Do you make your bed?

This is for my future posterity.

Do you make your bed everyday?

When I was a kid my mean, mean mother required us to make our beds every single day. I know the horror, right? I remember swearing a binding oath that I would never make my kids do this cruel and inhumane practice.

When I moved out I felt like I finally had freedom. I did not make my bed once in college.

YES,

I did wash the sheets regularly and then the bed was freshly made but every morning?

NOPE.

So I meet this pretty great guy and get married and all and well, I had been to his apartment once or twice and he alway had his bed nicely made. So I gave in and for the first few months I dutifully made the bed or conned him in to doing it when he got up last. Then slowly I poisoned him into not caring.

Then I had kids. When we were staying with the Andersons in California while Brenn was being treated for Cancer (another story) I did make my bed for six whole weeks. I was a guest, and I wanted to be a good guest. While staying with Sandy, (Anderson, her daughter is married to Ken's older Brother Mike, and her Brother is married to Ed's (FIL) Sister Elaine) she gave me some wisdom. She told me that if you get all of the beds made every moring then if nothing else gets done at least you feel like you accomplished something.

So I changed my tune for a little while. I taught my kids to make a bed and every morning and tried to be strict. Of course MY bed was the one slacking. Then one of my sweet children pointed that out, dang smart kids. And I relented.

The only bed in our house that is made everyday is Grandmas. She is strict about that.

I pull up the covers in a half hearted attempt on my bed and really I feel no guilt. I suppose I should apologize to the future spouses of my children, sorry I did not teach them. But I did take an oath, ya' know and I was an example of how to stick to it.

So future generations, you have my (Grandma's) permission to not make you bed everyday!

Post Spring Break Blahhs!

We just experienced the most boring Spring Break EVER! No one at the pool, no big party in the basement, only one day of a few kids hanging out.

Why? you say?

Spencer was out of town, Morgan and her crew were gone, almost all of Smileys and Logans friends were somewhere else.

So we did some yard work. Cut down our favorite tree that died. And Logan kerswakered his thumb.

BORING!!

Well on the the count down of Jens wedding and doing what I can to help. Dallin is graduating. And lots of wrestling for Logan. Just the usual.

I have a few thought provoking posts rolling around in my head, we will see if I can get them out in a timely manner.

The saga of the Thumb

On Tuesday my boys were given the opportunity to make some bank by helping a neighbor break up a concrete (not cement, that is the powder stuff and I live with an civil engineer). As they got up early to start working I could see visions of money dancing in their heads.

About 5pm they come home and Logan is holding his thumb and some what dancing around. He had hit his thumb with a hammer. Not a love tap either. Immediately Brenn jumped up and took him to the Dentist in our ward (a must to have in your ward, along with a really generous Doctor) but alas it was after 5 and no respecting Dentist is still in his office.

Yesterday Brenn offered and he turned her down. If I had known I would have made him go. So this morning I made him go.

I am sure you are asking why in the world would you go to a Dentist if you smash your thumb? Well if you have pressure building up behind a finger or toenail and you drill a hole in it to drain the blood from underneath you are a lot happier! The drill a Dentist uses is the perfect tool. So now he is squeezing and draining his thumb. Hopefully he will be a lot happier.

I cannot begin to hold a candle to my friend Cindy but we have enough injuries for me.

Wednesday

What did I do today?

I sat around and played with paper and envelopes. Really I started to put together Heidi's invitations. Pretty easy process. Really I love to do this, sit at my desk, play with my computer, TV on in the background and do some paper shuffling. They look so pretty. And the satisfaction of seeing them all done in a row.

I should finish tomorrow.

At least we have kids running around playing hide and seek in the dark at my house tonight.

Really????

I have several blogs I enjoy reading on a semi-daily basis. Most are mommy bloggers, some make great money (or so I hear), some for the prose and some are in it for the effect. Have you read Seriously So Blessed? Or Mormon Bachelor Pad? I feel I have made some really good friends and found some of them have touched my heart.

But some I am not so sure about. I followed a link to this blog and felt sad that the object was to get away from your kids. Now I am all for some mommy time, and I remember pulling my hair out over things my kids put me through on Sundays but I wanted to enjoy my kids, so I found some things that both the kids and I enjoyed. Maybe I am taking this to seriously or personally but I truly feel sorry that this lady (and apparently lots of others) feel this way about not only theirs kids but also Sunday, which is supposed to be a good day. It's all about attitude.

Anywhoo....on the an update. Ken and I had a record weekend! Clean minds people! We actually went out to dinner with friends both Friday and Saturday night! That is some kind of record for us. We are not good daters. But since there was a wedding reception on Friday and I was too lazy to cook something we just thought we would eat out after (usually means Taco Bell or some such classy restaurant) but low and behold some friends we were talking to had the same thought and so I was inspired to invite them to go with us. We had a lot of fun. And on Saturday we got to meet Wade's fiance, so we went to dinner with them too! WOW~!!

I have to say I really liked Wade's Heather. She even found my blog and comment on my stalking post before I had a chance to hide it!! What a great sport. I thought they went well together and loved when she helped him remember niece and nephews names. I do that with Ken all the time and it made me feel like they were really good for each other. I also want to note that Ken clicked on her blog and read before I did! She also friended me on facebook - like I said Classy Chick!!

I am so ready for my Botox! Don't judge me. My headaches have been really ramping up and alot more frequently so come Monday (or a week later) my eyebrows will not move and my head will be a lot more happy! I forgot how little I got done when I had more frequent headaches. I feel really behind.

