Maximus!

     

                                        

  When Phil's not home we sneak him into the house

                                            

 This is what usually happens, Max is the tackeling dummy

                                        

     Jaxon and Brynly have been wanting a dog for I don't know how long.  We've been trying to put it off for as long as we can, due to the unsuccessful past we've had with dogs.  The last dog we had....Lucky (who wasn't so lucky) was hit by a truck right in front of us on Fathers Day.  So Phil had to take care of business, it was a little traumatic for all of us.  After that experiance we decided to go dog-less for a while.  Now after months of prodding by Jaxon and Brynly we have taken the plunge and got another dog.

    Santa came a little early this year and dropped Max off on Thanksgiving for us.  We were just going to stick with "Max" but the poor dog is kind of wimpy for a male yellow lab.  So in order to boost his manliness we have extended his name to "Maximus" until he grows out of his wimpy stage.  He's actually pretty cute and quite the cuddler.....Phil's jealous.  As you can tell from the pictures, Jaxon and Brynly love him to death.....literally.  The first week we had Max, Brynly strapped him into her stroller and pushed him around for a couple of hours.  I'm still mad at myself for not getting pictures of that!  Hopefully we won't be turned in for dog abuse, because poor Max puts up with a lot. 

Jaxon's Birthday

Yeah I totally made that cake!!!
Cake and ice cream for the birthday boy
Semi's, what more could a six year old want?

Another year has come and gone for Jaxon. He finds himself with a few less teeth this year than last. He thinks this tooth fairy thing is a great deal. It wouldn't surprise me if he started using Phil's construction tools to knock the rest of his teeth out. Any possible way you can earn money without having to go work with dad, or on the farm, is Jaxon's way of earning money.

Jaxon was pretty excited to turn six this year. He came and woke me up at 5:30am to see if he could start opening his presents. I held him off for a couple of hours, but finally I gave in. I think we won't be getting any sleep Christmas Eve night. Phil was working in Elko, but he made it home for the cake and ice cream with the fam.

I cannot believe I have a six year old! It seems like we were just bringing him home from the hospital, wondering how in the world do you get this dumb baby carrier out of the car! I have to say that I have loved the past six years of being a mom. Obviously you get the good with the bad, but the good always out-weighs the bad. I just wish time would slow down so I could enjoy it a little longer.

My Christmas List.......

I thought it would be a good idea for me to make a Christmas list this year! Why should Jaxon and Brynly get all the fun? So here we go.....

1. I would like our dog to quite using to garage for his own personal bathroom.
2. I would like my driveway and sidewalk to magically melt the snow every time it storms so I don't have to keep shoveling the driveway.
3. Would it be too much to ask to get a new Edward in the Twilight movies?
4. I would love to take Jaxon and Brynly down to see the lights at Temple Square.
5. I the 49'ers to make it to the playoffs!!! Dammit
6. I would there to be more construction in Cache Valley so Phil doesn't have to travel four hours away for work.
7. How about a hot tub and a home theater?


Seriously, all I want is for everyone, wherever they may be this year, to have a good holiday season......and cheer for the 49'ers!!!

P.S. Phil looked worried when I gave him my Christmas list. (:

Fashion Police

This outfit gets worn everyday, as you can tell by the holes in the knees
I didn't know that socks went with high heels

Please don't report me to What not to Wear, I know we have a problem and that's always the first step. As you can see my kids think they are very keen when it comes to fashion. Every morning it's the same battle and every morning I lose. So I gave up, at least when it comes to wearing clothes around the house (which honestly Brynly ends up stripping after about an hour in clothes). I have them cornered when it comes to school and church, I get to chose then. It's still a battle then too. I never thought this would be a issue. I thought that young kids don't care what they wear so I get to pick out everything. In fact a week ago Brynly answered the front door in underwear and her gym shoes. The crazy thing is you would think they just run down and throw random clothes on. Nope, they really put a lot of time into it. Everyday Bryn unloads her closet in order to pick her outfit out for the day. Jaxon spends at least 15 minuets in his room deciding what to wear. I don't know where I went wrong as a mother, I'm just hoping this is a stage and they grow out of it.

