The Olsen's

My baby's 7!

2009-11-15T21:49:00.000-08:00

My little, but not-so-little girl just turned 7! I know, that makes feel so very old, but how do you stop the aging process? I tried...all week I tried! I asked her every day to just stay 6, or even turn back to 5, but she wasn't having it. She even promised me that no matter how old she got, she would always stay my baby. We'll see how long that really lasts...
For Tylar, a birthday is not just a birthday, it was more like a birthmonth! We started the countdown around Halloween. (Yes, I know, I know, no Halloween post...I'll get to that later! One thing at a time.) Every morning she would count the calendar just to make sure it was one day closer, and it turned out it was. Then the week of her birthday...
She had quite the list of demands...breakfast in bed, balloons to fill her room, her brother to do ALL her chores (she even changed the name on the calendar from hers to Braydon's to change the cat's litter box), she wanted a pedicure and manicure, and then the list of presents...well, here's how the day went.
I woke up at 7 on a SATURDAY so I could shower and get ready before she woke up so I could get her breakfast in bed, she wanted eggs, sausage and toast. When I got out of the shower, she was already in MY bed, awake and hanging out. So, breakfast in bed didn't happen, BUT we did have breakfast as a fmaily. JD stayed home from work in the morning so we could have breakfast together. That was nice. We decided to give Tylar her big present, her bike. So JD went and grabbed it from the truck where it had been hiding all week and brought it into the house. She was so excited and went and got dressed right away to ride it. Yes, the pic you see below she is NOT wearing her helmet. She was so excited that she "forgot", but we reminded her and she put it on for the rest of her ride. While she was riding she would ride past JD and I and yell "You're the BEST parents EVER!" That made it all worth it!

JD then had to go to work for a little bit. We had pedicure appointments in Orem at our favorite little salon...Bonny Nails. My sister and I just got the pedicures, but Tylar and my mom got both the pedicures and manicures. More like they just painted her fingernails, but she was in girlie heaven! We then went over to my mom's for a little bit and she opened Aunt Katrina's gift, since she couldn't be to the party that night. She got a crayon maker!

We went home to get ready for the family party. My kids have a party every year, but they alternate between a family party and friend party. On their even birthday years they get a friend party, and the odd year they get only a family party. This year was the family party. So, she wanted spaghetti for dinner and a GIANT cupcake for her cake. I got to work baking the cake and making dinner. For 2 1/2 hours I worked in the kitchen working to make the food for her party. BAD planning on my part. I didn't have time to let her cake cool completely before I took it out of the pan and...it fell apart! You can't see it in the photo, I took a picture of the good side! But the whole other side of the cake slid off and was sitting on the plate! :( Tylar made me feel better and said, "Well, at least you tried mom, but next year, we had better let Grandma make the cake." How nice of her! So, Grandma and Grandpa, JD, and JD's parents, Larry and Connie came over for dinner and presents. What a spoiled little girl!!

She got 3 movies, 2 very cute belts, a CD and ipod player combo, a stroller for her play baby, books (she loves to read!), money, blendy pens, pixos, 2 pairs of Oobies and a blanket that matches one of her Oobies. I really htink the oobies are her fave. This is a picture of her with her Oobies!! She's trying to say "oobies" but it turned out "boobies" the first few times. We had a good laugh about that.
All in all, a GREAT day, but so glad that birthday's only come once a year.
Since she's 7 - here are 7 reasons why I love Tylar:
1. She is girlie. I love having a girlie-girl!!
2. She loves to dance, and wants to be like me when she grows up.
3. She is funny! You never know will come out of her mouth!
4. She is beautiful.
5. She is caring, not wanting to hurt anyone's feelings.
6. She is daring. She always wants to try new things, and usually with little to no fear.
7. She is MINE! She has her moments, and her little quirks, but she is mine.

I love you Tylar! You mean so very much to me. Happy birthday!

Wicked!

2009-10-13T21:19:00.001-07:00

I went on a road trip. It wasn't a long road trip, but it was a fast one! About a month or so ago, I was talking with a friend about wanting to see Wicked. She had wanted to see it too. Jokingly (but not really) we both said we should see where it is playing and go see it. Not much more was said and about it and nothing was done.
Well, one day I was one the computer and just thought I'd look it up...It was playing in Denver in 3 weeks. So I called her and she said that we should get tickets So, we tried to plan the best weekend. We had our dates, and after an invite to my mom, and eventually my sister, we got our tickets!
So, off to Denver we would go!! We left this past Friday and made the 8 hour drive to Denver. I drove all but about 1 1/2 hours. I was tired of driving and my contacts were bugging me. When we got there it was COLD!! We checked into our hotel and just went to bed Friday night.
Saturday was absolutely freezing!! I had snowed a little over night and the temps never got out of the teens. We walked everywhere we went and nearly froze to death, but it was fun just the same. We walked a few blocks to the open air mall. There was nothing but food places, really. There were a few stores, but not as many as i expected. We went to the show and then did a little more walking and shopping. We ate dinner at The Cheesecake Factory...Mmmmm, avocado egg rolls!!! (The best!!) Went back to the hotel room, rented a movie on the tv and went to bed. I know, such an exciting time...
We got up Sunday morning and took our time to get home. I drove the whole way home. The drive to Denver wasn't too bad, but there is a canyon on your way to Denver and it is absolutely beautiful!! It is the most beautiful canyon I have ever seen. We were all glad to be home, but the trip was fun and worth it! I would love to do another road trip again...
So, about the show...LOVED IT!! I will definitely go see it again. I am hoping it comes back to SLC so I can see it again, or I just might have to take another road trip. I was exciting and fun, yet it had you asking questions, and it showed a whole different side of "The Wizard of Oz" that I would never have expected.
Fun weekend, fun friends and family, fun show = FUN FUN FUN!!

Some of the things my daughter does/days

2009-09-23T19:51:00.001-07:00

So, many of you know my daughter's personality well. She has really cracked me up or tried my patience the past few days. Here are a few of the things she has done/said:

Sunday: Tylar had used the bathroom at my mom's house and it is in the very back of the house. She started yelling to be wiped, and just kept screamingl JD had gone in there to wipe her and he told her that she didn't need to yell like that. Her immediate reply was, "I had to yell, I don't get good reception back here!"

On a nearly a daily basis, I am continually teliing Tylar...and I quote..."Stop choking the cat!" Variations include kicking, hitting, pinching, stepping on, throwing, suffoacting. Then she will ask me why the cat doesn't like to snuggle with her? Hmmm!

Tonight: While driving to Parent Teacher Conferences we had this argument...I am getting to make a right hand turn, and choosing not to turn in front of a quickly moving vehicle.
"Go, mom."
"I can't Ty, there is a truck coming."
"Mom, you would have had plenty of time!"
"No, Tylar, I wouldn't have. That truck was coming fast."
"If you would have just gone in the first place, you would have made it!"

I ignored her, and then we got to her appointment a few minutes late so I was trying to hurry her in. She came out with...
"See mom, if you would have just listened to me in the first place and turned when I told you we would have been on time. You really should do what you are told."

I couldn't help but laugh...

If you are ever around her long enough, you will find out all sorts of info. She is one funny girl!

2009-09-15T12:59:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I was invited by my Friend Jonie to attend the scrapbook expo in Sandy. I knew this was NOT an easy undertaking. I am soooo very behind in my scrapbooking! Like....a combined 15 years behind on my 2 kids. I decided to go anyway. The two days before I spent HOURS combing through photos that were not dated or sorted. WHAT A JOB! This has totally taught me that I need to be more organized. Time to turn on the old OCD for my pictures too I guess. Anyway, I packed a huge tote (and I am NOT kidding) and then two large bags and headed out Friday morning. My goal was to finish 15 pages between the two days. I started with Tylar's book, since the poor girl had only 3 pages done in her book, and they were terrible!! So, I redid them. I worked to get as many done as I could, and by the end of the night, my page could was at 16! I had already beat my goal. I was so very excited! I decided to cut back on my supplies to try and make the tote lighter, and since I was at the expo, if I needed something I could just go buy it! :) What's better than that?!? So we headed up there Saturday and I started to work. I got side tracked when I entered the dance contest and took 3rd. (My friends said the judges wanted me to win, but they did an audience vote...the boy took first...only becuase he's a boy, and then another girls took 2nd because she had like 30 people she was with.) But I digress. I went back to work, had a fun little visit from Tylar and my mom, hung out with them, and then went back to work!

After all is said and done...I got 31 pages done!!! I was amazed after I counted them all! Phew! I met some new friends, got to know friends better, and had a blast scrapbooking! I totally can't wait until this Spring for the next one!

Follow-up on my mascara!

2009-09-07T20:19:00.000-07:00

Ok, so if you wanted a really good deal on this kind of mascara...Costco has a 3-pack for only $14.99! That's a great deal! So, get a group of 3 ladies together and split it, or be a mascara hog like me and keep all 3 to yourself! :)

I heart mascara! (For Karen!)

2009-09-04T12:05:00.000-07:00

So this past Tuesday in the adult dance class, we got ont he discussion of make-up, mascara in particular. I heart mascara, and not any mascara...Cover Girl Lash Blast mascara. NOT the water proof, becuase truly it is super water proof, and you pretty much need a brillo pap and sos to take it off. Just the regular black mascara. So, for Karen, I am going to blog for a second about my fave make-up item.

If I had to pick only 1 make-up necessity for the rest of my life can you guess what it will be?...that's right, my friends, my mascara. My philosophy of mascara...too much is never enough! I put one coat on and let it dry, then I use my eye lash curler to curl my lashes. (I heat my eye lash curler with my hair dryer for just a few seconds, it really does make a difference, I think.) The I apply up to 3 more coats of my mascara, letting it dry between each application. I will carry it with me too, in case I need to reapply.

So, basically, I HEART MASCARA! <3
(For you Karen!)

Mint Oreo truffles

2009-08-23T19:59:00.000-07:00

This recipe is for mint oreo truffles. I think you could use other oreos, or other flavor chocolate to give it different flavors. I am going to try using the strawberry oreos one time with white chocolate, and then the regular oreos with white chocolate...anyway, get creative to find your fave flavor, but I followed this flavor combo and really like them! (So did my guests!)

1 pkg. mint oreos
1 pkg. cream cheese (8 oz.)
1 tsp. vanilla

Cream together ingredients and refrigerate for 1 hour. Scoop or roll into desired ball size then place onto a cookie sheet covered in wax paper and place in freezer. Freeze for at least 30 min. While it freezing, make chocolate dip.

1 pkg. chocolate chips
1 TBS. shortning

Melt together and stir. You can use a pan on the stove to slowly melt it, or use a glass bowl in the microwave. Heat in 1 min intervals, stirring in between, to melt chocolate. Place toothpick in each ball. Dip frozen ball into chocolate and place back onto wax covered cookie sheet. After each ball is completely covered in chocolate, place pan back in freezer until serving time. Leaving the toothpicks in make for easy serving.

These were easy and fun! Tylar helped me make them, and they were very tasty! I can't wait until I try another flavor combination. This recipe yielded 24 balls, but there were good sized. If you wanted to get more out of the dough, make your balls smaller.
Have fun making them. Let me know what you think! :)

The day my life changed forever.

2009-08-10T14:02:00.000-07:00

This is my dad...he is the best dad ever. No this is not a late father's day post. On August 9th, 23 years ago my father had a brain aneurizm rupture. This even changed our little family forever. This is the story... (Sorry, sis, I borrowed your pic!)

August 9th, 1986. We were at a family reunion in St. George. That afternoon we had been playing in the pool and everything had been fine. The day was closing and we were getting ready for bed. My brother, sister and myself were in our sleeping bags on the floor of our hotel. My dad had gone into the bathroom to get ready for bed. A while had passed and he opened the door, dropped to the floor and screamed, "My head", and fell to the floor.