As far as Spring Break - all of the kids friends seem to be out of town so we have a quiet backyard. I feel really lonely. I really do love to have all of the action at our house. These kids are so great and a lot of fun.

I am not going to apologize for the lame post because I noticed I keep doing that. I want have a record of what our life is really about. So here it is.

Changes

Look I actually changed my blog almost by myself. Really, I feel I am very computer savvy but this seems like a lot of time and frustration to do very often. Brenn, on the other hand, will probably hack her way in and change it just for fun.

Do you cyber-stalk? Our good friend Wade - okay really Kens good friend from high school and college - but we all dated and married and went to BYU at the same time so I count him as MY friend too. Unfortunately he and his wife got divorced a few years ago and as sad as that is I still think he is one great guy.

Anywhoo, he called a couple of weeks ago and told us he was engaged and wanted to know if we would go to dinner on March 13th. The answer was YES!! Tell me more about her! Unfortunately he spoke to Ken who did not think it was vital to get ALL the information on this woman, except that she told the whole story on her blog.

So off to facebook - I looked at all of the women I did not know on his friend list and tried to cross check with his kids, but since his kids are not MY facebook friends it was hard. I then tried to narrow it down from the one who were married on their profiles or had pictures with other men. Finally, I made Ken call Wade for more details and got her name.

Anyone know a Heather Arnett who lives in Gilbert? I tried to google her blog, who knew there were so many famous people with that name? To no avail could I stalk this lady, except what she allows other non-friends on facebook to see. Her profile picture is awesome. She rearranged the letters in LIVE to be EVIL and that is her picture. I am sure she is just wonderful, since Wade is nothing less than wonderful but I am dying of curiosity.

I just hope I don't put my foot in my mouth to many times! Or scare her off with my excitement. Guess I will delete this post if she makes me give her my blog address for hers. Because stalking should be a secret, Right?!

Reporting....

The wrestling banquet went off with out a hitch. Not one hitch but several! Actually besides the rain outside and the cold temperatures and switching to the small gym - then to the large gym, no helium allowed in either gyms.....

The food was great. The coach gave lots of awards, he even gave me one. The DVD was fantastic and the great big screen in the big gym was really fun. David, the great man who put together the DVD does such a great job, each wrestler gets a copy to remember the season.

I had arranged for a sound system from one of the moms and she had it all loaded and ready so I felt bad that she did all that for nothing but I did not know until about 2 hours before it all started. The school does not allow helium balloons because if one gets let loose it triggers some alarm and they get in trouble, so the decorations were lacking for a while but we got it all solved and it looked good.

Luckily I had a whole passel of moms to help me pull it all off. Thank Heaven for great women!

On to American Idol. I finally got to watch, since last night I was a little busy I had to wait until today. Krystal is awesome, my pick for winning the whole thing if she can stay healthy. Although I liked Lacey and Lily really well too. We will see how the boys do tonight - Lee DeWyze is awesome but I like Big Mike too.

On to helping Jenny with the wedding, although her countdown is freaking me out!

Spring Break starts on Friday, I am expecting lots of Chill and Grills. We will see what the week brings.

Watch the Pugde!

I found this at Sprouts yesterday....you learn something new everyday. Yesterday I learned about No Pudge Fudge brownies. Oh, and that Sprouts does not carry Chow Mien noodles for Hawaiian Haystacks.

Just add yogurt. Brenn was all up for trying until she saw the yogurt. She really doesn't like yogurt and adding it to brownies just seems wrong. I think I scarred my kids for life with the fudge made with Velveeta.

Really. I used to watch the food network to try to make me like cooking. To see that it was no big deal to prepare food. Paula Dean was one of my favorites. Her recipes are full of fat and carbs, whats not to like? She demonstrated a fudge recipe that she said was great. The main ingrediant is Velveeta cheese, but she promised it you couldn't tell and it made it really easy and smooth. I usually make fudge with the marshmallow creme recipe and it is pretty fool proof but I thought I might branch out a little.

Disaster!!!

The fudge tasted awful! Really awful - as bad as it sounds, it was worse!! So we left the No Pudge Fudge Brownies on the shelf.

AAHHHHHH!!!!!

I am in mourning for the Olympics. I had planned this really great post about all of the best moments. Matt Lauer beat me to it. I still was going to construct an impressive post but the **** has hit the fan over the wrestling banquet and I am not only in the middle and in hot water but it will probably rain us out!

Really??!

This is Arizona and it is a desert. Last year we officially received less than 3 inches of rain. So far this year....3.79 inches of rain and that is the last straw in an already drama filled banquet.

How do I get myself into these things?

I told my Grandma I blame her. I learned by the example she set.

Do I post the dirty details? I have refrained from gossiping too much so far (except to Kim, because she already knows the whole story) but last night the angry mother hijacked one of my emails (I need to learn how to hide the addresses in the sent email) and sent a really passive aggressive email to my list - without deleting the message from me at the bottom kindly asking for tables and chairs.

AAAAHHHHHHH!!!

Now I really don't blame the parents for being upset because you are supposed to be upset when your child feels he has been wronged. But the Coach is the Coach and it is his job to decide what happens with the team. I stand firmly behind the Coach but can see the other side and know how emotional we get about our kids (like confronting a strange neighbor at 10pm for roughing up your son).

SIGH.....

It should be over by next Tuesday and I will hopefully pull off a nice banquet, at least I know the food will be good because I am NOT cooking it!

I do have to put a plug for Lee DeWyze on American Idol. He is distantly related. But really I love Big Mike! As for the girls I really like the dreadlocks girl - can't think of her name but hope she is feeling better for tonight!

