Giving Thanks

I am thankful for the decisions I have made in my life that have gotten me to today. They have been difficult and heart-breaking at times but I would not trade them for anything. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family and extended family. I am thankful for jobs that Casey and I both enjoy. They enable us to do things that I could not imagine doing 10 years ago. I am thankful for a wonderful husband and 3 boys. All 4 remind me what really matters in life.
Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Official start of the holidays

The last couple of years we have been fortunate enough to be able to go to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert. I think this year was better than last years. We enjoyed it so much. And the crazy bald guy next to us did not disappoint. From the air guitar to the head banging, did I say he is bald. We were 2 rows up from the floor on the side of the stage. There were even people on the floor watching him. Thanks for a wonderful evening Johnson. Now the holidays can start.

Hockey on a Friday night

Tonight we took the boys to our first Hockey game of the season. It could not have been a better game to go to. There were about 9,000 other fans there to enjoy it with us. We have not seen the ECenter that full for a long time for a hockey game. We had tickets on the ice right behind the net on the end that we attack twice. There was one fight 30 seconds into the game. Our favorite player had to be Stephenson from the Wranglers team. He had curly golden locks and we nicknamed him Stephanie. Then there was the man who brought his 1 year old son down by us. We had an extra seat so we told him he could use it. He was explaining the game to him as if he could understand. It was pretty cute. There was blood on the ice. Just from a broken nose of the goalie after he took a puck to the face. And a penalty shot. A wonderful way to start the weekend.

A week alone at home

This past week Casey and his hunting buddies have been doing their thing down in Monroe. This week has been busy for me with spending time with new and old friends and family. The first day Casey was gone, I was able to meet a dear new friend for lunch and had a wonderful talk. That night and the next day I was able to spend time with another dear friend and her 2 kids. Thank you, Karyn, for keeping me busy those 2 days. I went to see the movie, UP, and really enjoyed it. Thank goodness Casey and the boys were not there, they would have made fun of me crying in 2 places. I must have a little emotional that weekend because I saw Confessions of a Shopoholic with a couple of other friends and I cried in that one as well. What a boob, I know.
Braxton had 2 soccer games this week. The first one was against our rival LaRoca. Unfortuately, we lost to them 4 to 2. I took Braxton to Cutler's afterwards. Wednesday, we had a game against Impact Black. This game Braxton came to play and scored 2 goals. We won 8 to 0 and Braxton got the game ball. After the game, I had a wonderful dinner with Leslie and Karyn for Date night. While at dinner, I got a call from my best friend from High School, Lisa. She was in town for a conference and they were done about noon the next day.
So Thursday, I met Lisa and Tiffany at Gateway. After a little window browsing, we decided to go to a bigger mall to go shopping. We stopped by my house, and the car would not start. The battery has been slowly dying for a couple of months. We just have not bought a new one. My wonderful Father in Law came down and put the charger back on the car and allowed us to use his vehicle for the night. After a wonderful time shopping, we went to Olive Garden for dinner. Thank you Lisa and Tiffany for letting me talk your ears off.
Everytime that Casey goes hunting, I always have one thing I would like to get
down in the house, usually painting a room. This years goal was clean up the downstairs so we can make a major DI run. So this morning I tackled the storage room. I can't believe the junk that we have collecting. I even found a box of smashed cans, who keeps those things? I found a binder full of letters between my family and I from the late 90s. I got a little side tracked reading some of those. It was nice to read what was happening in our lives since I can't remember a lot about my past.
Tonight, the wives are going to dinner and a movie. A good way to end 10 days of widowdom. An Elk was shot this morning, so hopefully the men will be coming home tomorrow. As much as I was excited to have the last 10 days alone, I am ready for Casey to be back. I also must admit, this should be our weekend to have the boys and I am missing them as well.