October

Now tell me that skeleton costume isn't creepy!
Princess Bryn and Grandma at the huge birthday party

Brynly's new mode of transportation


Yes that's right it's been a full month and I haven't posted! What can I say, I've been lazy......well that's not the whole truth, I've recently started watching Criminal Minds and now I'm addicted. Whew! I said it, yes I'm addicted. I'll seek help after I watch all four seasons. Don't worry mom I've been doing productive things this month too.


Jaxon finished his soccer season this last month in Preston. I really liked the way Preston put together their soccer season, it was a of fun. Jaxon keeps getting better and better, now I'm to the point where I hide from him when he wants to go outside and play soccer. My ego can't handle getting outrun by a five year old. He had a incredible coach for his soccer season, and hopefully he'll get the same one next year.

Brynly had her birthday on the 3rd of October. She's now three, but she's been telling everybody she's three for about six months, so we've finally caught up. She's told to mailman, the nice people at the bank, and basically anybody that will listen, that she was going to have a huge party. Then she invited all of them to come. Unfortunately, they all couldn't make it, but I think she had a pretty huge party.

Halloween was quite the event this year. Jaxon decided he was going to be a skeleton, so we bought him a skeleton costume ( a really creepy one too). We took the skeleton costume home, Jaxon tried it on and decided it didn't fit right (I thought girls did this). So I spent the next three days talking Jaxon into wearing his costume. Finally, after everybody told him how cool it was (obviously my opinion didn't count), he wore it. Brynly was easy ( I thought boys did this), she was a princess. We boycotted the "Trunk or Treat" this year, I told the kids they had to work for their candy. So after a block of trick or treating and completely missing the carnival ( I didn't know it got over a seven), we finished our Halloween celebration at Big J's.


After I finish watching the four seasons of Criminal Minds I will post again!!!!

Jack the "free-loader"

A couple of weeks ago I kept hearing this weird noise at night in our house. I would tell Phil that I thought there was a frog in our house (as weird as that sounds) and he basically just laughed and told me I was crazy. So for about a week I went through life wondering if I was developing some kind of mental disorder. Then finally my suspicions were confirmed. One morning I found a little frog just relaxing on my wall down stairs ( I could still have a mental disorder though). I'm pretty sure it was sun-bathing. I got a jar and had Jaxon and Brynly help me catch it. For the next few hours Jaxon and Brynly tortured it over and over by shaking the bottle and talking to it. They named it "Jack" and fed it a fly (which it didn't eat). By that time I started to feel sorry for the poor frog and told Jax and Bryn that we should probably set if free. Surprisingly they were both OK with it, so while we waited for the bus to come Jax and Bryn said their goodbye's and we let Jack go. After that traumatic experience with the Foster children I don't think we'll ever catch Jack free-loading in our house again. Here's some pics of Jack and some other random pictures.

Lunch time chips and salsa and yes Brynly is naked
Did I forget to mention that soda usually takes the place of milk.

Jax and Bryn kissing Jack goodbye

Jack's last name is Foster according to the kids so I now have 3 kids

A really blurry pic of Jack

First Day of School

Last week was Jaxon's first day of Kindergarten. I had nightmare all night long that he would hate school and never want to go. I'm pretty sure I was more nervous about it then he was. It turns out all my fears were in vain because first thing Thursday morning (7:30) Jaxon rushed into our room, clothes on, all ready to go to school. The bus showed up at 11:45 and Jaxon waved for a full minute at the bus before it stopped, I guess he wanted to make sure it stopped for him. He hopped on the bus and away he went. It was pretty sad for me to be honest, I wasn't quite ready for him to go. The one on one time with Brynly is really nice though. So here are some "First Day of School" pics....and Brynly was pretty sure she was getting on the bus too, so she was ready to go with her backpack as well.

