All Because Two People Fell in Love

Grammy and Papa's Mission Send-Off

2010-06-13T19:35:00.004-06:00

My parents are headed out into the wilderness tomorrow morning. They received a mission call to serve as service missionary's at the church owned cattle ranch in Nebraska. They couldn't be any more excited and ready to go! They will have a whole bunch of differen't things they will do on the ranch from handyman/repairs, tour-guides, teaching english to the migrant workers children and humanitarian work. They are basically out in the middle of nowhere we hear and about 40 miles to the nearest store and church. They don't even have cell phone service!!! We as a family are so excited for them and will miss them but are at peace knowing they are doing a great thing!!

Last night we had a multi-celebration for their send-off, my sister Kris's birthday and also Father's Day. The grown-ups all went to dinner at Red Lobster and then the whole family met at our house for dessert.

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Welcoming our newest addition to The Good Gomer Family

2010-05-16T19:25:00.003-06:00

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HAPPY 50th BIRTHDAY GOOD GOMER!!

2010-05-14T18:50:00.008-06:00

Again, I've gotten behind with my blogging.....I don't know how I let it happen but it happened again. Oh well............

On April 7th Mark turned the ripe old age of 50. With turning that age, who could pass up the opportunity of throwing a surprise "Over the Hill" party for him???

Unfortunately, this year Mark's birthday not only happened to be during the week he would be working in Oregon, but also during a business trip to Las Vegas. I decided that if he couldn't be home for the party, the party would go to him. So I called his boss and made arrangements for us to throw a surprise party for him during a "meeting" with all of his work associates who were with him in Las Vegas. Me and the kids happened to plan a trip to St. George for Spring Break, which also happened to be during this same time he would be in Vegas so it would work nicely for us to slip into Vegas, beings that it is only an hour and a half drive from St. George.

Sherry, Mark's boss, called a mock meeting in her hotel room...aka Mark's party, the morning all the Mattress World people flew in from Portland. We arranged for me and the kids and other friends who made the trip to hide in the back bedroom of the hotel suite while the group of Mattress World employees and Mark, arrived for the "meeting". As the meeting began, Sherry said she felt like breaking out in song, thus our que to barge out of the back bedroom while singing "Happy Birthday". The look on his face was priceless and he was pleasantly shocked and happy to see his family.

But the party was only just beginning............ I had arranged for a "homeless bag lady" aka my Mom, to crash the party and pull out of her giant bag, a bunch of "over the hill" gag gifts and present them to the birthday boy. Man was he ever embarrased as she presented him with hair for his bald head, thick glasses to see better with, a soft pillow to sit on for his hemmeroids (fit with a whoopy cushion that exploded when he sat on it), denture cream, ex-lax, whistle to blow when he falls down, and a bunch of other funny things. My Mom did such a great job with her skit and she totally went into character.....she deserved an oscar for her performance!

The funny thing on top of the surprise party was that my Mom was running late for the party and when her and my Dad pulled up to the Trump Tower, my Dad literally dropped her off at the door while he went to park and she ran in so she could get to the party on time. Well, when the time came for her to barge into the room with her skit, I sent Colton out into the hallway to get her and she was nowhere to be found, but my Dad had already parked and made his way up to the 51st floor and found the room. Where in the heck was my Mom???

In true Karen fashion, she was lost and going up and down hallways knocking on doors looking for the party dressed up in her getup. (If you look close, she has one extra big boobie and one small boobie, no makeup, and quite the outfit....what a site she was!!) In Vegas hotels, there are several elevators since there are so many floors and certain elevators go to certain floors. She couldn't figure out which elevator to go on so she was just going up and down elevators knocking on doors hoping to find the right room!!! I'd love to see the faces of the guys in the security office as they are viewing the hotel action and wondering what the heck was going on. If you know my Mom, it makes this story only funnier........

What a fun time we had and the look on Mark's face made it all worth it. You only turn 50 once so why not make it BIG!!!!

LOVE YOU MY GOOD GOMER!!! xx 00 xx 00

HOLY HORSE!

2010-03-28T18:49:00.008-06:00

Kortney moved home a few months ago and she didn't come alone. Diesel is her almost 2-year old Great Dane. We couldn't bare the thought of her having to give him away so we consented to let him come live here too. They are both here temporarily while she is living at home saving some money.

Tank and Gunner aren't big fans of this small horse but are slowly getting use to the fact that he's still here. They are very possesive of their territory so we had Kortney neuter Diesel in hopes that that would ease the threat that they were feeling.

One place that is totally off limits to Diesel, per Tank and Gunner, is my bed.....THIS IS THEIR TURF and where they spend the majority of their time. If Diesel even pokes his head through the bedroom door both dogs go nuts. What's funny though is that Diesel is well aware that this is "taken" territory and when Tank and Gunner happen to jump down off the bed and are distracted, Diesel takes full advantage of the situation and jumps up onto the bed to prove that he can lay there too. So funny to see the three of them communicating in their own way.

Of course he is intimidating by his size but he's a gentle giant......he just wants to be loved. And we do love him!

I know, I know, you are all thinking I'm nuts for allowing such a big dog into our house. My only response to that is, "YES I AM CRAZY!" The high-strung, OCD, prissy girl of yesterday has had to relax over the years. But I'm the first to tell you that this passiveness is only temporary I believe. When all the kids have left home and the animals have gone to doggy heaven, I'm going to go back to my old ways I'm pretty sure. I think I'm just temporarily "OUT OF ORDER" or perhaps "OUT OF BATTERIES" - I'm not functioning on full throttle. That's the only way I can survive in the moment. So, for the time being, the craziness in the Good Gomer Household will continue and I will continue taking deep breaths................. (sigh)

The "twins" are all grown up!

2010-03-24T07:48:00.011-06:00

It's hard to believe that it's been 18 plus years since our "twins" were born.

Back in 1990 me and my sister Kris both surprised our parents and family on Christmas morning with the news that we were both expecting babies. The funny thing about this is that neither of us knew that the other one was pregnant or going to announce it on that morning. I was living in New Hampshire at the time and Kris was in Utah.

On that morning, I opened my gift from Kris and it was a baby rattle announcing her pregnancy. I was laughing hysterically and so excited to call home where the whole family would be gathered for Christmas morning. I hadn't done anything gift-wise to make my announcement, I was simply going to announce over the phone of my pregnancy. I could hardly wait to get past the "Merry Christmas" stuff and just blurt it out, and when I did it was the best Christmas gift my parents could ever ask for. Everyone was literally dying at this point and excited beyond belief. Even funnier, Kris announced her due date of August 6th and I announced mine of August 5th.

My parents were so excited to announce the news to all the extended family they would be seeing throughout the day so they made cute signs to wear around their neck. The front sign read that they were expecting a grandbaby and then when they turned around there was another sign on their back announcing that they were expecting even another grandbaby. A pretty exciting Christmas Day for our family.

It was really fun being pregnant at the same time as my sister. It was my first pregnancy and my sisters third. I learned from her and followed everything she did throughout the pregnancy. It was fun having her doctor and mine both giving advice.

At our ultrasound appointments several months into our pregnancies, oddly enough, both our due dates got pushed back to more near the end of August and how funny that was to see that we were both doing things exactly the same. Now our due dates were something like the 21st and 24th I believe.

Kris found out her baby was going to be a little boy during her ultrasound but I chose not to find out the sex of mine because I wanted it to be a surprise. I wanted a little girl so bad but if it was a little boy it would be fun having two little guys together. I was still crossing my fingers for a girl though.

Nine months pass and we both approach our due dates, me on the East Coast and her in Utah. On Sunday, August 18th I went into labor pretty early in the morning and with the 2-hour time difference I didn't want to call home and wake everybody up. Plus having a worry wart for a Mom I didn't want to have her go through hours of stress and anxiety knowing I was in labor so far away where she couldn't do anything to help me. We had already pre-booked her airfare and had hoped it would fit into the time frame of me having the baby and enough time being given for her to be with me after the baby was born. I guess we were off a little bit but that was okay. The way it worked out, her flight came in the afternoon I came home from the hospital, so all was good.

Anyway, I guess the whole time I was in the hospital in labor, my sister was at my parents house for Sunday dinner and having contractions herself. Her other two pregnancies she would go into labor but not progress very quickly and she always had to get hooked up to the "pit" to increase contractions. When my baby girl was born I called home to announce she had arrived but I wanted to play around with them on the phone for a little bit. My mom told me Kris was in labor and wanted to know if I had been having any labor pains strong enough for me to go to the hospital. (I had been on bed rest since week 31 with premature labor so labor pains meant nothing to me unless they were strong and steady). I finally couldn't stand playing around with them any longer and told my mom to get everybody on the phone. At this point they figured out that I had the baby and got on the phones to hear if it was a boy or a girl. I was so excited to announce it was a GIRL because it would make it my parents first granddaughter to go with the other 3 grandsons.

After we all got off the phone, my sister decided to go to the hospital and get things moving. About 8 hours later, Jordan was born! Our babies were both here and healthy and strong! Jordan was born a few minutes past midnight so his birthday was on August 19th instead of Kylie's of August 18th. First thoughts of that were kind of sad because I wanted them both born on the same day but later on we decided it was good that they both had their own official birthdays. Later in life that would be fine, but growing up we always celebrated their birthdays together and they always shared a cake. We often dressed them in matching girl/boy clothes and would get their pictures taken professionally from time to time. We have a ton of pictures of them together growing up and they had so much fun together.

Growing up Kylie and Jordan were pretty much the same height and weight.....well, that is until teen years when Jordan grew like the typical boy. He now towers over Kylie and of course doesn't weigh the same either (that wouldn't be a good thing now to be the same weight and height :)) They even celebrated milestones pretty much at the same time (crawling, walking etc.) It was very comforting for me being a first time Mom to know that I had a great example to look up to and get advice from with my sister and her baby. It was so much fun those first years of their lives.

Of course, as they grew things would change and they wouldn't be our "twins" as much, but they have always remained close and have done a lot together over the years. We always knew that when they graduated high school we would have to get their pictures together to mark the end of our "twins" childhood. They graduated from differen't high schools last year and I'm late putting up this post because until yesterday, the senior pictures had disappeared somewhere.

Kylie and Jordan have grown up into beautiful young adults and we look forward to watching them continue to grow and succeed! We love you Kylie and Jordan!

New Pictures!

2010-03-23T10:47:00.010-06:00

The kids had their pictures taken a few weeks ago and I'm so excited with how they turned out. Here are a few of them for now. (Not bad for a 30-minute notice to find matching clothes:))

It's been TOOOOO long since we've blogged

2010-03-22T13:38:00.016-06:00

It's been a long time since our last blog entry in January. No excuses other than life happening.......Here's a quick update on what's been going on with a few pic's:

Taylir participated in the Simplot Indoor Track and Field Games in Pocatello, Idaho the end of February. There were kids there from all across the country. It was a great experience for her to jump with so many girls, and GREAT ones at that! The camera didn't get very many good pictures of her jumping- they were all fuzzy. She took 10th place but she was mad and onry with that because she has jumped better.

Brandt celebrated birthday number 26 on March 7th. Is that thinning hair on top of his head?!?!If he can be that age, it must mean that his parents are pretty dang old!!

Will is growing fast, he's two this coming July

Don't know why he thought this looked like a good place to lay down

Colton celebrated birthday number 15 on March 10th. I can't believe he's old enough to get his learners permit. Well, that may be awhile.............We have too many drivers on our insurance policy as it is! :)

Can't forget the babies! But baby Gunner is getting old and keeps having problems that our wallet doesn't like but the Veterinarian probably loves.............. He's now 11 and Tank is 4. They are still inseparable and it makes us so sad when we think about the day that Gunner is gone.....what will poor Tankerbelle do?

Baseball Season has started! We just got back from the first tournament - March Madness in St. George. Carson wouldn't let me get a picture of him so this is it. Grammy, Kortney and Chase
Dax and Jett with a lizard Dax found

Life sure flies by! Can't believe the school year is coming to a close. The final term started this morning!!! Spring is finally in the air and Mark got his "cold" items planted in his garden last week. He is still doing the commute to and from Oregon for work and he's busy busy busy. As for the mommy, she's just happy to still be able to be home during the day with the kiddos and babies and having fun with the kids activities, especially Spring Sports. Hopefully we won't get behind with blogging again and will try to do better! :)

HAPPY "2nd" BIRTHDAY JETT!!

2010-01-16T19:12:00.009-07:00

It's hard to believe that Jett is already 2-years old. Seems like just yesterday we were buying Dax his "big brother" t-shirt to wear to the hospital to meet his new little brother. Wow, time sure does fly!

What a cutie little "Jetterbellies" is. He is at such a fun age and saying just about everything. He loves to come to Elwa's house and see Gunner and Tank and play with the kids. I just love this little boy and am so happy to have him in our lives.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JETTERS!

Christmas Day 2009

2009-12-28T17:42:00.012-07:00

Santa found his way to the Good Gomer's house and was kind to us like usual. The morning began at about 7:30 am with the boys waking up first and then us having to wake the girls up.....of course. The kids were all pleased with what Santa brought this year. After the traditional breakfast of breakfast casserole and cinnamon rolls, the kids went over to open up what Santa brought at the Daniels house with Daxton and Jett. Lunch was spent at the Cowley house where the partying continued throughout the afternoon and finally at the end of the night it was back to our house where we had the Williamson family over for omelette night which is becoming a new tradition. What an exciting day it was but also extremely tiring! NO RETURNS this year so we all got to sleep in the next morning!

Kortney is back at home living temporarily and with that, we get to have Diesel, her small horse.....I mean Great Dane, spend time with us. He slept over on Christmas Eve and was able to enjoy the chaos and fun with us Christmas morning! Our tree is pretty tall this year and he goes up to about the half way point of it. You can see Tank in the background and he is considered a large lab but he looks small next to Diesel.

Grammy and Papa with Chloe

Christmas Eve 2009

2009-12-28T14:47:00.016-07:00

Christmas Eve the Crump side of the family has a tradition of getting together. We either have a dinner or dessert (depending on every-other year), open presents and enjoy a program put on by all the kids playing their musical instruments and displaying their talents. Grammy and Papa always do a spiritual part for the program to help us remember the real meaning of why we celebrate Christmas.

The girl cousins

The boy cousins
The kids enjoying a fun candy game
When we got home to our house later that night, the kids also have a tradition of opening up their new pj's.
Looks like Santa visited the Good Gomer's house and everything is all set for Christmas morning

Christmas'ing 2009

2009-12-21T21:18:00.013-07:00

December 20
Last night we had our family Christmas party and made a turkey dinner with all the trimmings. It was our "off" year at Thanksgiving this year, which meant that it was the year everybody went with their in-laws or other families so we decided to have our big turkey dinner for our Christmas party where we would all be together. The food was yummy and we all ate way too much. It was a great night being all together.