And as for Dancing with the Stars......ARE YOU KIDDING ME???!! Pam Anderson and Kate Gosling? Really?? Really?! I am not sure I can watch.

Ok - lame post but I promise to do better.

sorry......Busy

Anyone else riveted by the curling today? I wish I knew the rules but it looks fun.

I know I am lamesauce but can't seem to help myself.

:)

Fast Trip and the Olympics

Nothing like driving up to Utah, spending one day, and driving back. For some reason it took us 12 hours to get to Heber on Friday. We did drop Brenn off in Provo with her Cousin Lauren, but still. We spent too long in Flagstaff trying to download our audio book we wanted to listen to, I guess.

Why did we go to Utah? Well Ken's Cousin David Ashby was getting married and we have really tried to attend weddings if at all possible and our Houseboat meeting was the same day. So Friday morning we got in Dallin's car (nothing like 39 mpg) with Brenn and headed to the cold country.

What audio book was worth the wait? Percy Jackson and the Olympians - The Lightning Thief. Great book. We wanted to listen again before we saw the movie. Well, if we ever see the movie. If you are looking for a great series for a kid (or adult, i enjoyed it) then check them out. There are 5 books in the series and they are a fun adventure.

Was it cold? Well, not really, but cold for us. Heber was chillier and it snowed most of Saturday, even if it was just lightly. But I still caught a cold! I hope I did not infect the Bride and Groom!

It was a such a lovely wedding. They held it in an old school in Payson. We went a little early to see if they needed any help and it was fun to meet Rachel's family and interact a little with them All of the Ashby and DeWyze cousins were there, and we got to see Sera and Ryan Allen. I am so lucky to love all of Ken's extended family. They are a great bunch.

Then we went to dinner(?) at 3;30 with Ken's parents and Mike and Shelly (Ken's Brother and wife) at an Peruvian Restaurant in Provo - it was really good food and great fun.

Then off to the houseboat meeting at Sizzler. This meeting is always fun. The man who runs the co-op does such a good job (Wrights are you reading this?). I appreciate that he and his wife take the time to keep track of all the business pertaining to the houseboat. We all choose numbers from 1 to 10 and that is the order to choose your dates for the summer. I ALWAYS get one number less than Aunt Pat! The year I thought I was golden with the number 2, she got 1. We are always trying to get the same dates. Someone mentioned they heard about a helicopter rescue at Lake Powell and I had to fess up it was us! Still what a great bunch of people to be co-owners with.

By the time we started back to Provo to pick up Brenn and head up to Heber I was sneezing and coughing and had a head filled up with snot! I caught a nasty cold! I hoped it was just allergies but really everything is frozen in Utah right now, so what is the chance? So here I sit in my Bed watching the Olympics and resting. It was a hard weekend to be on the road so much, this is my first chance to OD on the Olympics. We LOVE the Olympics. I am just glad we have TIVO.

Boring post, sorry.

I am worlds ahead of Dallin!

I know its strange that I play video games. Really it only happens every now and then I find a game I like.

Yesterday, somehow, I warped to the world

AHEAD

of Dallin. I, of course am over my head. Lots of Lava and things that kill me (or Mario) but Dallin is kinda bugged that I am ahead of him.

HEE!! HEE!!

Tennis anyone? And don't mess with the Momma!!

Logan wrestled on Wednesday against Mesa and Red Mountain high schools. He did a great job and went 2-0 (one was a forfeit). He wrestled JV instead of Varsity, less pressure. He went through practice all week and last night Coach called to tell me that his Junior High did not get the certification to him in time, so Logan cannot help out at the state tournament. That is too bad. I know that Boyer (112 lber) could use some rest. If it is an easy match they would have Logan take it.

So today Logan went to tennis. He is going to be able to warm up for a few days and then the Coach will try him out. I hope he makes it.

Good story for tonight. Our house is the gathering place for all of Dallin and Logan's friends. They usually all meet here and then go off to do what ever they do. Tonight is no different except Logan and Ken are on a camp out.

Loads of kids - maybe 15-20 are heading out to play a game they call 007. Mostly it is hide and seek. They drop off most of the kids at the park and they have to make their way to the Church or here with out being caught by those driving around in the car. It is still early, like 9:15 or so and I hear someone come in the back door (this is not odd, everyone comes in the back door. That way the dogs don't bark and I don't have to answer the front door) and I see it is Jake P., he is getting a drink. I ask him if he is alone and he says no everyone is in the front yard. Then he tells me he has tried to teach Dallin but has failed.

I ask, "Teach him what?"

Jake answers, "When some one is chasing you and they yell STOP, run away faster."

"What?"

"Oh yeah, Dallin has been caught by this angry homeowner who has called the police."

By this time all of the kids are in the house.

I ask, "Does he at least have his pants on this time? Last time you got him in trouble with the Police his pants (click for the story) were undone."

Jake just smiles.

I ask if I need to go rescue him. Jake says, "Nah! Spencer went to get him."

Dallin comes home. His shirt is stretched out to the max. The neck looks like a scoop neck shirt and you can see fingers in the front and back. I ask for the whole story and this is what he says.

They were running across this driveway when the man comes out of the garage and goes ballistic. He yells for everyone to stop. The kids scatter, except for Dallin, and the chase car takes off. The homeowner grabs Dallin and puts him in a choke hold up against the garage wall while his wife calls the Police. She is trying to keep him calm. Dallin is not resisting and even offers to lay on the floor if they guy will just let him breathe. The Police come and look at Dallin's ID, talk to the homeowner of the dangers of confronting suspects, and told him he was too rough on Dallin. He wasn't doing anything. He should have just told him to get off of the property. Then lets Dallin go home.

