Sunday, June 13, 2010

Grammy and Papa's Mission Send-Off

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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Sunday, May 16, 2010

Welcoming our newest addition to The Good Gomer Family

Click to play this Smilebox scrapbook: Keegan Alexander Mecham
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Friday, May 14, 2010

HAPPY 50th BIRTHDAY GOOD GOMER!!

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

Sunday, March 28, 2010

HOLY HORSE!


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)

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

The "twins" are all grown up!


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!

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

New Pictures!

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:))

Monday, March 22, 2010

It's been TOOOOO long since we've blogged

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! :)

Saturday, January 16, 2010

HAPPY "2nd" BIRTHDAY JETT!!


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!

Monday, December 28, 2009

Christmas Day 2009

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

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

Monday, December 21, 2009

Christmas'ing 2009

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!