Can you guess which one is the real pregnant one vs. the two who just ate too much?

Christmas is so much fun when there are little ones for Santa.

December 21
It's a family tradition to go to Gardner Village's Christmas Shop to get a new ornament for each of us that depicts something about us for that specific year. This is something anticipated for weeks at Christmas time. We had set aside tonight's Family Home Evening for the big night since it was the first Monday that Kylie would be home with us. After we all pick out our ornaments we always have snacks and hot chocolate at The Village Bakery. We also delivered Christmas gifts around the neighborhood before we left. It was a lot of fun being in the Clark Girswold Family Vehicle and spending an evening together in true Griswold fashion!

Busy Week

2009-11-23T13:42:00.008-07:00

This past week was so busy at our house with some kind of event every night. I was exhausted by Sunday and loved laying low all afternoon.....even getting in a Sunday nap!

One of the events we had was Carson's Football banquet. His 7th grade team won the championship, going undefeated this year and last year too! What a great group of boys and coaches we had! Here are Carson's stats for the season: 720 rushing yards, 18 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. He had the most touchdowns on his team! What a great little athlete my baby is!

Colton had his very first concert with the Utah Valley Youth Sympthony. He was really nervous but played beautifully. I'm use to hearing him playing in the band so hearing a full orchestra with strings and brass and even percussion was incredible!! What beautiful music and it brought tears to my eyes! I am so proud of Colton and how seriously he takes his music.

What a wonderful experience it has been raising these two boys. They are the best of friends and even "hang out" together with their combined friends. What's even neater, is that they don't have to compete with each other with their chosen past-time talents or hobbies. Carson is all athlete as much as Colton is all music. The two of them complement each other nicely and how great is it that they don't have to compare or measure up to one another in a competetive way.

They are really making their Mommy proud!

2009-11-17T15:35:00.004-07:00

I'M STANDING ON A SOAP BOX RIGHT NOW SO BARE WITH ME!!!!

I know my blog is my form of journaling and scrapbooking but it also a way to network something and get the word out when needed. Thus the reason for this post.

I am in a position to sale HCG drops, a safe and effective way to lose stored fat from the body. This is not some hokey back-yard brewed impersonator of the product. It is NRC #'d out of a lab from Texas, purchased by a licensed health care provider who happens to be family. It is safe and legal!!

One 23-day supply bottle is $50....a lot less than the average $300 plus bottle! There is a website you can visit to learn more about HCG. Go to www.myhcgbody.com Just don't purchase the product there at $60 a bottle.....contact me to purchase yours!

There, I'm stepping off my soapbox and thanking you for taking the time to listen to me! :)

The Good Gomer at his BEST!

2009-11-15T11:58:00.006-07:00

How many women wished that they were married to a "Jack of all trades". Lucky me, I AM!! My good gomer of a hubby can do it all. Lately he has been into making apple pies and each week when he is home he perfects his recipe to an even more perfect version. Last night after he worked most of the day on a big work project, he couldn't wait to just get in his jammies, build a fire and lounge in his chair watching a good western movie. I knew that wouldn't last long for him.....he's not known to sit still for too long. And I was right, not too long into his lounging by the fire, he announced he was going to go mess around with his pie recipe. He is wanting to have the perfect pie by Thanksgiving. Trust me though, each pie he has already made has been perfect to me, especially the one with the entire bag of kraft caramels in the apple filling...YUM! He told me this one will be the best and I have to admit, I think it is the prettiest one so far. It is very puffy and looks perfecto!!! We're going to dig into tonight for dessert and I can hardly wait!

I love my Good Gomer!!

Cross Country State Champions

2009-11-08T14:44:00.005-07:00

This past week we attended a banquet for Taylir and her cross country team who ended up taking the State Championship with both the girls and boys teams finishing in first place. Taylir had a great year and is looking forward to the last big race of the season that is called, "Footlocker" and is held in California the first weekend in December. She has been extremely busy training for it and going door to door in our neighborhood selling pies for the fundraising event. Anybody want a pie???

Way to AF Cross Country!!!!

Kylie???????

2009-11-07T21:41:00.006-07:00

Is this my little Kylie??? It can't be.....her hair is all curly and in an up-do.....and look at the sparkly jewelry......and look at the makeup.........BUT IT IS MY KYLIE!!!

Kylie's best friend Kenzie got married Thursday and she was one of her bridesmaids. Anyone who knows Kylie knows that she doesn't like to fuss much with hair and makeup or anything girly girl. Prom didn't even get her in an up-do. But wanting to be a good sport and support Kenzie on her special day, she didn't put up a fight when Penny, Kenzie's mom started foo-fooing her all up. In fact, she said she kind of liked it and she felt so pretty.

I think she looked beautiful and it was so much fun seeing her all done up like this! Something tells me though that we won't see her like this again any time soon.

AF CAVEMEN WIN CHAMPIONSHIP....2 years in a row!!!!

2009-11-04T10:38:00.010-07:00

I am so excited this morning!!! Carson and his football team won the championship last night against Lehi, 35 - 14 with Carson scoring two touchdowns, one extra point and a two point conversion!!!
The game was pretty intense with everyone extremely pumped up! Even the weather was great for the game. Carson made the first 15 points of the game and this mommy was pretty thrilled!!!
Kind of bittersweet though because now football season is officially over. No more two hour practices 3 times a week for Carson, which I think he will be okay with truthfully.

He's made some pretty awesome friends from the team and I'm hoping we'll keep seeing them. We're now taking a two month break from sports until baseball starts up again in January!

Thank you to all the wonderful coaches.....you guys rock!

WAY TO GO AF CAVEMEN!!!!!!

HALLOWEEN 2009

2009-11-01T15:51:00.005-07:00

For Halloween this year it was pretty low key at our house. The kids are getting older and nobody went trick-or-treating this year for a first! Kylie and Colton dressed up in all black and went to Doug and Kristi's house to hide in the bushes to scare the trick-or-treaters. Taylir dressed up as an 80's girls and went to a party. I can't believe how cute she looked.........I think the 80's were awesome for fashion and so frilly and feminine. Carson didn't dress up this year but went to his first boy/girl party.....woo hoo Carsy boy!! Mark and I stayed home and passed out candy, although we didn't have as many trick-or-treaters as we have in years past. We've still got 4 bags of Kit Kat's leftover! But what we don't have is tons of candy from the kids' stash. It was kind of strange not having to go through their bags to safeguard them this year. Wow, we must be getting old! Halloween is over now, and we're three weeks away from my favorite holiday........THANKSGIVING!

PARTY MONTH!!!

2009-11-01T15:16:00.007-07:00

The busy party month of October has come and gone. Taylir and Carson both had big parties for their 13th and 16th birthdays. The house was full of teenagers two nights in a row......What a fun time we had!

This is Taylir's "Sweet Sixteen" party

Carson had his party the next night and he took his friends to a gym to play around in. Afterward, the house filled with teenagers to eat cake and open presents.

What a fun couple of days we had!

HE'S A TEENAGER NOW!

2009-10-24T14:01:00.005-06:00

I can't believe my baby is now a teenager.....WOW!! Time sure does fly. I am so proud of who this boy is becoming - he makes his mom smile! Currently he is in the 7th grade and has straight A's with the end of term being yesterday. He plays running back on his football team who is undefeated going into the playoffs this next week. He also plays on several baseball teams and plays the position of pitcher and short stop. He still loves his mom and isn't afraid to show her affection in front of his friends.....that's my boy!

Tonight we are having a big party and have rented out his favorite gym for him and all his friends and family to run around in. We had Taylir's Sweet Sixteen party here last night and had a houseful of teenagers - it was so awesome!! But we're ready to party it up again tonight!

I LOVE YOU CARSY BOY AND HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT BIRTHDAY!!!

HAPPY SWEET SIXTEEN TAYLIR!!!

2009-10-22T13:07:00.014-06:00

Taylir is that awesome age where she will tell me she is going to "absolutely die" because I posted all these pictures of her on our blog. Isn't she a cutie???!!!! She is such a perfect daughter and such a joy to have around. She is super busy these days and such an over-achiever. Yesterday her cross country team took first place at STATE!!!!! Both the boys and the girls team placed first. Besides cross country, she is still taking violin lessons and playing in the orchestra at school. In her little spare time she is usually with her friends and doing the typical teenage girl stuff. (BTW, her bedroom cleaning skills are improving!)

Happy Birthday Tay Tay.............WE LOVE YOU!

Region Cross Country

2009-10-10T17:04:00.009-06:00

Yesterday Taylir competed in Region Cross Country and she did FANTASTIC! She placed 3rd running for the Junior Varsity Team out of approximately 150 girls. She was very pleased with her time of 21 minutes, 31 seconds. This course is a very difficult one with a lot of grassy hills and she beat her time from last year and the other time from earlier in the season.
Tay is loving cross country and the kids she associates with. She has made some really good friends and we have had fun ourselves getting to know them all.

Here she is coming across the finish line.............YEA TAYLIR!!!

UTAH VALLEY YOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

2009-10-06T14:34:00.007-06:00

Colton tried out on Friday for a spot on the Utah Valley Youth Sympthony Orchestra and MADE IT!!! We are so proud of him and look forward to the wonderful experiences he will have over the next 7 months. What an awesome opportunity!

WAY TO GO COLTON!!!!

Conference Weekend

2009-10-06T13:37:00.012-06:00

Our family spent Conference Weekend at my parents house in St. George. We had a great time and loved being with each other.

On Saturday evening the boys in the family attended the Saturday evening session at my parents Stake Center. Afterwards the girls joined in with the boys and got together with my Uncle Bill and Aunt LaWanna and their family for ice cream.

Sunday we all enjoyed laying around the house and listening to the sessions in jammies or comfortable clothes instead of being all dressed up in our sunday best. Gotta love conference attire!

While in St. George, of course a visit to the Narrows is always a MUST!

Anytime Mark and I tried having our picture taken, the dogs wouldn't stay out of the picture and we were always telling them to get out! It's great to be loved so much but not when it comes to being alone in a picture with your honey!

What a wonderful Conference Weekend! Thanks Grammy and Papa for being such awesome hosts!

A Great Night With a Great Friend

2009-10-06T11:44:00.009-06:00

Last week me and my girlfriend Sandra went to the Utah Jazz' first pre-season game against the Denver Nuggets. I hadn't been to a Jazz game in a few years and was looking forward to going, especially since it was with one of my most favorite people. She is one of "THE SMITHFIELD GIRLS" that so many people hear me talk about. I love love love her and she is so much fun to be with. She is and will be a life-long friend!

We were really excited to watch the game but even more to visit and catch up since we live a few hours apart from each other and don't get together as often as we would like. Even though we did watch some of the game, when it was over we asked each other if there had been a basketball game going on????? We both love to people watch and just talk talk talk and there was a lot of both going on. I did take a few pictures of the game for the kids' sake and thought I got a pretty good one of Boozer taking a shot.

What a fun night I had............Love ya Sandra!

Girls Weekend - 2009

2009-09-20T19:07:00.015-06:00

Me and the girls just got home from our annual girls weekend in St. George with the girls from my side of the family. This year I was a little more excited than normal because Kylie is living down there and I have been missing her like you wouldn't believe!

When me and the girls got there, Kortney and Taylir immediately climbed into Kylie's bed and the three of them were giggling and carrying on like sisters should. They have really missed each other and I couldn't resist taking this picture of the three of them.

We see a play every year at Tuacahn and this year was "Annie". It was so cute and I have been humming the music all weekend!

This is the whole bunch of us at the play

While we were there it was my mom's 70th birthday.....Happy Birthday Mom!

This picture is fuzzy because my camera is acting up again, but right before we left to go home, the girls ended up doing the exact same thing as when we first arrived.....bonding on Kylie's bed. Kylie is under the covers being sad. It was really hard leaving her but she is in a good place in great hands and doing the right thing.

All in all, the girls weekend was a blast! We ate too much like we usually do and laughed and laughed and laughed. We are already talking about next year and planning on things we want to do and see. We are at odds on whether we want to see Tarzan or Cats, but I think we have plenty of time to decide.....maybe both!

Thank you Mom for hosting us and showing us a fabulous time!! We love you!! :)

That's My Carsy Boy!

2009-09-09T20:42:00.006-06:00

AF WINS LONE PEAK 28 - 0

Of course this picture wasn't taken by me. A friend took it and e-mailed it to me after the game tonight. (Thanks Andy!) This is Carson, #11 surrounded by Lone Peak players. You can see the player in the lower left who tripped him up. Way to dive Carson!

WAY TO GO AF CAVEMEN!! STILL UNDEFEATED!!

HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY TAVYN AND TYSON!!

2009-09-05T15:25:00.003-06:00

2009 BYU Autumn Classic

2009-09-05T15:01:00.011-06:00

This morning Taylir competed in the BYU High School Cross Country Autumn Classic. There were 52 high schools there from all over the state and surrounding area. Taylir got her all-time best score finishing in at 22 - 01. When she left the house this morning she said that she wanted to get under her normal 23 minutes and she blew that time out of the water! With that score she placed 3rd out of 150 girls.

Her high school team took 2nd place overall from all the schools there!

Way to go Tay Tay and the AF XC Team!!!!

And a quick update with Carson's football team: Game 2 Wednesday evening was a win against Lehi who gave them a run for it. The final score was 28 - 21 with Carson getting 2 of the touchdowns. The team is now 2 - 0. Way to go Carsy Boy and the AF 7th grade team!

NO GIRLS ALLOWED!

2009-08-30T19:23:00.025-06:00

The men and boys on my side of the family went on a BOYS ONLY camping and fishing trip up to the Uintah's this weekend. (Us girls didn't mind because we are going on our annual GIRLS ONLY St. George trip in a few weeks and we enjoyed staying home watching chick-flicks and eating wayyyyyyy tooooooooo much junk by ourselves)

They had a lot of fun and caught A TON of fish! Saturday evenings fish fry was delicious!

Mark got a little hungry before the fish fry and he does LOVE sushi! He's always trying to make someone laugh, even if fish-guts are involved!

Nephew Dawson excited with his catch!
My studly brother Shane

Nephews Bryson and Jordan and their dog Rusty who loves water and fish

Nephews Braden and Jaron soooo excited to sleep in Uncle Mark's trailer

Mark hopes to make this an annual tradition because they all had such a great time!

Cross Country Season Begins

2009-08-29T11:17:00.008-06:00

Well it's official, Cross Country for Taylir started this morning with the annual AF Grass Relay Invitational held at AF. Tay did awesome, even though she was tripped at the very beginning of the race and fell forward onto the track and scraped herself up pretty bad and cracked her elbow. The whole race is done primarily on grass with just literally a few yards of track to run on at the very beginning and ending of the race, but she falls when she is on the track......ouch! Needless to say she wasn't in the best of shape for running the remaining 2 miles but she tried her best and still finished 21st out of 282 girls with a time of 14 - 42. I think that is pretty impressive! The pictures aren't that great because Mark took the camera with him on the boys camping trip so I was left with my cell phone camera which doesn't take the best of pictures, sorry.

