braydon and myself were laughing so hard, we all had tears streaming down our cheeks. After getting a grip on ourselves, I had to explain to her that it was "Big Bucks", not "Big Butts!"

The third time around

I saw Twilight for the third time tonight. I would have to say...it never get old! It actually gets better everytime I see it. I think I would be happy to see it every week. I -HEART- TWILIGHT!

Warning!!!

Just to let you know that if you have entered my blog and a man's smooth voice asks you, "Are you afraid?" Don't panic! There is not someone in the house with you! Do not jump up and bite your tongue and scream. It is just the angelic voice of Edward (from Twilight) from the song Bella's Lullaby Remix.
Sorry, Aubri, I had to! :)

Our new addition to our family

Now, don't get too excited, we are not talking about a human addition. We decided to get a cat.I have wanted a cat for a long time, and I finally got her yesterday. JD and I had been talking about it for a while, and we made a trip to the animal shelter yesterday. When I saw her, I knew she was the one. I walked up to the cage and she stuck her little paw out and reached for me. It was so precious. We decided we needed to bring the kids in to see how she reacted to them. The lady at the desk told us that if we didn't find one we liked a whole new batch would be in tomorrow. I asked where these ones would go. She said today was their last day and then they would be euthanized. I almost burst into tears! I wanted to take all 20 of them home. I knew I couldn't. We left and after the kids got out of school we took them down. I knew she was a fit when she attached right to the kids. We did the adoption and brought her home. We named her S'mores. She is so precious. She hasn't had any accidents (yet) and is such a good kitty. She was a stray someone brought in. She does have a cold and has a vet appointment today to get her shots and a check-up. The animals at our house now outnumber the humans...1 cat, 1 dog, 1 fish and 2 rabbit. Hmmm...


Tylar petting her

Laying in her bed

She is so pretty!

Us at the adoption center.

A personal note...please have your pet spayed or neutered. I know I sound like Bob Barker, but to see the amount of stray cats and dogs at the shelter was heart breaking. To know that it wasn't their fault, but now they had to be put down was so hard. If you are looking for a pet, please adpot one from the animal shelter. Just knowing that I saved this precious life was amazing!

BYU vs Utah

JD and I got tickets to the BYU/Utah game last month. It was so much fun. We didn't have the best seats, but what do you expect for free? Anyway, we were surrounded, of course, by Utah fans, but not too far away in any direction were BYU fans. So we were there sporting our BYU blue, having a great time. There were a couple of guys in front of us that were pretty cool! We heckled each other, but as BYU started to throw the game away, there was less for us to heckle about. Anyway, all in all it was a lot of fun.

The halftime show...


Sack 'em BYU!



Us

twilighters...FYI!

I just found out New Moon is slated for an early 2010 release date! I sooo can't wait! Just wanted to share it with everyone.

Twilight

Yes, I am totally obsessed with Twilight, and yes, I went to the MIdnight showing. It was so worth it though! There was a group of us that went. We first went to PF Changs for dinner. We had the ever-so-yummy Great Wall of Chocolate Cake for dessert. Y-U-M!!! We then went to the theater and the lines were crazy! We thought we would have to wait outside in the lines, but didn't know which one. So we asked one of the employees walking around and he said that they already seated our theater and that it was filling. So we ran inside, and were glad we didn't have to wait outside! We got into the theater and it was nearly full! We got the second row from the front. It wasn't too bad though. Better view of Edward! :) We sat in the theater for about 1 1/2 hours for the movie to start. We visited and just hung out. It was so good to have a girls night out, I really needed one! I can't wait for New Moon.
While I liked to movie, I was a little dissappointed how much they left out and all the inconsistencies. And, I just want to five ashout out to Edward. I was really dissappointed with who they chose for Edward at first. I made myself have an open mind, and was more than pleasantly surprised! He was actually H-O-T!!! Jasper, on the other hand, was N-O-T!!! Poor guy looked constipated and high the entire time. Rosalie was not as beautiful and she should have been and Esme was kinda plain, but still pretty. Alice was fine, Emmitt was HOT too, and Carlise was hot, but kinda pale at first. My overall impression...4 start out of 5. I would have given it a 5, but they left out too much, and there were too many inconsistencies. Plus, Edward had pit sweat rings in one shot! What?!? Yes, I am not kidding. It is in the lunch room and he is tlaking to Bella. He raises his arm and there it is...and the way he acted when she walked into the classroom for the first time. The acting at the beginning was kinda cheesy, but got better throughout. Like I said, can't wait for the rest!!! Hurry up, New Moon, I need my fix! I guess Twilight will come out on DVD before that, so I'll be able to watch it again, and again, and again...well, you get my point. I do plan on seeing it again at least one more time in the theaters. I am going to take JD. We was kinda mad he didn't get to go, but he graciously watched the kids while I went. THANKS HONEY!