Really, this did not seem to take very long because the kids left about 9 and Dallin came home about 9:30.

I was seeing red however. This man attacked my son. A kid. Someone who obeyed his command to stop. Why didn't he ask some questions? These were obviously kids. Its not like it is midnight. It is still 9 o'clock for cryin' out loud.

So I get the directions to the house, stop by my brothers to see if he will go with me so I will not lose my temper completely but he was not home.

So off to defend I go.

I ring the bell and the man that answers is maybe 55 - in good shape., short - about my height or a little taller - broad in the chest and pretty muscular. I explain, not too kindly, that it is my son that he manhandled and I was NOT OKAY with that! I told him it was within his rights to call the police. It was within his rights to defend his property. But my son was MY property and it was wrong to choke him.

He tried to defend saying he was afraid of what Dallin would do to him. I told him that was a bunch of crap, Dallin only weighs 135 lbs. I weigh more than that and was he scared of me?

Secretly, I think he was!

Then he said - well he was a lot taller - Yeah, but when you grabbed him you could tell he is a stick. Why did he feel it was necessary to hurt him? To shove him up against a wall and choke him until the Police arrived? Did he threaten you in anyway?

GRRRR!!

This went on for about 20 minutes and I made him feel really small about what he did and he apologized. Profusely.

I told him I would talk to the kids about where it is appropriate to hide.

Had to play Mario for a while the let the mad and adrenaline work it way out of my system.



Now I need to go to sleep. I need to be top of my game to surive Parenthood!

19 and Counting....

Do you watch this show? I mostly watch the reruns while paying bills or sewing or making cinnamon rolls. I am strangely fascinated by this family. I love the values. That the kids are not ashamed of who they are and what they stand for. I love that the Mom truly likes being a Mom.

I like that the Dad's projects are always over the top. He likes to think big!

I like that they are frugal. No big changes in the way they live.

Today they were in Tn., helping family friends, the Bates, enlarge their house. It started off as a new laundry room. This family only has 16 kids and the Bates Mom is expecting her 17th. They live in a 1,000 sq. ft. home with one bathroom. By the time Jim Bob (the Duggars Dad) is done they have added 3000 sq. ft. and a 1000 sq. ft. front porch. He also added 3 bathrooms to the existing 1 bathroom. He got all but $400 of the labor donated, plus the Duggars provided alot of labor in themselves.

Tonight I will watch American Idol and then the Duggars - what does that say about me?! One extreme to the other.

2nd is not so bad!

Logan started out great! He wrestled awesome! He had a first round bye - that is the perks of being seeded.

In the second round he dominated his dude. He won 9-2. This kid has wrestled all year for the varsity at Red Mountain High School. His Jr. High record was 1-1, well until Logan mopped the mat with him.

In the third round he turned that kid into a pretzel. He won 11-2. he wrestled this kid before and it was no problem.

The third round for him was the Championship round. He was wrestling for first or second.

Here he is preparing to wrestle the Mesa Jr. High kid. This kid had a 16-0 record. He wrestled in a varsity tournament and got pinned once. Ken and Bob (the high school coach) were shooting the breeze with the Mesa Jr coach to get the skinny on this kid. Apparently, all of his matches last less than 30 seconds, except one. the coach asked him to let the kid out each time so the coach could watch his wrestling style. This kid teched him in the first period (for those who are not wrestling fans, a tech is when you have 15 more personal points than your opponent.

Scoring goes - 2 pts take down (you get him to the mat and are in control or on top)

- 1 pt escape (when you get away from the other guys control)

- 2-3 pts back points (when you expose your opponents back to the mat for 3 to 5 seconds but don't pin him) a period is 2 minutes).

In other words, this guy is a STUD!

He was super short compared to Logan - he only came up to his shoulder. Look at how much bigger his arms are than Logan!

Too bad the ref was not on the other side - looks like a pin to me (both shoulders must touch the mat for a few seconds.)

Pretty close here too!

Chatting after it is over. This was a nice kid. He told Logan that this was the toughest match of his season! Logan told him 'likewise.' They chatted a little while waiting to be presented with their awards.

Logan was still very proud and so are we! He was really the one to beat and all of the kids in his weight class were worried about wrestling him!

I was a mess starting on Thursday. Friday night I tried to distract myself with Mario and made my thumb so very sore by pushing too hard on the controller. I have never been so nervous before a match! Luckily, Tracy, one of the other mothers, was just as bad as me. The nice thing is she is as loud as me too!!

Yesterday was a much more relaxing day! Logan was soooo sore. But we went to a farewell and all was great. Then just before I went to pick him up to drop him off at tennis try-outs I got a text from the High school coach. He wants Logan to practice with the varsity for state!! Nervous in the pit of my stomach again. The high school only has one 112lber and during state they can wrestle up to 16 matches in a week. It is good to have a back up. Logan was not too happy to put off tennis, but kinda jacked to get to wrestle varsity.

Wednesday is the biggest match of the season - Red Mountain, Mesa High and Mountain View. It is always a big match. We will see what happens.

Logan is seeded 2nd

Saturday is the city tournament for the freshman. Logan is seeded 2nd in his weight class. Some newbie from Mesa Jr. is seeded 1st. We are not scared of him!!

UUmmm...... I mean Logan is not afraid of him!

We have so many people who are rooting for him. A dad from Dallin's team called first last night to tell us his seed, then the coach, then someone else. So much fun. Ken has been asked to help Coach. he loves that.