A few of the girls and Taylir icing her elbow after the race - she managed a smile!

Way to go Taylir and the AF XC team 2009-10!!! Here's to the start of an awesome season!!!!

FOOTBALL!!!!!!

2009-08-26T17:24:00.006-06:00

It's that time of year again when from our house you can hear the high school band playing, announcers over a loud speaker, the faint sound of whistles being blown and there is a crispness in the air that is welcome to the feel. On any given day, the park up the street has boys of all ages running plays and coaches yelling words of encouragement :) It's a time of year that I absolutely love and enjoy and means one thing...................FOOTBALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last night was Carson's first game of the season with the 7th grade Cavemen. This year has the majority of the boys returning and the same coaching staff. Last year the boys won the title for their age-group and we're keeping our fingers crossed for another great year. They got off to a great start last night by winning WestLake 41-8. My Carsy boy had 2 of the touchdowns and 3 of the extra points. It was an awesome night!! The picture above is of Carson (#11) getting ready to receive the ball and run in a touchdown.

WAY TO GO CARSON AND THE 7TH GRADE CAVEMEN!!!

And She's Off!!

2009-08-22T20:08:00.022-06:00

Well the day I've been putting off has finally arrived......the day that my baby girl leaves home and starts the next phase of her life. She left tonight for St. George to live with her Grammy and Papa and go to school at Dixie State. She was going to leave Thursday but we (okay, I) decided Friday would be better, then on Friday we (I) decided Saturday would be better, and at one time today we (I) decided tomorrow would be best, but ultimately I knew I needed to put my selfish feelings aside of not wanting to let go of her and to get her there with plenty of time to settle in before her 8 am class Monday morning.

This morning me and the dogs decided to wake her up and have a good cuddle!

Tonight the family went out to dinner for our "Last Supper".

Finally it was time to head to the airport and say our goodbyes. I promised I wouldn't cry and held true to my promise even though inside I was absolutely dying! The only thing that kept my emotions from spilling over the edge was knowing that she will be home again on Friday for a friends missionary farewell on Sunday. I love that she has free flight benefits so she can take advantage of the 5 flights going in and out of St. George daily......I think we will see quite a bit of her! :)

I love you my Kylicans! Good Luck on your new adventure! Your bedroom is always here!

Back To School 2009

2009-08-20T10:55:00.016-06:00

I can't believe it's time for school to start once again. It seems like we were just attending all the year-end activities and graduations for the 2008-09 school year and now I'm sending the kids off to another year of school. This year there are big changes with 3 of the 4 kids; Carson starts his first year of Jr. High, Taylir starts her first year of High School and Kylie starts her first year of college and living away from home. I'm not one who likes change, especially when it involves my babies growing up, so I've been a little out of sorts this last little while and just trying to cope with all the change and hoping it turns into a "normal" soon. I like my comfort zone and I don't feel like I'm in it right now. I feel the need for a large bowl of cookie dough, a good Lifetime movie and cuddling up with the kids/dogs on my bed.....that's what I do to de-stress! Last night we ate dinner on my bed and watched NCIS. The kids couldn't believe I was letting them eat outside of the kitchen! Anything to make the mom happy though!!! Luckily the kids are really excited about their new adventures and they aren't as crazy as their mom!! :)

Carson starts his first year (7th grade) at the Jr. High

Colton starts his last year (9th grad) at the Jr. High

Taylir starts her first year (10th grade) at the High School

Kylie will leave for Southern Utah this weekend. These are a few pictures of her birthday party two nights ago.

My Baby Is All Grown Up!!!

2009-08-18T15:25:00.006-06:00

Today my baby girl Kylie turns the magical age of "18"

Where did all the time go??? I feel like she should still be in school and when the other kids start school tomorrow she won't be going. She actually leaves this weekend to start a new adventure and the next phase of her life. She will be moving to Southern Utah and going to school there. I don't know how I am going to handle the day she leaves. It makes me sad already thinking about it. But I know that this is part of life and it helps knowing that she is so excited about her future.

I am so proud of my Kylie and the young woman she has become. She is beautiful not only on the outside but on the inside too. I love you Ky and know that you always have a bedroom here at home whenever you need it.

Good luck on your next big adventure and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

GO GETTIM' DOWN THERE IN THOSE RED HILLS!!!

Mark's Garden 2009

2009-08-17T18:49:00.006-06:00

Each year Mark plants his famous garden and each year we get an abundance of fresh produce. So much, that I hate to say that some of it goes to waste by the end of the season because we have had so much. We like to blanch and freeze the majority of it because to us it tastes better than pressure cooking it in bottles.

This year has been a little less abundant in the bean department, other than the pole bean plants themselves look more like "Jack in the Bean Stock" plants. He tried pole beans this year rather than the normal bush beans and this is the first year we've had minimal beans. I think he'll go back to bush beans next year.

The tomatoes were slow in coming but that is probably due to the colder than normal month of June that we had. They are on now though and we've already made a batch of canned salsa.

The cucumber, zucchini, squash and pepper plants have produced a lot also. We've had to give away cucumbers because they just keep mass producing.

Mark loves planting his garden and calls it his "therapy". I feel bad but over the years I've made him down-size his garden because it has been just way too big and we haven't been able to keep up with it as much as we would like to. I have already told him again this year that he still needs to go a little smaller, but if it is his therapy, then well......what's a wife to do?!?

Burston Ponds

2009-08-16T20:25:00.009-06:00

Friday evening we went camping with several families in our ward to Burston Ponds in Mona. It was a lot of fun and the kids had tons of water time! Whether kayaking, rope swinging or catching crawdads and frogs, they kept plenty busy while the grownups had a great time chatting and visiting at camp.

Luckily we had all of Friday to play in the water because Saturday morning we woke up to terrible wind and cold weather that actually brought SNOW to Mt. Timp if you can believe that! Everybody packed up pretty early that morning and headed home. While we were driving home the temperature dropped to 58 degrees......brrrrr! And it's August!!!!!!

Thank you to all our fun ward friends!

The Best Sunday Drive

2009-08-10T19:45:00.019-06:00

Yesterday after church we decided to take a Sunday afternoon drive since summer is coming to an end and we haven't really taken that many since we've been gone so much. Sunday drives are the best when church is on the 9 am schedule and there is plenty of daylight time in the summer.

We convinced the kids to come along for the ride and we would be gone only an hour or so.........well, it was more like 4 hours actually. Once we got headed up our beautiful American Fork Canyon, we decided that we would like to head out onto the face of Mt. Timpanogos and look out over the valley. The kids had never been up that far and were up for the drive if you can believe that. The road in is an extremely bumpy and dirty ride where you need to go about 5-10 mph to avoid all the divots/ditches/washout spots/rocks in the road. We decided that after we got past the Timpanookee Campground roads we would let the kids ride in the back and enjoy the scenery.

Once we finally made it to the top the kids couldn't believe that they were looking out on the Salt Lake Valley from one view and then the Utah County Valley from another view. They had fun trying to find buildings and roads they knew from up that high. What a gorgeous view this was and the wild flowers that were growing along the road were spectacular! The kids were collecting flowers and other "growing things" along the whole course of the drive.

We were all a dusty mess! The truck wasn't black any longer!

The kids saw this one lonely tree kind of by itself in this meadow and wanted to hike down to it.

We deemed it "The Tree of Life".

What a nice hubby helping the wifey down from the truck after posing for pictures in the bed of the truck.

We had put off our Sunday Lunch until after our 1 hour drive and so by the time we arrived home 4 hours later we were starving and extremely dirty. Everyone re-showered and then we enjoyed a nice little barbecued chicken lunch.....well dinner. But what a fun Sunday afternoon our family had. It was nice being all together and enjoying some down time before our crazy hectic schedules start up again next week with the start of school.

My Favorite House

2009-08-07T18:04:00.021-06:00

This past Monday evening I attended a family reunion. Truthfully there are several family reunions on both sides of my family each summer but there is one in particular that I don't like to miss. This is the reunion for the posterity of Sam and Birdie Turner from Bluffdale Utah.

In my eyes there have never been two people who were more perfect than they were. I know that most kids think their grandparents are the best, but truly, my grandparents were incredible! If they were still alive today they would be 111 and 97. Grandpa died in 1983 with Grandma following in 1989. I have many wonderful memories from my childhood as a much loved grand-daughter of these two. They referred to me as their "Little Lellie". Sunday evenings there was never a question on where we would be....everybody went to Grandpa and Grandmas house. I remember sitting with the adults in the front living room of the house and listening to the stories of the past, recalling what was learned in church that day or just talking and laughing about anything. I remember dreaming of the day when I would be an adult just like all of them and specifically wanting to be just like my older married girl cousins who had children. I wanted so badly to be done with being a kid and wanted to be a mom and make sack lunches for my kids going to school - yes that is one memory I have, wanting to make sack lunches for my kids....????? Although I had lots of cousins there my age and younger, I loved to listen in on the adult conversation. You could guarantee that stories from Grandpa and Grandmas upbrining or early married years would be shared. What a rich heritage I have from both these two people and when visiting the town of Bluffdale where they were both raised, I think I am related to probably half the town.

Grandpa and Grandmas little white house with the red roof is still in the family to this day and it is used as a "starter" house for those grandkids/great grandkids who are just starting out. Unfortunately I never got to live in this favorite little house of mine because I was already grown and married before they both died. Even with the house being in the family I have not been in it for 10 plus years.

Every time we drive out to my sisters house we drive right past Grandpa and Grandmas house and I always point it out to the kids. The house still looks exactly the same but the fields and barns behind the house have since fallen or homes have been built in it's place. Grandpa had an incredible farm and what wonderful times I had as a little girl running through the fields and barns while playing with my cousins.

One specific memory I have as a child is wanting to taste of Grandmas special dark crunchy honey she had in the cupboard under her kitchen sink. The honey I had at my house wasn't like hers and didn't taste like hers either. I would have a spoonful or some spread on a slice of bread every time I visited. I didn't know until I was an adult that this wasn't any special kind of honey you could only find in specialty stores, it was honey that had gotten old and crystalized and turned dark. Grandma must of had a ton of it in her food storage though because there was never a shortage of this special honey. To this day, I still prefer my honey dark and crunchy!

I also have a memory of Grandpa and Grandmas bedroom. I always wanted a bedroom just like theirs when I grew up. It was pink and looked like a giant valentine. The carpet was pink with red and pink flowers if you can believe it and the twin beds had headboards that were crushed red velvet. Even the walls were pink. I'm beginning to think Grandmas favorite color was pink because even her white kitchen cupboards were trimmed in pink. I use to think the kitchen looked like a peppermint candy cane.

While at the reunion, the highlight of the night was that we were all going to go on a tour of Grandpa and Grandmas old house. One of my cute cousins Ashley and her husband Bret live there right now and were gracious to allow all of us to trample through. I was so excited to get there and when we arrived it was as if I had traveled back in time. Unlike a lot of older homes that get updated and remodeled, this house is still pretty much the same as the days it was lived in by Grandpa and Grandma and in incredible condition. Walking in the back door through the mud room it even smelled the exact same. Everyone has taken such good care of this special place out of respect for our grandparents. What a wonderful spirit I felt as I walked from room to room and remembered the memories of so long ago.

Grandpa and Grandma have always been close to my heart even after all these years. I have felt of their presence from time to time and I know without a shadow of a doubt that they have been there with me through times of trial and triumph. I have always tried to live up to their expectations and pattern my life after theirs. What true deciples of Christ they were and I look forward to the day that I can be with them again.

Though the walls aren't pink anymore, that wonderful carpet is still there!

The peppermint cupboards are still there but the special honey is not!

I finally have had that dream come true of wanting to be a mom just like my grown girl cousins and I am so glad I got to show my girls inside my favorite house! As for making sack lunches for the kids, that I found out wasn't all it cut out to be.....school lunch is much easier! :)

OREGON Part 3

2009-08-06T11:44:00.016-06:00

It's a rare occasion when you can get a bunch of Garrison's all together at the same time beings that we all live in differen't states, but while we were in Oregon, not only did we have Greg and Dawna and their 2 kids there, but Grandpa, Grandma along with Aunt Dayna and two of Grandma's sisters - Gayle and Karen were there too. We decided to have a big barbeque at our camp site. It was a lot of fun and the kids were easily entertained with the playground and the grownups enjoyed telling fun stories of the past.

The highlight of going to Oregon in the kids' minds is playing in the warehouse at Mattress World. They woke up several mornings at the crack of dawn so they could make the 45-minute trek into Clackamas to work with Mark. This was one time that waking teenagers up early was no problem!

Going to the coast and touring Battery Russell was something the kids had never done even though they have been to Oregon a ton. This was fun and they enjoyed wandering in and out of the abandoned buildings where the navy once patrolled and protected the NorthWest Coast during the onset of World War 2.

Going out to the Jetty and driving the truck down onto the beach was pretty cool!

As boys growing up on the farm in Olney, Mark and Kirk use to take their boat and travel on the slew behind their house that traveled the distance to the ocean in Astoria. They would trap animals, fish or just mess around like boys do. I've told Mark several times that our boys have no daily adventures that could ever match up to what he and his brother use to do. Mark and Kirk decided it would be fun to take their boys on a boat ride on the slew and create a memory for the boys to share with their memories of the slew.

And there you have it, a 3-part blogging on our Oregon Summer Adventure 2009. UNTIL NEXT YEAR!!!!!

Oregon Part 2

2009-07-31T21:02:00.019-06:00

Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach is one of our most favorite places to go in Oregon. The kids can never get enough of it. It's not the warmest water but the kids still have fun despite having their legs and feet turn bright pink from the cold.

While is Cannon Beach you can't not go to Mo's. We have a favorite booth we like to sit in that is centered in the corner overlooking Haystack Rock. We request this booth every time we go. The crabmelt sandwich and clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl is to die for!!

Another site we have to visit is Young's River Falls in Olney. These falls are beautiful and the mist that sprays you while standing on the shore is awesome! We had a bunch of Garrison's with us this day: Grandpa, Uncle Kirk and Aunt Gina with their kids, and Uncle Greg and Aunt Dawna and two of their kids. We had a picnic and enjoyed the day playing in the water and jumping off the cliffs.

Another fun place to visit is The Astor Column. The kids love to climb the winding stairs and throw airplane/gliders over the railing.

The weather while we were there was gorgeous!

Stay tuned for Part 3

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY WILL!!!!!