Surprise in the sand box

About a week ago, the dogs kept going to the sand box and just barking away. I thought nothing of it and just let them be dogs. The next day, I decided to investigate what they were barking at. We found 3 little kittens. We have neighbors that have quite a few wild cats that they feed. About once a year, one of them uses our shed to have her kittens. We found 2 black and one whitish kitten between the shed and the fence. We tried to feed them some milk but they acted like they did not know how to eat yet. They were so cute.

Aida Tuacahn

In June, Casey and I found out that Aida was going to be at Tuacahn. Of the plays we have gone to at Hale Center, this has been one of Casey's favorites. The best weekend for us to go was the last of August. Neither of us had ever seen a play at Tuacahn, so we did not know what to expect.
The day before we left to go down, Dad and Bet decided to join us. Casey and I left Friday afternoon. It was nice to get away just the two of us. Saturday morning we woke up and decided to see if we could find Tuacahn. What a pretty landscape. Also, we both can not believe how much St George has changed. Tuacahn is an outdoor stage that is surrounded on 3 sides by mountains. We met up with Dad and Bet in the afternoon and had a nice talk.
We got tickets early enough that our tickets were front row middle. Once the play got started and some of the props moved and they used the whole mountain as the stage. It even had a pyramid. Just before intermission, you could here tons of water moving. It came down the mountain and onto the stage. We got a little wet since the actors were splashing around in it. The water came ran down the mountain again towards the end of the play as well.
Tuacahn is awesome and we would suggest it to anyone.

Ever expanding family

Within a week between July and August, 2 of my sister in laws had 3 babies. First was Katie who had Ivy Jill. Casey and I can not believe how much hair she has. We spent a nice saturday with Katie and Nate and their girls a couple of weeks ago. After playing catch with a couple of toys, Sophie and Ellie wanted to sing Mamma Mia songs. This was perfect as Casey loves this play and the music for it.



Prior to going to Nate's, we went to see the twins that were born a couple of days after Ivy. Here is a picture of Bella and Jemma with Sarah.



I am totally amazed how unchaotic Eric and Sarah's house was. When we got to the house, the girls were playing next door with my cousins kids. Audrey was at the corner of the house. Once she saw us she told her dad that a nice lady was there. How cute! We had a nice visit with Eric and Sarah. I also was able to hold each of them. Babies are so cute.

Willard trip 2

I have gotten a little behind on my posts this summer. So the next couple of posts are to catch up. We had some much fun the first time we went to Willard in July, we decided to go back a couple of weeks later. This time we had our friends come up and spend the day with us. The three boys, Casey and I left for Willard after work on Friday. Once we got set up, we went to find a couple of geocaches. This was a nice walk that allowed us to see what the camp spots in the Willow side. The kids always love trying to find these. We definitely need to do more of that.



This second spot was a lot better because it was larger and had more shade. Saturday we headed to Pelican Beach as soon as we got up. We set up the shade tent and proceeded to pass the football around. The dogs even were able to play fetch. About lunchtime, Jordan and I went back to the trailer to get stuff for lunch. Once we were back, Bun and Karyn showed up. Another round of football passes was started up. Once we were pretty tired of that, Jason and Leslie showed up with their family. It was time to for another round of football.



Once the kids were tired of football. Zach, Collin and Chelsie decided to swim to the bouys. They were 3/4 of the ways there and Zach yelled back asked if they could swim the rest of the way. I told him he could since they were pretty close. I am glad they are all young bucks. They did not get tired swimming back.
Dinner was the next thing on the agenda. Then sitting around the fire for some nice conversation. At one point, Braxton and I left because we had found a geocache trail. After finding about 4 or 5 spots, we decided that we had been away long enough. It was nice having one on one time with Braxton.

I love the local police!!!

