Eclipse Review - two thumbs up!

Eclipse was my favorite book of the Twilight Saga, and now it is my favorite movie. I absolutely loved it. It followed the book pretty well and covered most of my favorite parts. There were a few things that they left out, that I wished they would have put in, but on a whole, I thought it was great. Like I've said before, my favorite part in the book was the tent scene, and I think that was my favorite part in the movie as well!

If you haven't bought the soundtrack, run to the nearest store and get it, it's got some great music on it and fit the movie perfectly. It's my favorite soundtrack of the three as well!

Hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did, and yes, I will be going to see it again - SOON! Anyone wanna come?

Just In Case

Just in case I don't have time to blog after my 5:30pm showing of Eclipse, I thought I would blog now. That's right, I said 5:30pm that is in 2 1/2 hours. Hurray, Hurray it's Eclipse movie day. I'm sure I'll have lots to say about it tomorrow.

Missing Blog Post

I really did blog yesterday, I just happened to post it on the River 4th Ward YW Blog Site. It was applicable to most of the girls though, because like me they are anxiously awaiting the movie Eclipse. Which I just so happen to be going to see tomorrow night at a 5:30pm showing. Thanks to my friend Denza! Oooo, I am so excited, Eclipse was my favorite book in the series.

Recently a friend of mine was asked why she liked the Twilight series. The lady said, "it's not like it teaches you anything." To that I say, you are right, it didn't really "teach" me anything, I just enjoyed the escape from reality for a moment, ok more like alot of moments. The thing I liked most about the series is the connection I found in some really great friends, that I might have otherwise not connected with. To that I say, thank you Stephanie Meyer and the Twilight Saga.

On a non Twilight subject, I finished Cody's room this morning at 2:30am. I couldn't sleep last night, but since it was Sunday, I knew I shouldn't be painting. I stayed up and read my book "DARK FLAME", which by the way was fabulous, and at 12:01, I pulled out the paintbrushes and began painting. This morning when I got up, everything was dry so I was able to put his room back together. It looks so awesome! We still have a few things to touch up, and I promised him we would hang his Utes stuff, as well as paint all of his furniture black, but that'll have to wait for another day. For now, all I can say is, "Whew, I am glad that is done, and go UTES!"

Boating

Dave and I both grew up going boating, Dave on a boat that had an engine and me on one that you had to paddle. I really enjoyed river running as a kid, but once I met Dave and discovered the joy of the engine type boat, I was hooked.

For all the times that we have gone boating over the course of our marriage, I've never had to drive. We've always gone with someone else, or someone has gone with us that drove when Dave skied. Not today, I had to drive, and boy did I do a ...... TERRIBLE Job! I won't go into a lot of details, but I will say this, Dave was frustrated, but luckily he didn't yell to much at me once I explained that I had never learn to drive the boat. He just said, "well I guess it's time you learn." Luckily for me the water was crappy so he wasn't to upset by not being able to wake board. Stupid wind!

The girls enjoyed riding on the tube, and I got to wake board for the second time on my board that I got 3 1/2 year ago. Cody decided that he would wait for Lake Powell to ride the tube, silly boy. He is more the helper type than the riding type. He was more concerned making sure that we got the rope pulled in or thrown out, bringing in the wake boards when we were done and getting things out, or put away.

All in all it was a fun day, now we are all beat and ready for bed!

WELCOME HOME Kassy, so glad she is back safe and sound, and had a great time at girls camp.

Painting "blues"

What was I thinking, I hate to paint. It is time consuming as well as being a pain in the but! The walls, ceiling, and trim around the doors and window are all done. The crown mold has it's first coat on it, hopefully it'll only take two coat. All I really have left is the floor boards, but I hate them the very most, that's why they are what I have left to do. Hopefully it'll be finished tomorrow so we can get Cody back in his room. He is struggling with not being able to sleep in his bed.

Truthfully I shouldn't be calling this entry Painting "blues" cause his room is bright U of U red. I'll post a picture when it's all done, if it ever gets done!

Hurray, Kassy gets home from girls camp tomorrow. I miss her lots!