2009-07-30T11:23:00.010-06:00

Our little Grandbaby Will is 1-year old now......where did the last year go?? He has grown so much and has such a fun little personality. He started crawling and walking early and has even a little vocabulary going. He loves his mommy and daddy a ton and still gets a little nervous when they are out of his sight but he is coming out of that stage now that he is becoming a toddler.

Last night we had a little birthday party for him and enjoyed watching him open and play with his presents. One of the toys we gave him was a vacume that plays music and teaches the ABC's and counting. When the music comes on he bounces up and down and dances.

During the course of the party one of the kids had gotten Tank's tutu and was showing it to Uncle Pete and somehow it ended up on Will. Don't worry, it was short-lived. Uncle Pete got a kick out of "Willamena" pushing his vacume in a tutu.

Grandpa reading to Will from the book we gave him.....ahhhhh!!!!

It's so funny to watch how sometimes little ones are more interested in other things rather than the new toys that are in front of them. Case in point, Gunners tail!

OREGON 2009 - Part 1

2009-07-29T15:00:00.016-06:00

Our Oregon trip has come and gone. We weren't gone nearly as long as last year and are home with plenty of more summer for the kids to enjoy before school starts up again.

I think I am going to have to post the trip in spurts since I am so overwhelmed right now with too many pictures and events to talk about. So just know that this is only a portion of the trip and I will post more later.

We had not 1 but 2 tires blow-out on the fifth-wheel (not both at the same time). Mark was a stud and kept the truck and trailer in control and we were lucky to be close enough to towns to buy replacements both times. We were already down quite a bit of spending money before we even got there. Unfortunately the fifth-wheel sustained some body damage that we will have to get repaired.

Here are some candids of the trip:

We couldn't resist taking this one of the two boys sharing a bed trying to stay warm after Mark booted Carson out of his bed (the kitchen table bed of the fifth-wheel) so he could make breakfast and get the table all set.

Traveling with your home-away-from-home on wheels definitely is the way to go! Last summer we parked our fifth-wheel in one spot and left it there the whole time while we traveled around. This year we got smart and took it wherever we went. The boys have gotten pretty dang good with packing up and hooking up and can make it all happen in a very short time. It was so nice to do lakes and beaches and have the convenience of water/showers/potties/food right there.

We didn't have to eat out a ton and spend lots of money that we didn't have thanks to the new tires.....ala the Griswald Family Diner, I mean the Garrison Family Diner. (FYI we have been deemed the Clark Griswald family because Mark IS Clark Griswald and we are his family!

We had a mini office set-up in the back of the fifth-wheel so Mark could work from home/fifth wheel when needed, even with a printer/fax machine in the kids closet!! Of course I needed to stay in touch with the world via the internet! :)

One day the kids were able to go on a birds-eye view of Portland in a friends plane. They had a blast! Thanks Mike!

And last of all for Part 1 of our Oregon trip, Tank who has always been afraid of the water is NOW a swimmer and has learned to love it! Notice in the picture that he has not only retrieved a ball we threw out into the water, but he went out further to retrieve a stick at the same time that we had thrown in earlier. It was so funny to watch him because the whole time he was swimming he was constantly wagging his tail! No more sissy dog...he really is a true lab now!

Madison Invitational Baseball Tournament

2009-06-28T19:34:00.019-06:00

We just arrived home from attending the Madison Invitational Baseball Tournamanet in Rexburg, Idaho to watch Carson's 12-year old AF team. This team was made up of all the boys his age in our city league that made the all-star team.....and what a team this was!

The first day of the tournament the boys weren't looking all that great and lost two games. The next day the weather was terrible but the boys managed to win their morning game. The second game was called due to rain and boy did it ever rain! With two losses and a rain-out this put them into the 8th seed going into the playoffs on the final day, Saturday. But watch out, these boys stepped up to the plate and played the next three games like they really were the best of the best of AF and not like they were the first day......The boys are back in town!!

They were set to play the number #1 team going into game one of the playoffs and sitting at #8 and they rose to the challenge and won the game 11-2 eliminating the local home team who sponsored the tournament -yikes....not a lot of happy locals after this game! Game two, the semi-finals was played immediately following game one against the #4 seed who were another Idaho team and we sent them packing after winning 9-4. This team was actually the team favored to win the whole tournament and our boys beat them!! Our boys are going to the championship game against yet another Idaho team who had some pretty big kids who knew how to hit. This game was played with a lot of power but just not enough to come out on top in the end. The team from Rupert won 11-6. But I couldn't be more proud of the boys for rallying that final day and playing non-stop for a triple header, back to back to back. They were absolutely wiped out in the end but didn't complain with taking second place. Second place was awesome considering our record.....we'll take it! We didn't get home until after midnight and we were all sunburned and exhausted. 9am church came awfully early this morning!

Me and the girls obviously during one of the games we lost because during the triple headers we had a hard time sitting still and were constantly jumping up and down! I don't think Mark ever sat with us.....he was so pumped up and was EVERYWHERE but sitting in his chair!

I managed to convince Carson that he would be happy one day with a picture of this.

CONGRATULATIONS AF CAVEMEN 12-YEAR OLDS!!!!

Time with Tyson

2009-06-28T18:31:00.010-06:00

While Tyson was home on his 10-day leave we were able to have some fun family time. One thing the boys in our family reallly love to do is fish, and Tyson wanted to make sure he did plenty of this while on leave.

Father's Day happened to be on the Sunday he was here on leave so we decided to have a big Father's Day/Tyson Graduating Boot Camp Celebration. Grandma and Dayna were in town also for cousin Tara's wedding so we were able to have a lot of the family together for the big party.

Happy Father's Day Grandpa! (Mark and Will)

At the end of the 10-days he was off to San Diego again, to Camp Pendleton for 30-days of combat training before heading off to South Carolina until December.

A New Marine!

2009-06-14T19:47:00.020-06:00

Introducing one of the newest members of the United States Marine Corps, First Class Tyson from Bravo Company, Platoon #1025.

We were able to travel to San Diego, California this past weekend to support Tyson in graduating from the Marine Corps Boot Camp. He has been there for 13 weeks, and what an accomplishment this is for him. While we were there we were able to see firsthand what goes on and we could see other troops being trained and OH MY GOSH!!!! I wouldn't have lasted one day there. I heard yelling drill sargeants left and right and "YES SIR" being yelled back left and right. We even saw singled out boys going through "IT" where they are singled out for doing something wrong. What physical and emotional torture!!! I guess they have to go through this intense breaking down to make them the tough Marine that they need to be. We are so proud of you Tyson for making it through!

Brandt, Kortney, Jean, Tavyn, Mark, me, Tyson and Kylie

On Thursday, "Family Day" we hadn't been allowed to see Tyson until all the Marines came running in formation with their platoons and marched into formation in front of us. We were told they wouldn't be allowed to make eye contact with us but we did catch him eyeballing us. It was pretty neat! After that they ran off again to run 4-miles and we couldn't meet up with them again for another couple of hours.
After we were able to finally see and talk with him we went to a luncheon that our church sponsored for those LDS Marines who attended the branch on base. The Branch President who served in the Marines cut the ceremonial cake with a sword that he had while he was serving as a Marine.

Bravo Company, Platoon #1025 marching in for graduation
Graduation Ceremony

After the graduation, he was given his orders where he is allowed 10 days leave and he flew home with us. After his leave he will return to San Diego to Camp Pendleton for 3 weeks before heading on to North Carolina where he will be in school/training until December. After that, he's not sure what or where he will go. Until then, he will probably enjoy sleeping past 4:30 am and eating all the junk food he wants with more than the standard 4 minutes chow time. He won't have any drill sargeant yelling orders and he can actually talk normal to us. I am interested though in seeing how the drill sargeant said he will know how to make his bed and clean up after himself.....this I HAVE TO SEE!!!!

Summer is here!

2009-06-07T14:17:00.026-06:00

Summer has finally arrived and with that....CAMPING!! We took the trailer up the canyon and parked it all week. It is only a 15-minute drive from our house to the campground and with our busy kids and schedules we did a lot of driving back and forth. What a wonderful place we live in, we can be camping one minute and back home enjoying the modern conveniences of home the next minute. We've found our new favorite campground and think we'll visit it quite a bit this summer!

The whole Crump family was able to come up one day for Family Home Evening and that was a lot of fun! We use to camp at this particular campground quite a bit as younger kids so it was really fun to get all together again at this same spot. Even the big slippery rock is still there and now my kids can enjoy the same bumpy, tailbone bruising ride that I use to enjoy when I was young.

And of course the girls always take the camera and do their posing!

The boys brought their best friends Kade and Chance up one day and had fun chillin' and fishin'

Hmmmm??????

These pic's are a little dark but if you can make out the large black blob next to Tank, that is Diesel, Kortney's pony.....I mean puppy!

He is now as tall as Kortney (5'7) when he's standing on his hind legs!

7 Years of Wonderful!

2009-06-01T10:18:00.009-06:00

Seven years ago today at 12:00 in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple we officially became The Good Gomer Family. It's hard to believe it's already been 7 years, but at the same time it's hard to imagine life ever exhisted any other way. We truly are best friends and life is WONDERFUL even amidst trials and chaos. The instant Brady Bunch Family - Wow have the kids grown since then!
So many wonderful friends and family shared our special day with us

We honeymooned in Maui and it was spectacular! This year we are celebrating in a less exotic fashion.....WE'RE TAKING THE FAMILY CAMPING! Actually, we knew it would be crazy with it being the first offical day of summer with no more school, so we enjoyed a weekend getaway in Oregon last weekend and are just going to head up our beautiful AF canyon for the night.

Here's to seven wonderful years with many many more to come!!

Kylie's Graduation Day

2009-05-30T12:11:00.015-06:00

Yesterday my little Kylie graduated from high school. It seems like just yesterday I was sending her off to Kindergarten. Hey! she was true to her school colors even back on the first day of Kindergarten! Time sure does fly and here she is, ready to embark on the adventures of being in the grown-up world!

What a great day it was and Kylie looked so awesome in her cap and gown! Her graduation was held at the BYU Marriott Center in Provo and it couldn't have been a better day! Grammy and Papa were here to help us celebrate, along with some friends and family.

Way to go Kylie! We are so proud of you!

Carson's Dance Festival and 6th Grade Graduation

2009-05-29T22:11:00.013-06:00

I can't believe this school year has come to an end and also an end of another kind for us. Our family is officially done with elementary school.....kind of sad! We went to our very last dance festival at Barratt Elementary School. Over the years we've enjoyed being able to go and watch our kids dance with their grades, and at one time had 4 kids in the school and got to watch 4 dances. For our last year we watched Carson and his 6th grade dance to the 70's song, "I Will Survive". They wore tie-dyed shirts they made in school and really put the groove on!

Carson and his group of friends and brothers

Carson and his 6th grade teacher, Mrs. Patlan who we absolutely LOVE!

The next day we watched as Carson graduated from elementary school and accepted his certificate of completion. It was a fun day with just a touch of sadness.

Kylie and her best friend Kenzie made a poster and got balloons and gift bags for their little brothers who are also best friends, Carson and Chance. When the boys saw their sisters approaching with all "the stuff" they ran because they didn't want to draw attention to themselves. As you can see by Carson's face, he doesn't like the attention. What studs and what great big sisters!

Memorial Day 2009

2009-05-29T17:27:00.007-06:00

Grandpa and Grandma Turner's graves

Grandpa and Grandma Crump's graves

Uncle Larry's grave

Most Memorial Days our family has been out of town and our kids haven't grown up with the memories that I have of Memorial Day, which were visiting the Bluffdale Cemetery in the morning followed by a big family barbeque. This year since Mark was working in Oregon and it was just me and the kids home, I decided that I would take them to visit my family members graves at the Sandy and Bluffdale cemeteries. I think the kids enjoyed walking around the cemeteries and not only looking at our family headstones, but looking at the various other headstones and being amazed at how old some of them were....they were seeking out the oldest headstone at both cemeteries. We were able to visit the graves of my Dad's twin brother Larry, his twin sisters Betty and Bonnie and his parents (my grandparents) at the Sandy cemetery. At the Bluffdale cemetery we visited the graves of my 3-year old cousin Emily, my Uncle Reed and my mom's parents (my grandparents). This cemetery is my favorite cemetery to visit because the majority of the graves are of relatives of both sides of my family. I even have great grandparents and numerous other distant family members buried there......too many to name all of them. Back in the day, Bluffdale was an extremely small town where both sides of my mom's family lived and even my Dad's family.

After the cemetery we went to Cowley's for a family barbeque and had fun visiting with family and playing games with the cousins.

Busy! Busy! Busy!

2009-05-20T21:13:00.011-06:00

Today was an absolutely crazy day for the Good Gomer Family. It was one of those days where we had to keep an hour by hour list to check off tasks/events as we finished them. Kortney even had to step in tonight as Taylir's "parent" because there were too many places to be at one time where a parent needed to be.

First of all today, TAYLIR GOT HER DRIVING PERMIT!!! She has been nagging and nagging and nagging since October to get it and she finally accomplished some pre-requisites in order to get it. Now that she has it she is going to be nagging nagging nagging to take her driving.....SCARY!!

Then tonight Taylir had her year-end track banquet where she was honored along with the team.

Also tonight, Colton had his year-end band concert. Jean was able to go to that with him and he looked like a stud in his tux for the FINAL time this year. Colty will miss wearing it....FYI he asks to wear it to almost every event we attend.

Also tonight, Kylie had her Senior Recognition Night at our church. This was a ton of fun! With Kylie graduating high school, there has been a ton of events leading up to it....PARTY! PARTY! PARTY! There are 15 kids in our ward who are Seniors this year and they are such a great bunch of kids. Kylie has had a lot of fun growing up with them. It was kind of sad watching the slide presentation of them over the years because you know they are all moving on to a different phase of life and most are leaving home. They have great things ahead of them though and the world is a lucky place to have them in it!

The night had a red carpet theme and was honoring the FAB FIFTEEN. The ward members were suppose to bring cameras and flash away like paparazzi. It was a lot of fun.

Once again, a proud mommy!

What a fun bunch of girls! There were 12 girls and 3 boys in the FAB FIFTEEN

Kylie with me, Kristi, Daxton and Jett. Neither of the Dads were able to be there. FYI, it was Doug's birthday today too but there wasn't enough time for celebrating.....Kristi says maybe this weekend when it's slowed down.

Carson had baseball tonight and came late with his friends to crash the party!

After a busy day like today, I think I deserve that MUCH NEEDED trip to Oregon that I'm taking in the morning! I need some fresh northwest air to clear my head and refresh me for my crazy week we have next week with the last week of school and 3 kids graduating from elementary, jr. high and high school....AHH!!!!!!!

Family Update

2009-05-18T10:43:00.008-06:00

We have been on the go BIG time lately! It seems like May is always busy with all the year end school stuff and this May has been no exception. Here is a little re-cap of what has been going on. There aren't a lot of pictures because our camera was malfunctioning for a time but is back working properly again.

