The Joy of Family

I LOVE being a grandma!  One time my brother was trying to give me a bad time because I'm a grandma by derogatorily calling me "grandma".  Little did he know that he was paying me the highest compliment!  It is so awesome spoiling the grandkids and not having to discipline them! We always say that what happens and grandma and grandpa's stays at grandma and grandpa's.

  One time when Kayse was younger and spending the night, grandpa went down to get gas in the car and brought home strawberry milkshakes at ten o'clock at night....what a great late night snack.
Nicole has been having to do journal entries in school and one of her entries said "If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be and why?".  When she asked me what my answer would be I said I would love to live in St. John's BUT only if my whole family could be there because it would suck to be there if my family couldn't be.

I couldn't imagine not being around my kids and grandkids.  I would hate not getting to see my kids raise their kids.  Plus I would miss seeing my parents.  And for that reason I think we will stay in the same house we are in now until we die.  So the kids can continue to ask us to watch the kids....we love it!

Halloween 2009

So much has happened since I wrote last.  I guess my life has been spent on the run!.....so I again am going to back track to Halloween.  This year Nicole asked me to make her costume which I have not been able to do for the past couple of years because I was Ward Activity's Chairman which made October really hectic.  So, I was thrilled to be able to make her costume again.  Last year I was a fair maiden and so she decided that is what she wanted to be.  So we went to Joanne's and found a pattern and picked out fabric off the clearance table.  I had to adjust the pattern because the material she wanted there wasn't enough available.  As usual the dress was done just in time for the ward's Trunk or Treat and I must say it turned out pretty well.  She then wore it two more times; once for her class party where she won best costume then her soccer team went to the Real Salt Lake game and Trick or Treating there.  I'm glad she got more than one wear out of it and I will keep it for the grandkids to wear later if they want.

Me Crossfit?

Okay, for this blog I'm going to have to back up a bit. Back at the first of August Scott, Nicole and I were having street tacos at our favorite taco stand in Layton. While we were sitting there feeding our faces I looked across the street and saw these people working out so hard I thought they were going to start puking! I realized it was a new gym (and I use the word loosely because it wasn't no Gold's that's for sure). The sign said Wasatch Crossfit.(visit them at atch Crossfit Bootcamp and Personal Training Company) However, the more I watched the more I thought "I can do that!". I didn't realize I said it outloud but then Scott and I started talking about it. Scott is always so encouraging to let me try anything....silly him!

So, after we finished eating we went across the street and asked about their "bootcamp". When I found out it was 3 months for $300 I told Scott how good of a deal that was since I had looked into others that were $300 for 6 weeks. I signed on the bottom line and the rest is history...so to speak.

I have now been doing crossfit boot camp for 2 1/2 months and I love it. I love my instructor he is really good and professional and his mom is even in my class.

I have learned that I can deadlift 55#'s and thrust 45#'s over my head ten times for 3 rounds.

Scott says he can see a difference but the scale hasn't budged much. Best thing is I do feel better. I never thought that age would catch up with me but it has and I've realized that I can still keep active which will hopefully help be live longer to enjoy the kids and grandkids.

Thoughts and Feelings

I love reading other people's blogs. I am always impressed at how easily they seem to just write about themselves. It seems with me there are a lot of times that I hold back when I would really just like to let all of my feelings come out on the page. I guess part of me feels that some things aren't socially acceptable to write so I don't.

The other day I was reading a blog written by a divorced dad (via MetroDad: A day in the life...) in NYC. He was so candid about his feelings that I was jealous of his writing. I kept thinking "Why can't I write like that?".

Besides this blog I do keep a personal journal where I try to write my personal feelings and ideas, but even here I think I hold back because I tell myself that one day someone is going to read this. Maybe I need to follow the mantra that says,

"Dance like no one is watching"

In order for my kids to know what I was really like I need to truly write down MY feelings and not worry about who might read them down the road.

Autumn in Utah

I love the change of seasons. It's one of the reasons that I decided to move back to Utah from California. Just when I get sick of one season it changes to the next.