I know a strange heading but something just happened that makes me appreciate them even more. Over my lunch hour, I decided to go to the grocery store since the kids are coming over this weekend. Once I got home, I put my purse on the floor under the table and brought in the rest of the groceries. I put the groceries away and sat down to work. I looked over and saw that the phone said that it had no line out. I thought nothing of it. All the sudden the phone rings and I didn't recognize the phone number but can tell it is local. So I answered it. We usually don't answer the phone if we don't recognize the phone number. Someone asked to talk to Casey. He wasn't here can I take a message. The man asked me is everything okay in the house. I thought that this was a little strange, I told him yes. Well, it was the local police and could I come talk to them outside. Once outside, the cop told me that the personal alarm had been sounded and was I sure everything was alright. I told him what was going on and figured the dogs must have hit the key pad on my purse somehow. Can you imagine what would have happened if I had not answered the phone?
This is not the first time a North Salt Lake policeman has come to our rescue. A couple of weeks ago, we had to move the bench out of the kitchen to make room for the new fridge. Casey was outside chopping up the corner piece. Boo is scared of loud noises and he ran off. Casey flagged down one of the policeman and they went looking for Boo. He was just around the corner but Casey had already been up that street and did not see him.
And years ago before I knew Casey, he had to call them because he had an intruder at gun point. I am so grateful we live a couple blocks from the Police Department for them to be there to assist us quickly in times of peril. Thank you!!!

Last minute camping trip

Last weekend we were invited to a friends property that is right on Bear Lake. After all of our camping friends decided not to go except Dave. We decided to not go as well. So Wednesday night Casey asked me to look to see if there were any spots available at Willard Bay. There happened to be a few spots and one even big enough for us to pull our trailer down. Little did I know how much fun would be had by kids and dogs.
Friday, Braxton and I spent all morning shopping and getting the trailer ready. Then we picked up Collin and Zach from the movie theater. Once Casey came home from work we headed right to Willard. This drive took just over an hour even in rush hour traffic. As soon as we found our camping spot, we decided me needed to hit the water since the truck said the outside temperature was 102 degrees. So we all headed to Eagle Beach. The boys got in the water and I threw sticks for the dogs to go get. I got plenty wet with the dogs shaking off every time they came back. Once it was getting dark, we decided to try fishing over by the dock. This was highly unsuccessful but we did watch a woman reel in a nice sized channel cat.
Saturday morning Braxton, Casey, me and the dogs went for a walk and found a nice hidden little area that someone could sit all day by the water. Too bad someone was already there. Once we got back we had to wake up Collin and Zach so we could go to Pelican Beach. Little did we know but you are not supposed to have dogs at Eagle Beach. Once they were up, we all hopped in the truck and found a nice spot open on Pelican Beach. We put up our shade tent up and hit the water. The dogs played fetch with sticks forever. There was a 2 couples sitting right next to us that had rented a jet ski. And they took Zach, Casey and Collin each for a ride. Collin had the most fun I think. Once everyone got tired of throwing sticks Charlie decided he would just swim to these weeds that were not too far away. He kept swimming back and forth for an hour. Funny coming from a dog that would not fetch a stick out of the water last year.
After a couple hours, we decided it was time for lunch and a movie. All of us fell asleep in the trailer during The Bourne Ultimatum except Collin. I know we are spoiled being able to sit in air conditioning and watching a movie while camping. Later we went back to Pelican Beach to play some more.
We were going to play in the water on Sunday too. But I was pretty sunburned, well my shoulders were Lobsterish. We had so much fun that we have already planned our next trip to Willard. With Braxton's soccer season starting, we don't have the time to camp like we would like so Willard has become a perfect place to go since it is way closer than our favorite spot, Monroe. Here are some pictures from this trip.

Eaglewood and Fireworks

Every year we go up to the Eaglewood golf course to see the fireworks. Usually Ted goes up about 4 in the afternoon and waits until it is allowed to put chairs up. This year he was unable to go up. So we headed up about 5:30. All of Casey's family and some of our friends go up early every year and just play around until the fireworks. In years past I have not been too excited about seeing them. I think that this was caused by the one camping trip that there was like a 5 hours extravaganza of fireworks, probably an exageration but it went on forever. This year I was excited to see them. It still amazes me how they can get all the different colors and sometime shapes. As amazing as the fireworks were this year, they still could not compare to watching fireworks at the Wheatland Fairgrounds and listening to the local radio station play patriotic music. Happy 4th of July.