Mother's Day Weekend our whole family traveled to Billings Montana for Grandma Colton's funeral and burial. We took the fifth wheel and made a family road trip out of it and had a fun time like we usually do on a road trip. Mark (aka Clark Griswald) always makes our road trips fun! I wish we had pictures but oh well.

Mother's Day was spent on part 2 of the road trip and getting home in just enough time to make it to the Crump Family Mother's Day Party at Kris and Steve's house. We had a great time there and a yummy barbecue. Brady got to call home from his mission in Atlanta and that was fun to see Kris all excited to get to talk to him. Again, no picutres!

This past weekend was the State Track Meet at BYU for Taylir. She was 1 of 21 girls from 5A who qualified to compete in the high jump. She was the youngest girl there and the only freshman. She was pretty pumped going into it but that quickly diminished when she didn't jump over 5'0. She ended up taking 7th place which was fantastic if you ask me, being the rookie there. I can only imagine what her soph, jr. and sr. years will bring her. Way to go Tay Tay!

Carson also had two baseball games that same day and won both of them. We were able to go to the second one and it was a real nail biter. The game ended in a tie which sent it into another inning. The game ended with Carson's team up to bat last having the last batter up with 2 outs, full count, and the bases loaded. The tension was incredible! The batter ended up getting walked which led to the third baseman walking in to score and winning the game!

Last night Kylie graduated from High School Seminary. We didn't actually find out about it until we were at church yesterday so we didn't have all the family there. I had just enough time to drive Mark to the airport so he could head back to Oregon and hurry home to pick up the kids. It was a wonderful evening and I am so proud of Kylie. The kids her age are such awesome kids and have such strong testimonies. I guess there is a reason they were saved for these last days. Way to go my Kylicins! And YES, the camera finally was able to take a picture!

I'm a VERY proud mommy!

Taylir Region High Jump Champion!

2009-05-07T23:27:00.009-06:00

This is going to be a quick post and probably really sloppy but it's late and we have to be up at 5 am tomorrow morning to travel to Billings for Grandma Colton's funeral. But I had to do the mom brag thing and let you all know how proud I am of Taylir. It was the Region Track Meet today and Taylir took 1st place in her event, the high jump.....and she's only a FRESHMAN! What will we see when she is a senior?!?! Her coaches and of course me and Mark, couldn't be more proud. Taylir herself is on CLOUD NINE and said she is too excited to sleep tonight. State is a week from tomorrow and she's pretty pumped.

WAY TO GO TAY TAY!!!!!

She was really excited to be interviewed by a newspaper reporter!!

What a busy couple of days!

2009-05-02T19:22:00.028-06:00

What a busy couple of days we have had! I guess when you have a lot of kids, you can expect to be busy but some days are just plain CRAZY!!

Yesterday was not as busy as today but the preparation leading up to yesterday has been a lot of busy work. Carson's 6th grade had their annual Renaissance Fair and we have been busy preparing for that. He and 3 friends had to come up with an idea for a booth and then make the booth. They did a game booth and had to make prizes for it. Colton being the great brother he is helped Carson make homemade swords for it. We also had to come up with a costume that was typical of the Renaissance era and Carson chose to dress up as a Jester. This was the last big school project of the year and I am now breathing a sigh of relief. The fair was a success and the rain stayed away....it was just a little chilly.

Last night we got to help with the cleaning of our church but that wasn't a big deal. It was actually kind of fun and the kids of course goofed around and made service fun. We were teamed up with another family in our ward and we had it done and completed in no time.

This morning our day started out bright and early with Taylir being involved in BYU's Track Invitational for Utah high schools and even some in Wyoming. She was suppose to be at the school at 7 am to meet the bus but because she also had a violin recital this morning we had to do some fancy footwork and scheduling to be at two places at one time. Luckily the recital was in Orem at 10 am and the meet was in neighboring Provo. She was able to quickly play her piece, make a quick change of clothes in the bathroom of the recital hall and off we zoomed her to the track meet.

I haven't mentioned that we also had Carson's baseball game at 10 am in Highland. Since it was raining and had been most of the night, the fields were soaked and the game was cancelled....but not until we had already fretted most of the morning on how we were going to be at 3 places at once. He was also scheduled for a second game at 4 pm in Highland that we had to keep an ear open for information on whether or not it would also be rained out. While we were at the meet we got word that it was cancelled and knew we didn't have to leave the meet early to get him to his game. I think that deep down Carson was thrilled to have a break. He plays 4 games a week and had already played Tuesday and Thursday with practices on Monday and Friday. Right now Baseball is pretty much Carson's life. Today he was able to relax and hang out as a spectator with the family for once.

The meet went until about 6 pm, but we were forced to separate the family at about 2:30 so we could get Kylie home to get ready for Senior Prom that was this evening. Mark stayed with Taylir and I went with Kylie. Me and Kortney were able to primp and make a fuss over Kylie, which is a RARE chance in itself. Kylie is the tomboy of the family and she absolutely hates getting foo-foo'd and playing dress-up but is somewhat of a good sport as long as the hair doesn't get too puffy and absolutely NO up-do's. Korney waved her hair and just clipped up a few side pieces while I put on her makeup. We were even able to put lipgloss on her! She looked so pretty and I was so excited and took a ton of pictures. I was the proud mama bear and followed the group to the park to take their pictures and then even followed them to the home where they were having dinner. Don't worry, there were a few other helicopter moms hovering overhead so Kylie didn't have to be alone in that department :)

Mark and Taylir just arrived home and are cold and wet. Today the weather was both a blessing and a curse. We loved the rain cancelling the baseball games but it made for a miserable track meet. Mark has built a fire and is thawing next to it now while Taylir is actually asleep at my feet.....ahhhhhh! She did awesome at the meet and placed 16th overall. There were a ton of girls there and like I have posted in the past, she is only a freshman at the Jr. High and the majority of the girls are from the High Schools. In fact, today she was the only freshman there and still placed as high as she did. She didn't clear what she had hoped but she has already qualified for State with 5'0. Thursday she cleared 5'2 at practice so she is hoping for that at the next meet. Way to go Taylir!

Tonight I am going to relax and hope to read my book or even watch at least one of the television shows that I have recorded from earlier in the week that I haven't gotten to. Tomorrow will be a nice change to a busy couple of days. Maybe even an afternoon catnap!

Will's Surgery

2009-04-23T13:24:00.004-06:00

This morning Will had surgery to remove his adenoids. Since he was born he has had a hard time staying asleep and snoring. The doctors thought perhaps he had Sleep Apnea and checked to see how his adenoids looked. Sure enough, they were HUGE and needed to come out. When he got sick a few weeks back he had a really hard time and come to find out, after his surgery, the doctor told Brandt and Elyse that even a slight runny nose would have made Will miserable because of the blockage in his nasal passage because of the size of his adenoids. I am happy to report that the surgery was a success and Will is now home recovering and is suppose to be fine with no major recovery time. The doctor thought he would be back to crawling all over the house by evening...YEA!!

p.s. Isn't his hospital gown the cutest? I didn't know they made them so small.

What A Beautiful Day!

2009-04-23T09:37:00.008-06:00

The weather this week has been absolutely beautiful and I have heard that it is going to get yucky again starting tomorrow. So instead of doing my workout in the house like I usually do, I decided to do it outside. I have never liked to workout in public and have always had a treadmill and weights at home. Last week while in Southern Utah I was forced to run outdoors and found that it wasn't that bad, and actually quite invigorating! So this morning when I woke up and opened the blinds and windows I was convinced that TODAY was the day for me to get out of my comfort zone. And I am so glad I did....this is what I got to see this morning. The picture is a little fuzzy because it was taken with my cell phone but you get the picture. I have taken for grantid the beauty I have right out my front door. What a beautiful workout I had!!

SPRING BREAK 2009

2009-04-17T18:52:00.045-06:00

For Spring Break this year we took the family to Sand Hollow Reservoir in Southern Utah to enjoy some fun in the sun with our extended family. Fun in the SUN only consisted of one of the nine days we were there. The other days were mostly cold and not sunny. Do you know how odd that is for this time of the year in beautiful sunny Southern Utah??? We even got snowed on one of the days and could hardly believe our eyes when the big fluffy white stuff started falling from the sky. But we still had fun with each other and enjoyed the first big outing of the year in our fifth wheel trailor. In fact, we were having so much fun that the morning we were packing up to come home, we decided to extend our trip by two days since we heard that there was 6 inches of snow waiting for us back home.

The first day we were there I took Kylie and Taylir, along with my sister Kris and nephew Jordan, to Dixie State University in nearby St. George to tour the campus. Kylie and Jordy are thinking about attending college there in the Fall and we wanted to show them around and get them excited since both of their mommies went there many many moons ago. Although the campus had built a lot of new buildings, a lot was still the same. Even the gymnasium where me and Kris use to practice with the Rebelettes drill team smelled EXACTLY the same after all these years. Just walking through the doors and smelling that smell made me get that dejavue feeling....don't you love that feeling?!?!

On Saturday, we had our traditional Easter Egg hunt put on by my parents at their home in St. George. The kids are all getting older, but they still love to do the hunt, especially since their is $$ involved. My parents hide a special gold and silver egg containing unspecified $$ for the top prizes. The pastel candy filled eggs are great to find, but the kids would rather run past those eggs and look for the SHINY eggs containing the $$. This year Jordan found the gold egg and Carson found the silver one.

On Monday, the only warm day we had, the kids took advantage of it and did some swimming and cliff jumping into the reservoir.
No matter where the kids went, Tank followed.....along with Gunner chasing after Tank. It was very obvious that Gunner didn't want Tank in the water for some strange reason. Yes, we were quite the sight.....4 kids running around with 2 dogs chasing after them with the little dog barking and biting at the heels of the bigger dog. Mark had finally had enough of Gunner barking and decided to teach him a lesson and threw HIM in the water! Poor Tank wants this stick so bad but he's not much of a swimmer and will only wade out to his belly. He pawed and pawed at the water but the stick would not come to him. In this picture you can see him s-t-r-e-t-c-h as far as he can without going any deeper. Aren't labs suppose to love to swim?!?

Later that evening, we roasted hotdogs and smores and had fun around the campfire.

With Mark's job changing a bit and allowing him to work from home every other week, he was able to be on Spring Break and work at the same time. With modern technology he was able to be "in Portland" from our trailor in Utah. (Ya gotta love the modern convenience of the internet!:))

He also did the majority of the cooking since it was my Spring Break too! Me and the kids woke up every morning to the aroma of a hot breakfast being cooked. What a great break from my domestic goddess duties so I could do what I love most.....READ with my attached at the hip dogs and be my goofy self! I LOVE MY GOOD GOMER!!

On Tuesday we met the whole fam at In-N-Out Burger in Washington for lunch and then headed out to explore the red rock "Narrows" that the kids absolutely LOVE. We also visited the Mountain Meadow Massacre Memorial and Snow Canyon. It was a full day and another COLD and extremely windy one.

This is my brother Shane with his wife Rhonda and their kids

This is my cute mom and dad

Mountain Meadow Masacre Memorial

The rest of the trip we hung out with our own little family and just had fun being at the campground (in the cold). We played a lot of board games and did more exploring when it wasn't too cold. We drove into Colorado City/Hilldale (The Polygamist towns on the Arizona border) and showed the kids the strangeness of that city.....creepy place! By this morning, we were ready to head home in hopes that the snow would be melted. After 9 days in close quarters, I think everyone is happy to be back in the comfort of their own space in their separate bedrooms. We had a ton of fun though and are already looking forward to our next camping trip!We get some slack from this one, but the kids take their game systems for a "rainy day" and we had a lot of those! Kylie is the GAMER!Carson and Colton enjoying lunch

This is the victim of an unfortunate "stepping on" at our campsite.....poor little guy died instantly we hope!

Gunner had to be tranquilized the first part of our trip because he is a hyper Jack Russell Terrier and still hasn't learned his lesson on letting his mommy (me) out of his sight. The whole campground can hear him whine and bark - and I'm not about to sit in the trailor with him the whole trip!

I couldn't resist posting this picture of my baby asleep in my arms. Look at this toothless mug only a mommy could love!! :)

Track Season Begins

2009-03-26T13:05:00.013-06:00

Track season has officially begun! I can't believe that the school year has come to this point.......it's 4th quarter!

With this comes Track and Field and Taylir is participating once again this year, only this year she is competing with the High School instead of the Jr. High. Being that she is a 9th grader she had the option of being on either team and when she went to the High School tryouts, she made the team! She is participating in the 400 and also the high jump. The high jump is her favorite and she does really well at it. So far, her record is 5'0. Last weekend she was the only girl from her school to participate in an 8-school meet and she tied for 5th place. I think this was still a huge thing for her since the majority of the girls she was competing against were Seniors and this was her first year competing at this level. Imagine the progress she will make by the time she is a Senior!

Life is going to get crazy for us again now that track has begun and baseball too. Taylir has 2 track meets usually per week and baseball is usually 2 days a week too. Oh well, it's been a great relaxing winter and we're ready for the spring sports to begin.....BRING IT ON!

Kylie's Sadie Hawkins Dance

2009-03-14T11:13:00.007-06:00

Last night Kylie went to the Sadie Hawkins dance at her school. Her date's name was Paul and they went along with Ky's best friend Kenzie and her date Tyler. They had a great time shopping for their matching shirts with sunglasses and going to the dance! Kylie even let Kenzie do her hair! (If you know Kylie, that is something to be said!!)

I can't believe that Kylie is literally a few months away from graduating High School! Where has all the time gone?!? I don't think I like the idea of having my baby girl out in the grown up world. To me, she should forever be my baby under my wings to protect and keep safe. I'm not the best mom at letting my kids spread their wings and fly, but I better get use to it! They are all on the verge of doing that.....my baby Carson will graduate from elementary school at the same time as Kylie graduates high school!

I'm proud of the young woman Kylie has become and the choices she has made getting her to this point in life. She's not your typical girly girl but she's MY KYLIE GIRL!

It's Birthday Time!!

2009-03-09T19:44:00.031-06:00

The beginning of March is always a busy time for The Good Gomer Family. We have two birthdays we celebrate three days apart, Brandt's on the 7th and Colton's on the 10th.

This year Brandt turned the ripe old age of 25.....Happy Birthday Brandt!

Here are a few pic's from over the years.

4 months

5-years

9-years

13-years

15-years

18-years

Happy 14th Birthday Colton!

7 months

2-years

5-years

9-years

11-years

13-years

We love you both and are proud of who you have become!!

The Grand Concert

2009-03-06T22:33:00.012-07:00

Tonight Taylir and Colton took part in The Grand Concert, put on by their Jr. High's Music Department. This concert featured the Wind Ensemble, Chamber and Concert Choirs, Advanced Percussion and Advanced Orchestra. Taylir is in Advanced Orchestra, playing the violin and Colton is in Wind Ensemble playing the oboe.