I've decided that I'm truly tired of summer. Tired of mowing the lawn, weeding the garden and mostly tired of opening the pool for Nicole and her friends then 30 minutes later having her decide that she's bored.

I think I'm becoming like my dad when he says "I'm looking forward to the snow flying so that my yard looks as good at my neighbor's".

Yesterday we decided to take a drive in the mountains to view the leaves. We drove up Farmington Canyon and came out just above the "B" on the mountain above Bountiful. The trees are just beautiful. It looked like God had taken a paintbrush and painted touches of orange, red and gold among the green.

When we were on top of the mountain looking down into the valley the words of the Louie Armstrong song "What a Beautiful World" came to mind. It actually brought tear to my eyes when I thought about how lucky I am to live in such a beautiful place but mostly a place where I am able to enjoy so many freedoms.

What Were They Thinking????

So, anyone who knows me knows that I listen to "The Chunga Show" on 101.9fm on my way into work in the morning. Well this morning was extra special news. They were talking about how gay marriage in Vermont is now legal and so Ben & Jerry's ice cream which is located in Vermont is going to change their ice cream called "Chubby Hubby" to "Hubby Hubby". Now here is the kicker. The ice cream is listed as FUDGE COVERED PEANUTS AND PRETZELS. I guess it was that or the rainbow sherbet. What were they thinking?

Zion National Park

Nicole had been bugging us to take the trailer and go see some of the national parks. So, since Dr. Bentley (the doctor I work with) was going to be out of the office mid July we planned a trip down south to Zion National Park.
If you look really close you can see that Nicole has a HUGE Stink Bug on her hand. It looks like she is going to eat it!

We did a lot of hiking. I had never hiked at Zion's before and Scott was excited to take us up the Narrows. It was nice to get out of the heat and be in the water.
The walls were so close you could stand two people together with arms outstretched and touch them. They went sooooo tall too. Nicole loved posing for lots of pictures as you can see in the waterfall picture.

When we started out of the canyon we turned a bend and the heat hit us like someone had turned on the furnace. I'll bet the temperature went up by 20 degrees in a couple a hundred yards. After that it was hard to get Nicole to push forward and finish the hike, but she did. We were proud of her because the hike was probably close to 3 miles round trip.

We decided to go down south Friday night to St. George's Tuachan theater and see Annie. It was a great production but very hot! Tuachan is an outdoor theater set against the redrocks....very beautiful but DON'T go in July!!!! Can you pick out the non-orphan in the picture? It's only because we made her clean up!

Our hike up to the Emerald Pools found us off the trail and hiking where I'm sure only the deer and mountain goats hike. Somehow Scott took a wrong turn but we realized our mistake and found the trail again. The best part of this hike was the top pool which was big enough for Nicole to swim in. It was nice to get wet to cool off for the hike down the mountain.


Our last and shortest hike was up to Weeping Rock. This hike was steep but only about a 1/2 mile roundtrip. The view from Weeping Rock was beautiful and the rock really did look like it was weeping. Bottom line....if you haven't ever been to Zion's or it's been a long time since you've been GO! One suggestion though, don't go in the middle of July when the temperatures during the day were around 113 F and nights still in the 80's! HOT! HOT! HOT!!!!

Time Flies By

It seems the older I get the faster time flies by. I can't believe it is June already and that school will be out the end of this week. It seems like just yesterday when I was sending Nicole out the door to her first day of Third Grade.
My theory for why time seems to go by faster the older you get is that you have already lived x amount of days and so consequent days just seem shorter and shorter.

I think my big reality check of time flying by came last week when my parents, Nicole and I went and saw Braedon perform in his high school's play Dracula; which he did an Awsome Job! Before the play my mom and dad commented on how they couldn't believe that Braedon will be 18 this year Wow, I hadn't really thought about that until they said it, but he is my baby from my first marriage and I can't believe that it has almost been eighteen years since he was born. Time flies whether you want it to or not.
So here is my advice to the new moms in our family. Enjoy each and every minute with those little ones because they truly do grow up way to fast!

Life IS Good!

As I drove home from work tonight I followed a car that had a decal on the back window which read Life Is Good and I thought to myself how very true!