Summer Fun

Night before last my niece Bailee slept over, Jessy was in Heaven. We decided to make the night extra fun by going "camping" in the back yard. Dave got a new tent for Father's Day which just happened to fit perfectly on our deck leading into the house. We had a fire in the fire pit, and I made indoor SMoREs. It was just like being camping. Dave grumbled about it at first, but after finishing homework, he came and joined us at the campfire.

The kids were a bit nervous about sleeping outside by themselves, so I told them I would join them, on the hard deck - oh boy! I came inside and watched The Bachlorette, (which by the way I am totally loving this season, but that's for another day) thinking that they would come in shortly and want to sleep in the house, but no one did. So after my show was over I grabbed my blanket and found my a not so comfy spot at the bottom of every ones feet. I'm not sure who it was harder on, me who kept getting kicked and thrown covers on by the kids, or Kalea who didn't know where to go so she ended up laying by the screen door. For the most part the kids slept good, Jessy was the only one who even got up to see if I had come to join them for the camping adventure.

In the morning when I got up, I could barely turn my neck, it was so stiff. After working out a few creaks and laying on the heating pad for an hour, it was 6:00am when I got up cause it was so bright in the tent, I was able to get moving. The kids had a blast and asked if we could do it again that night. I laughed and said, "not tonight, but we'll do it again". Next time I might let Dave join them and I'll sleep in the comfy bed. Probably not, these are the things that will stick with my kids forever, at least I hope, spending time together, doing crazy, fun things as a family!

Here's a few pictures from our camp out!

Indoor SmoRes - Not as good as the real things, but still yummy!

Dave and Cody hanging out around the "camp fire".

Crazy tent sleeping fools. Karey, Cody, Kassy, Jessy and Bailee.

The tent door and the screen door met together perfectly!

Getting ready for bed. Kassy, Bailee, Jessy, and Cody.

Now for More Summer Fun.

So I no I said in one of my recent posts that I wouldn't be doing any painting in my kids rooms for a long time. However, Cody has kept his room fairly clean, so today we decided o start painting. He wants a University of Utah room. We recently aquired a bunch of U of U stuff, thanks to a neighbor, Helen - thanks, as well as a U of U signed by the team football. I figured we better get it done before the stuff gets lost or ruined.

I always buy my paint at Home Depot, but Smith's Marketplace had their paint on sale. I thought that black, white, and red were simple enough colors that it would be fine. Boy was I wrong, the black and white were ok, but when we started painting the walls red, I thought Cody was going to have a heart attack, they looked pink! I had told the guy that I thought the color looked pink at the store, but he told me it would be fine onece it dried - NOT TRUE! We called Smiths and they said we could bring it back, so we did! We then ran to Home Depot, who just happen to have a football team colors paint listing. We got UofU Red. Just fyi, red is a really hard color to have not look pink. Cody was nervous, because after the first coat it still looked pretty pink, but as it started drying it looked more and more red. Now will have to wait and see what it looks like tomorrow when we get the second coat on. I'll post some pictures when it's done. For now, here are pictures of my painting helpers, I couldn't have gotten so much done tonight without their help - lol!

Jessy Jane

Cody Fred

Girls Camp

Kassy is already for girls camp, she packed everything herself, all I had to do was pick up a few things. She is getting so grown up, it makes me cry! We spent the last 3 hours french braiding her hair, it looks super cute, but my hands are numb now. I can't believe she is going without me, not only amnI jealous that she is going and I am not, I will miss her around the house. She is a great helper and does a lot to help me out. She is super excited though, because her dad gets to come up and help out as one of the Priesthood leaders. Lucky Dave!

I'm really sad not to be going to girls camp this year. When I was released from Young Women's a few months back, I told the bishopric that they could release me, but I still got to go to girls camp. Unfortunately that isn't the case.

Girls camp is one of my favorite places. I love hanging with the girls, being in the mountains, singing the songs, eating yummy food, being silly, playing practical jokes, and proving that we girls have got what it takes to get things done. However, my most favorite part about girls camp is the feeling you get while you are there, there is nothing like it. The spirit is so strong, you can't help but feel it. It's as if girls camp helps make the gospel true, does that make sense?