I have to admit that I was blown away by tonight's performance. It was far beyond what I expected at a Jr. High level.

I am so proud of them both for their dedication to their music....a lot of time is spent practicing (some days they are bears about it though - they are teenagers!) Listening and seeing them tonight made all the miles logged driving to and from lessons TOTALLY worth it too.

Way to go Taylir and Colton....I love you both!

Of course I got to the concert without my camera and had to make due with my cell phone, so the pictures were extremely grainy and I am only posting this one.

President's Day Weekend 2009

2009-02-16T11:21:00.017-07:00

Me and the kids took a little trip down South for the weekend to enjoy a little break from our crazy life and to enjoy opening day of my MOST FAVORITE sport, BASEBALL!!!!! I can't believe that it is only February and we were sitting at a ballpark soaking in the sights and sounds and even smells of baseball. To me, one of the best sounds ever is the sound of a baseball connecting with a bat......ahhhhh, music to my ears!! Add a hotdog and a diet pepsi and I'm in heaven!!

Carson getting ready to bat and oh my gosh.....a smile!!

Getting ready for that favorite sound of mine!!

Preparing to steal 3rd base

And he's SAFE!!

This weekends games were actually part of a tournament that is held each year in beautiful Southern Utah where it is warm most of the year. The weather wasn't the best but when the sun came out it warmed things up quite a bit - at least it wasn't raining like the weather had predicted.

Unfortunately for Carson and his team, they had a 2-2 record for the tournament and didn't get into the finals which were being played today. No big deal, we still had a fabulous weekend and played hard!

Kylie, Dax and Chloe

Taylir and Chloe posing while Colty and Doug intensely watch the game

Grammy and Chloe

Poor Little Jetters was so tired and fought off sleep.....but finally gave in at the end of the game

And poor little Taylir......wait a minute, she got plenty of sleep the night before...but she is a teenager and they claim to never get enough sleep right???

After the games were done we got in a little VALENTINES DAY celebration! This is the spread my sweet mommy had laid out for us. Gotta wuv her!!

And of course, the Good Gomer ALWAYS remembers his honey! He even manages to celebrate while we're apart....the UPS guy delievered these to Grammy and Papa's house while we were there. Although, we were able to celebrate early with a pre-Valentines Day the week before in Las Vegas before he headed back to Oregon. I Love that man!

One of the kids' favorite places to go to when in Southern Utah, is a place we call the narrows. It is actually a city park but couldn't tell you the name....it's The Narrows to us! There is a place in the rock that the walls are literally inches apart and you shimmy your way through as you climb to the top - not for a clostrophobic person! And on top of that, if you are afraid of heights, not a place for you either. So that leaves me out! I get extremely nervous and full of anxiety just being there and watching the kids run all around the rocks and cliffs. I alwasy tell myself that I've never heard of anyone falling to their death there and I keep telling myself that over and over and over again while there. We've been going there for years and the kids always come out unscathed.

They never want to take a serious picture! :)

I know....my kids are incredibly goofy!

I thought this picture was awesome of their shadows....they stayed on this cliff forever playing around with shadow formations.

Boys will be boys!

Sweet sisters!

I got brave and climbed a little bit!

We had a wonderful weekend and are anticipating returning to Southern Utah again next month for yet another tournament!!!!!! YEA!!!!!!!

Kylie and Carson's Hawaiian Adventure

2009-02-02T11:50:00.008-07:00

Kylie and Carson just arrived home this morning from Hawaii. They had a blast! Let the pictures show you just how much fun they did have!

2009-01-23T10:26:00.005-07:00

I know, I'm all about my dogs. I hear, "Do you love your dogs more than your kids?" Hmmmm. OF COURSE NOT! But they do come in a close 2nd place! They love me unconditionally and are constantly by my side and never talk back! I couldn't resist taking these couple of pictures. Gunner is getting up in years and has been having problems with his back, mostly from playing too hard with Tank. He got pretty bad this past week and I had to tranquilize him and give him muscle relaxers to settle him down so he could lay still and heal himself. I love how he gets droppy-eyed and notice his one ear standing straight up in the air! Poor dog!

This is a common site you would see in our backyard (minus the snow of course)on a warm summer evening, Tank laying in "his spot" enjoying the cool grass and a good stick. I guess he's getting tired of winter and decided, "What the heck!" He didn't last that long out there and probably decided this was a summer pastime. He's now back in the warmth of the house sprawled out beside me. We'll try again in a few months.

p.s. I think we may see the lawn soon - it's raining today and trying to melt all the snow we have.....yea!!! :)

Introducing Princess Chloe!

2009-01-21T11:48:00.011-07:00

Meet the newest member of our extended family. I was at my friend/hairdressers house a few weeks ago when her puppy came running into the salon and I immediately fell in love with her! My friend had stated that they were possibly looking for her a new home and SAY NO MORE!......I knew exactly where that home would be!

My siblings and I have been trying to tell my parents for years that they should get a dog. They've considered it from time to time but the right dog just never came along. When I was growing up we had a Pomeranian named Rebel who was just like a member of the family and ultimately my Dad's best buddy. When he died it was HORRIBLE on our whole family and we never wanted to experience the death of a pet again! But we still looked at Pom puppies for sale from time to time and have always been infatuated with them! When I saw my friends puppy I immediately started taking pictures of her and sent them to my parents who fell in love with her also, even though it took a few weeks to convince themselves that they were ready to become parents AGAIN.

Isn't this just the cutest face you ever did see?

Princess Chloe is an 11-week old Pomeranian puppy who currently weighs 2 pounds and will probably reach about 4-6 pounds. She has the funnest disposition and loves to be held and loved. She couldn't be more loved and is already well on her way to becoming another spoiled member of the family.

Bond, James Bond

2009-01-20T19:39:00.006-07:00

Having Daxton around is never a dull moment. Ever since I can remember, he has always pretended to be somebody. For the longest time he was Peter Parker during the whole Spiderman craze and wanted you to call him that. When Kristi was pregnant with Jett he wanted that to be the name of the baby in all seriousness. He's had the Superman phase, Ironman phase and Batman phase. His latest now is James Bond. Last week Doug called and told me that Dax wanted to come over and show me something. When he got to the house and I opened the door, here was this little dude decked out in a suit, shoes a tad bit too big for him, and best of all.....his hair all slicked back. He got his new suit for his Uncle's wedding in May and has been wearing it 24/7 and how sweet is it that he wanted to come over to Elwa's house to show me?!?! :) He even went grocery shopping in it and pulled out a toy gun and told the checker he was, "Bond, James Bond". Hopefully the suit will still be in fairly good shape come May. But then, next week there could be a whole new person he is ready to pretend to be!

Jett's First Birthday Party!

2009-01-18T16:38:00.017-07:00

Today we celebrated Jett's first birthday at Doug and Kristi's house. (His actual b-day was on the 16th) He was excited to have everybody over and was running around showing off all his new things he has learned. He is at such a fun age and has been learning all kinds of new things and loves to share them with you. It's hard to believe it has been a whole year since he was born....where did that little baby go? He is just like his brothers, full of energy and ready to conquer the world - he never crawled and was walking at 7 months! He'll be snowboarding by the end of the winter for sure! (wink wink :))Taylir had to keep him from ripping all the paper off his presents before everybody could come and watch and he wasn't happy having to stop!

He saw that it was a riding toy and didn't care if it was all the way unwrapped or not, he was getting on and going for a ride!

He thought the cake that Dad and Daxton made was delish!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

2009-01-14T15:23:00.028-07:00

Today is the birthday of one of the greatest men in the world.......my DAD! I have never known a more kind, unselfish, giving and loving man than him. He has always put others before himself and his family if probably the most important thing to him.

My sister Kris, brother Shane and I with our parents in front of our childhood home right after they sold it and moved South :(

My Dad's greatest accomplishment and what he is the most proud of, his family

When I was growing up he worked for Kennecott Copper and worked graveyard shift. He would always leave for work after we were in bed and as we were eating breakfast he would come home and go to bed while we were at school. He was always home when we got home and working on some kind of project. He did many remodels on our home and did most of the work himself. He took pride in his home and especially his yard, and they both always looked fantastic. There were times I would leave for school with my bedroom walls one color and come home to find them another color. When I got in high school and learned how to drive, it was him who took me out practicing and was so patient (most of the time :)) with me. He also would have my car warmed up and snow/ice scraped from the windows before I went to school in the morning.

My Daddy and me learning how to ride a motorcycle

He is the best "Papa" any grandchild could ever want. He loves to be with his grandkids and makes visits with him so much fun. Kylie reminded me this morning that one of her favorite things she looked forward to while visiting them was eating "Papa Soulie" for breakfast. (Soulie is what we have always called cereal in our family) To this day we still call Frosted Mini Wheats, "Papa Soulie".

Papa with Kylie on the left and Carson on the right

Papa, Bryson, Jordan, Kylie and Brady

Papa had a marshmellow roast for the grandkids in his backyard the last time we were all down South

I don't have pictures to show of some of my finest memories with him but I am going to list a few in writing:

1. The look on my Dad's face when we finally reached the car in the parking lot of Pearl Harbor in an absolute typhoon. Water was literally dripping from his nose, chin, ears and eyelashes. We were laughing hysterically and as wet as if we had jumped in the ocean with our clothes on.

2. When I was a Senior in high school and had come home for lunch break while he was sleeping from working graveyard and me walking up the stairs from the basement after finishing my lunch, only to find my Dad in his garment top and jeans at the front door with police at the door and surrounding the house with guns drawn. Apparently my Dad mistook me for a burglar and called the police. (Our house had been burglarized several times leading up to this and he thought the thieves had come back for more)

3. While working at Kennecott when the company would go on strikes, he would do a side job cleaning the Visitors Center on Temple Square. I thought it was so awesome when he let me go with him and clean during the night, this too was graveyard.

4. While eating dinner at a really fancy restaurant in Hawaii to celebrate me and Mark's temple sealing, his front tooth falling out and him having fun with that and embarrasing us and himself by acting like we really shouldn't be eating at a place like that looking poor and toothless.

I am so glad I have a Dad who is perfect in my eyes. He honors his Priesthood and works in the temple two days a week. He still goes out of his way to make sure his family is taken care of and happy. What a wonderful Daddy I have!!

I have always been so proud of the fact that my Dad has always taken such good care of himself. He and my Mom have been nicknamed "Barbie and Ken" by their friends. At high school reunions they always win the awards for the most unchanged or youngest looking. Way to go Mom and Dad!! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD/PAPA!!

Elder Brady Cowley

2009-01-13T21:28:00.014-07:00

Tonight my nephew Brady was set apart as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He will enter the Missionary Training Center tomorrow morning and train there for a few weeks before going to serve in the Georgia Atlanta North Mission. We are so proud of him and are very excited for what he will experience over the next two years as he serves his mission.

I wish the whole family could of been with us, but we left a sick Carson home and Colton there to help him out. Mark of course is in Oregon, so it was just me, Kylie and Taylir. It was so touching to watch as the Stake President laid his hands on his head and hear his words as he set him apart as a full time missionary of The Lord. Afterward, Brady gave his parents a hug and I got emotional as I watched them get emotional. I have never seen my nephew get teary eyed so of course the waterworks were on for me. It's hard to believe this is the little Brady Boy who I use to love watch play t-ball and now he's all grown up and ready to go out and serve the Lord. I love what a mission does for a young man and am excited for the growth he is about to receive.

We will miss Brady a whole bunch while he is gone, and family get-togethers will not be the same without him, but he is doing what he needs to be doing and I am so proud of him for the choice he has made.

See you in 2 years Elder Cowley! We love you and will miss you!

(The pictures turned out way fuzzy because they were on my cell phone due to the fact that I couldn't find the camera before we left home - I think it added an extra 20-pound look to each body too! :))

Where Did All The Time Go?

2009-01-09T20:23:00.018-07:00

I can't believe it's already been 5 months since little Will was born and already he's changing into a little person and not an infant. He has already got his bottom two teeth in and he's starting to crawl (more like an army crawl but he gets to where he wants to go). He can now entertain himself and plays with toys and crawls around to whatever he wants. I was able to babysit him yesterday for a few hours and couldn't believe this was the same little baby I saw at Christmas. Brandt and Elyse are embarking on the next phase of parenting....EXPLORING BABY! One minute you are bringing the baby home from the hospital and the next minute, that little baby doesn't want to be held anymore and has a mind all his own and goes exploring the house. I got a kick out of watching him crawl off his blanket where all his toys were placed, and watching him catch a glimpse of something funner and crawling to it. Most of the time, the "funner" things weren't toys and I would put him back on his blanket and show him more of his toys. I was able to read him a new book he had just got that day and even though he didn't understand what I was reading and maybe not even loving the moment, I was loving every minute of it!

I'm still getting use to having someone refer to me as a "Grandma" but it's starting to grow on me BIG time. I still have friends having babies and I'm having grandbabies!!!! I'm starting to understand more of the feelings Grandparents have. When you become a parent for the first time, you are more worried about not knowing what to do or how to do it, and you want to do so much for your child and have your child learn and do everything so quickly that maybe you don't enjoy the moment as much and always wishing away the time. Then you have another child or two (or more!!) and life becomes more hectic and demanding and you find yourself all wrapped up in the moment of the present and again wishing away the time. Then all of the sudden, you find yourself at a stage in life where you don't understand how you got there and asking yourself, "Where did all the time go?" I'm now wishing for time to go by slower and not wanting the kids to get any older.

With Will, I am enjoying watching him grow and having fun playing with him, without feeling the pressure of the parent of wondering if I am doing things right or wrong. And the best thing about being the Grandparent????? After you've had fun with them and loved them bunches and bunches, you can send them home at the end of the day and you can get a full night's sleep!! :)

p.s. Since Will started crawling, he's lost 1 pound. Did you notice all the chub creases on his arms??!! I predict those will soon disappear, along with all the other ones on his WHOLE body with all his recent and new activity. (I WUV THOSE CREASES AND ROLLS!) What a scrumptious little lovey boy!!!

The Kiddos

2009-01-05T16:42:00.028-07:00

For Christmas this year Kristi gave me a bunch of pictures she had taken of the kids in September. They all look so cute and I am so glad to have someone who is better at having the kids' picture taken than I am.

During Christmas break, the little boys (Dax and Jett) spent a night with us. Jett was constantly exploring and I had forgotten just how busy little ones are.

This was a common sight during the break........the kids REALLY enjoyed their time-off from school!