You see before I left work tonight I received a text message from my son Derek who serves in the Army Reserves. The text stated that he won't be deployed to Iraq in September. Needless to say my prayers have been answered, because I have been worrying about this for about nine months now. It's been especially hard since him and Ashley found out that they are expecting a baby in May. The thought of him not being around his baby has been very hard for me since I know how much he wants to be a dad. Plus I've been worried that he might even miss her birth (it's a little girl).



DEREK AND ASHLEY AFTER DEREK'S FIRST TOUR TO IRAQ

Don't get me wrong. I know that he signed up for this duty but he was told that he wouldn't have to go back to Iraq for the first two years that he was with the reserves and that time won't be up until about November. So I am glad to see that they are keeping their promise. And I know that if he is called up after that time that he will go and do his duty, because that is the kind of guy Derek is. I'm just glad that he will have some bonding time with his little girl.

Mystery Solved

I solved the question "Who turned on the light?" which I asked in my previous blog Scaredy Cat . So if you haven't read that blog I suggest you read it first or this will make no sense.

My husband ever the smart alec, after reading my blog, sent me the following remark. "Me thinks that you might be getting more like me and just maybe can't remember if you left the light in the piano room or not." Well honey, I had already solved the mystery and here is the solution.

As I woke up the next morning and thought about the lamp situation more. I remembered that when we headed out of town in January to New Orleans I thought since nobody would be home that maybe it would be a good idea to plug the lamp into a timer so that it would go on in the middle of the night and scare off any would be burglars. Funny that for three months I hadn't even noticed that it had been going on in the middle of the night. Funnier still that my husband who has been spending sleepless nights on the couch hadn't noticed it either.

SO DEAR....I did not leave a light on, I just forgot that I had plugged it into the timer. MYSTERY SOLVED!

April Fool's Day

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Corbin Keith Schumann was born yesterday! What a pleasant way to spend April Fool's day.


He was 7 lbs 1 oz and 19 1/2 inches long.

Tiffany was told on Monday that her blood pressure was too high and that she would need to be induced again (the same thing happened with his older brother Kayson). So they told her to they could either do it on April 1st or the 2nd and my son thought it would be cool for him to have April 1st as his birthday. Hopefully Corbin won't hate him because of this later in life.
They had to be at the hospital at 6:30am and he was born at 11:24am. I think that Tiffany's body was ready this time because last time she pushed for over three hours and labored for a lot longer. However when she started to push Corbin's heartrate dropped so they had her stop until the doctor arrived. When he arrived he saw that the cord had wrapped around Corbin's neck and was choking him
so they had to cut the cord before he was fully out. They decided to observe Corbin in the nursery for six hours because of the nuccal cord just to make sure he was fine.

Since Nicole and I went on a school field trip in the morning (we went to the Ogden Children's Treehouse Museum)we didn't get to the hospital until about 1:30pm so Corbin was in the nursery
by then and we didn't get to hold him. Nicole was insistent that she get to hold her nephew so we left a bit so Tiffany could get some rest. We called Cassie and decided to go down to American Fork and see her while we waited so we could go back after 6:00pm. We went back about 6:30pm with Cassie and we got to hold and feed Corbin. He is a Real Cutie!

Scaredy Cat

You know how there are time when you wake out of a sound sleep and things just don't seem right? Well that happened to me tonight. I was sound asleep and dreaming then I was wide awake like something woke me (this reminds me of the Madeline books where Miss Clavell turned on the lights because something wasn't right). I looked at the clock and it said 2:56am. I wouldn't have thought much of it but then I noticed a light shining under the bedroom door. Then my mind started racing. Nicole and I are the only ones home. Nicole is in bed beside me. I was the last one downstairs last night and I turned out all the lights because I came upstairs in the dark. It is times like these that I am glad I have two big dogs in the house with me.

So I got up, which immediately meant the dogs were up. I opened the door and we went downstairs. The lamp in the piano room was on. Even more curious, since we didn't even have that light on last night, but the dogs don't seem on edge...just sleepy. All the doors are locked. Door to the basement is shut with the towel up against the door...dogs still seem sleepy. I decide to get on the computer for awhile since I'm now fully awake and to wait to see if anyone comes down the stairs to get me...Daxter up checking out the place and Winston is asleep on his pillow. Now it's 4am...."and all is well" sorry had to add that. Maybe I should just go back to bed and try to sleep.