My mom called our family in and my mom took him to the hospital. He was then life flighted to Utah Valley Hospital, and then on to McKay Dee hoptial in Ogden for a few weeks. He stroked several times causing permanent short term memory loss, orientation to time and place, and loss of motor skills. He spent several weeks in the hospital.

I remember going to see him a few days after it had happened. He didn't know who I was; he called me "Grandma Brown". I was devastated. My own dad didn't know who I was. I was only six when this happened, and didn't understand what was happening. From what I gathered, they figured that he must have had a small stroke. I thought that I had done something to him while we werew swimming. I lived with that guilt for years and never told anyone. It was not until I was about 17 years old that I found out there I did not do anything to cause it, but it still did not change how I felt. For more than 11 years I thought I had caused my father to become disabled. It was so rough.

It was rough on our whole family. My dad couldn't go back to work bacuse of his new disabilities. My mom, luckily, had pursued her nursing degree and had to go back work full time as a nurse at Utah Valley hospital. It was a very different childhood.

My dad couldn't even leave the house by himself. If he did, he would forget which house was his. I had to be there to watch over him and my sister and brother. We had a lot of help from my mom's parents. There were there sooo much for us, although they lived so far away. The drive is about 3 hours. So if there was a big problem, they weren't closel Luckily, my mom's sister's (4 different ones) lived fairly close to help out too.

I became very responsible very quickly. I don't remember too much about this event or things that happened after, but I do remember learning how to ake soup or macaroni and cheese to feed to my brother and sister and dad. I remember helping with homework as I got older.

I remember having to know our schedules for sports, dance, piano, and extra activites and how to get there and the times so I could help my dad get us where we needed to be. Eventually he could drive again, but for a while he couldn't leave the house without someone with him. After a few years, the Relief Society in my mom's ward offered to take him to the Bishop's Storehouse in Lindon to volunteer for a few hours while I was in school. Someone woud pick him up and stay with him and then bring him home when I got home. That ward was so wonderful to help in the time of need. Truly, if all wards could be so giving, caring and selfless...

He is a lot better as far as things moving to his long-term memory. He knows how to get around the Orem, Provo area fairly well. He can make it out to our house and back. He can go to my grandparents house in Idaho. It is a constant struggle though. He carries a date/time book everywhere he goes. He writes everything down or he won't know what's going on. Several times a day he will ask what day it is. It can get very frustrating, especially after 23 years of being asked 10 times a day what day it is, or what you have going on that day, but we have learned to deal. I am not saying I always have a lot of patience, but I have learned tolerance.

My dad truly is amazing. He has overcome so much in his life, and is now dealing with Celiac's. As if he needed one more thing! He has an allergy to gluten/wheat. He is such a strong and positive person. He would do anything for anyone, and does it all the time. Anytime I need him, he is there...no matter what. What a truly beautiful person he is.

I wish I could remember how he was before. I hear he was such a terrific guy, although I don't know how he could get any better. It is still hard for him sometimes, and he struggles. There are times he gets depressed, but he is so positive. We are all at the table eating hamburgers and hot dogs on buns and he just smiles and wraps his in lettuce. If you ever want to meet and amazing person, just meet my dad.

A funny story...when JD and I were dating I hadn't told him everything about my dad and the full story of his disability. My dad doesn't remember names well so he calls people "friend". So if you ever meet and I you say your name to him, and then 30 seconds calls you friend, you know why. :) Anyway, so he kept calling JD friend and JD would reply, "My name is JD." My dad would just "ok". So my dad went up to JD and said, "Hey friend, would you like a MT. Dew?" JD said he would so dad walked out to the garage. A few minutes laterhe walked back in, empty handed, and just started going about business aorund the kitchen. A few minutes later my dad went up to JD again and asked him if me wanted a Mt. Dew. JD said he did and my dad walked out to the garage again. A few minutes later and returned empty handed. JD was baffled but didn't say anything. So a few minutes later my dad went up to him again and asked him if he wanted a Mt Dew. JD this time said, "Sure, show me where they are!" That night I explained fully about his illness.

Another funny story...this happens a LOT!...When you give my dad a choice he will usually say, "I don't care, whatever." Well, at Lake Powell last week we were fixing lunch on the boat. We bring our food out and just have lunch on the lake. My sister was was going around asking everyone what kind of chips they wanted. She got to dad and said "What chips do you want dad? We've got fritos, cook ranch or classic?" (It seems like an easy list to choose from, right?) Dad replied, "Whatever." Katrina said, "No dad, not whatever, what kind do you want." WIthout hesitation he replied, "What were my choices again?" Just a few seconds and he had forgotten his options. Poor guy.

It was hard growing up, knowing my mom wouldn't be home when I got home from school, and that I would just have to go home to "babysit" my dad and brother and sister. I felt cheated, I felt shorted. I look back and realize that I would not be the person I am today had it not been for my experience.

I also know my mom did what she could to give us the most "normal" life she could. We did not go without. We may not have had what other kids had, but we had so much love. My mom is such a strong person. She taught me strength, determination, love, kindness, to never give up. She could have walked away and left my dad in a home, or with his parents, but she didn't. When it would have been easy, and probably easier on us kids, she didn't. I thank her for that. We have not had it easy, but we have had each other! When the rest of the people you know walk out on you, your family walks in.

My grandparents, my momn's parents, are wonderful people too. There were many times when we were adjusting, and even after we had "adjusted", that we just needed a break. My mom would call her dad in Idaho and let them know we were struggling. They would then call my dad and ask him if he would be willing to come and help them on the farm. He always felt sooo important, like his help mattered. And really, he is such a hard worker. They just don't make 'em like him anymore.

I look back over my life and am grateful that I have endured this challenge. I am the person I am today, and everyday I am shaped, by the events of my childhood. Dad, I love you so much, you are my hero! Mom, you are my hero and my best friend. Kevin, Katrina, I know I put you through a LOT growing up, but becoming the one to take care of you was an adjustment. Please forgive me. I love you all very much!

Vegas, Baby!

2009-07-25T20:04:00.000-07:00

So I have officially taken my first "girls only" trip. My sister wanted to get away so we (my mom, sister and I) planned a trip to..where else do people like to get away...VEGAS!

So, on Saturday, July 11th, we hopped a flight and went to warmer weather. (115 degrees!) I am not one to complain about heat...I love being hot. It was almost unbearable for my mom and sister, I enjoyed it.

We stayed in the Trump Tower. It was so very beautiful! I will forever stay there when I go to Vegas. We had a little room issue when we got there, but they were very willing to help us and work it out. The room was actually more of an aparement than an hotel. It was exquisite! (There was a $100 per per room "insurance" fee per night in case of any "oops". Luckily we didn't get charged!) Below is the pool from our room. My sister and I only visited is once, for about 2 hours. We were too busy otherwise.

The first actual day we were there was did A LOT of walking. We walked from one end of the strip to almost the other end. It was Katrina's first time ever being, so we were there just for her. We did a little shopping, a lot of people watching, and more walking. That night we had tickets to see Cirque Du Soleil's "O" show at the Bellagio. I have been to see a few other Cirque shows, but this takes the cake! It was incredible. It was a water show. They had a huge stage of water and peole would dive into it, and suddenly liek 15 people would just appear out of no where in the water, and then a few moments later the water stage would just dissappear and a regualr stage was in its place. I deinitely recommend seeing this show!

Us three girls getting ready for the "O" show. Truly magical!

The fountains at the Bellagio after the "O" show. They are very beautiful. We stuck around to see two different shows.

The second full day we were there we did more "attration hopping". We visited the mall and shopped and then we went to Mandalay Bay to the aquarium; Treasure Island to the other aquarium; Mirage to the animal sanctuary. It is a fuper fun day. By this time, our feet hurt sooo very bad from all the walking that we started getting taxis if we were going very far. My mom had to go home tonight, too. So we were packing everything in we could before she had to go.

The three of us at Mandalay Bay. (Above)

The tigers at the Mirage. (Below)

After we wished her a safe trip back, we decided to go out and play some more. So...off to the mall to do more shopping. :) We had also decided that since this was our last night that we wanted to see another show. We had gotten tickets to the Blue Man Group. So, we hurried to the Venetian to the show.

My sister Katrina and me at the Blue Man group show, waiting for it to start...The show was super funny!

After the show we caught a taxi back to our hotel to drop off our bags and get ready to go back out and "play" ona few blackjack switch tables. Our cab driver was super nice and we had a nice ride back. We had arrived back at our hotel and started to walk up to our room when Katrina realized she had lost her phone! She dumped out her purse to make sure it wasn't in the bottom and it was no where! So we walked to the taxi area to see if the taxi was still there and ...it wasn't! So now what? I immediately called her phone and she informed me it was on vibrate! Are you serious?!? I just kept dialing hoping that someone might pick up. No luck. So we went to the concierge desk to ask what we should do. The nice bellman said that security may be able to pull the security video and get any info they could off the cab. The nice man at the desk called their security dept. and we talked them into it. While we waited, we were gived a list of all the cab companies in Las Vegas. We started at the top and called each one that had the colors of cab that we could remember we were in. Between calling cab companies, I texted her phone to call my phone if found...no luck. I also called again, several times. After many calls to the cab companies with no responces, we thought her phone was a gonner. Security called back and said all they could get off the cab was that it was red and white with a "W" in the name of the cab company. So we went to the end of the list in the W names and was about ready to dial when my phone rang with an unlisted number. I answered it and it was the cab driver! He had her phone! There was a catch though...he was across town by now and there were two options: he could take it to the office when his shift was over in the morning and we could pick it up then; or he could delver it to us, for the cost of the fare of course! My sister decided to pay the fare and he delivered it to us! This is proof that even in a city like LV, there are still good people out there. :) After retrieving her phone, we went out to play around.

The next morning, we decided to hit the Stratosphere. We caught a cab, with my sister's phone securly in her purse, and headed out. She wanted to ride the rides on the Stratosphere. We first rode the Big Shot (pictured below.) They have two newer rides: X-scream and Insanity. X-scream is like a giant teeter-totter that shoots you out over the edge of the needle and then while you are dangling, it lowers you so you are looking almost straight down! It was quite the ride. Then we rode Insanity. After seeing what it did, I didn't want to ride. Not because I was scared, but becuase I get sick on spinning rides. breaved it because my sister really wanted to go. You sit in a seat and then a giant robotic are swings you out over the edge of the needle and then you start spinning! You get spinning so fast that your seat lays forward and you are looking directly down over the seat. YIKES! I felt my face turning green. I couldn't wait for this ride to be over, and was very glad we had saved it until last. We got off the ride and both felt a little queasy. So, after riding the elevator down, getting each a Sprite to settle our stomache's, we hailed a cab and headed to lunch. We went to the Rainforest Cafe and chowed down! We headed back to the hotel after finishing our shopping. We packed our goods and headed to the airport.

We got to the airport and had made it through security when my sister received a call on her phone letting us know our plane had been delayed! That would have been nice to know BEFORE we arrived at the airport. So we slowly made our way to our terminal. We sat there and made observations to each other to pass the time. (We are both people watchers.) We grabbed a bite to eat when they announced our plane was about 30 minutes from boarding. We were one of the first ones to board and we settled into our seats. It wasn't bad enough that our plane was delayed 45 minutes before, now we sat on the plane at the gate for another 60 MINUTES! It was really frustrating. I let me husband know that he didn't need to be on time and then it was time for take off. We landed more than 2 hours later that orginally scheduled, but made it home safe.

It was a fun trip and I am glad that I could go with my sister, and would like to thank my fabulous husband for funding this trip and taking care of the kids so I could go. When's the next trip?