So tomorrow I will be sitting in my really cool, long researched stadium chair. I could sing its praises for a long time (well, maybe not sing).

All day, with fun friends, rooting for our boys!

Go Poston Jr. High

Update

Brenn was sick of looking at my old blog and told me she was going to change my background.

What do you think?

I wondered if most would think they had the wrong blog! Well it's the right one, I am, apparently to lazy to change backgrounds but Brenn is not.

Next comes my latest project. I am the mom who does all the stuff for the wrestling coach at the high school. I cannot seem to resist volunteering. I blame my Grandma, she was like that too. Even when I was in high school she was still doing things for the wrestling coach.

Anyway, the last home match is Senior night (this Wednesday). They honor all of the seniors and their parents. Coach asked me to get the flowers for the mothers. You know, the ones that are dead at the end of the match? Yes, those. Since I am a take charge type of person and I am the one in charge I decided I did not want a dead flower. I love it when my kids give me flowers but by the time the match is over, the concession stand put away and all, that flower would be dead as a doornail.

So I started thinking about what I would like instead. Since it is within my power to change it instead of complain about it. I changed it and instituted a new tradition (at least until Logan graduates).

This is what I came up with (for the same price of flowers, mind you):

On the Front is MVT - for Mountain View Toros and the date. On the back is the name of your wrestler.

I had 2 ladies help me with the design and what beads to hang on the front but I think they turned out super cute and now I have all of the supplies for the next 3 years. Plus Brenn thinks its a great gift idea for her friends.

Sometimes I am amazed things turn out like what is in my head, because a a lot of the time what is in my head is WWAAAYYYYY better than it turns out in reality. Darn that reality!

What??!! How can he be 18?

*Warning Photo Overload*

Yesterday my Dallin turned 18. I am in shock. I know I already have a child over the age of 18 (she's 19) but I really feel like Dallin should stay 17 for a while longer. Unfortunately, I do not control aging (since I am marching upward myself.)

I started going through some pictures and had to pick out some of my favorites....

Dallin and his first bike wreck, at Jenny's no less.

I am pretty sure this is his 2nd birthday. He is the child who had to push every button and look through every home.

My Mother-in-law always makes the best birthday cakes - isn't the Panda cute?

Look how young Roy and Scott are!

Here is the BAG!

Brenn asked me if I could make her a book bag for school. She had a few parameters:

• a spot for her beloved laptop
• a hidden pocket for you know what
• a good pocket for her wallet
• a good pocket for her cell phone
• room for books
• a messenger bag
• and she got to choose the fabric.

So here is her pattern for the front.

It turned into this:






Here is what is under the front flap. Notice the place for her wallet? The cell phone goes in the blue pocket.


Here is the inside. See the white polka dot pocket peeking out on the right? That is for the 'you know what.' Aren't the 3 stripy ones cute?

Here is where the laptop goes. Lined with great fleece.

So what do you think? I think it turned out really cute. I wonder about the way I lined it to keep it upright, we will see if it works out. I have make a lot of bags but never one with 2 pockets on the inside and lined with stuff to make it stiffer. I used that plastic canvas stuff you make covers for your Kleenex box out of. We will see if it works out. I also make the strap a lot wider than I usually do but thought it would be easier on her shoulders.

So that is my big project for the last few weeks. What do you think?

No longer Undefeated but certianly not defeated

So Logan's team went to a tournament last weekend and he lost his first match of the season. I think it kinda took the pressure off.

On Wednesday Poston took on Sheperd Junior High. Logan owned his guy! It was a fun match to watch. Surprisingly Bev and Jim DeWyze came down from Utah and got to see him. Then they took some cinnamon rolls off of my hands.

Here are some stills from Logan's match. He told me that morning I hadn't taken any awesome still pictures of him wrestling this year and could I please catch some of that awesomeness on my camera. Of course, we have videoed each match. But . . . .

I love the look on this kids face, they try so hard for 6 short minutes. Wrestling is such a hard sport. These kids work so hard and then it is just one on one.

Yes I am greedy

This is for you Sue - well - and Heather. I really enjoy it when you two combine your talents.

So here are the links, I suggest you follow them.


www.heatherandersonphotography.blogspot.com

http://tendershootz.com


Check out Sue - her button is on my side bar - to see the results when they combine their talents together. It is worth seeing.

My amazing friend.

See this covert? This is in Spain. While driving thru the countryside, all of a sudden my husband who is in the car in front, pulls over.

Concerned something is wrong my Father gets out and inquires what the problem is.

I already know.

Ken has spotted a cool covert to help with drainage.

Now Ken is a civil engineer. He designs roads, with drainage. This covert is a work of art, or so he says.




A year or so later our friend Shelly, who is a civil engineer too, and has worked with Ken, went to school with Ken and pretty much is Ken in female form (well, not really, but it sounds good.)

Shelly is a sewing goddess.

She and I have a love of fabric and the things we can do with it. When she bought her last house it was me she took to Ikea to help design her perfect sewing room.

I am still jealous.

Anywho, Shelly was looking to enlarge her repertoire of quilting masterpieces and has taken some classes in architecture quilting and was looking for some pictures to turn into quilts. After a fruitless search through books and such she came to me knowing we went to Spain. She told me she wanted to see ALL the pictures.

I told her there were 1439 pictures.

She looked at ALL of them. And picked a few she thought would work.

Then for Christmas she made us this.

Really the perfect present.

It combines Ken's engineering interests with my love of sewing and fabric.







The quilting around the top tell you this was in the Puebla's Blanca's (White Villages) and the year we went. I could not get a good picture of the quilting to show up.