Trail riding

Last weekend we finally got our house reroofed. Thanks to Casey's buddies! I can't believe they even stayed to finish in a downpour of rain. We are so fortunate to have such good friends. This weekend I decided I wanted to go for a ride on the 4 wheelers. My brother and his wife have a membership to East Canyon and they were up there camping for the weekend. So we got up early and got our 2 4wheelers loaded up and headed up for a ride. This was the first time I was able to drive my own bike for a whole trail ride. We even took a trail that was rated at Advanced. I was only a little nervous but according to Casey I handled it like a pro. I should be able to handle any of the trails on the Paiute trail, our favorite camping spot.

Weekend project

Earlier this week the forecast was for Saturday to be nice. So we went to the store and bought all that we would need to reshingle the house. Today everything was delivered. I guess there is no turning back now, even though the forecast has changed and it is supposed to rain. I thought it was pretty neat how they put the shingle bundles up on the roof.

The best part about the rain

For the last month or 2, it has rained almost every day. Which has given us a perfect reason not to reshingle the house. The other day when I went to get the mail. I saw this wonderful sight and just had to take a couple of pictures.

Emergency kit in the garage

Tonight we were in the garage getting ready to put up our new mailbox. I noticed my auto emergency kit that Glenae had given to me for Christmas 5 yrs or so ago. The garage is not the perfect place for this as we experienced a couple of weeks ago.
We have been spending a lot of time in Kaysville the last month or so. So a couple of weeks ago, we went to a friends house for a bbq. We had some Halibut from Alaska that a friend brought back with him. It was a hit. On the way home, I was smelling something weird but thought it was the leftovers I was holding. Once we hit Lagoon, there was a weird noise. Once I told Casey to listen, the tire blew. Wouldn't you know it the spare was flat as well. We had to call our friends to bring us a pump for the spare.
If we had the kit from the garage, there would have been no need for help. Lesson learned. I wonder how long it will take us to get the kit into the car.

Memorial Day 2009 Pictures

Memorial Day

Every year we try to go camping for the Memorial Day weekend. So the Thursday before at 5 AM we were on the road to our favorite camping spot. When we got to the top of the mountain, Our #1 spot was already taken. So we thought our #2 and #3 choices would be taken as well. Fortunately, both the other spots were open. Once we had camp all set up, we went fishing. While Zach and Collin fished, I read a book and Casey and Jordan threw sticks for the dogs to fetch. Once we were all tired out of fishing, we went looking for our first Geocache. We took the wrong trail and the boys and I took a horrendous hike. After giving up, we decided to hike back up the hill. A lesson was learned that day. If the internet says the geocache is easy to find, don't go hiking. It should be right there. We did find it quite easily once we took the right trail. Friday, everyone else in our party showed up. So did the rain that was forecast for the whole weekend. The men did get some clay pigeon shooting and target shooting in between down pours. Saturday started out with the rain. And everyone decided if we woke up on Sunday and it was raining, we were going to pack up and go home. Thank goodness Sunday was sunny. We got in a ride and went looking for another geocache. This one turned out to be one we had found in past years before we had a GPS. Part of the way into the ride back, I told Casey I wanted to drive the rest of the way. There was a hill that I was terrified of and I wanted to drive my 4 Wheeler up it so I could conquer that fear. This was the second such hill I conquered that weekend. Monday, my birthday, we all packed up and were on the road by 11 AM. When I had cell service, I had a nice voicemail from my mother and a text from Dad & Bet. I am so glad we were able to go camping this year over the Memorial day weekend. With Braxton starting to play soccer on the state level, I am not sure how often we will be able to do this. It is always nice to get out of our every day environment and just relax for a few days. Once I have my external hard drive back from Jordan, I will post some pictures.