Stadium of Fire 2009

2009-07-18T09:41:00.000-07:00

Once again, I did Stadium of Fire. I did not dissapoint! We had three days of practices. Thursday the 2nd we had just 6 hours of practice for the girls and then an hour and half directors meeting after! I didn't get home until almost midnight that night. It was stormy so it really wasn't too bad of a practice. We even got rained on a little. Friday the 3rd I had to be up by 5:30 am to get ready for practice that day. We had practice from 6:45 am until 10 p.m. that night. We did have a few lunch/dinner breaks and little drink and potty breaks during the day. It was hot thought. I really could have gone for more of the weather we had the night before, but it wasn't happening. Although it was hot, about 90 degrees, it wasn't as hot as last year. (It reached 105 last year!) The morning of the 4th I got up again around 5:30 am to get ready to go. We had practice again from 6:45 am until about noon. We went home, rested and then got ready for the show. It truly was a beautiful show. They had a ceremonial flag burning. I sobbed like a baby! I am a very patriotic person, so things like that get me. Ok, let me be honest...I cry during the national anthem...
The Jonas Brothers were not bad either. I would have to say that they were better than Miley Cyrus the year before. The show in whole was one of the best I have seen/been a part of. I am truly blessed to be part of this wonderful show! Can't wait for next year!

The girls in their practice uniform on Friday. These girls are such cheesers! XO

The girls in their practice uniforms Saturday.

Main dancers during dress rehearsal on Friday night. Kenadee, Kortney and Katei. (The KKK) :)

Junior dancers during dress rehearsal on Friday. Payton, Megan, Lauren, Shakota, Kelsi, and Casey. These cuties had so much energy.

The whole group ready for the show...just waiting to get lined up!

The part of the show where they burned the flag. One of my cute little ones look up at me and asked, "Miss Andrea, are you all right?" I was crying and she was concerned. How adorable!

The whole group after the show. Way to go ladies!!!

Tooth update!

2009-07-16T09:23:00.000-07:00

Tylar lost her SECOND TOOTH on Friday the 10th! Right next to the other one she lost. She now has a gaping hole inthe bottom of her mouth. Its kinda funny, it has given her a slight lisp and makes it harder to eat. She also makes this sucking noise when she sleeps. Its super cute! The tooth that she lost on July 2nd is already coming in! YIKES! We were at Jd's and my softball game and she had been bugging me that it was loose. I had been kinda working on it a little every day to wiggle it out, but it just wasn't coming. I had a little zip-loc baggie with me just in case...
So at the game, I got a piece of floss, which I also carry with me, and worked on it. Suddenly it bent forward and was barely hanging on. So I grabbed it with my fingers, after using hand sanitizer, which I also carry with me, and pulled it out! YEAH!
The tooth fairy came to visit again. If she doesn't stop losing teeth, the tooth fairy might go broke!

Tylar's first tooth

2009-07-10T09:08:00.000-07:00

She was a ripe 6 1/2 years when it happened, and frankly I thought it would be much longer, but Tylar has finally lost her first tooth! She has been saying her teeth were loose for MONTHS now, but we would wiggle it with our fingers and it would hardly move. So we just kept telling her its not ready. Then on Thursday she kept complaining, so my mom told her to get the floss so she could prove to Ty that it wasn't loose. She put the floss around the tooth and gave it a little tug and the tooth came flying out of her mouth and right down my mom's shirt! I guess it was loose. I was sad because I wasn't there when she lost her first tooth. I was at Stadium of Fire practice that night. When I got the picture on my phone, it got teary-eyed. There are just milestones you want to be around for, and this was one of them. (Let's be honest here, as a mom you want to be around for ALL milestones!) I did get to play "tooth-fairy" that night though.

We had visited the dentist only a few weeks earlier and he said it would proabably be a while. Well, I guess she was right. It was ready to come out. So, we have been working a little on the tooth next to it, but it is being a bit more subborn. So, soon enough, she will have a mile-wide gap on her bottom gums. Can't wait for that one to happen. She is already complaining that it is hard to eat....girl, you've got a surprise after you lose that next one!

Andrea, think before you speak!

2009-07-01T22:08:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, acutally many times, words just fly out of my mouth before my brain has had time to process what my mouth is about to say. Such an even happened at Wal-Mart on Monday. I was walking through picking up a few things when I ran into (not literally) a friend from the neighborhood. (Names will be omitted to protect the innocent)We engaged in conversation which led to the participation of my children in primary. Now, our participation has been nothing to brag about and I made this known. This dear friend then shared a little fact that a few positions in our ward had been changed. (This is where my mouth got a head of me...) I responded (actual statment will be revised slightly) oh I know...and I am not happy...that's one reason... Well, I will leave you to use your imagination and your knowledge of me to fill in the rest. (Now, try to be nice:) ) I could tell that she was really surprised and probably offended by what I had said. I meant no offense, and should not have said what I did. I am sorry, unnamed friend, if I offended you. I didn't mean to be so......outspoken.

More on 5K

2009-06-04T08:31:00.000-07:00

I forgot to add that the 5K I ran was put on by my mom's deparment at the hopital. It was called Race for Red: Women and Heart Disease. My dance studio, Diva's Dance Studio, was a sponsor, as was JD's dealership. I decided that since I was a sponsor, that I should run it as well. That's what made me decide to do it. I don't think I would have started to run it if I hadn't been apart of that.

My first 5K

2009-06-04T08:24:00.000-07:00

I know this is a while in coming, but I have been busy...like always!
So, last Saturday, the 30th in May, I ran my first 5K. Without much training, actually any, I completed my first race ever. I was super nervous, but I finished in under 45 minutes. I know that's not fast, but my goal is, by the end of the summer, to be able to complete one under 30 minutes. So I have been trying to get out and jog during the week. Tuesday of this week I went out and ran to the round-a-bout and back. That was just over 2 miles! Braydon came with me. JD might be doing it too, and Tylar has express interest in going. So, soon it may be a family affair.
I am NOT a runner...at ALL! Actually, I hated it, until I ran that 5K. Suddenly I am totally addicted. I don't know what it is, but it was such a high! So, I am going to keep running, hopefully 3 times a week. I didn't get out today, though. I have injured my hip and it hurts to walk, and I have the beginning of shin splints. So I decided to take today off and shoot for Saturday. If all goes well, and my body heals, I will be out again running by Saturday morning.

Its HOW much?

2009-05-20T14:25:00.000-07:00

So about 12 days ago, my car flashed a message at my on my display that said "Servive B now due". I just let it go and at about 5 days past, it was still dinging at me reminding me every time I turned on the car that it was overdue. So I decided to call the Mercedes dealership and ask what the service B was. They told me it was an oil change plus they changed a few things like the air filter and such. I didn't think that was too big a deal and didn't make an appointment. So today, while running (actually driving) my errands it dinged at me again. So I dialed the Mercedes store again and asked when I could bring it in for service. They said anytime this week would sbe fine. I asked how much it was and she replied, "Service B is $489.95 before tax." WHAT!?! It is how much for an oil change. NO you did not read that wrong, and I did not type it wrong...that is what she said. I had better be getting a massage and pedicure for that price. I could not believe it. So , I guess the oil change will have to wait, I'll be saving my pennies for a LONG TIME! (Now taking donations...Andrea's Very Expensive Oil Change Fund!) :)

Competition results for May 9th!

2009-05-09T20:05:00.000-07:00

OK, I could NOT even wait to post these...another FABULOUS day at competitions! I am so proud of ALL my ladies. You did great!
Tiny's A - Hot, hot, hot - 1st place
Tiny's B - Under the Sea - 2nd place
Tiny's C - Girls Just Wanna - 2nd place
Tiny's Combo - 4th place
Mini's A - Pumpin up the Party - 1st place
Mini's B - Route 66 - 2nd place
Mini's Combo - 2nd place
Express - Let's dance - 3rd place
Express - Ready, Set, Don't Go - 5th place
Juniors - Mercy - 1st place
Juniors - We belong - 3rd place
Seniors - Dance, Dance - 1st place
Seniors - Dancing Dirt into the Snow - 3rd place
Junior Hip Hop - Lip Gloss - 2nd place
Senior Hip Hop - 1st place
Mama's - Please Dont' Stop the Music - 1 place (Gold ranking)
Mama's - Behind the Wall - 1st place (Gold ranking)
SHOW - 2nd place
We also received the Best Showmanship award for Jr. Hip Hop - Lip Gloss!

There...here's a funny story!So I decided to stay and watch a few dances with Tylar and my mom. (I could spent the day at competitions! I love them!) Anyway, so a few dances turned into the rest of the competition. We were getting ready to pack up and leave and I decided I wanted to stay for awards. So we stayed and listened. At the end of awards they give out their "specialty" awards. They had gived all those out and they announced they had two more awards. So we just hung out. They anounced Director of the Year and we clapped. Then they announced Studio of the Year to...DIVA'S DANCE STUDIO! That's right ladies. We received the Studio of the Year award! We brought the most dances, and so we got this very high award. I am sooooo pleased. We were both in shock. Not expecting anything else, we had only stayed to listen and to watch. Well, I am sooo glad we did. I am so happy with how this season has turned out! Congrats ladies, and thanks for the wonderful season!

Our competition this weekend!

2009-05-03T09:33:00.001-07:00

Wr totally rocked this weekend! I am so proud of my girls. Here's a listing of the places we got this weekend:
Solos/Duets on Friday:
Madison Taylor - 1st Attendant
Tylar Olsen - Queen
Kylie Bale and Shalie Jenkins - Queen

Team competition on Saturday:
Show: 4th place
Tiny's A - Hot, Hot, Hot: 2nd place
Tiny's B - Under the Sea: 2nd place
Tiny's C - Girls just Wanna: 3rd place
Tiny's Combo - One dance: 1st place AND Overall Beginning High Point!
Mini's A - Pumpin up the Party: 3rd place
Mini's B - Route 66: 2nd place
Mini's Combo - Breaking Free: 2nd place
Express - Let's Dance: 1st place
Express - Ready, Set, Don't Go: 4th place
Juniors - Mercy: 3rd place
Juniors - We Belong: 3rd place
Seniors - Dance, Dance: 2nd place
Senios - Dancing Dirt into the Snow: 1st place
Junior Hip Hop - Lip Gloss: 2nd place
Senior Hip Hop - Like A Boy: 1st place

We also received the Sportsmanship award! WAHOO!!!
Now, onto next week...........