Jaxon has actually been full of surprises for us this week. On Saturday night he woke up at 1:15 am and thought that the babysitter that we got for him and Brynly had left, so they were all alone. He then proceeded to call my mom and tell her that he was all alone. My dad and mom come rushing down to our house wondering what is going on. I wake up to my mom and dad yelling for us, and Jaxon running into our room. I felt like I was sixteen again when my dad would always yell at me to wake up and go move pipe. After that experience we had to discuss the appropriate times to call grandpa and grandma.

Then today I was watching for Jaxon to come home from school, and the bus pulled up to the house and off jumped Jaxon and his friend Seth Seamons (really cute kid). Jaxon comes racing up the driveway yelling "Mom I brought a friend home!!" I stood there stunned, wondering if I missed something and where I missed it. I look up and the bus driver, Ed (who was my kindergarten bus driver) was just as confused as I was. I told Jaxon that Seth's mom didn't know that Seth was coming here so he probably should go home and we'll have him over another day. So Seth and I walked back to the bus, who was patiently waiting, and Seth went home. So today we had another discussion about when friends can come over, and who we need to clear it with first. Kindergarten might be the death of me.

Catching Up...

"Hannah the Mermaid"

My Beehives!

As you can see Brynly was totally into the game.

Jax would beat on Phil when he was bored at the Bee's game. Phil was sore for a few days after.

Here we are in Jackson Hole, Brynly prefers the "headlock" for pictures

Bryn trying to wave the "horsey" down for a ride

Grandma Sally

Always have to have a picture of Molly, she's so cute!

My apologies, I've been slacking on my blogging duty. I really don't know what happened. The last thing I remember it was August 1st and then I woke up today and here it is August 26Th. I think I need to cut back on the Mountain Dew. Just to catch up a bit, the first of August we took the Beehives to Bear Lake and that was a blast. I didn't realize 12 and 13 year old girls were so boy crazy....lesson learned. My next goal for the Beehives is to get them to talk that much during my lessons on Sunday. About a week after our Bear Lake adventure, Phil and I took the kids and went to a Bee's game with my fam. Always fun to take in a Bee's game. This year was another success, Jaxon and Brynly got another baseball (thanks Uncle Kade). After that was a long week of Womens Area Co-ed Softball Tourny. I won't go into that, mainly because there would be a lot of cursing, and I know my mom reads my blog....so maybe another time. Last but not least is the Annual Tarbet trip to Jackson Hole. This year Glade and Suzette and Jordan came, and now they'll just have to come every year because we had so much fun. Some of the Jackson highlights were: Stopping so Bryn could pee every five minuets, Billy Burgers, Mom getting soaked going down the river, Mom birthday "boob cake" (Thanks Lynette, that was the best boob cake ever). Here's a few pictures of the last month. I'll be sure to blog a little more from now on.

5 Reasons Why I Hate Swimming Suit Shopping

The older I get the more I hate looking for a new swimming suit (I'm sure a lot of people can relate). That's why I have put if off for about four years. The reason why I finally had to break down and go by a new one is because I'm taking the Beehives to Bear Lake this weekend, and my old suit is well.......shall we say not as appropriate as it should be. So on Monday Jaxon, Brynly and I set out to go find a new and modest swimming suit. It was a very long and painful experience and I'm pretty sure this swimming suit is going to last me for the rest of my life. Therefore my five reasons I hate swimming suit shopping.
1. Everyone that works in the store is a super-model and looks great in a swimming suit. (Where do they get these people?)
2. Who do these swimming suits fit? They sure don't fit me!
3. I have failed as a mother, Jaxon and Brynly think one-pieces are ugly and I should go for the string bikini.
4. Why do all the ugly board-shorts fit me, but the cute ones don't?
5. I hate gravity!!!!

Thanks to 2 brutally honest children, I finally found one that pretty much fit, and shorts and a tank top so I don't scare away the beach crowd.

Bloomington Lake....Brrr.