At Thanksgiving Shelly toured my house and decided exactly where it should be hung. Good thing I agree completely!!

Isn't this stunning?

Logan is a STUD!!

I have to admit I am busting my buttons. Poston Jr High wrestled Basha tonight and Logan pinned his guy in the 2nd period.

That means he is still

UNDEFEATED

this season!!

There are 2 more regular season matches and then the City Tournament. They are also going to a tournament on Saturday. So will he stay undefeated? Not sure about the tournament, sometimes they are really tough. But I think he can do it for the regular season matches. Very exciting stuff.

On another front, Brenn asked me to make her a school bag that will fit her laptop and her books. It is one of the most complicated bags I have made to date and I am wrestling with it myself. I will, of course, be victorious. But so far I have ripped out a lot, which is unlike me. When I am finally done I will post it in its glorious state.

I am praying for those in Haiti - it seems like they have been hit awfully hard by this earthquake. What terrible destruction. It breaks my heart.

Blogging and American Idol

Just sitting here with my new tiny laptop watching American Idol with my boys. Hilarious! Some really stand out and a few crazies. I am always amazed that these people are not put off by the previous seasons and those they make fun of on national television. I know this is why I would never try out - well except for the whole have to be able to sing and all - I see that 9000 people showed up and the one guy is mad he had to wait so long for his audition. WHAT?!! Of course you have to wait.

On another front, I got to teach Seminary today. Only one hour. Not Logan's class either but I sure enjoyed it. We got to watch a DVD segment, somewhat better than Tom Trails filmstrips, but really, still a little cheesy. I loved the message. Alma 5, asking the hard questions. Are we ready to stand before the bar of Judgement and face God? Have you had a mighty change of heart? Is this leading your life? There is so much to learn in the scriptures just waiting for us to delve in and keep that change of heart going.

I also went and interviewed with a member of the Stake Presidency today. I sure love that man. He was truly inspired to take our young men on a stake encampment last summer devoted to getting them excited and committed to going on a mission. My boys came home with such a great Spirit and sure in their purpose. I love it. He told me several inspirations he received and things that happened last minute that really turned out for the best. His original inspiration came at girls camp. He really felt that the boys needed a girls camp type of Spiritual activity. In nature, surrounded by the good word and with lots of boy activities (guns and bows/arrows.) I am grateful for these men who donate their time and talents to keep our church running. At church last Sunday Dallin interviewed with the Bishop for his birthday. He and the Bishop decided that in 9 months Dallin will start filling out his mission papers. WOW!

Well I am now rambling and I love watching TV with my boys.

PS: If any of this Church stuff is confusing go here.

AAHHhhhmmm......

My really wonderful Daddy got me a new laptop. It is tiny. I should be able to take it anywhere. That means I can sit on my couch and blog or read blogs. Maybe take a break from Mario bros. and surf the web or pay my bills.

I have to explain about my Dad.

He is the greatest!

When I was a kid, he was loud and strict. Well kinda. If you needed $5 for gas you ALWAYS asked Dad not Mom. He would always give you ten (that was when $10 would fill a gas tank) because my Mom would only give you what you need and not enough for fries at McDonald's on the way home. He provided cars for us to drive (4 for my sister to crash) and made us work on the cars.

He set a very strict curfew and for every minute we were late we were grounded for a day. Once I was 1 1/2 hours late (at least that is what the clock said) but there was my Dad waiting for me to get home. They never waited up. You just had to go in and tell them you were home and they would look at the clock and ask a few questions and go to sleep. I will admit to padding the clock with a few extra minutes.

Anyway back to the late story, I sputtered and tried to explain as my father asked how many days I would be grounded and when Prom was (1 week to Prom and I was attending a 2ND one in 2 weeks) when my Mother started laughing. This was serious, they never laughed when it was serious. Really it was daylight savings time and I was only 15 minutes late. My Dad enjoyed the prank so much I got to work off the extra days and go to Prom.

We always knew he loved my Mother more than us.

As I have grown older and he has mellowed - My brother Dean is responsible for that as much as his aging and wisdom. He can still fix anything (including computers) and will always give up his time to help someone else.

I notice that he has successfully taught his children to accept people for who they are and not who they should be. To be friendly and to be basically good people. He changed his life when he met and married my mother and then they joined the Mormon church together.

I sure love my Dad. I can not imagine having another Dad. I never, ever doubted that my Dad loved and adored me. Even when I did those things that exasperated him to no end.

This really didn't start as a post about my Dad, it was supposed to be about my new laptop, but since my Dad is the one who gave it to me and he is so great how could I resist.

The Call

It's 11:06 pm.

I am asleep.

My cell phone rings.

It is Dallin.

In a high pitched, shaky voice,

"Mom, we have a problem."

At this point I am still oblivious to what is going on, I am thinking,

"Yes you have a problem, you have not answered my texts and you are late!"

But, the tone and sound of his voice stops my tirade.

"What's the problem?" I ask.

"We flipped the car."

"WHAT?!?!?! Is anyone hurt?"

"No, there is no blood and no broken bones."

"Who was in the car?"

"Kai (my nephew), Logan and me."

"Who's car?"

"Uncle Dean's Tahoe."

"Do we need to come and get you?"

"YES!!"

"Is the car on its side or top?"

"Side."

"OK, Dad will be there soon."

No way to sleep until they get home and I can hug on them and make sure they are really okay. Super Mario to the rescue.