Warning...some of you may get offended...just a warning! Braydon's first fist fight

2009-04-27T19:59:00.000-07:00

Ok, while I do have things to blog about, like our trip to San Francisco, I have a quick minute to tell you about something very crazy that happened on Friday. I was at Bunko enjoying my evening (eventhough I didn't win a big prize) when I looked at my phone and I had a new text message. I decieded to check it. It was JD and the text read, "Braydon just got in his first fist fight". I started panicing. I called JD immediately to find out if everything was ok. He then told me that Braydon had fought a set of triplets that live across the street and another neighbor bnoy, Braxton. I asked if Braydon was ok and when I found out he was I told him I was going to leave and come home to get the rest of the story.
Here's where some of you might get offended...and if you continue to read, please remember that this is my opinion. If you have another opinion of the people mentioned, that's your opinion.
There is a set of triplet boys that moved into a house across the street last summer. For some reason, unknown to us, those don't like Braydon. He tried from the beginning to invite them over, and at first they would come play, but quickly, like within the month they moved in, we started having problems with these boys, They told the other kids on our street not to play with Braydon. Braxton listened, but Brennen didn't Brennen even told them that he would rather be friends with Braydon than them, and that they shouldn't be like that to Braydon. They also told the kids in his primary class and scouts group not to be his friend. (Remember, Braydon does not remember doing or saying anything to these boys to deserve this.) So, alliances here formed on our block and it became apparent who Braydon could hang out with. (Although, if the triplets aren't home, Braxton will come over and play with Braydon and Brennen.) It has been a very hard winter for Braydon. These 4 boys (the triplets and Braxton) have really picked on Braydon. They have even thrown snowballs at my car as I drive by. So, now as the weather is getting warmer the kids are playing outside more. Well, a couple of months ago, while I was teaching dance, I had the windows open and all of a sudden there is a outburst of yelling my backyard. It is the 4 boys yelling at Braydon and Tylar. It was acutally a misunderstanding that they never apologized for. What happened is the triplets little sister went home to go potty and the triplets thought that my kids told her to go home. So they came over just screaming at my kids. When their sister came back over and they saw that she was playing, they just took off and never apologized. My kids' feelings were hurt terribly becuase they called some really mean names and said some really mean things. So, that night after dance I got on the phone to all the families involved to ask if they would have a neighborhood meeting. The only one that agreed was Brennen's mom (Braydon's friend). She thought things wre getting bad too. Braxton's mom did not think there was any sort of a problem and that "kids are just going to be kids". I finally got a hold of the triplets mom and went over and talked with her. Her excuse for the triplets being mean was, "they have always just had each other, so I guess they don't really know how to get along." REALLY!? Is that your excuse? How many times have you practiced that one? I was soo mad. I even asked one of the triplets what Braydon had ever done to them to deserve this type of treatment, and he had no answer. So, I just advised Braydon to nt hang out with them. That simple. So, basically becuase it is not happening to their kids, its not a big deal.
That brings us to Friday night...
Here's the story I got fro Braydon and Jaren (my friends son that witnessed it...):
Braydon, Jaren, Braxton and the triplets were playing dodgeball at Braxtons house. Everything was going ok and then Braxton's dad went into the house. The teams are now made of Braydon and Jaren against the other 4. Fair??? Anyway, one of the triplets threw the ball hard at Braydon and pegged him in the side (which he had a welt from). Braydon picked up the ball and tossed it back. Just as he did that one of the triplets ran right in front of the ball and got out. He was so mad that he turned and rat a Braydon with his fists flying. Braydon saw him and grabbed his hand and threw him down. That made the rest of them mad. The other two triplets joined in and started punching Braydon. So, Braydon fought back. He started punching too. Braxton eventually got in on it. WIthin a few seconds, Braydon had single-handedly beat up the 4 of them. They all went home with either bloody noses, fat lips, or holding their stomaches.
Braydon did get a bloody nose too and a swolen lip. Now, I don't condone fighting, in anyway, but I do support defending yourself. I have told my kids that they had better NEVER throw the first punch, but they had better finish the fight!
I have now told Braydon to stay away from these boys. Really, if there were to plan an attack and rush him without him realizing it, they could do some damage I'm afraid. This is not right to live in a neighborhood full of bullies. My children are at risk everyday. I have also had a problem with Braxton's mom. One day the triplets and Braxton and her 2 daughters were being mean to Tylar and she came home crying. One of the triplets called her a ball baby and she agreed! Braydon heard it! So, instead of stopping these kids and telling them its NOT ok to do this, she was totally condoning it. I HATE IT! I will not live in a pkace that i feel is not safe for my kids, and I do not feel safe anymore.

Shoe issues!

2009-04-20T23:57:00.001-07:00

Ok, so I have some serious issues, as many of you know. I am addicted to a few things...purses, jewelry and ......SHOES! Just to let you know how bad this obsession is, I have bought myself 6 pairs of shoes, Tylar 4 pairs of shoes, and Braydon 1 pair of shoes....ALL within the last week! (11 pairs of shoes!!!!) I know what you are thinking...actually, maybe not. I *LOVE* shoes! So to me, it wasn't a big deal, unti I started to add them up. In my defense, two pairs for Ty I bought in San Francisco so those didn't really count, and the two others for her were flip flops, so they don't count either. I can't really account for Braydon's other than I had bouth Ty so many that I had to buy him one, and besides I got my new white pumps (shown above) 1/2 when I bought his so its only logical! For the rest of the shoes...they are London Undergrounds (LU). They are some of the MOST comfortable shoes! Really, I know they don't look it, but until you try them on, you won't believe it. I got a call from a friend (THX BROOKE!) that a whole batchof LU's were on ebasy, so there I go...over to ebay. Sure enough, there they were. Now, please note that LU's are not even in production anymore so when you find them they are a MUST BUY! So, I did. I bought several colors and styles. ALso, the thing that makes then so great is that in the day, these shoes cost $120, and I got them for $20 each! So really, I got 5 pairs for the price of 1! I AM AWESOME! Now, you will notice that most of the shoes pictured below look alike, well, that means that basically I only bought really 1 pair of shoes. So when we add it like that...I only bought 4 pairs! Phew I feel muchbetter about my purchases.

These are my new shoes. :) <3XOXOXOXOXO!!!

The garbage man did what?!?

2009-04-15T20:28:00.001-07:00

Ok, so JD, the kids, and I were just leaving the house when we saw the garbage man getting back into his garbage truck. JD walked over to our garbage cans becuase the yard waste can was turned toward the house. The garbage man told JD that he would NOT (in a very rude voice) empty that can because it had more than just green waste. So JD opened the lid and found there was a ball of masking tape and an empty paint can in the bin. He apologized and took it out of the can. He then asked the garbage man if he would quickly empty the can. The garbage man said NO! So JD just turned his back on the garbage man and started bringing in the cans from the street. I walked over to him and noticed THIS written on our garbage can!

NO, I am NOT kidding and I DID NOT do this myself. The garbage man had gotten out of his truck and wrote on my can. I was sooo mad! Then I asked myself, "How did he even know what was in my can?" I have no idea, but I guess somehow he looked in it and saw the few things in there and wouldn't dump it. We didn't even know that it was in there. We had a painter over painting (obviously) my dance props and when he asked me what garbage can to drop the stuff in, I said the green one, not even thinking.
So, to wrap the story up, I ended up taking this picture and then called the Waste Mansgement company and filed a complaint! I couldn't believe it! I don't know what will happen, if anything, but you just don't get out and write on someones garbage can! UGH! Don't upset your garbage man, or else...

Happy Birthday, Braydon!

2009-04-14T11:41:00.000-07:00

I can't hardly believe that my little boy is 11! Yester day was his birthday. He is such a joy in our lives. 11 reasons why I love Braydon...

1. He's kind

2. He's loving

3. He's tender hearted

4. He's obedient (most of the time)

5. He cares about others and their feelings

6. He's helpful

7. He's protective of his sister

8. He is athletic and loves sports

9. He thinks of others and their needs

10. He's fun to be around

11. He's MINE!

Braydon at 3 months

Braydon at 9 months

Braydon on Saturday

Braydon opening his Bday presents

He got a new Nerf gun from his sister and nerf "bullets", he also got a new ipod and tickets to the Supercross in a few weeks. He also got baseball stuff from his aunt Katrina and a basketball and shirts from his Uncle Kevin and aunt Rachel. His Grandma is going to take him out for a "date" and get him what he wants. It was such a fun day. He got to see his uncle Kevin in Cedar City too. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRAYDON! We love you so much! XOXOXO

One of these days...

2009-04-04T07:51:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know I am TOTALLY behind on blogging (Thanks, Mom, for pointing that out)! It is my goal tomorrow to really work on it. I finally found and ordered and received a new software cd so I can *hopefully* put some vidoes on my blog. I also have a camera full of photos from various things I need to put on here. So, fair warning, next time you check back, you may be overwhelmed with a plethera of Olsen info. At least...that's the plan.

25 random things.

2009-02-27T09:09:00.001-08:00

I was tagged on Facebook, but I figured I'd post it here too...

1. I love the smell of a skunk.
2. I collect stamps, not postage stamps, rubber stamps. I have over 200 SETS of stamps.
3. I love changing my hair color. I can't leave it alone.
4. I am obsessed with shoes. Normal people buy a t-shirt when on vacation, I bring home a new pair of shoes!
5. I teach dance, and I love it!
6. I am close to my family.
7. I have OCD, but it strikes in waves. For example, the hangers in my house used to be a variety of colors, and then one day I walked into my closet and looked and noticed all the different colors and it was suddenly and neccesity to have all the hangers in my house white,. So I ran to the store right then and bought all white hangers and went through my house and changed them all.
8.I can pinch with my toes...HARD! I leave bruises.
9. I am always cold.1
0. I prefer 100 degree weather than 70 degrees. I love heat!
11. I am a huge fan of the Utah Jazz!
12. I love shopping. Not just for myself, but for others too! I just love to shop!!!
13. I talk in my sleep.
14. I love writing...stories, poems, paper...When I was in high school, I used to make a little $$ by writing papers for college students.
15. I have many friends, but only a very few "true friends"
16. I have 4 pets: 1 dog - Pica, 1 cat - Smores, 1 fish - Grumpy gills, 1 rabbit - Spice
17. I wear a lot of black clothes, not intentionally, but it just happens.
18. I have two of the BESTest kids in the world, Braydon - 10, Tylar - 6
19. I am the sports watcher in our house. Many houses its the husband who monopolizes the tv with sports, but it me! I love watching the pro-sports.
20. I love music. I have a radio in the shower, in my room, while on the computer, in the car...EVERYWHERE! I just love listening to music, and pretty much all kinds.
21. I hate the feel of paper. It gives me chills.
22. I won't eat a popsicle that is on a wooden stick, unless I can wrap a piece of plastic or something around it. The texture of the wood makes me gag.
23. There are certain towels that I won't use becuase of the feel of them on my wet skin. I have to test the towels before I buy them by getting my fingers wet and then touching the towel.
24. I change my hand writing constantly. I have never liked it, so I am constantly trying to improve it.2
5. I am supposed to wear contacts and glasses, but, here I am, squinting at the computer screen because I refure to wear them!

Well, there ya go. A little insight. :)

2009-02-12T08:05:00.000-08:00

Just a few pics from Ty's solo competition last friday.
She took first place for the competition on Firday and qualified for finals on Saturday. She competed again, but this time she was against all dancers ages K - 5th grade. Well, needless to say that my cute ittle kindergartener is not going to hold a candle to a 5th grader. She still did very well...she placed 10th out of 14th, which means that she not only beat all the girls that qualified from her age group, but that she beat one girl from the 2nd and 3rd grade age group! YOU GO GIRL! I am so proud of her.
Next solo competition...Feb. 27th at Thanksgiving Point's Barn.

Ty's minute with a superstar

2009-02-07T08:11:00.000-08:00

Tylar had her first dance competition last night. As it was getting ready to start the judges came out and took their places. My eyes went to one that recognized. Then it clicked...it was Thayne from So You Think You Can Dance! I could not believe it! I looked at my mom and told her who that was. We got all excited and Braydon accidentlly kicked his water bottle and it started rolling down the auditorium. I walked up to see where it had gone and there it sat under neath his feet! Now I had to talk to him. I asked him to grab my water bottle and he did. I thought I was going to have a heart attack! He was super nice, though. So the competition continued, and Tylar advanced to the finals tonight! YEAH! She gets to perform again. We are all so excited. We'll see how she does, and post to later.
Anyway, after the competition Tylar went to Thayne and asked for his signature and a picture. It was so ecxiting, maybe more for me then her, but it was still cool! Way to go Ty, and good luck tonight! You are MY Dancing Queen! XOXO

Tylar with Thayne Jasperson from SYTYCD!

2009-01-31T16:48:00.000-08:00

Many of you know that I am a very competitive person. And when I watch sports on tv its no different. I yell at the tv, yell at the refs when a bad call is made, and cheer when good play is made. Well, Sunday is the Superbowl. I love watching sports on tv, just about any sports...Jazz basketball, NFL football, some college football. Anyway, since none of my favorite teams are in the Superbowl, I will be cheering for the Steelers!

So, Sunday, ...GO STEELERS!

Boys are better than girls, no girls are better than boys!