CHRISTMAS 2008

2008-12-26T20:49:00.025-07:00

Christmas 2008 has come and gone. What a great Christmas the Good Gomer Family had. We celebrated Christmas Eve on the 23rd this year and Christmas Day on the 24th. On our Christmas Eve we had our own little party with just our kids and they opened their traditional new jammies. Christmas morning on the 24th we woke up at 7 am and the kids opened their gifts from Santa. I think they were all a little spoiled this year even though they probably wouldn't agree with that.

The boys favorite thing this year were their new trick bikes. Their old bikes got stollen off our front porch a few months back, so they were more than excited to get new ones.

Taylir was probably the most excited this year because she has been begging, and begging, and begging FOREVER for a cell phone. We finally caved in and let her have one. (I mean Santa did! :))

Kylie's favorite gift was her Bamboo Fun computer graphics program. She loves to draw and doodle and has been wanting this for months!

At noon all the older kids came home for Christmas lunch and to open all our family gifts. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed watching Will open his presents for his first Christmas.Look at the size of this babe!!! We had to get a picture with his clothes off so we could get a pic of his chub rolls!! Isn't he just the cutest?!?!

After our little family party, the kids all left to go have yet another Christmas with their other parents on the actual Christmas Eve/Christmas morning. Some people think this is so sad that Mark and I were going to spend Christmas without any kids, but we were actually okay with the whole thing. We don't get to spend much time alone together anymore since he started working in Oregon and commuting back and forth so we were looking forward to some alone time, even if it was Christmas. Our whole family agreed that having Christmas a day early was pretty great and they want to make this a tradition every other year from now on.

Christmas morning Mark and I slept late and then got up and had our own little Christmas. It had snowed about 8 inches during the night to add to the already 12 inches or so already there from the last storm, so we spent the later part of the morning shoveling the driveway and sidewalks. In no time, the kids all returned from having Christmas and we packed up the truck to head to the family party at Kris and Steve's house. This was a lot of fun with good food, good company and MORE PRESENTS!

I had to add this one picture of Jax the cat. He was having so much fun at the party too and slept like this through it.

This morning Mark and I got to attend a special event for my nephew Brady. He is going on an LDS Church mission to Atlanta Georgia and we were able to attend the temple with him for the first time. It was so neat to see him there and to know that he is taking the next two years to dedicate to the Lord and sharing the gospel with the people of Georgia. We are so proud of you Brady! His farewell is this Sunday and I'll have to get some pictures from that and post.

When we came home from the temple, me and Taylir cleaned up Christmas and took down the decorations and dead tree. I get really antsy to clean-up after the hoildays and didn't make it too far past Christmas this year. But our tree was so dead and the pine needles were becoming too much for me! Even my scentsy candle warmers are done with Christmas and "Crisp Linen" is warming in the trays now instead of some holiday scent. We took the kids to see the movie "Bedtime Stories" tonight (GREAT movie!) and on the way home Mark could see all the trees lit up in the houses on our drive home and commented how sad it was that he couldn't go home to enjoy his tree because his wife had taken ours down already. He can build a fire though and enjoy the glow from that. He'll be glad it's down in the long run though because I'm spending next week with him in Oregon and won't have time to take the tree or decorations down then. He needs a travel companion for that LONG day spent heading back to Oregon, via Sacramento California. Due to him not getting a flight out of Portland and having to drive all the way to Sacramento to catch a flight, his car is still in CA and he has to get it back to Oregon. What a long travel day that will be, but this time he won't be alone or driving through the night and we're looking forward to the beautiful drive we've heard it is through that stretch of highway.

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and spent some great quality family time together. Now it's time to detoxify from all the junk and focus on getting off the extra poundage from all the yummy Christmas goodies. It's time to say goodbye to 2008 and usher in 2009......HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It will be a Merry Christmas AFTERALL!

2008-12-23T09:31:00.005-07:00

If you've been following my blog you know that Mark was desperately trying to find a flight out of Oregon last night to make it home for Christmas. Well, after driving 480 miles and flying over 600 miles, he is safe at home now.

He drove all night last night to Sacramento California in white-knuckled conditions to make a 6 am flight. He even made it with time to spare before his flight. Even with 4 airports in Oregon, nothing was available until the day after Christmas and we see that flights are still not leaving there as of this morning. Even the highways heading East out of Oregon towards Utah were closed due to high amounts of snow.

Well, all is well now and we can go ahead with our Christmas plans. It is actually Christmas Eve today for our family. Santa Claus is coming a day early for us due to our "unique" family situation. So Mark really did make it home just in time.

We didn't send out Christmas cards this year, so I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! Thank you to all of you wonderful friends and family for your love and friendships. We love you all!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

UPDATE: Alternate Route.......Sacramento California

2008-12-22T20:15:00.003-07:00

This is becoming a NIGHTMARE! Due to bad road conditions and losing the chains on the tires, Mark had to cancel the Redmond Oregon plan and is now driving 480 miles along Interstate 5 to Sacramento California where he hopes to take a 6 am flight. He is limited on time and we just hope road conditions stay favorable. I just talked to him and trucks are pulled off the road removing their chains (good sign!) I'm on the internet researching weather conditions along the route and keeping him updated. Keep him in your prayers!!

Update to earlier blog........Flight Cancelled!

2008-12-22T18:09:00.007-07:00

Well, it's official.......Mark's flight out of Oregon tomorrow morning has been cancelled and the soonest flight he can get on out of Portland now isn't until December 26th! He has decided to brave the snow and ice and drive 173 miles South to the city of Redmond where he hopes to get on a flight leaving tomorrow morning. The problem is, he's driving on snow-packed roads going 20 miles an hour and needing to go over 2 separate mountain passes with one already having 46 inches of snow on it. Keep your fingers crossed and maybe say a little prayer.

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas!

2008-12-22T16:08:00.007-07:00

Taylir has been complaining all month that it isn't looking like Christmas yet with no snow......well, she's finally got her wish this week and it definitely will be a white Christmas. It has been snowing off and on all week and just when we have the driveway and sidewalk all clear, it snows some more. She and I were out all afternoon shoveling the foot of snow that fell today. Tank also loves the snow and absolutely goes nuts when you mention the word. He wants you to shovel the snow and throw it in the air so he can catch it and eat it. There are 2 problems with this, One: He eats so much snow and then has to go out potty a hundred times the rest of the day, and 2: He has to take a doggy pain reliever because his back leg that is held together with rods and pins gets extermely sore after supporting all 95 pounds of him when he jumps up to catch the snow. He's a glutten for punishment and has never learned his lesson .

I'm starting to get a little worried about the storms here and the huge storms in the Northwest. Mark is still in Oregon and we're keeping our fingers crossed that he makes it home tomorrow in time for Christmas. As of today, all flights leaving Portland have been cancelled and over the last few days very few planes have left the ground. Hundreds of travelers have been stranded and 300 spent the night in the airport last night. It's been extremely snowy in Oregon the past week and a half and almost everything is shut down. Church was cancelled yesterday and the schools were closed all of last week. I'm sure the kids loved getting a week's jump on their Christmas break. Saturday evening Mark had to abandon his car a few miles from his brothers house where he is staying and had to walk the rest of the way in white-out conditions. He even had chains on his tires and still couldn't make it home. A very kind man in a truck stopped and drove him the rest of the way home. He said he passed several stranded cars on the side of the road, one being his brothers. This is absolutely crazy weather for Oregon and I guess it hasn't snowed like this in over 40 years Mark was saying. Today Mark's office and all their stores were closed, along with almost everything else. He's been holed up in a hotel room just waiting out the storm. I told him that this reminded me of the movie, "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" and maybe he should rent it tonight and I would do the same. That movie made me laugh, but I'm not laughing right now!

O' Christmas Tree

2008-12-08T22:20:00.006-07:00

Tonight for Family Home Evening me and the kids decorated our Christmas Tree. We actually put it up over the weekend and got the lights strung, but the ornament placing was tonight since we didn't have all the kids home over the weekend.

Our tree has become a "memory" tree, decorated with ornaments that each child has collected over the years. We've quit having an upstairs and a downstairs tree because I've learned to simplify my life and don't get stressed out about doing it up BIG anymore. The formal foo foo tree is long gone, and we only do the "memory" tree now. We have a family tradition each year of going to a fun Christmas store that has literally hundreds, if not thousands of ornaments. The kids each pick out an ornament that kind of represents them for that year.

Tonight we had so much fun decorating the tree while recalling the reasons why certain ornaments were bought and sharing the memories of that ornament/year. Our tree is getting a little crowded, especially this year since we went with a smaller, skinnier tree this time. Mark actually got it in Oregon with my brother-in-law Steve who was up there getting Christmas trees to bring back to sale. They picked out the best shaped tree we've ever had and it smells incredible!

When the tree is all decorated I love to turn out all the lights and sit and relax in the living room and watch the lights sparkle. We didn't realize that we bought twinkling lights this year but no big deal, they don't blink obnoxiously, just very subtly and it actually looks kind of neat. A few years ago I would of freaked out with blinking lights and ordered them off the tree and fixed immediately!! Mark probably would have had to make another trip to the store to replace them while I waited anxiously at home to finish decorating. Ahhh, isn't life great anymore?!?! I don't think I even re-arranged a single ornament tonight that was placed in a funky spot by one of the kids.

Christmas really is a wonderful time of year and I'm finally getting in the mood of the whole season. I forgot just how much I love to relax on the couch while listening to Christmas music, having all the lights turned off with just the glow of the Christmas tree lights. I look forward to the next few weeks and all the festiveness everywhere.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!

Mark's Little Helper

2008-12-02T11:04:00.014-07:00

While Mark was home this past weekend, he got started on a new project at our house. We are forever needing more storage space and decided to build shelves in our outdoor shed. On this particular day, Daxton had come over to play with the kids but quickly disappeared to the back yard when he discovered that Mark was home and outside working. Before Mark could bat an eyelash, Dax had picked up the power drill and while informing Mark that he already knew how to work it, he proceeded to power-screw nails into the shelves. Mark thought this was hilarious and didn't mind that nails were being screwed into the shelves EVERYWHERE. I of course was a little concerned for his safety - Afterall, Dax is only 5-years old and operating a power tool! I hovered over him for a bit but soon relaxed when I realized that he had obviously had some experience with it and had helped his Dad with projects before. Dax never ceases to amaze me.....I love this little guy!

We know that every time we go out to the storage shed in the future and see all the "polka dots" decorating the shelves, we will probably smile and maybe giggle a little recalling this funny memory.

HAPPY 23rd BIRTHDAY KORTNEY!!!

2008-11-29T15:15:00.030-07:00

Today is Kortney's 23rd Birthday! We had a little get together with my family at one of our favorite fast food joints, JCW's. Everybody has been in town for Thanksgiving so we thought it would be fun to get together for lunch and to celebrate Kort's birthday too.

I was afraid we were going to set-off the smoke alarms with so many candles being blown out!

After the party Kortney and Chase came back to our house to open her presents and to just relax for a little bit. Diesel, being their baby, goes wherever they go and he loves to come to visit too! Tank still isn't too sure about him, but Gunner thinks he's great! Tank let's Diesel know who is "Top Dog" but we're hoping that he soon loosens up to the idea that Diesel isn't going anywhere and he's here to stay! BTW, Diesel is only 1/3'rd of the way done growing!!!! He's already a horse!!

Twilight

2008-11-21T18:56:00.027-07:00

Today me and the kids and my nephew Bryson went to see the long awaited, highly anticipated movie Twilight. It was received with mixed reviews from our little fam. I myself LOVED it! Kylie loved it too but wished there could have been more of this, less of that, gotten into a bit of that, etc. (She knows the books inside and out and remembers EVERYTHING word for word, so the movie really had to be incredibly good to meet her expectations) Taylir thought it was good, Colton thought it was good, and Carson didn't care for it (but then he never read the books anyway and this wasn't his style of movie to begin with) Even Bryson who is 23 liked it!! You go Brycee!!!!

Part of the excitement in seeing the movie, was seeing the scenes where me and the girls actually got to watch the filming of the movie when we went to Oregon for Spring Break. We found out where the filming was to take place and hoped that we would be able to get slightly close to the action, but didn't plan for much. When we got there I marched the girls up to the barricades and happened to spark up a conversation with the security guards who were the local police of the town. In talking to one policeman, he found out we were LDS and told us he was a member too. In fact, he was a member of the ward that Mark's brother was the bishop for. When he learned this, he told us he was going to try to get us on the set. OH MY GOSH!!! NO WAY!!! Kylie and Taylir were literally freaking out at this point. He told us to follow him past the barricades and he walked us right up onto the set. We were literally feet away from the filming and saw the actors up close and got to hear the director yell, "Ready, set, ACTION! Kylie literally brushed shoulders with Kristin Stewart (Bella) as she walked by! We got to see the filming of the Port Angeles scene where Bella gets ganged up on by the Frat Boys and Edward comes to her rescue in his Volvo. We stayed on the set from about 10 pm that evening until 6 am the next morning. Unfortunately there was to be no picture taking on the set, but Kylie managed to sneak a few in with her camera phone from the non-acting scenes where just the Volvo was involved.

It was absolutely FREEZING cold and drizzling a bit that evening but it was so exciting to see first-hand the actual filming of the movie! We never got to meet any of the actors personally, but Robert (Edward) and Kristin (Bella) smiled at us when they drove by us time after time after time during the scene where the Volvo screeches away down the street after Edward rescues Bella. This scene took about 15 takes to finally get it right. We were deemed "The Blanket Brigade" by the director and crew because we watched on the sidelines all wrapped up in blankets trying to keep warm. At one point, the director came over to talk to us because he heard about the crazy dedicated mom (that would be me) that came all the way from Utah so her Twilight crazy daughters (that would be Kylie and Taylir) could get to see where the movie was being filmed. He told us he would see what he could do to get Robert and Kristin to come over and talk to us after filming, but that never happened, DANG! Oh well, the girls still thought the whole evening was amazing anyway.

Kylie and Taylir standing in front of Charlie and Bellas house

Edward (Robert) and Bella (Kristin) are actually inside the Volvo as it is being filmed driving away after Edward rescues Bella from the Frat Boys in Port Angeles. The actors aren't allowed to drive for real, so the Volvo is pulled on a trailer very slowly while they film it. Good thing for good editing!

This is the scene where the Volvo actually peels out and screetches away. The Volvo is being driven by Edward's (Robert's) stunt double.

This is Forks High School (for the movie) but really isn't even in Forks Washington. This high school is actually in Oregon but I can't remember the name of it.