Shout out to "my girls", I hope you realize you will always be me girls, HAVE A GREAT TIME AT CAMP! I will miss you and I love you TONS. Be kind to Dave while he is up there, he is a bit nervous!

Swim Day

Today the kids and I went to Gene Fullmer and spent the day swimming and sunning. It was tons of fun.

Jessy is a fish, she can't get enough of the water. Tricks are her favorite thing to do, and she is not content to just hang out in the shallow end. Today not only did she swim everywhere with one of her friends that happened to be at the pool as well, she jumped off the diving board, both low and high! Way to go Jessy.

Cody is still a bit intimidated by the pool, but he does great in the shallow end. He wants to make sure I watch everyone of his tricks. Every few minutes he would yell out, "mom, watch this." Kassy and I counted, in a 10 minute period of time he said, "mom" 15 times. He did work on floating on his back, he's almost got it. Just lacking a little in the confidence department. I'm sure he'll get it soon.

Kassy is getting to be more like me, she'd just as soon sit on the side and catch a few rays. Her summer tan is coming along nicely. Yea, just in time for a family vacation to Lake Powell were catching rays is a MUST. She does however still like to go take a refreshing dip to cool off from time to time. It was fun to have a buddy on the sideline to keep track of the other two.

All in all it was a great day. Gotta love a day at the pool!

These are a few of my favorite DADS!

I am lucky to be surrounded by a lot of really great dads. Happy Fathers Day to them as well as to all the dads out there. This is Dave's dad Mike, along with his daughter Stacey and his grandson Brody. Mike is one of the most giving people I know. He would give you the shirt off his back as well as anything else you might need. He is a fabulous grandpa, and is affectionately known to my kids as the "big grandpa". I am grateful to him for his support and his acceptance of me.

My brother- in-law Clay, who is married to Dave's sister Stacey, is the quiet type, but when he does say something, you better be listening because it is worth hearing! He has the magic touch with the babies, even when they aren't his own. Shortly after this picture was taken, he had Brody asleep.

At first glance you might think this is Dave surrounded by his kids, but nope this is Dave's look alike brother Brian. Brian is like the pide piper, he's always finding something that keeps the kids following right behind him.

This is my little brother Jared and his sweet baby girl Harlow. Jared is my baby brother and like I've said before, I feel this need to protect him. Don't mess with him or you'll have to deal with me, my sister, my older brother, and lots of other people who are instantly drawn to him by his magnetic personality. I pray he'll get better soon so that he can enjoy the happiness of being a dad.

This isn't a great picture of my big brother and my brother-in-law Mike, but by the time I realized I got the wrong one, it was to late to change it. Anyway you get the "picture". Mike is the one on the left. He is always willing to help me and loves my kids like they were his own. What do I say about my brother Kelly, the one on the right. Kelly is a great big brother, he has a big heart, big dreams, and is a great dad to his kids.

This is one of my favorite dads, Dave! Although there are days I'd like to ring his neck, along with the kids, I can't imagine my life without him. His patience with us all sometimes runs thin, but I know that's only because he is so concerned with making sure that we have everything we need. His concern runs deep for not only his immediate family, but for his extended family, as well as for anyone that may be in need. That is one of the things I love about him the most.

Last but not least, my dad, ROGER. Affectionately known to me as "Rog" (thanks for letting me call you that dad) and to my kids, the "little grandpa". My dad has always been there for me and continues to do so. Some of my favorite memories of my dad are:

* Telling me stories about Flara Frog and Timmy Turtle.

*Singing songs to me as he rocked me in our creaky rocking chair - Favorite "Sweet Violets".

*Going on hikes and him telling me the names of all the trees.

*Riding the rapids down the green river and snake river in the CUROG - that was the name of our rubber raft.

* Best hugs ever.

* Knowing he would be waiting up for me when I got home late - except for that one night when he fell asleep then came bursting into my room at 2:00am demanding to know where I had been, funny thing, I had been in bed since 11:00pm.
*A supportive shoulder to cry on.

And the list goes on. Most of all I am just grateful that Heavenly Father sent me to him, he truly is the greatest dad ever!

SLOBS!!