2009-01-20T08:18:00.000-08:00

So sunday JD took the kids to the field by our house and went sledding behind the fourwheeler. My kids got into a duscussion and it went like this...
Tylar: Do you know the worlds smartest person is a girl.
Braydon: No its not, it a boy.
Ty: Nope, its a girl.
Bray: No. Its a boy. Well, did you know the worlds strongest person is a boy!
Ty: Did you know the worlds ugliest person is a boy!

That ended the conversation right there. Braydon didn't have a comeback and JD was laughing so hard. They told me this story later that night and I laughed too.

Much thanks!

2009-01-10T08:24:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to thank everyone for the birthday wishes yesterday! I am truly blessed with wonderful people in my life.
I jut want to make you aware that yesterday was the last birthday I am going to have. I will NOT be turning thirty...EVER. I am going to hold at 29 forever. :)

Twilight DVD cover

2009-01-08T10:09:00.000-08:00

Here is the DVD cover for Twilight! It comes out March 21st!!! I can't wait!

Ty's performance at UVU

2009-01-06T07:51:00.001-08:00

Tylar had the opportunity of performing with her gymnastics company at a UVU basketball halftime. They were so cute. Here are a couple of pics. I am going to try and figure out how to post the video. If you know how to do it, let me know. Thanks!

Goodbye, Sugar

2008-12-29T20:34:00.001-08:00

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!

2008-12-27T21:23:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-12-22T21:36:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-12-15T19:41:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-12-14T08:18:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-10T20:23:00.000-08:00

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!!!

2008-12-05T08:38:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-04T09:26:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-04T09:19:00.001-08:00

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!

2008-11-24T17:27:00.001-08:00

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

2008-11-22T09:37:00.001-08:00

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

2008-11-21T10:58:00.001-08:00

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...

2008-11-04T10:37:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-10-11T19:37:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-29T08:52:00.001-07:00

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!

2008-09-22T08:56:00.001-07:00

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

2008-09-21T14:33:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-10T13:15:00.000-07:00

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?!?

2008-09-01T10:46:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-25T17:08:00.000-07:00

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! :)

My 10 year reunion

2008-08-25T16:50:00.000-07:00

Phew1 I have a lot to catch up on. First my High school reunion happened a few weeks ago. 10 years! YIKES! It was weird to see some of the people and how much they changed, and then other didn't hardly change at all. Here's a photo of a few people I knew back in the day.

This is JD and me getting ready to go. Sorry about the bad pic, I had to have my kids take it and we all know how awesome 10 year olds are at taking pictures.

I wish more had come because there are a lot more I would have liked to see that weren't there, but it was still nice to see all that were there.

BIG NEWS!

2008-08-16T15:20:00.000-07:00

SUMMIT ENTERTAINMENT MOVES UP RELEASE DATE FOR TWILIGHT TO NOVEMBER 21, 2008!
Holy Crow! I am so even very much more excited than I was. It is even closer! YEAH!
I will post again tonight about my 10 year reunion, gulp!

It's over

2008-08-07T15:23:00.000-07:00

Kind of a bitter sweet ending...I finished Breaking Dawn. I tried not to read it in mearly a day or so, so I made myself space it out to truely enjoy it. Well, I DID enjoy it. I know there are a lot of dissappointed readers, but why? I figure that they are only dissappointed because they had their own ending worked out and if it didn't fit to that, they of course they would be dissappointed.
I did not have a preconceived ending to the saga. I read it and enjoiyed how it played out. I only wished at this point to see a demise of the Volturi, and to see what happens between Jacob and Nessie, and to see how the relationship between the Cullens and Charlie pan out. A lot of break-offs left open, only to hope that Stephenie fills this open holes. I know there is a book coming out from Edwards perspective, but it would be fun to see how the rest plays out.
I am not disappointed in any way with the story. In fact, I truely love it. What a fantastic journey, as a reader, that we went on. WOW! If only...right??? LOL
So, for now I will be content with the end of this story. Next step...the movie. I am a little skeptical, though, with the choice of Edward. I only hope he does the part justice. So, December 12th is the next big day. Did you like the book? Answer the poll and leave a message.

Double post / Breaking Dawn spoiler

2008-08-03T22:49:00.000-07:00

So I wanted to double post and make that last on its own post. Now, about Breaking Dawn. I am now more that half way. WOW! I love it! If you are not past page 400, don't read on unless you want spoilers...
I cannot believe that Jacob imprinted on the baby! That's actually kinda creepy. Not because its an infant, but because its part human part vamp. So I just can't wait to finish to see how that pans out. Also, I am glad that Bella is finally a vamp. I can't wait to see what her powers are. I suspect that i will have the book finished within a day or two. I'll post again when I'm finished to give you the full spectrum of my feelings of the book. But...so far so good!!!
How are you liking the book???

Do they make muzzles for children?

2008-08-03T22:42:00.000-07:00

Another one of those "Oh no she didn't just say that" moments...
Tonight we were at Harmons (Yes, I know on Sunday, I guess we all have our faults) to get a few things that were going off sale. We chose a checkstand and started to check out. Tylar looked at the checker for a long minute and turned to me and said, "Mom, he's got the chichen pox, BAD!" Now, understand that the checker was probably barely old enough to drive, and he was obviously plagued with teenage acne. I mean really bad acne. I looked at Ty and replied, "No, sis it's not chicken pox, and you need to be quiet."
She barked back, "Then he must have gotten bit by lots of mosquitoes! The poor guy!"
Again, this time in more of a whisper I said, "No Ty. Its not that either. I'll tell you about it in the car."
So she was quiet about it until we get in the car. We had quite the talk about not talking about other people in front of them. That if she has a question or coment about something, then she should wait until we wer away from that person to ask questions about the issue. I explained briefly about acne and then Braydon chimed in..."Mom, is it contagious? 'Cause he touched our stuff. Are we going to get it?" I then explained how acne works and that it is not contagious. Phew! I guess I should start looking more carefully at who we choose to check us out at the stored we go to.

I went

2008-08-02T11:54:00.001-07:00

Being slightly obsessive about the Twilight series, as many of you out there are, I went to the midnight release of Breaking Dawn. It was so much fun! I went with my great friend Kristi. I picked her up around 10:45 p.m. and we went to the Lindon WalMart. The line was not too bad, and I'm glad we got there when we did! The line within 10 minutes had nearly doubled in size!! YIKES! Anyway, we stood in the line and visited with other people in the line. They started selling the books just a little after Midnight and we had our books before 12:30! I cam home and started reading it. I got to chapter 7 by around 3:30 a.m. and I decided that it was time to go to bed, since the letters started looking a little like Chinese writing. I had to get up and fix my brother breakfast at 7:00 a.m. and then went back to bed. I slept on and off until around 11:00 a.m.
I am trying to not just sail through it. I want to really enjoy it, and take my time, but I'm ure that the farther I get into it, I'm just going to not put it down!

This is Kristi and me waiting in the line outside. YEAH!!! XOXO
So, if you went to the midnight release, I wanna hear your story...

I told you I would...warning

2008-08-01T15:36:00.000-07:00

This is the stake that was sticking in the ground that he slid on. It was the broken part on the left side that he got hurt on.
This was the gash. It is two days old. I measured it, it was just over 3 1/2 inches long. OUCH!

I still think it needed stitches, but oh well. He's doing much better now.

Oh no she didn't just say that!?!

2008-07-26T20:38:00.000-07:00

You that have kids know that sometimes they say some pretty crazy things. Tylar is NO exception. She has been into making faces at people, so naturally we tell her that her face will stay that way if she keeps doing it.
So, the 24th we were at Kohl's doing some shopping, and our cashier had really close-set eyes, and yes, they did look slightly cross-eyed. Tylar walks up to the counter, stops, looks at her, and her eyebrows raise and she just stares!!!
A minute later she looks at me and says, "Mom, she crossed her eyes and they stayed that way! I better not cross mine anymore."
I just wanted to die laughing and embarassed. I just walked out. We got out to the car and Braydon made a weird face (like the kind you make when something stinks) and Ty said, "Braydon, don't do that to your face...Didn't you see that lady in the store...she crossed her eyes one day and now they won't uncross."
I just couldn't take it anymore. I just burst out laughing.

What a success!

2008-07-25T09:24:00.000-07:00

Our annual 24th party was last night, and it was a blast! We have over 60 people attend. WOW! We had our usual fireworks show, and maybe went over board a little, but oh well. It was so much fun! Thanks to all those who came last night. It was fun sharing time with you. Hope you all had fun.

The oral surgeon, almost stitches, and a first time sleepover!

2008-07-10T12:32:00.001-07:00

Well, yesterday was a very eventful day! Let me start from the beginning...
Back a month ago i went for my every 6 month dentist appointment. After taking the xrays they found something wrong. I had a crack in my tooth about 1 1/2 years ago, so they put a crown on it. Then it kept bothering me, so about 6 months ago they did a root canal on it. It felt better for a little bit, but then the pain just kept getting worse. Well, my tooth had what's call resorbtion. It is where the tooth is eating itself from the inside out. NICE! It only happens in about 1% of the population, and of course its me. (If any of you know my dental history, you would not be surprised. Let's just say that there are only about 6 teeth in my mouth that haven't had to have any dental work done on them. I have terrible teeth!) Plus I had a cavity that needed to be fixed. (NO surprise! Just one?) They were concerned because the amount it had advanced in only 6 months since my last appointment. They said we had to do something about it right away. So I made the appt to come back in 2 weeks to have the cavity fixed and then two weeks after that I would have my other tooth fixed. (Just a side note, Tylar had 4 cavities. I really hope she doesn't end up having my teeth. We made her appts too.) So two weeks ago I went in with Tylar and we had our cavities fixed. No biggie. She did great, and I am just used to it. I actually didn't get my mouth numbed. I just had them do it. It was better to suffer the 20 min of pain than be numb for 6 hours. Anyway, so yesterday was my "other " appt. I was not looking forward to it, but glad to have it because by this point my tooth hurt so bad it felt like there was so much pressure that it was going to explode sometimes! OUCH! So I went in with Ty to have her other two fixed and they told me that they were gonig to try and pop the crown off, drill into the tooth, put a post in to drain the resorbtion, and then put the crown back on. Well, the crown did not want to come off so they had to break it into pieces to get it off. Then as they were drilling into the tooth, they could see the cause...my tooth had cracked all the way down through the root and my inner tooth was exposed and it was absorbing bacteria through the crack. So, basically at this point I had two options...I could either pull the tooth and do a bridge, or I could pull the tooth and do an implant. Nice choices, huh! Either way I was going to lose my tooth. I decided on an implant, but little did I know about the process. I was immediately sent to an oral surgeon who explained the 6 month process! Yes, 6 months of in and out of the surgeons to get this thing done! ARGH!!!! I decided not to be sedated, and just got numbed and used the gas, but the gas made me soooo sick, so they eventually had to turn it off. They had to break my tooth in to pieces and then pull it out piece by piece. Then they had to do a bone graft. In about 2 months I go in for an xray to make sure the graft has healed, if so then the next month I will go in the they will put a titaniunm screw in to my jaw where the tooth used to be. Then about 2 months after that I can have a crown put over the screw. (*SIGH*) So, as of now I have a hole in my mouth that is painful and annoying, but the up side...I get to eat all the ice cream and popcicles I want! YUM!
To make the day even better, I was trying to get some rest later yesterday evening, when Braydon comes inside crying holding his leg. I jump off the couch to see what's going. He said that he and his sister were playing baseball on the front lawn and he slid into second base and it hurt his leg. He showed me where, and he had ripped his shorts! I started to chew him out about sliding in his shorts when he pulled them down and there was a gash in his leg about 6 - 7 inches long! I took him out of the living room (I didn't want him to bleed on my new furniture or rug) and got him seated in the kitchen. I got a paper towel and put some hydrogen peroxide on it and told him to put pressure on it while I got some bandages. I thought it might need some stitches. I ran outside to ask JD if he saw what had happened. He said he didn't know anything had happened. I then told him that Braydon might need stitches. I ran back inside, thinking that he would stop visiting with some neighbors from around the corner and come in and help me. NO, he didn't. I was in there by myself trying to get him under control. It stopped bleeding, but I thought it still needed stitches. I callled my mom to have her come look at it (since she is nurse and all) and she came out. Tylar was stadning next to Braydon while he was crying, and she was sad for him so she started crying hysterically. So there I was, in pain myself, trying to ignore my pain, holding Tylar on one hip consoling her and cleaning Braydon's wound. Oh Brother! Finally, about 10 mintues later JD decided to join me, after I went out and kinda yelled at him. (I was soooo mad at him!) My mom made it there just a minute later and took a look at it. She said she didn't think it needed stitches, but we did need to clean it out since it still had grass and rocks in it. I couldn't get Ty to settle down, so I called the AWESOME Jonie and she sent Kevin over to get Ty so she could play at their house while we got his leg cleaned up. Kevin looked at it too, and didn't think it needed stitches. (I still think it did, but what do I know.) Kevin stayed and helped hold Braydon down while we washed his leg out in the kitchen sink. We got him all bandaged up, and then they wanted Ty to go have a sleep over. I was really hesitant. Its not that I didn't trust the Schaeffers, but it was her first sleepover other than with Grandma. I was nervous and scared, but Tylar wanted to go. So I let her. She came home the next morning and said she had a blast!
What a crazy day! We found what cut his leg, it was a broken stake from our Christmas decorations that we out in the lawn. It broke off over the winter and it was so far under ground that we didn't notice it until he slid right on it.
I am so thankful for awesome people. First, my husband for taking me all the places I needed to go yesterday, and putting up with me and my costly mouth! (Total, it is gong to cost around $3000, and my insurance is NOT going to cover it! - Why do even have insurance then?!?) My mom: one for coming and getting the kids from the oral surgeons so they didn't have to sit there the whole time; and two for coming out at the drop of a hat (or the skinning of a thigh) to check out my kids and make sure they are ok. Jonie and Kevin for their willingness to help yesterday, but mostly for their friendship.
I really hope I don't have too many more days like that! I will take pics of the stake, the wound, and my mouth, so check back soon!