This is the parking lot of the high school where the famous scene was shot of Edward saving Bella from the out of control van

This is the alley Bella walks down when the Frat Boys gang up on her

I highly recommend this movie to EVERYBODY! I would see it again and again and again. I think the teenager in me is still alive and trapped somewhere in this aged 41-year old body. I'm so glad I'm not alone though. From what I heard on the movie set, the worst groupies didn't happen to be the teenage girls, but were the middle age moms, called "Twilight Moms". I know I'm crazy, but hopefully I don't fall into that category. After all, I WAS NOT at the midnight showing last night. I was patient enough to wait until this afternoon, unlike some crazy mom's out there......I won't name any names but you know who you are!! :)

Football Banquet 2008

2008-11-20T11:18:00.012-07:00

Last night we attended the football banquet for Carson's 6th grade football team. I know I have already bragged on my blog about their undefeated 10 - 0 season but I will publically brag one more time about it. This was a fantastic team coached by a fantastic coaching staff and I have been impressed with the caliber of boys who played alongside Carson. What a good group of future young men!

Carson won the award for Co-MVP Offense, Most Rushing Yards (953 yards) and Most Touchdowns (13)

This is the head coach bragging about what a great team he had this season and how proud he was to coach such fine boys. There were 103 teams in this league and this team was one of 4 who went undefeated. Way to go CAVEMEN!!

This is the whole coaching staff giving out the team awards

Carson is always so enthused when it comes to having his picture taken. This was the small glare he gave me from the players table when he heard me whisper his name to smile for yet ANOTHER picture.

Oh My GOSH!! Tagged AGAIN!!

2008-11-18T19:04:00.004-07:00

This was right after Carson's team won the football championship.....what a proud mom I am and what a goodlooking lil' stud he is!

Now it's your turn Tiffany Turner, 6th picture from your 6th file....TAG YOU'RE IT!!

Picture Tag

2008-11-14T13:51:00.009-07:00

Teri Sue tagged me with this challenge. I was suppose to go to my fouth file and post my fourth picture from that file.....so here it is. This wasn't taken that long ago - August of this year, soon after Will was born. This is the four generations of Garrison boys/men: Mark, Brandt with Will, and Roy.

I am now suppose to tag 4 other people......Kris, Kortney, Tiffany T. and Elyse - TAG YOU'RE IT!!

Cross Country 2008 Awards Banquet

2008-11-11T20:13:00.007-07:00

Tonight me and Taylir went to the Cross Country Awards Banquet at the High School. She ran as a freshman this year and did a great job. Her best time all season was 22 minutes/29 seconds. She loves to run and looks forward to track in the spring and the remaining years ahead of her in High School. She has one more big race this year, Footlocker West in Anaheim California, December 6. She's pretty excited to go to this because the team also gets to go to Disneyland. She's worked hard all season and finishing off at Disneyland seems like a pretty great reward!

Called To Serve

2008-11-07T13:08:00.009-07:00

My nephew Brady received his mission call for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He will be serving in the Georgia Atlanta North mission for two years starting January 14. We are all so excited for him and extremely proud of him. Way to go Elder Cowley!!!

Carson and team win 6th Grade Championship Football Game!!

2008-11-05T09:23:00.025-07:00

Proud Dad/Coach

Last nigth we braved the freezing 45 degree weather to go and watch Carson's 6th grade football team win the championship game 31 - 16. They finished their season undefeated!!! It was an especially sweet game being that they played the team they lost to last year in the championship game. Carson made 2 of the touchdowns and even got an interception that he ran 50 yards to the 1 yard line. (He ran it into the enzone on the next play) I am so proud of him and his whole team and coaching staff. What a great season they had and all that hard work and practice payed off....congratulations guys!!!

Daxton always supports the team by dressing in the same team uniform

Kylie, me and Kristi huddled together to keep warm

Kortney and Chase

Proud sister with her lil' brudder

It's hard to get Carson to smile, and this game win did it!

Band Bash 2008

2008-11-03T22:13:00.019-07:00

Monday night our family went to the High School to watch Colton perform in the yearly Band Bash for the High School and Jr. High School bands. He plays the oboe in two of the Jr. High's bands, Wind Ensemble and Concert Band. He did a fantastic job! Our school ranks nationally every year and the band program is extremely popular here, unlike when I went to High School where you were categorized a "geek" if you were in band. I hoped that at least one of our kids would be in the band and I am so happy that Colton is. He loves it and hopes to continue on through college with it. Way to go Colty Boy!!

p.s. How about that tux!?!? :)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN CONT.!!

2008-10-31T22:05:00.010-06:00

Tonight Colton and Kylie got all made-up in black from head to toe so they could hide in the shadows and scare the "older" trick-or-treaters as they came up to the porch to get their candy. They had a blast and supposedly even made the older boys scream!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

2008-10-31T12:18:00.008-06:00

Taylir as a ladybug

Kylie as a nerd

Carson a Denver Bronco fan

Gunner a biker dog

Tank a sad ballerina. He is actually in "time out" because while I was running some errands this morning he decided to help himself to the food I was suppose to take to a family tonight for dinner who had just had a baby. He ate two bags of rolls I had just made the night before and a container of sugar cookies. Good thing the casserole had not been made yet. I hope he gets the worse tummy ache he's ever had as punishment. And yes, his "time out" place is the couch!!

Colton doesn't have a picture because he didn't want to dress up. I guess he's too old for that supposedly!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

It will be a great one for us because Mark also comes home tonight!!!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

2008-10-31T07:55:00.010-06:00

This was our first Halloween together as a new family back in 2002. Kylie was 11, Taylir 9, Colton 7, and Carson 6.

I have some pictures from this morning of the kids in their costumes but am having trouble with my camera downloading the pictures. Hopefully I'll be able to get them posted soon.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!

Carson Receiving The Priesthood

2008-10-26T20:56:00.008-06:00

Today Carson received the Priesthood and was ordained a Deacon for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We are so proud of him and the choice he made. What a special day it was for our family to get together and show him our love and support and to enjoy each others company.

Carson with his parents; Mark, Lezlie, Doug and Kristi

The Whole Family

Carson with Grammy and Papa

Carson's 12th Birthday!!!!!

2008-10-24T22:13:00.016-06:00

HAPPY 12TH BIRTHDAY CARSON! OCTOBER 24, 2008

2008-10-23T15:12:00.020-06:00

1-month old

1-year old

3-years old

6-years old

11-years old

12-years ago today at 6:12 pm at Logan Regional Hospital in Logan Utah, Carson Douglas Daniels was born weighing in at 9 pounds and 19 1/2 inches long. He joined big sister Kylie who was so excited to finally be a big sister after five years of waiting.

Carson may have been a little bit of a stinker as a baby but he has made up for it 100 percent by being "Mom's Boy". He not only had a binki in his mouth, but he had to have one in each hand as well. He loves to play sports and watch sports on television. The Denver Broncos are his favorite team!

We love you Carson and are so happy you are a part of our family!!

Some of Carson's favorite things are:

Favorite color: Blue and Red

Favorite food: pizza

Favorite Sport: Football in football season and Baseball in baseball season

Favorite holiday: Christmas

Favorite subject in school: Recess (of course)

Favorite Candy Bar: Reeces Peanut Butter Cup and Butterfinger

What he wants to be when he grows up: Pro Athlete

"Elwa, I'm still a kid"

2008-10-23T08:09:00.005-06:00

Last night at Carson's football game (which they won and finished the season undefeated going into the playoffs!!) little Daxton was sitting with me and Kylie and he asked Kylie if she was the oldest kid in the family. Kylie explained to him the best way she could for a 5-year old to understand, that she was the oldest of Elwa's (that's what Daxton and my nephews call me) 2 kids, but when Elwa married Mark she became one of the middle of 8 kids. She named down from the oldest - Brandt, Kortney, Tavyn, Tyson, Kylie, Taylir, Colton and then Carson. I then told him I had Kylie and Carson in my tummy but that Heavenly Father had blessed me with the other children and I had 8 kids now instead of 2. After a few minutes of silence and obviously some deep thinking on Daxton's part, he then said, "Elwa, I'm still a kid". I agreed with him and he then stated, "I'm kid number 9 and Jett is kid number 10". Oh my goodness! How I love this little boy! The innocense of a child and the pure and simple thinking and knowledge that he has. Yes Daxton, you and Jett are my number 9 and 10! (Kylie also had to throw in that Tank and Gunner were number 11 and 12) Who would of ever thought that I could become a "mom" in so many differen't ways. I am guilty of sometimes feeling a little sorry for myself in only being able to enjoy the experience of 2 births, but How blessed I am to have all these children in my life. No matter how they came here or who their actual "mom" is, I am extremely greatful for each of them!

More Partying for Taylir!

2008-10-22T19:14:00.019-06:00

And some partying for the dogs too in the tissue paper!!

OCTOBER 22, 2008 HAPPY 15TH BIRTHDAY TAYLIR!!!

2008-10-21T17:50:00.025-06:00

1-year old

4-years old

9-years old

14-years old

Fifteen years ago today, October 22, 1993, Taylir Danelle Garrison came into this world. She has brought much joy to her family and has such a huge heart. She is always willing to give and serve others.

These are some of her favorite things:
Favorite color: Yellow

Favorite food: Chicken Pot Pie

Favorite subject in school: Seminary and Geography

Favorite animal: Dog/any animal really

Favorite candy bar: Reeces Peanut Butter Cup

Favorite holiday: Christmas

We love you Taylir and hope you have a great birthday!!!!

FALL BREAK IN OREGON

2008-10-20T16:59:00.031-06:00

We just got home from our funbulous Fall Break in Oregon. I know I've said it before, but I'm going to say it again, "What a beautiful place Oregon is!" The weather was great!! NO RAIN!! We had a great time and got to do just about everything on our list that we wanted to do. Of course vacations are always way too short and we hated to say goodbye, but I'm sure we'll be back!

Playing around at Mattress World is a blast for the kids. They love to hide in the rows and rows of mattresses and play on pallet jacks. They wear themselves out big time! Although this day, the only one sleeping was me, MOM (or at least trying to sleep sitting up in a chair). I was coming down with a big head cold/flu and riding on the plane there only made it worse!

Riding in the car and trying to have a little fun at the same time

Riding the ferry to Washington is one of the kids' favorite things to do when in Oregon. We drive the car right up onto the ferry and then stand out in the open air for the ride. Grandma Brinkerhoff was buried in Cathalamet Washington last month so we we got to visit her grave.

We ate out A LOT!!

Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach is our favorite spot on the coast. The kids love to go right after the tide has gone out so they can hop from rock to rock and look for stranded sea creatures. This trip, not many creatures were found other than a "drifting out to sea" flip flop belonging to Carson

Grandpa Garrison lives in Astoria. We were able to spend the day there and visit several of the kids' favorite sites.

Most of Astoria is built upon a hillside and the streets look a lot like those in San Francisco. 8th Street is the steepest, funnest street to go down. You literally have to hold on and enjoy the ride!! The kids want to go fast down it, but us old fogies who obey the laws of the land go slower than they would like. We've been known to go airborn and hit our heads on the car roof ocassionally though.

Also in Astoria are the famous sea lions. Most of the locals hate them but of course, we tourists LOVE them! They lay on the docks and sun themselves and bark (or whatever it is that they do) and make quite a racket. We heard them all night at our hotel while we were there. Astoria sits at the very Northern tip of Oregon at the edge of the Pacific Ocean and mouth of the Columbia River. This time of year the salmon are making their run up river so there were a ton of sea lions everywhere waiting for their feast.

When we got out of our car at the docks to go see the Sea Lions, instantly Mark and Colton were bombed from above. (Seagulls) YUCK!!

We went to climb the Aster Column in Astoria but it was closed for renovation. The kids still got to look out over the city and enjoy the view! Mark likes to visit here because he can see all of Astoria and the surrounding area where he grew up out on the farm in Olney. This day was a particularly clear day and we could see all the way up the Washington Coast for miles!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAXTON!

2008-10-15T07:39:00.024-06:00

Happy 5th Birthday Daxton!!

October 14, 2008

Five years ago the cutest little red head came into our lives. He is a ball of energy and a true spit-fire. He has brought so much joy to our family and we love having him spend time with us. He loves having sleep-overs with us so we have designated Carson's bunk bed as "Carson's and Daxton's bunk bed". It has been so much fun watching him interact with our family and we look forward to many more fun years together! We love you Daxton!!

Kylie and Carson enjoying birthday cake

Jett enjoying something other than birthday cake that Taylir is feeding him

Colton playing in Dax's new Spider Man Tent

General Conference

2008-10-06T15:17:00.014-06:00

How wonderful it was to listen to conference this past weekend. Mark was home and that made it even more wonderful. This year I was especially interested in hearing any message that would be uplifting about the recent events with our economy and how this would effect us as Latter Day Saints. Although we've been warned over and over about having a years worth of food storage and adequate finances put away, I was still looking for counsel on the recent events. Yes, several talks mentioned the economic hardships we are facing today, but Sunday mornings talk by President Monson was the talk that really moved me and inspired me even though it had nothing to do with what I was looking to find or hear. In his talk he stated, "This is our one and only chance at mortal life - here and now. The longer we live, the greater is our realization it is brief. Don't let the most important things pass while dreaming of an illusive future based on time to fulfill leisurely pursuits. Instead, find joy in the journey - now." He went on to say, "Let us relish life as we live it, find joy in the journey and share our love with friends and family. One day, each of us will run out of tomorrows."

I am so guilty at looking at my "tomorrows" and have a hard time with my "today". I've found that I don't have that many todays left with my children at home and how quickly the last 17-years have passed since Kylie was born. I don't like to focus on the disappointments and regret a lot of her upbringing but I think any parent on the threshold of their oldest child graduating high school and leaving home wishes they could of changed some things, and in my case I think a lot of things. I've often apologized to Kylie for her crazy flaky mother, especially during my divorced/single years. How greatful I am to her for telling me she wouldn't change a thing about me, even though she maybe just doesn't want to hurt my feelings with the truth :)

I have found that the last six years with having as many as all eight children living at home at a time, I was looking more to the future - for the number at home to decrease and make life a little easier. I thought that tomorrow held a time where I would be more at ease and more comfortable with all the change that had taken place since Mark and I had gotten married and blended our families. Although I realize that was very selfish on my part, I am thankful for many happy memories that we have from those early "learning" years. I do feel bad for the older kids though, they had it a lot harder than the kids living at home now have. But at least I can admit that, and they have heard me say it too! :)

This past year for our family has also been a year of uncertainty, which I don't think will be changing any time soon. With Mark's employment in Oregon and our family still not living there I have found my looking at my "tomorrows" more frequent than not. I have pretty much put our life here at home on hold while dreaming of our life in Oregon "tomorrow". Not that this past year has been a waste, but it definitely hasn't been a year of progress with a lot of things. I am definitely going to change that now.

I need to heed to the counsel of our dear prophet. In the end of his talk he stated, "Gratitude should be extended to God, as well." "In nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things. Let us follow him. Let us emulate his example. Let us obey his word. By so doing, we give to him the divine gift of gratitude."

I am going to try harder at focussing on today and my family here at home and living with the circumstances we have to deal with today. I hate to have regrets in my life and hope to FIND JOY IN THE JOURNEY - NOW."