By the time Dean and Ken get out there the car was on its tires - never under estimate what a big group of teenagers can lift. The kids were out at a big bonfire in the desert. They were on the way home and took a corner, on a dirt road, just a little too fast. Blessedly, they all had their seat belts on!! Wow, my house is really never boring.

Actually the boys were grounded for the week for lying to their mother about wrestling practice and their lack of attendance to said practice (that's for you Marilyn! Invite me to your blog!). I was set to keep them grounded for the whole week and Ken (the big 'ole softie) convinced me that this was the last night before school started and the boys had to spend New Years with us playing cards. So I let them go. I am so glad they did not get hurt. I am not sure I would have felt if it had turned out differently.

I am addicted.....

Really - Santa brought our whole family this one game and I cannot stop playing it!

My thumb is sore. I hear the music in my sleep (no that was Ken playing at 5am). With both boys grounded I started to play just to rub it in and well.....now I cannot seem to stop.

HELP!!!

Well kinda, maybe after I beat Bowser and get to the third world.

Bored yet??

Are your children already bored with their Christmas gifts? Apparently mine are because here is the fun they have cooked up tonight.....

Really, Jenny gave us some saran wrap when they went to Lake Powell with us YEARS ago and finally I let the children play with it. They have stuck people to light posts and trees. They have used it and used it but finally tonight we finished the roll!

I guess it is true when they say the best toys are the box it came in and the stick from the backyard.

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

Here is a copy of our Christmas letter and our Picture.

The Cole Family
By Dallin
This has been an exciting year for our family. We have gone on a few trips this year and spent a lot of quality time as a family. First we went to Yellowstone and had lots of fun smelling sulfur pits and watching water boil. We also went to Lake Powell and had a great time there. Kai, Tate, and Myself all got stuck on a cliff for a few hours. It had a nice lovely view of the water 150ft below. Tate now has an exercise movie out called “Great Calves in 5 hours” based in this experience. Our third trip was to Disneyland, California Adventures, and Six Flags. That was a blast! We had sooo much fun on X-2! It was so nuts that I can’t wait to go back with my physics class next year.
Other than being kind of a dufus, Logan has been doing pretty well this year. He is a freshman, and has kept himself busy with sports. He played tennis during the fall season this year and did pretty well. He has also been wrestling. He is doing really well. He won the city title for his weight class in eighth grade. He also was sixth in the state for his age group in freestyle. So far on the Poston team he is undefeated. He also went to Washington D.C. with the Close up Foundation, and saw many of the cool sites in our nation’s great capital.
I have had a great senior year so far. Besides being a boss, I have kept busy working hard on the wrestling team. We have a great team this year and should do really well in state. I have done a lot in the past year. One of the big things was the week of chill and grills during spring break. It was a lot of fun and we all got great tans. I went to a wrestling camp over the summer with my team and had a lot of fun. I was also in a little rock band for a little bit but it didn’t work out and I got kick out. I took culinary arts this semester and cooked a lot of tasty food. I had a blast and hope to do more cooking in my own kitchen. I also got an awesome Toyota Corolla. It’s a stick shift and I really enjoy driving it.
Brenn graduated this last school year, and is know going to ASU! She is having a lot of fun being a COLLEGE STUDENT!!! She also got a new car, a Jeep Liberty, and she loves it. She is taking some art class and has made some really cool projects. She graduated from massage therapy school in May, and loves having that job skill. She moved into Grandma and Grandpa Cole’s house while they were in Utah, and loved living on her own, but now is back here with us. Her headaches are improving (hurray!) and she is slowing starting to not be afraid of her Single’s Ward and RM’s in general.
Mom and Dad are getting OLD, but they don’t think so. They have been doing good. Mom has had a lot to do chasing kids, puppies, and grandma. Mom loves teaching Logan’s Sunday school class. She also writes a great, entertaining blog (k2cole.blogspot.com). My favorite part is the cinnamon rolls every Tuesday for me and my friends. Dad has really enjoyed working with the teachers at church. He works at AECOM and enjoys what he does. He got to work on the spaceport in New Mexico.
All in all, our family has had a great year and are hoping to have a better one next year!
P.S. BAH HUMBUG!!!

And its six days until Christmas

I started out this morning feeling pretty good about my Christmas list. I actually felt like I was a little ahead and have the rest of the week planned so I just have to do a little each day to be ready for the

BIG DAY!!

I got up a little late due to the fact that my son and his buddies were really noisy when leaving at 6:30am to go snowboarding in Flagstaff (about 130 miles away.) So I slept a little longer.

I planned to go and sew with my friend Shelly - she has company coming for Christmas and wanted to make some PJ pants for all the kids. Due to my long friendship with Jenny, I always make my kids a pair of PJ pants for Christmas and thought going to Shelly's was a clever way to hide my sewing and sewing with a friend is always super fun. Unfortunately I am a lame brain and told Shelly to wrong amount of fabric to buy and now she has to go back to the fabric store. But mine are done. Sorry Shelly.

Came home to spend the next 3 hours catching up on my ironing. Whew - I hate it when I let it pile up. During which I got a telephone call from Dallin, in Flagstaff, telling me they locked the keys in the truck and could we just "bring" him the spare set.

UUHHMMM...

I love the Internet for the ability to look up a locksmiths in Flagstaff, have them quote me prices on how much it would be to rescue my teenage son. $80.00 Good thing we already had our Christmas or I might be panicking. Locksmith finally finds child (whose cell phone is INSIDE the truck) and they are on the way home. They waited until 2 to call since it takes about 2 hours to get to Flagstaff and the lifts close at 4. No need to leave early for one little hiccup.