Stadium of Fire video

2008-07-10T12:31:00.003-07:00

Check out the Stadium of Fire video . The top one and the second ones are the ones to watch. The others are just ones that came with the clip.

OOPS!

2008-07-05T12:40:00.001-07:00

I forgot to mention one important thing...my wonderful and ever so helpful assistant, Kristi Hope! She stepped in last minute to help as my assistant and did a great job. I don't think I would have survived without her. Thanks Kristi!

It OVER!

2008-07-05T12:27:00.000-07:00

As many of you know I help with the Stadium of Fire for the past three years. I have dancers who perform in the show. It is sooo much work, but much more fun! This year I had 11 dancers go. They did so well. I didn't have any who dropped from heat stroke due to the sun, and we did really good with the sunscreen and no one really got sunburned, but I did have one casualty. Katie Williams got her head hit by a flag and it cut her head really bad. She actually needed stitches, but chose not to have them. We took her to the hospital and my mom (who is a nurse) looked at her and taped her head shut and then glued it. She was such a trooper! She took about an hour rest and then went back to dancing! She rocks! If you get the chance, tell her how awesome she is.
The junior dancers had practice Wednesday night from 6 - 9 p.m. in the praking lot. Then on Thursday the 3rd the main dancers had to be at the stadium at 6:45 a.m.! They worked at getting their lines on the field straight. The junior dancers joined us at 8:45 a.m. The sun crested the mountains and it got HOT really fast! We did not leave the stadium that night until after 10 p.m. We found out that the temperature that day reached 104 degrees! WOW! We tried to keep them really hydrated, and only a couple of times did they say they didn't feel good. Then we all had to be back at the stadium by 6:45 a.m. Practice went until 12 noon. We all went home, had a much needed nap and then got ready for the show. We were back at the stadium at 6:30 p.m. ready for the show. We went on to the field at 8:30 p.m. and rocked! It was so much fun! The girls had a blast, and so did I.
It is so much work leading up to it, but the end reward is wonderful. Every year I say that I don't think I will do it next year, but after all is said and done, it is the best experience, for me and the girls. We were even invited to perform in the Poinsettia Bowl in Sand Diego on the 23rd of December this year! HOLY COW!
I love this so much! Even with all the hard work that goes into it, it is the greatest and best experience ever!

I helped nab a bad guy!

2008-06-26T10:20:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I got a new computer, so I can get caught up on my exciting weekend a few weeks ago. I happened on Saturday the 14th. I had taken the kids to the Orem Summerfest for the fireworks. We went back to my mom's house and dropped my dad off. We were on our way home from Orem when I get behind a silver Jeep Cherokee at 1600 North and State Street in Orem, around 10:30 p.m. I noticed that he was swerving and I was a little nervous. I kept thinking "He's driving like he's drunk or something." So I had a battle with myself. I debated on whether to call the police or not. As I followed him towards the freeway I decided that if he got in I-15 that I would definitely call the police, but if he didn't then I wouldn't worry about it. Then what happened...He got on the freeway! So then I had another battle with myself..."Who do I call? We are on the freeway and I don't know the Highway Patrol's number. It's not really an emergency so I don't think I should call 911. Should I even do anything?" Then, just as I had decided to not do anything, he nearly ran off the road! So I decided to call 911, and they would know what to do. I picked up my cell phone and dialed. I was sooo nervous. They anwsered and asked about my emergency, I said that it wasn't an emergency that I was having, but I thought that I was driving behind a drunk driver. They said thank you for calling and connected me to the Highway Patrol. Now I was really nervous and shaking. The dispatcher came on the line and asked what was going on. I told her what I saw and she put me on hold. A minute later she came on and told me to follow him, and keep her updated with his driving patterns. So I did. They did not have an officer close, so I would need to keep following until one bacame available. I kept her updated on how he was driving, and the near misses of driving off the road and almost hitting other vehicles. My kids were in the car too, which made it a little more scary. She informed me that the nearest officers would be waiting at 106th south in Sandy. I had to follow him clear up there. Then she told me that the officers were waiting on the on ramp at 106 and when I came near the exit I was to put on my flashers and the officers would know which car I was so they could find the drunk driver. I was nearing the exit and told the dispatcher that I had my flashers on, and that I could see the officers on the side of the road. She relayed that info to the waiting officers. As soon as I passed then I told the dispatcher who told the officers. They pulled off from the side of the road and came up right behind me. They then quickly pulled out from behind me and located the Jeep. They pulled him over and the dispatcher told me I had to pull over too so that I could talk to the officers and possibly write a statement. I pulled in behind the officers and waited. After about 20 minutes an officer came to the window and said that I needed to fill out a statement on what I saw and all my information. He gave me the form and I filled in out. It was now around 11:30 p.m. He came back to the car and told me that the guy had admitted to driving while using Lortabs and could medicine. So he will prabaly get a DUI for drug use. I was then told that if this goes to court that I will need to testify on what I witnessed. After that, he told me that I could go and if anything further needed to be done, I would be contacted. He also thanked me for calling this in and for staying with it. So I pulled away from the side of the road, turned around on 7200 South (that's where we ended up), and jumpedback on the freeway for home.
WOW! My adreneline was pumping so hard! The kids were excited that theywere part of the action. I got home and told JD about it. I was so hyped up that I had a hard time sleeping (like I don't anyway, but this made it worse!) I also called my brother who is an officer in Cedar City and told him about it. He said that it was good of me to call. He said that more people need to call when they see something like that.
Just think, that guy could have killed someone. I helped stop him! It was so exciting, but nerve racking!
So, my question to you...Have you ever called the police because of a suspected drunk driver? Or would you call if you were behind a car that you believe is driving under the influence. Believe me, it was not as easy as it sounds. You don't want to feel stupid or get in trouble if he isn't really driving under the influence. So...would you?

stupid computer

2008-06-24T13:13:00.000-07:00

Ok, so my comouter broke. I am using my mom's right now, but I m mad. My husband doesn't think it is a big deak because he has his laptop, but my life is on my computer, and it won't even turn on!!! I have some really coll things to catch you up on, but it will have to wait until I either find someone to fix it, or just get a new one. I am so irritated!

Weeding is therapeutic

2008-06-12T23:00:00.000-07:00

The past few days I have really working on my yard. Wednesday was the really big day. I spent about 80% of the day out weeding my flowerbeds. When you've got your nose stuck in an overgrowth of weeds, it really gives you time to think.
At first there were thoughts of anger. I was angry at the weeds for growing so large so quickly. How dare they invade my beautiful flowers like that. Then I was angry at myself for letting them get out of control. How dare I let then grow so large so quickly and not pick them when their roots are not firmly implanted. I let them invade and take over my flowers. After forgiving myself, promising to not let it get this out of hand again and moving on, then I realized that weeding your garden is kinda like life.
How quickly we over look the little mean things we say, do, or think. How quickly we judge, we pity, we get angry, we envy, we ridicule others without knowing the whole story. We don't pluck the tiny "weeds" (thoughts/actions/speech) until we realize they are so big that they are taking over our flowerbed (our minds/bodies/spirits). It is only when that nasty weed grows big that we consider it a problem. I am just as guilty as anyone. I am quick to pre-judge, quick to make hasty decisions, quick to look upon another and not know the whole story.
Many times have I driven by someone in an older car that is blowing exhaust and spuddering to get going and thought, "Oh brother, that car is so disgusting. It is polluting the air that I and my kids breathe. Why don't they just get a new car. Not even a NEW car, but a better used car would be better than that!" I look back and think maybe that person's child has cancer and has to use all their extra money just to keep their child alive.
That person on the freeway that just sped by you who was obviously on the phone. Isn't that irritating?!? Now think...what if that person just got a call that his wife was just in a terrible accident and is in critical condition at the hospital and he is rushing to get there before she passes.
How about that idiot in the parking lot of the hospital that just cut you off and then pulled into the handicapped parking stall, and doesn't even have a "circle-butt tag"! She jumps out of the driver seat and runs around to the passenger side of the car to pull the lifeless body of her child that choked on a piece of candy and she is trying to get her help.
No, not all circumstances are like that. Not every passing car on the freeway, or every old car is that situation, or every person that cuts you off has a dying person in the car, but who knows? Not me, so who am I to pre-judge.
Yes, while weeding Wednesday I thought of all this, all by myself! I also thought about the different weeds I encountered. I had those grass type weeds that weren't that hard to pull out. Then there were the prickly ones, the kind you probably need gloves on to pull out.
Then there is the morning glory!!! Oh man I HATE that stuff. Yes, hate is a strong word and I truly feel that way about it.
The grass is kinda like the little things we do...spreading gossip, lying to one another, the envy of others, you know the little stuff we do daily. (Yes, being envied can hurt too!)
The prickly ones are the ones that hurt others. We didn't mean to do that or say that, we thought it was innocent but it really hurt that other person. It was just a simple joke or comment. Why did they get so hurt or offended?
The morning glory are the ones that stick around forever! They are the words, the actions we just can't take back. The kind that take a long time and energy to get rid of, to be forgiven of - if that ever happens.
The next time I act, speak or even think, I am going to think of my flowerbed. Do I want my flowerbed to be over taken with weeds, whether big or small - prickly or permanent, or do I want to have my flowerbed to rich with blossoms that people want to plant one just like.
I think I'll pick the second!

A new class

2008-06-09T10:38:00.001-07:00

In my attempt to open my studio up to new things, I have found an AWESOME tumbling coach. I really hope lots of girls sign up to do it. It is different than dance, but at the same time is helps dance in so many ways! Come on people, sign up!!!

2008-06-09T10:24:00.000-07:00

As most of you know we got a new car. It is a Mercedes Convertible. Tylar loves this car! This is a pic of her in the car with her "hanky" on her head and her sunglasses on! Her and I both wear our hankies to keep our hair fro blowing around. It is hilarious! What a cheezer!