We woke up the morning of the 24th and thought "hmmm, why don't we take the kids to Bloomington Lake?" Totally random I know! I'm turning into a Foster in my old age. It was fun though. We obviously drove up there, but you have to hike a little to get into the lake and the kids really enjoyed that. Unfortunately Brynly has begun marking her territory and randomly squatting along the trail when "nature calls". It was awesome trying to explain that one. We let the kids splash and play in the lake for a while (surprisingly the lake really wasn't that cold), then I tried out the rope swing (way fun!). We considered heading over and cliff diving but though better of it because Brynly would have wanted to try it out with us. After a couple of hours of playing in the lake we headed back down into Bear Lake for a burger and then home. Jaxon informed me next time we go we're taking fishing poles. I'll have to get my old one out and dust it off.

We Came, We Saw, We Made IT!!!! Trek 2009

Our first stop Independence Rock
This is "boot-strap"...the baby I mean

(Info: Boot-strap's real name is William Wignall and he was a 3 month old baby that crossed with his family in the Martin Company, but the girls nicknamed him "boot-strap because the poor baby was dressed in pink. He needed to feel like a man)

DISCLAIMER: From this point forward my hair goes from "bad" to "words cannot describe" so don't hate!!

Can you just see the excitment of pulling a handcart to camp

Pit Stop

This is right before we went into Martins Cove

Me and the girls

Our last family pic with our "cousins"

Note: my mom and dad should be in this picture because they were apart of this other family, but they booked it out of there as quick as they could. Party poopers.

Our last family pic

The kids having way too much fun on the bus ride home

We made it back from our Trek to Martin's Cove! The coyotes didn't eat me, the snakes didn't get in my tent and I even came home tick free. I think I came home tick free because I smelled to bad they didn't even want to try. I tried to put the pictures in the order that they happend. First day, got up and the un-holy hour of 3:30 in the morning. Loaded buses and drove a very long and boring six hours to Independence Rock. On the bus we were able to get to know the "kids" and "aunts" in our family. I have to say that I really enjoyed our family. The kids and the aunts were so much fun. Independence Rock was really neat. We didn't get to spend as much time there as we would have liked, but it was still neat to see. We were hoping to go explore a cave at the back of the big rock where there is still, supposedly, names carved in from those who came across the plains in the 1800's. I guess I'll just take their word for it. After the rock we headed over to Martin's Cove ,which is where we camped, and got our handcarts and headed to camp. One really neat thing; there is a dog (Great Pyrenese) there and when a group shows up for a Trek he comes and walks with you and protects your group from rattlesnakes and whatever else comes around. His name is Oscar and you can actually read about him in the July Friend. He's a pretty popular dog. The next day was the "Big Day" of Martin's Cove which was a really neat experiance. What a peaceful place, it was neat to finally see the place that I have been reading about for so long. An interesting note, Oscar didn't follow us up into Martin's Cove, he headed back out to the picnic area. He followed us everywhere else though. After the Cove we headed over to cross the Sweetwater another really neat experiance. Then dropped our handcarts off and walked back to camp. That day was a lot of walking and a lot of people came back to camp with blisters. The next day we broke camp and loaded the buses up. We then drove to Rock Creek Hollow, where the Willie Handcart people had such a hard time. That was probably my favorite day. We came and started to walk down into the hollow, and each family got a baby to carry with them through the whole trek, and at the hollow they take your baby away. Obviously representing the many people that died there and other places along the trail. That part wasn't easy but it really hit home. After we got down into the hollow we had a devotional and the last song was "Come Come Ye Saint's " which is a tear jerker, but add random people standing up and putting a white shawl on to represent the people that died, nobody made it through with a dry eye. I looked around at the end and I only had 5 out of my 10 famliy members left.

We had some really great experiances on the Trek and one of my other favorite parts was that I got to be in the same campground as my mom and dad. So our familys did about everthing together. It was awesome being able to do those things with my mom and dad. It's always great to go home though, especially after three days without a shower. And of course I missed Jaxon and Brynly so we were excited to make it home. I am really grateful to have had to opportunity to go on the Trek. It was something that I don't think I'll ever forget.