Later in the day....Logan and his friends are playing Judge - a hide and seek game they made up a couple years ago and still the kids gather to play. I am wrapping presents. I take a break in the restroom. I hear the crash of glass. Do you know it is possible to finish that business in less than 3 seconds when one is inspired? Ran out to check Grandma first, Dog knocking over Christmas tree 2nd (since she has done that once so far, eaten 4 glass ornaments, my angel we bought our first Christmas and assorted other keepsake ornaments) and finally the children running around in the dark outside. Results, Brenn's window is broken. Thanks Dakota. Luckily he is fine, no blood or cuts, but now I need a new window.

Well its now 11:30pm and Ken is still at work, all the kids are OUT and I am recording this for the future (and to get sympathy comments.)

On the plus side, Brenn is finally getting better. The new medicine (the one we can get, anyway) seems to be helping. Not only is she sleeping like the dead, but she is eating better and I think over all feeling alot better. YEAH!!

And yesterday I got a mystery Christmas card from a name I did not recognize in Avondale, Az. As far as I knew I did not know anyone there but to my utter delight it was one of the couples we sold a puppy to (Handsome Rob who is now Hank) with pictures and all. It really made my day. He is HUGE. As big as I think Stella is he is bigger and just beautiful. I also got a story about Emmett, who we sold to a guy Mike, who works in office. Emmett got the garage door open while Mike was at work and jumped on top of the car. The car is a convertible. He went right through and got stuck in the car for the day. I am sure one day Mike will laugh, too bad it rained for the next two days. Luckily for this breed, they are so sweet and have such personality it is easy to wait for them to mature.

Well I feel better now and hope you enjoyed the post.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Dallin and the reason I am so busy!

You may think I am busy like a bee (or a Santa) but no, I have been so busy this week I didn't even know Brenn

HACKED

my blog until today. Sad, Sad, to be so behind in my blog reading.

I had a birthday and I thank all those who wished me a Happy Day - it was. We did at least get our trees up. Ken and I spent the previous weekend in New Mexico at a wrestling tournament with Dallin and the team. I did have to take one kid to the ER but it turned out OK and he even wrestled last night. Apparently he was too worried Logan would take his spot!

We got home and taught Sunday School and Priesthood - had a birthday dinner fixed by my great Mother in Law and then off and running for the week.

My Grandma turned 90 yesterday (more on that later) and we had a quiet luncheon for her. I should have been home preparing but instead I got a call from one of the coaches at 7am (remember I get up at 8:30am) telling me I needed to take Dallin to the ER for stitches and to be checked out for a concussion.

I thought to myself,

"Self, they were just checking weight this morning. Why did they have to mess around too?"

When I got there and found out that really Dallin had been talking to Coach Murdoch for about 20 minutes. I mean to say Coach was lecturing Dallin for about 20 minutes and Dal locked his knees and passed out. When he passed out he had his hands in his pants pockets and hit a table on the way down and look - it actually kinda looks like a Toro! I guess Coach Murdoch is really boring!!

The hospital employees kept telling him he was cutting weight - he really isn't. He maintains about 137lbs without much effort. Really he just locked his knees and comes from a family who is prone to passing out. Just ask Andrew (he caught Brenn this summer at ASU, great story, much embarrassment for Brenn, lots of giggles for me).

Anyway here are the pictures of yesterdays complication for my day.

Look how big the bump is! This is last night after the wrestling match (no he did not wrestle). But I was still in charge of the snack bar, so I figured he could help out there. He is out for a week, until the stitches come out and then he has to have it taped up to keep it from splitting open.

Like my brother said,

"It is never boring!"

Logan wrestled last night for Poston too. He won, but the kid he beat was seriously the chubbiest 112 pounder I have EVER seen. I had to ask the coach if he really made weight!

So far Logan is undefeated this season. So great to see them do well.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

Today is Mom's birthday, and so I'm back to hack into her blog again! She is such a great friend and example to me, and I want to make sure she knows how much I love and appreciate her.

Here's the picture she was looking for yesterday -- aren't we cute!? Happy Birthday Momma -- I love you!!!

Thanksgiving ETC...

Warning: Picture overload!! Too cheap to buy hats we just posed in the store - I think its great for the Christmas card don't you?
So as you can probably tell we spent Thanksgiving at Disneyland and Six Flags. What a weekend! We got up a 3am on Thanksgiving and drove to Disneyland, spent the entire day and evening there and then checked into our hotel at about 11:30pm. Got up the next morning and spent the day at Disney. We did take a break, rest, eat at a normal priced restaurant and then closed down the park. The Fireworks and Fastasmic are amazing. I really do love to go to Disneyland, but not necessarily with my closest million friends!




Us on Splash Mountain.





The end of Small World. If it could only be that easy.

The Castle was beautiful. It changed colors as the fireworks went off and the music changed.

WOW

- can they come and decorate (then come and clean it all up) at my house?

Nothing as boring as California Screamin......

Aren't we all just cute?

Eating our Turkey legs - I cannot find the one of Brenn and I. It must be on her camera. This is my SIL Shelly and her girls. We spent a day at Disney and then Magic Mtn with them - what fun. Allison - the one on the right - is a super rollercoaster rider now!
On the coaster at California Disney.

Why does Dallin have to make that face? Of course I am my usual photogenic self.
We had a ball - super tired when we got home - but it was so fun to spend that time with our kids.

We rode all of the extreme rollercoasters at Magic Mountain.

When they say EXTREME they are not kidding!

WOW!!

Who thinks up these things? Better yet, Why do I feel the need to ride every single one?

Love it!!