I just found out...

2008-06-04T20:12:00.000-07:00

I just had a "DUH" moment. As I was looking at my own page I just happened to double click on a picture and it opened up a big picture of it! So wondered if it would do it on other pages, so I went to another friends blog and double-clicked on a picture on their page and guess what happened...it opened up a big picture! I was trying to strain to look at pics this whole time when I could have just double clicked. DUH! Did you know about the double click feature?!?

I have been tagged!

2008-06-04T15:57:00.000-07:00

This is my first tag ever, so I'm gonna give it a try...
I was tagged by Nateli Johnston. Here's the deal, there's no cheating! Take the picture exactly how it is right now! Don't clean it up, make it, or change it in any way. I, by the way, took the pic exactly how it is, NO cleaning or changing (man, I am really glad I made my bed this morning!!!)

1. Your fridge and how it looks right now
2. Kitchen sink (yes, there a few dishes in there)

3. Self portrait (gag)
4. Bed (yeah, its made!)
5. Toilet
6. Favorite pair of shoes (these are too too cute!)
7. What your kids are doing right now (He's sulking in his bedroom, he just got in trouble.)8. Place I'd like to go. I don't have any pics of Hawaii, cause I've never been there!!!

9. Closet (I took two pics, the first one is of both our stuff and shoes, the second is of just my part and yes my clothes are color coded!)

10. What are my kids doing now (Ty is playing outside n the monkey bars with the neighborhood kids)
I'm tagging three people...Kristi Hope, Becky Smith, and Jana Bailey

XOXO

Our year-end party

2008-05-30T13:38:00.000-07:00

We had our year end party last night, and I thought it went well! A lost of people showed up, which is good, except for the fact that we ran out of pizza and drinks. I was so worried about that! Well, at least it was not until it was almost time to go.
One of my awesome parents took photos for me because I can't while I am teaching during competitions or recitals, and this one picture is absolutely B-E-A-utiful! it brought tears to my eyes. What do you think?

It is just so touching. She does such a wonderful job! There are tons of pics of all the classes on her website. Check it out at www.momentscapturedbymari.com then in the search type in "divas dance" and it will pull them up. You can order them right from her.

Anyway, I am kinda sad that classes are over, but I am definitely ready for a break. I will get through SOF and then start planning next years dances.
P.S. I LOVE DANCE!

Honest, a hard lesson!

2008-05-28T21:17:00.000-07:00

Today JD and I went to the bank, I to make a deposit and he was cashing a few checks. Tylar decided that she had to go potty (and the bank we were at did not have a potty available), so I figured that I would take her over to Petsmart really quick, since I had to buy rabbit food anyway, and she could use the bathroom there. So after my transaction was done I quickly took her and walked her over there. We were in the bathroom when JD called, Ty answered and told him we were in the bathroom and that we would meet him out on the rabbit isle.
So we walked out after we finished washing our hands and JD had this look on his face...you know one of those weird looks. He said, "Um, I think we have a little problem. When I cashed my checks, I had only about four or five hundred to cash, but look!..." He then fanned out around twenty one-hundred dollar bills in my face. I said, "Yeah, it looks like we will be going back to the bank!"
We then walked back over to the back and told them of their mistake. The teller had accidentally put an 8 in place of a 0, and that's how we ended up with $1,700 MORE than we should have!!!
Sometimes (when it pays big like this) is when I would not like to have values such as honest. Although we did feel better after we took it back. And besides, that poor teller could have lost her job over it, or she might have had it taken out of her pay!
So, I am posing this question....
If this would have happened to you, would you have returned the money, or gone and played with it?!? Now, be honest.

Spring Recital

2008-05-23T08:16:00.000-07:00

Our Spring Recital is today!
It is kind of a bitter sweet thing. I am excited (and definitely NEED a break) but I really miss it when I am not teaching!
I really grow to love the girls and miss them when I am not around them. I definitely look forward to Deptember when we start classes again.
Here's the details about the recital:
It is at 6 p.m. at the Lehi Legacy Center and it is free for everyone! I really hope lots of people come. It is so much fun for the girls to dance for friends and family.
Hope to see you all there!!!
XOXO

Twilighters....here it is!!!

2008-05-19T20:07:00.000-07:00

If you are a Twilight Junkie (like me!) here is trailer for the movie! You have to copy and past, it won't let you just click on it.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=33429578

I have really mixed feelings about the cast. You know when you read a book, and you really put yourself in the book and you picture the characters a certain way...(now come on, we ALL did it!!!) Then when those books are made into movies or tv shows, we have a REALLY high expectation of those characters. Well, I am REALLY disappointed with the people chosen to play the Cullens. They are supposed to be the eternal beauty, the pure essence of beauty, and none of them are actually beautiful. (Emmett is the only kind-of exception. He is kinda good looking.) It is almost to the point that I don't even want to see the movie! UGH!
I will probably still end up seeing it (curiosity have killed the cat, and it will probably get me to the midnight showing of Twilight!) Well, let me know what you think! If you are a Twilighter, then let me know your feelings.

The fourth competition went WELL!

2008-05-19T19:53:00.000-07:00

Sorry it took so long to post this. I have been really busy, and it doesn't really seem like it has been over a week, but I guess it has. Here are the standings from our last competition in Syracuse...

Tiny's A "Be Like Me" - 1st place!
Tiny's B "Baby Face" - 1st place!
Tiny's C "Super..." - 3rd place
Tiny's Combo "After it Rains" - 2nd place
Mini's "Material Girl" - 4th
Mini's "Twinkle,Twinkle" - 3rd place
Express "Up, up, up" - 4th place
Express "Candle on the Water" - 2nd place
Juniors "Bird and the Worm" - 3rd place
Juniors "My Antonia" - 3rd place
Seniors "Professional Widow" - 3rd place
Seniors "Pictures of You" - 1st place (Gold Ranking)
Mama's "Love Stoned" - 1st place (Gold Ranking)
Mama's "Sorta Fairytale" - 1st place (Gold Ranking)

I am so proud of these girls! They have worked sooo hard! I couldn't have been happier.
Our last performance of the season is coming up on the 23rd of May. It is our Spring Recital at the Legacy Center in Lehi (123 N. Center) at 6 p.m. I hope to see you all there. It is a free concert, so please join us to see what we have done this year. YEAH! I will be back soon to post more stuff.

The fourth!

2008-05-08T13:03:00.000-07:00

Our final competition is this weekend in Syracuse. It is going to be a CRAZY one. The mom's are dancing too! ARGH! We are trying to fit around 14 dances in under three hours. I know that doesn't sound like a lot...but it IS! Oh well...I wish all my girls luck and HAPPY DANCING! I'll let you know how it goes.
Also, we are having our Spring Recital on the 23rd of May at the Legacy Center from 6:15 - 7:30 p.m. There is not cost to attend, so I would love to see you all there...and your family too! YEAH!

Braydon's first motocross race

2008-05-04T21:12:00.000-07:00

I don't know why I let him do it...maybe its because I don't want him to come to me in a few years and say "You never let me do anything I wanted to. Why didn't you let me race!?" Or maybe its because I really don't have a choice because JD wants to race. Or maybe because secretly, in a way, I think it is kinda cool. Whatever the reason, I let him race motocross. His first race was last Friday night. Unfortunatly I couldn't be there, I was with Tylar at dance. I really wanted to see him.
He came out unharmed! (And for those wondering...JD did too. No broken bones this time!) I was really worried all night. He called me after both moto's (which are basically heat races) and told me about how he was doing. He sounded so excited. Then, as I was on the phone with my mom giving her play-by-play updates of the Jazz game (GO JAZZ, btw) a person that we know, and actually one of my dancers' (Breedh Bringhurst from the Seniors) brothers had a terrible wreck. We found out that he broke his back! He was hauled off in an ambulance. ALL I could think about was "that could be my boy!" I got really nervous because Braydon had one more race to go. I was sick to my stomach for the whole thing, as I listened to the play-by-play on the phone from my mom. As he crossed the finish line for his last race (he came in 5th on his first race and last on his last race), he shook his head because he knew he came in last. I on the other hand, let out a sigh of relief that he crossed OK.
I know it is my responsibility to keep my children safe, but where does the line end? Do I let him continue racing, knowing of the terrible possibilities, or do I say NO MORE racing to keep him safe? I am really struggling with this.
I know he could get hit by a car walking across the street and be seriously hurt, but this is a dangerous sport! I am knowingly putting him in harm's way. Should I just get that thought out of my head and just let him race more for the fun than the competitive side?
Well, I guess really only time will tell. I did tell him that if he were to get seriously hurt riding, that we would not be able to play baseball this season. Maybe that helped him ride a little more conservatively, and then again maybe not.

The third!

2008-05-04T20:56:00.000-07:00

Three down...two more to go!!!
Well, our third competition happened this last weekend. Tylar did her solo and she won Queen!!! YEAH! She did so good. She even remembered the changes we made only a few days earlier. I was so proud of her. The trophy she won was as big as her! She also got a beautiful tiara. She was very excited and has talked about it all weekend.
Talia (Express) performed amongst controversy and received third place! She really did so well. She also remembered all the changes we made to her dance just a week before. Kylie (Seniors) received Queen in a very close race. She danced very well, and remembered her changes. We even made changes just a few minutes before she went on to dance! Way to go Kylie! Breedh and Kelsey (Seniors) did their duet. This is the first time ever dong it, and they did so well. You could tell they were nervous and really thinking about their dance, but danced great. We are going to keep working on it for next week.
The team competition happened Saturday. I am so proud of all my dancers. Here are the standings from the competitions:
* Tiny's A "Be Like Me" - 2nd place
* Tiny's B "Baby face" - 1st place!
* Tiny's C "Super..." - 3rd place
* Tiny's Combo "After it Rains" - 2nd place
* Mini's "Material Girl" - 3rd place
* Mini's "Twinkle, Twinkle" - 1st place!
* Express "Up, up, up" - 4th place
* Express "Candle on the Water" - 4th place
* Juniors "Bird and the Worm" - 4th place
* Juniors "My Antonia" - 2nd place
* Seniors "Professional Widow" - 3rd place
* Seniors "Pictures of You" - 3rd place
* Hip Hop "The Way I Are" - 1st palce!
There was a little bit on controversy with the hip hop. They inputed the numbers wrong under our name and gave another team our scores, so when they announced our team got 22nd place we were shocked! To say the least. I just didn't think that could be right, so as I was sitting in the Hpgi Yogi drive thru (for 25 minutes, none the less. 10 of that was at the window just waiting for an Oreo shake and a small Sprite!) I decided to take this time and start looking over our judging sheets. I looked over our points and realized they had wrongly inputed the scores. Once I finally got out of the drive thru and drove back to the school and showed the competition director the mistake. (Luckily she was still there by the way!) She was VERY apologetic and immediately gave me a 1st place sticker to put on our plaque. She told me to tell my girls she was sorry, and knows that cannot make up for it now being announced right at the competition. I knew the girls had done better than that. I am glad I looked!!!
Anywa, I am VERY pleased with everyone! We all tried our hardest and it showed. I can't wait for next week. It is going to be very busy and the mom's are dancing too! It is at Syracuse High School. I will definitely keep you posted.

Dance this weekend

2008-05-01T22:07:00.000-07:00

Well, our third dance competition is this weekend. Tylar has her solo on Firday, as well as a few others from my studio. Then we have our team competition on Saturday. I am way excited! It is as Spanish Fork High School. Tylar's solo is around 4:30 p.m. and her team competition is around 11:00 a.m. and noon on Saturday. I will fill in more about how we did this weekend. GOOD LUCK LADIES!

Again...