I live with a bunch of SLOBS!!!!! I'm not sure I can say anything more about this topic because it makes me so ANGRY! Seriously, how hard is it to make your bed, put your dirty clothes in the hamper - that is in your room sitting right next to the pile of dirty clothes!!! What about throwing away wrappers, or rinse off your dish and put it in the dishwasher when you are done eating. Generally the toilet seat gets closed, but is it to much to ask to flush the toilet after your done. ARGH!!! My list goes on and on but as I said before this topic just makes me ANGRY, so I better stop before I blow a gasket.

On a positive note, I won't have to paint bedrooms any time soon. Let me explain, I told my kids that I would paint their rooms when they could keep them clean for two weeks. That was last SUMMER!

Seriously, why is it so hard for kids to pick after themselves, why, why, why???

Deal of the Day

Today Cody and I went to Home Depot to get some rocks for one of my flower beds, while we were there a guy was marking down some of the flowers. We got to gigantic flower pots that fit over the deck railings. They were regularly $32.97 and we got them for $5.00. Such an awesome deal that we bought two. They need a little bit of TLC, but I'm sure with some dead heading, watering, and plant food, they'll be even more gorgeous then they are now. They are filled with purple petunias, pink geraniums, and a mini whitish/purplish daisy!

After placing my great deal flowers on my railing, I spent the rest of the day working in my yard. I love digging in the dirt and making things look beautiful! Love Flowers!

That's Done

I love those days when you actually feel like you accomplished something. These are a few of the things I have gotten done today.

* Cleaned Cody's room
* Washed downstairs bathroom
* Played a quick game of indoor basketball with Cody
* Took flowers to loved one's graves
* Picked up Dave's Father's Day present
* Bought some flowers to plant in my front flower bed, can't wait to plant them
* Went to the Library
* Picked up table clothes for a Relief Society Dinner
* Picked up Dave's and Jessy's prescription
* Made six layer magic cookie bars
* Blogged

Now I am heading out to go set up for the Relief Society Dinner. What a great day!

Reinvinting the Wheel

Isn't it crazy that we have to make our own mistakes, that we just can't learn by the mistakes of others? Many things in my life would have been easier had I not had to reinvent the wheel and listened to what others who had "been there, done that" had told me.

I'm not super "old", but I have learned a thing or two through out the years, things that I wished others would take heed to, it would make their lives a lot easier. I wish I would have learned from others mistakes, but nope, I had to reinvent that darn wheel! Sometimes it caused me a lot of unnecessary grief.

I am grateful to my "elders" and to those who have "been there, done that", that giveme advice. I take their advice far more seriously now and in many instances it has been a great blessing that has made things easier for me.

My advice tonight is, take heed to the counsel of others who might have been in similar situations and use it to help better your life and help reduce unneeded STRESS and ANIEXTY!

My chemotherapy definition:

CHEMOTHERAPY: A bunch of medicine dripped into ones body, that is going to make you feel like crap, in hopes that it will help you get better.

As some of you may know, my baby brother was diagnosed with Cancer 2 weeks before his new baby girl was born (5 1/2 weeks ago). He had surgery to remove the cancer, but unfortunately when he had his ultrasound and cat scan, they found cancer in his lung and a lymph node. Two days after Harlow was born, he began Chemo. He entered his 4th week of Chemo this week. His doctor is very optimistic, but that doesn't change the fact that chemo makes him feel like crap.

Today I was the lucky one, I truly mean that, that got to go sit with him while the chemo dripped into his body making him feel terrible. It broke my heart to see his bald head, even though he looks good with no hair, and how worn down he looks. The highlight of the day was when I got to take him home and see how happy he was when he got to see his "girls". What a blessing they are in his life!

There was a time in my life when I felt a great need to torment my little brother, now I feel this overwhelming need to take care of him, I guess that's what big sisters do, on both accounts.

Please pray for my little brother. This week has been hard on him, and I know he and his little family have many more difficult weeks ahead.

LOVE YOU Jared!

When does school start????