Marble Camp Trip 2009 #2

For the last couple of years, my family has gone camping for the Labor Day weekend. The White family has not been able to attend until this year. Because of 3little girls that are due in August, the camping trip was changed to the first weekend in May. Brad and Ashley were able to get a reservation at East Canyon. Although, it was raining most of the time. We still were able to have some quality family time. From the kids playing on the play sets, to dad playing hopscotch, to a big game of soccer, to Eric and Nate falling in the fast moving creek going after the soccer ball, and finally one of the best moments Brad's face to face encounter with a skunk. This was a memorable weekend and hope to be able to attend next year.

Roofing the garage #2

We have this wonderful neighbor that has been reminding us that we need to reroof our garage. We priced it out this last fall and decided that we would do it ourselves. We were just waiting for the weather to clear up. Finally last Thursday, Casey decided we would do the garage on Saturday. So we got up and went over to The Home Depot and got the materials. Casey and Jordan did the sheeting on Saturday while I helped my mom. They also had a "little" help from Zach and Braxton. On Sunday while I was at church they started putting the tar paper and shingles. They got done just in time for the boys to go to their Grandmothers for dinner. I am so glad I have a husband that is very capable to do almost any repair that needs to be done. Next weekend, reroof the house. Yeah! (did you catch the sarcasm?)

Marble Camp Trip 2009

Roofing the Garage

First BBQ of the season

This last weekend we decided to order the UFC fight. Since the weather was so nice we also BBQ'd some of the beef we bought a month ago. WOW this was some good meat. The weather was so nice we even got to use the deck for the first time this year. We used to use the deck quite a bit when the first year we got it built. We will have to use it a lot more this summer. The boys even put up the soccer goal they got for christmas and were shooting on it for a while. This was such a fun weekend and am so ready for Spring Summer.

Soccer season

Soccer season has officially started. For the Spring season, we are playing Competition Soccer. This is in preparation of going into State soccer in the Fall. Monday was our first game and we had to go to Lehi. The first half was a little scary and we all thought "Oh Boy! This is not a good way to start." At the half we were tied 2 to 2. The second half it was as if the boys had waken up and we ended up winning 5 to 2. I am pretty excited for this season. If the rest of the season was like Monday, it will be an awesome season. We are finally getting some even matched competition. Saturdays game is at Noon in Sandy. I hope the weather is nice. GO RUSH!!!!

Easter 2009

Last Saturday we packed up the kids and went to the Marble Family Easter picnic. We went up early enough to go hide easter eggs with dad but when we got up on the hill most everyone was already there, half an hour early. After saying the pledge of Allegiance and Born Free in America, a Marble tradition at any gathering, we roasted hot dogs and sat around to talk. When all were done and playing, Dad, Eric, Nate and I went about hiding tons of easter eggs in the sagebrush. It is fun to see the next generation of kids get so excited to find them. I can remember when we were all that small and we would roll eggs down the hill behind what is now Dad's house. Then it was time for the scavenger hunt for the older kids. We all got in 3 different vehicles to see who got done first. Casey and I were in the last vehicle and Breton decided he had to stop at the gate to delay everyone, really it was to do his crossword puzzle for their first clue. After about 5 or 6 stops we finally found out goodies and went back up on the hill. We were the last ones there, thanks to someone "accidentally" taking one of our clues. I have not lived in that area for over 15 years but I was able to figure out what the 3 clue was. The boys had a lot of fun and I hope we can continue this fun tradition for a very long time.

Boise Pictures

Here are some pictures from our trip to Boise.

This one is a picture of a bird statue at a stop light. I thought the statue was kind of cool.

This was a gas station. I thought the name Stinker was kind of funny. It even had a picture of a skunk as part of the logo.

This was an actual Mattress stores name.

This is this years team with a few exceptions.