Still, I will continue to wonder....who turned on the light?

The Big Easy

Since marrying Scott I have become a huge University of Utah football fan. Now you can't really blame Scott for this (dad) although the U is where Scott received his graduate degree, it was actually Jenelle who got me addicted. Jenelle is a gal I used to work with and she asked me to go to a game with her probably about six or seven years ago and since then I've been hooked. We've now had season tickets for about five years. We have followed the Utes through good times and bad, but I'm happy to say that last year was indeed a good year. By the time all was said and done, the Utes ended the season 12-0 with an invite to the BcS Sugar Bowl in New Orleans to play Alabama. With much time and effort on Scott's part, we were able to go to New Orleans and cheer on the Utes. We took Nicole with us since she is also a season ticket holder and has followed the team closely this year.
Nicole On Tram at Atlanta Airport Headed to New Orleans We had to take a red eye late Monday night 12/29/08...this was a for first Nicole. We arrived in New Orleans Tuesday morning and the game wasn't until Friday night so we had plenty of time to explore and enjoy the food in the Big Easy. Tuesday night we decided to take Nicole to Bourbon street. Now I know most would say this probably wasn't a good idea but we wanted to take Nicole to a fun family restaurant called Cajun Cabin. We chose that night because it was 12/30 and the next night would be New Year's eve and Bourbon street would just be crazy until after the Sugar Bowl.
After we were done eating we were headed back to the hotel when we came across a street band jamming at the end of Bourbon street. Nicole was really intrigued with these musicians. The group was made up of a bunch of young kids just basically having a jam session in the street. The police were there on horseback to help with crowd control. People give these horses and policemen a wide berth when they see them coming. I wouldn't want to be stepped on by one of these horses.
And of course what would a trip to New Orleans be without a stop at Cafe Du Monde for beignets!! I think this is how I gained my five pounds that I put on from this trip. I'm sure it wasn't from all of the gumbo, jumbalya, muffulettas and etoufee we ate. Can you say YUM!?!?

Football 101

First things first....I'm going to do this blog in sections but they all tie together. This way you can read the one you want when you want. Hopefully this will make it simpler.

Those who know me know that I love football! My husband found this out early in our relationship when he asked me what I was doing one Sunday (he wanted to know if I wanted to go out on a date) and I told him that I was staying in bed all day and watching football. At first he thought that I was just blowing him off, but then he got to know me better and realized that was really what I did.

I grew up in a house with one t.v.....yes, hard for most kids now-a-days to even "wrap their heads around". Not only was there only one t.v. but it was black and white, with about seven channel choices and no remote control. No, I take that back, us kids were the remote. If dad wanted the channel changed he'd have us kids scoot to the t.v. and change it. Now, you are probably asking yourself what this has to do with football...well, let me tell you. If you have one t.v. and a dad who loves sports you either learn to love sports or you don't watch t.v. Out of one son and two daughters it's the girls that love football....go figure!
USU at Airforce Many Many Years Ago

I remember going to Utah State University (USU) football games as a young girl with my sister and dad. Mom was a fairweather football fan which means she went to the games early in the year when the weather was nice, sunny and warm; then when the weather turned nasty dad would drag my sister and I along. I remember games sitting in the bleachers with our hot chocolate watching them shovel snow off of the yard lines....now that's true grit.

Anniversaries

Wikipedia lists the following for anniversaries.

An anniversary (from the Latin anniversarius, from the words for year and to turn, meaning (re)turning yearly; known in English since c. 1230) is a day that commemorates and/or celebrates a past event that occurred on the same day of the year as the initial event.

Yesterday was my ninth wedding anniversary but it could have just been any day of the year. Now that Scott works in California I guess I had best get used to this. Last year he was gone too, but at least he remembered that it was our anniversary and did send me flowers. This year he didn't say anything about; but then again, neither did I. I guess I should write Ann Landers and find out who is in charge of remembering this date?