We started the morning off great. I went to the chiropractor, had a massage, it was a slice of HEAVEN. The kids were good while I was gone, so I took them to the nickel-arcade, they had a blast and ended up with over 600 tickets - oh the stress of deciding what cheap prizes to get with those tickets. After the arcade we ran to the grocery store, it got a little crazy, but still they were being ok so we bought Popsicle's. I don't know what happened from the time we left the grocery store to when we got home, but all HELL broke loose and it's been that way ever since.

Thank Heavens, everyone is in bed!

Home at Last

It's fun to get away, but it's always good to be home. What a crazy weekend. Dave was able to book us flights to Denver and get us a rental "truck" so that we could pick up doors at the BMC West Denver location. The whole thing sounded easy enough, but it WASN'T. After having are flight delayed 2 times, we finally made it in the air. Denver had been experiencing awful weather all day and we were lucky to even get on a flight. Once we got there, well after 11:00,pm we were able to pick up our luggage, on the 1 and only carousel that they had going for 6 or so flights. Denver's airport is gigantic. I was glad not to be there by myself, I would have gotten lost for sure. We got our rental car with out to much difficulty, and headed out to find a hotel for the night. The winds and rain were unbelievable, we found out the next morning that Denver had 12 tornado's form, one of them being directly over the airport, several of them forming right behind our hotel. The airport had been closed for a time, needless to say we were lucky to have made it at all.

The next day we began our drive home. It to was an adventure. The temperatures that we encountered ranged from 35 to 65 degrees. The weather was CRAZY, we ran into rain, wind, snow, sun, and extreme rain! At one time Dave had the windshield wipers going as fast as they would go, and it still wasn't fast enough! Their was large puddles of water on the roads, and streams running all over. I was pretty sure that as we were driving along side the Colorado River, I could see it raising.I was really glad when we made it into MOAB, the rain had stopped and the temperature was 63 degrees. Rather than continuing on we stayed in MOAB for the night. It was nice not to be in the car, or in a huge rush. We enjoyed a relaxing dinner and wondered the shops for a bit before heading back to our room to sleep!!! Dave slept so good he even snored a little, don't tell him I said that - lol.

This morning we began the final stretch home. Pretty sure we made record time, I'm not going to say how fast cause that might get us into trouble. There was seriously NO radio stations so I gave my Ipod to Dave and took a nap. I don't think I've ever been so glad to see I15, even with all it's construction. Finally we made it home, we got the rental truck returned and came home and took naps. I was seriously exhausted from sitting in the car doing nothing. The kids all got along and all seemed right with the world, at least for a short little time of it!

Thanks again to our dads who stepped into the role of care takers for the kids. We are super lucky to have such great families who are willing to do anything for us. We love you all!

Now, it's back to the real world....got to go make some dinner!

Last Minute

Dave has to fly to Denver for work in a couple of hours and I get to go with him. We are renting a truck and driving home tomorrow. Lucky that we have are great dads who are coming to stay with the kids with no notice.

Here's to an adventure!

Cute Movie

Took the kids to see Marmaduke today. If you are looking for a cute movie, that is fun for kids and adults, this one is it. I highly recomend it. We went to the 10:35 am showing and had the theatre all to ourselves - Bonus

Thanks to our cousins for the invite!

By the way, I finished the Short Second Life of Bree Tanner today - loved it!

Bree Tanner

I have to admit I was a bit disappointed when I heard that Stephanie Meyer was releasing a new book, and it wasn't Midnight Sun. At first I said that I wasn't going to read her upcoming book, but come on get real, I knew I would buy it and read it as soon as it came out, and I did!

I have read about 3/4 of it and honestly I like it. It gives you a whole new perspective of Stephanie's "vampires" and how Victoria planned her attack on Bellan and the Cullen's. It makes me kind of sad that I already know what is going to become of Bree, especially now that she has become a "real" character to me, one I am kind of liking. Stephanie Meyer herself said that she wished she would have ended things differently for Bree. Oh well, what do you do? Oh I know, you release Midnight Sun so I can have even more Twilight to obsess over! Hahaha

Gotta love that darn Twilight Series. 19 more days until Eclipse comes out!!!

My momma always said....

My momma always said, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." That's why I haven't posted in over a week, I haven't had a lot of nice things to say.

I am praying that things will turn around and all will be "nice" in my world so I can blog again!