Driving to Boise

So this week, I have been dreading the weather up north in Boise. We got up early, I did my Wii Fit and got ready to go. We left about 9 or 9:15 in about 5 cars. It was a beautiful day for a drive. We got to drive by the farm and it doesn't look too bad. Drove past the spot where we had the slidding hill that one year. There were some interesting named places along the way. I wonder if people living in Bliss live a blissful life? Does Glenn's Ferry have a Ferry? Is it really Paradise in Paradise Valley? We stopped inEden to eat at the Garden of Eden. It had a waterfall and some fake birds. It even had a tree with a snake in it. The snake's eyes were a little creepy. They were glowing red. I tried to do the hay trick but Braxton did not fall for it. He has heard it one too many times, I guess. Jaron on the other hand probably was ignoring me. Braxton did tell him when she says Hay, don't say the you know what word, W-H-A-T. I even got to use dads. "It smells like money!" We are in our rooms now, all 3 of us are in different rooms. The weather isn't too bad actually. Hopefully, it does not get too cold during the game that starts at 6 tonight.

March family get together

Angela came up with the idea that we should get together to celebrate each months birthdays. This was a good idea, sorry for Krystal and Brenda not being close to participate. With 8 kids and their families there is at least one each month. This last weekend March's get together was held at Brad and Ashley's. So Casey and I left a little early to get there so we could do some geocacheing. We were able to do 5 of them. 3 of them were on property my Grandpa owns. Here are some pictures from our adventure. Eric, can you pick out the one you could not find?

We are having so much fun doing these. I am thinking of looking up some more for our trip to Boise this weekend.

Our first Geocaching day

For a couple of years I have wanted to get a GPS so we could go do geocaching. So for Valentines Day Casey gave me a nice little Garmin Colorado. We looked up some spots a couple of weeks ago that were close to our house and had them loaded on the GPS. So after church we were going up to Casey's parents and we decided to look for one of them that was on the way. We had seen a picture of the area it was in so we went looking. It was fun to see how accurate the GPS was to where the thing was. There is no picture here of the first one we did, it was pretty small and you could only sign a piece of paper that was rolled up in the container. The boys loved it and wanted to do more. So later in the day, Zach, Braxton and I went looking for one that was only .3 miles from the house. I had a pretty good idea of where it was, I thought. So after walking a bit we came to be across the street from it and I picked it out right away. The first 2 pictures are of this one. Then we walked in the other direction from our house to another one that was only .3 miles from it. This one took a little longer because it was hidden under the dug out bench at a park. We had a ton of fun and will be looking for more to do. I am glad the boys enjoyed it so we can plan on this activity this summer.

Colorado trip

Last weekend I had the opportunity to spend some quality time with my Brothers, one of my sisters and my mom. Krystal was in her first play, Once Upon a Matress. Anyone who knows Krystal knows that acting in a play suits her personality. I am glad I was able to go, sorry that my husband did not go though. I flew out Friday after work. As soon as I got off the plane, Jon and Nate were there waiting for me. Who could ask for a better welcoming party? Jon and I had a wonderful talk on the way to his house while Nate talked to his wife on the phone. The next morning Krystal, Nate and I got up to take a walk in the freezing cold to see the Purple Mountains Majesty. Who can't be in awe watching this beautiful sight? Thanks Krystal for making us get out of bed. A few things that could be overheard on our walk. It would be ok if I didn't have to breathe through my mouth. I am going to do an irish happy dance now. And quite a few quotes from Napolean Dynamite. Later in the day, Eric and Sara came over from their Hotel and we hung out most of the day. It was fun to see the kids interact with each other. Prior to Krystal leaving for the play, her friends had a party for her. It was fun to see the people she associates with. We don't get to see that since the rest of us live in Utah.

Later, we all went to the play. Krystal did a wonderful job and I could not tell it was her first play. But I could be biased she is my sister and all. My favorite part was the part where she had to laugh. It is so contagious that everyone in the audience was laughing as well. I am so glad that I was able to go support her. Thanks Casey for letting me go.