Tina, me, Cindy (my mom), Terry (Kristi's friend), and Kristi at PF Changs. MMMMM!



Sara (Katrina's friend), Tina, me, Katrina (my sister), Terry, Kristi, and Cindy all waiting (some of us more anxiously) at the theater.



Tina and me passing time...making faces. Love ya T!

Disneyland

Ok,
Here is just a few highlights from out trip. It was so amazing!We flew into San Diego. We went to Universal Studios the first day. It was just ok. I think Ty was a little too young to really enjoy it, but the rest of us had fun. Then we went to Disneyland and California Adventure the next 3 days. It was so fun to watch my kids. They truly bring me joy. We then took the next day to catch up on laundry and just kinda relaz. We totally needed a relax day after the last 4. We then went to Sea World. That was MY favorite. I love animals, and seeing them was so beautiful. I think my kids liked it too. We got great seats to all the shows, and got really wet! They have this really cool thing called Dinner with Shamu. You really eat dinner right next to her private pool and have a private show. There is a picture (4th row of pics, farthest to the left). It looks like you can almost touch her, and we almost could. That's how close we were. My kids loved it. Then the next day we were going to go to either the zoo or wild animal park. We called a good friend (Thanks Karen and Dave) and they said that there were lots of other coll things to do instead. So they referred us to a great beach and we decided to go there instead. My kids loved playing at the beach. While it was the coolest of the day (only 70 degress), it was still nice. It was chilly though. I really loved it! I want to live in San Diego. I could have a weekend house there really easily. Don't worry, no plans of moving in the immeidate future, but I know that I want to one day. All in all it was a good trip. My dad wasn't feeling well, and neither was I, but we made it and the kids have an awesome memory. Next time...Disneyworld Florida!

Some day I'll get to it...

Ok, this is not exactly the post I want to be writing, but just to let you all know that I haven't fallen off the earth, I am writing a small catch-up. So, after Disneyland, life was crazy playing catch-up. Before I knew it, it was Halloween and I still hadn't posted. So, I was getting ready to take some pics of the kids going out trick-or-treating, when my attention was swerved to my dog falling off my husbands truck and I dropped my camers!! ARGH! I cannot even get it to turn on! So, now I have to go get a new one before I can get my pics on to my computer. I PROMISE...as soon as I get a new one, I'll post. But warning...it's going to be L-O-N-G!!!

Going...going...GONE!

I just wanted to put a quick post out there...I am so excited to be gong to Disneyland tomorrow! I have already a lot to post, but after that I'm sure I'll have even more!!! XOXOXO

Smoothies with Thurl Bailey

I am a smoothie junkie! I go to Roxberry Smoothies about 4 - 5 times a week. So this Saturday while running errands, and before I decided to tackle Costco, I wanted a smoothie. So my mom and I went into Roxberry and there sat Thurl Bailey.
I am sure I had a look on my face that said, "OMG! I totally know who you are!" But I politely said "HI." He said hi back and I ordered my smoothie. As we waited it was hard to not just sit and stare He was there with his wife and three kids. It was really cool to see him interact like he is just a regular person. I so badly wanted to ask for his autograph, or even a pic with him, but I am sure he just wants to hang out like a regular person. So, instead I just took in his star status from a table next to him and tried not to stare. It was really cool, though.

This is not the first time I have run into him. Last year he was at the UPS store on Main Street here in Lehi. I went into make some copies and there he was. Tylar thought it was really cool. He recognised him from the Jazz games immediately. Unforutantely, Braydon was having one of his pre-teen tantrums and didn't want to come in, so he was sitting in tha car and missed seeing him in person. He saw him only for a brief second as he got into his truck. So, we have a celebrity living among us. Actually, I know he lives in Alpine, but its cool to see him around! So, next time you're out and around, look for your local celebrity!

If you don't know who Thurl Bailey is, he is a retired NBA player that played with the Utah Jazz for many years. He now does the commentory for the games.

HELP!

Does anyone know how to make your blog the full width across the screen instead of just in the middle. Let me know. THX!!!