2008-04-21T20:41:00.001-07:00

Well, I posted the video, but I decided to write a little about my trip.
We first left the house early in the morning. We had to be to the airport at 5:45 a.m. We made it just fine. We took off from SLC and had a lay-over in Denver. From there we had to hurry to catch our next flight, to New Orleans (N.O.) It was quite a run, but we made it! Our flight was a little bumpy, but nothing really to worry about. I got a little air sick, but nothing terrible. When we got there we walked down to the luggage area with a few other people that were on our flight, and the worst thing that could happen in an airport did...OUR LUGGAGE WAS LOST! Yep, that's right. There we were, in the middle of a strange place, with NOTHING but our carry-ons! The airline (United) eventually found our luggage, and it didn't transfer planes when we did. So it kept on going to who-knows-where! The told us that it would be to the airport by 5 p.m. and that they would bring it over and we would have it by 6 p.m. We got on the bus, trusting that this is what really would happen, and went to our hotel. We checked in, and without being able to change our clothes, went to the welcome dinner they had set up for us. We met a few new people from Colorado, but eventually hooked up with a few people from the Service Dept., Dan and his wife Greta, and Chris. This ended being a fateful meeting. We pretty much hung out with these guys for the whole trip! It was great though. I didn't really feel uncomfortable around any of them, and I made a new friend, so that was good.
We checked the front desk for our luggage around 7 p.m....still no luggage. We then called the airline and tried to get info about where our bags might be. They said our bags had not come in yet and it could be as late as 2 in the morning! I was soooo mad! So we just hung out, the five of us, and waited it out. We visited and decided to take a walk around to just look. WOW! What a different world! (I'll get more of that later...) We came back to the hotel around 10 p.m., went up to our room and called the airline AGAIN. They said they could not track where the luggage was at that point. We went down to the lobby...and THERE IT WAS! Our luggage had arrived. Talk about being in a panic. So we finally were able to shower and then go to bed.
The next morning we had a walking trip around the French Quarters. It was so amazing to hear the history behind the city! We saw so may cool things, like a house that was build for Napoleon, but her never made it there to live there. A beautiful cathedral that dates back into the 1800's a d so much more. The iron work there is amazing! We then had a luncheon and went back to the hotel. We decided to go walk Bourbon Street and the shopping district and see the sights. You really can't imagine what it is like until you go there. People lying in alley's sleeping, drunks everywhere, you find yourself holding on just a little tighter to your purse. It is a very crazy atmosphere. They really never close. The bars on that street are open 24 hours. That night we just hung out and explored the city. We did some shopping and just hung out.
The next day we had a tour of the site where they store and manufacture Mardi Gras floats. It was really cool to see how they use many of the same floats, just repaint them and add different accessories to it. We even got to try on a few traditional costumes worn in a Mardi Gras parade. From there we went back to the hotel. We (the group) decided to go to the open air French Market and walk around. We also went to the mall and looked for stuff for the families. That night we had dinner at the Hard Rock New Orleans. We then went to Harrah's casino and played a little Black jack and Three card poker. We stayed out only until about midnight. We had to catch our flight home the next morning.
On our flight from N.O. to Denver I got really sick. I lost feeling in my arms and feet. I got really nauseous and almost passed out a few times. I was so shaky that I could hardly walk after our plane landed. I am not sure why I got sick, but all I know is that I was bad! Luckily, I though ahead of time and brought phenerghan and took one as we waited for our connecting flight in Denver. I did much better on the next flight, but I was certainly glad to be on the ground in SLC. We stopped for a bite to eat on our way and once we made it down to my mom's to pick up the kids, we were greeted with big hugs and kisses! We handed out our gifts and then got the kids and drove home. There is nothing better than sleeping in your own bed.
Vacations are fun, but nothing beats coming home to family!
Would I visit N.O. again??? Definitely! I might even take the kids to see a few of the parades. (Which, by the way, the parades are totally G-rated. It is only on Bourbon St. that anything "questionable" happens.)

I'm BACK...

2008-04-21T20:39:00.000-07:00

Did ya miss me? I missed you, and dance, but especially my kids! I hope they are glad to have me back as much as I am glad to be back. Here is a little slide show of my trip. Enjoy!

Going on a trip!

2008-04-16T11:17:00.000-07:00

I am sooo excited that I am finally getting away! I totally need a break! My husband won a trip through his work and they are taking us to New Orleans. When I first heard that it was there, I was really disappointed. I mean, I have heard in the past years they have gone to Cabo, Hawaii, Jamaica, places like that. But then I just got excited about going somewhere. That's where I am now. I know I can't change it, so I might as well make the best of it.
I did joke with my husband if it was a B.Y.O.B. trip...meaning did me need to "Bring Our Own Boat"? He got a good kick out of that one! LOL Anyway, we will be gone from Thursday morning to Sunday night. We were also told to go check out the aquarium, to that I replied, "Don't we just have to look out our hotel room to the streets below? Isn't the whole thing an aquarium now?" My family had a good laugh over that one too. (Man, sometimes I just crack myself up!) Anyway, I will post some pics when I get home. I hope all is well here. My totally AWESOME mom is taking the kids for the trip. I am also soooo very thankful for her! She is truly my hero and bestest friend!
I have also had a nice break from dance, but it will be really nice to get back to it! We will have some serious work to do when we get back to dancing.
Braydon's birthday was Sunday. WOW! I have a 10 year old and a 5 year old! It is crazy to think about. He is such a good kid...most of the time! We had a friend party at Jump On It. That was a blast! They boys had so much fun. The cake (which was an ice cream cake from Maggie Moo's) got stuck in the fridge instead of the freezer, and so by the time it was cake and ice cream time, it was more like cream cake than ice cream cake. It was still good though. The kids were dead by the time we got home. JD most likely broke his pinky toe jumping. His foot is black and blue. I swear that guy is more accident prone than the other three of us put together. I should just put him in a bubble! lol Anyway, I'll let you know how our trip goes...YEAH!

Tylar's solo

2008-04-13T21:10:00.000-07:00

Tylar did her first solo this year. For those of you who don't know what a sol is, it is a dance you do ALL BY YOURSELF! She did so great! I am so proud of her! She ended up taking second attendant, which was third place, out of four! We got some good critiques so we know what to work on for the next time, which is May 2nd in Spanish Fork.

Our second, but first full, dance competition!

2008-04-13T20:51:00.000-07:00

It was our second dance competition yesterday. It was a BUSY day! I stayed in Clearfield the night before because Tylar had her solo. (I will post details about that next...) I knew I had to be there early, so that's why we decided to stay. Anyway, we started at 8 in the morning, and we were the first number! It is kinda intimidating being the first number, but they did great! It was my little Tiny's A. (Which, by the way, they ended up taking first!!) My Tiny's B were third. They did good also, taking third. Unfortunately, being the teacher, I don't get to take pics, and JD is videoing the dances so he can't take pics either. I hope mothers or fathers of the girls will take lots and give me copies. Anyway, all in all it was a good day. Some of our performances did not match our awards. This competition was with several BIG names in studios from SLC county. I am happy with the girls for holding their own though.
We are taking the next week off (and I NEED IT!) I am going to New Orleans with JD and then the next week we have pictures in class. Then we only have one week to get ready for our next comp, which is May 3rd in Spanish Fork. Then we have one the next weekend in Syracuse. I know the girls have such awesome potential, we just have to tap into it...
I also realized after this competition, that I need to hire more teachers. I really need to give a little more responsibility to others. I am really running myself ragged! I guess that part of me thinks that mothers will not be happy if I don't teach their daughters. I guess because they sign them up under me, I feel responsible to teach everything! I am really going to look for a great teacher this summer to help me out! I also want to start a boys' hip hop class. I think that would be sooo fun, and I have a lot of people ask about one. so I guess I'm looking for at least two teachers. One for the boys and another for a few other classes. I don't know... :(
Anyway, GREAT job ladies, I am really proud of you! I am really going to work them harder to get them ready to compete.
And you know, I really want to studio that can compete with these huge studios. I want to have try-out only competition teams that spend hours a week at the studio, but still keep the "recreational" classes for the beginners for those who want to just dance casually. I was talking to my mom on the way home, and she encouraged me to do it! I know I can, and I just have to work my way there!!! I need to start by getting out of my basement and into warehouse space. The first step in that...talking JD into it! I think he wants me to succeed, but he also sees how stressed out I get and doesn't want me to be anymore stressed than I am. But if my studio got that big (I should say "when"), then I will have LOTS more teachers, and I won't be NEARLY as stressed! I will NEVER, EVER, EVER stop teaching the adult class though! It is truly my favorite class. I love those ladies. And while I dance all day with all the classes I teach, there is nothing like being with those ladies and sharing my love for dance with them.
I also need to say a BIG thanks to Tina for being my right hand lady! Without her, I really couldn't do it! She is doing such a great job with those girls. I completely trust her! And appreciate her.
Anyway, that's pretty much that on that.

Our dance competition yesterday...

2008-04-06T09:01:00.000-07:00

So yesterday we had our first dance competition. Not all our teams came because of our costume problems, but we had a few teams go. Here are the results from yesterday...
Our Juniors (ages 10 - 13 years) competed with their jazz routine, "Bird and the Worm". There were five in their category and we took 4th place! There are a few great comments by the judges so that we can work this week to get a little better for next week. The major comment was their formations and not to watch each other.
The Mama's (adults) competed with both of our dances. We didn't have anyone else in either of our categories, and since we didn't we tried to just see how high of points we could actually get. Our jazz, "Love Stoned", took Platinum 1st place (which I think means over 285 points)! Our lyrical, "Sorta Fairytale", took Gold 1st place (which means over 280 points). I am just guessing that's what it means. I am going to email the director of the competition to find out exactly what it means though.
Our Seniors (ages 14 - 18 years) competed with their jazz routine, "Professional Widow". There were only two in their category and we took second. I think we should have taken first, but oh well. We know what to work on for next week, so hopefully we can do better! We were only behind by 3 points. So it was really close!
Our Hip Hop class (Jrs and Srs combined) competed with "The Way I Are". There were four in our category and we took FIRST! YEAH! It was sooo exciting. We were so happy and excited and everything else! We just couldn't believe it. We have worked hard and it paid off! There are a few things we need to work on for next week, but it was great!
I am so happy with how everyone did! We all worked so hard, but its not over yet. We have got to continue to work to get even better! I really hope that this Saturday we can bring home more 1sts!
Our next competition will be this Saturday, the 12th of April at 8 a.m. at Clearfield High School! WOW, its early, but we will do great! ALL teams (except Mama's) will be performing. It will be very busy, but I can't wait. This is sooo much fun! Good luck Ladies! I am so proud of you.
Love ya...

Our four-wheeling fun!

2008-03-19T08:38:00.001-07:00

Last Wednesday my brother, Kevin, came up from Cedar City. So we decided to take Braydon from school for that day and all go out and go riding four-wheelers. It was cold, but we had fun!

This is the whole family...Kevin, Me with Braydon, Tylar on her own wheeler, JD (the empty wheeler because he was taking the picture), and Dad on his new wheeler.

Tylar and me on the King Quad. She is such a poser, even with her helmet on. Kevin is in the background.

Braydon on his new wheeler, with Grandpa in the background...completely unaware there was a picture being taken.

We love to go out riding. I can't wait until the weather turns warmer. It is a LOT more fun to go when it is warmer.

New babies!

2008-03-18T11:31:00.000-07:00

This one is Kirilenko.

This one with the black nose is Boozer! (He's my fave...player and bunny!)
This one is Korver.

So many of you know that our rabbit had babies not too long ago. Here is a look at a few of them...
We have all given them names of Utah Jazz players!
They will be ready to go in about 3 - 4 weeks. If you want one, they are FREE! Just let me know.

I'm on board...

2008-03-18T10:44:00.000-07:00

I guess I'll try this blogging thing. I have several friends who have a blog, so I guess I'm gonna give it a try.