The State Fair

This is the second time attempting to post this. The first time I had it completey done, all I had to do was push post and I took a bathroom break. Braydon came in to play computer and closed the window, and erased everything. So I'm trying it again...
I decided that since I have lived in Utah for over 22 years, and have never been to the Utah State Fair, that it was time that I took the kids and went. So JD and I, along with my sister Katrina and my kids took a trip up to it. It was amazing. Not because of all the stuff there, but becuase you realize it takes all kinds to make the earth turn. We started out by checking out the animals. They had a little pony ride for the kids. Ty really wanted to ride (Braydon was too cool for the little horses) so we let her go. She got the horse named Stormy. She looked like she was having fun. Although, when the ride was done, she said that "Nana's and Papa's horses were much more fun. They went faster and they could go different places." These horses wer attached to a harness that took them aroudn in a circle.
Next we went to look at the livestock. That was so fun! It is amazing how well some of these animals are taken care of. They were bathing the cows and had fans on them keeping them cool. They brushed the goats teeth, we got to see them sheer a sheep. We also get to pet the animals. Most of them are fairly tame. They walk up to the fence and let you pet them. We also got to pet pigs, and they feel funny. They are kind of bristly. I thought they would be soft, but they're not! We went through the horse stables and got to see them too.
The next best part about the fair is the FOOD! YUM! We started out the day with foot long corn dogs and ended with deep-fried peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Now, if you go to the fair for only one reason, it should be the food! Fried PB&J were delicious. They also have fried snickers and oreos, but by the time we all shared the pizza and pb&js and fries and chicken and funnel cakes, we were stuffed! We all rode some rides and them played some games. Braydon, JD and Katrina all won a great big ball. It stood at tall and Tylar! Tylar played darts and won a couple of prizes. We headed home with full tummy's and arms full of prizes. It was a great day! We will definitetly go back next year!

Ty riding a horse, Stormy.

This is the biggest cow ever! The picture does not do it justice. I now that cow in the background looks like a calf, but its not. Its about the size of the steers that they steer wrestle. This cow stood taller than me! It had to have been over 6 feet tall. HOLY COW!
Ty on the bouncing tramp. She loves to jump and she also does flips.

Braydon petting a goat. They were so friendly.

TY and Bray by one of the goats.

Ty petting a goat.

JD, Braydon, Ty and Katrina all petting a horse.

Ty getting ready to ride one of the rides. It is like the Rocket at Lagoon, except it only drops you once, and it drops you faster than the Rocket. I wish I could have gotten a picture of her face right as she came down. It was priceless! I don't think she was expecting it to do what it did, even though we watched it a few times before she went on. She is my daredevil, though, and loved it!

Braydon on bumper cars.

JD on bumper cars.

Katrina and Tylar on bumper cars.

Ambrosia...Deep fried PB&J! YUM!!! You have got to try one! Next year, I'm trying the snickers and oreos too! Fair food is the best!

NKOTB

I just finished listened to the new album from NKOTB (New Kids ON The Block) and I would have to say that I actually liked it! I know what you're thinking...that was so 15 years ago, but hey, their sound is different and more grown up. The album is a 4 star out of 5 star! Check it out, you just might like it too.

IS anyone else irritated?!?

I am so mad right now about the whole Midnight Sun (MS) thing! If you don't know what's going on with it, here is a run down...
Basically Stephenie gave out a few rough copies of MS. Then "accidentally" one was leaked. DUH! If you give someone not authorised to handle the sopies, what did you think was gong to happen? SO now, she's got her feelings hurt and says she's postponing finishing MS "Indefinitely". WHAT?!? What is that supposed to mean!?! I think she is just being immature and selfish. If JK Rowling stopped writing Harry Potter everytime it was leaked or something, then the series would have never made it past the second book. For heaven's sake...someone tried to finish the Potter series for JK Rowling. That didn't stop her.
I understand if Stephenie wants to take a break from writing, that's fine. But don't say that you are so hurt about it. Its what happens, so get over it! I am afraid she might lose some fans over this. And its not like it's going to be that hard to write. We already know how Twilight ends...I mean come on!
Well, I wasn't going to read it when I found out about the leak, but now that she is having a tizzy, I think I will find it on the internet and read it...so there!!!

Ty's gymnastics

Ty had her first gymnastics recital this past Friday. She did so great. Talk about NO FEAR, she has none! They did a floor routine, a balance bean routine, a parallel bars routine, and then just some tricks.

Here she is climbing the rope all the way to the top of the building!

Her and her friend Annie.

Her receiving her "Gold Medal"!
On the balance beam...
And on the parallel bar...
She is amazing! I can't believe how string she is. I am hoping one day we might be at the Olympics! :)