Car runs on gas....

BASED ON A TRUE STORY....

Meet Betsy, Jake, and Amy. They are going to Moab to run. On Friday afternoon, Jake starts driving. They eat, laugh and talk. Ninety minutes later the car sputters and slowly rolls to a stop in the middle of nowhere.The car runs out of gas. They are nineteen miles from the next city and just one gallon short of making it there. Betsy and Amy laugh and laugh.Jake calls for help. No luck! Then he has a genius idea to make a sign. It says G A S. He gives it to the girls and sits embarrassed in the back seat.Betsy and Amy hold the sign for cars to read. Two cute girls, not many cars will pass? While waiting, they laugh and laugh some more. Finally a very nice family turns around and helps. They are saved and the race is on.

Roll call.....

So I have we have our first roll call. I have even oped it up to anonymous comments if anyone is interested. It's really simply but a little different.

1. Name (first is fine)

2. Favorite song

3. Do you like the green purse or the blue purse better?

Another view?

OCD?????

Since I was little, I have had one thing that I am OCD on. I mean really OCD. Not little things on how I like stuff but a real thing that "thing" that bugs me so bad if I can't do it my way. Jake has mentioned it before and I described it a little in the past but last night he was persistent on finding out why I did this. I kept it hidden for several years in the first part of my marriage. Then when he mentioned it, I just simply avoided the situation and had Jake take care of it so it wasn't on my mind. It's only one thing, well two things that have to be right concerning this one thing I guess. I'm not a wierdo or strange and I really don't know why I do it.



Anyway Jake kept asking and asking last night why. I refused to tell him because then he would have leverage and make fun of my "ways".

I think it's time to let it go. I'm tired of this situation. Jake, here is your answers. I'm am ditching my OCD.

I hate turning off light switches.

This is one reason Jake has all the light switch controls on his side of the bed. So I don't have to do it at all.

My explanation:

I have been terrified of fires since I was little. I was often told turning a light switch on and off would cause a fire. So I came up with this solution. I would turn the light switch off. (First OCD) It would have to feel right. The click, the way it went down, and by no way on earth could it just be half off. Jake tortured me with this last night. (Second OCD) I would hold the light switch down (sometimes tap it, later on I would just still touch it so it wasn't obvious) and count to my "special number". This number was the number of people in my family. So as of right now it WAS (notice the past tense) six. This was done to sort of "protect" them. Don't ask me where I came up with this odd way of thinking. Then if everything felt right I was done. If not and something had gone wrong or didn't feel right, I would flip the light on, and then off again, starting the process over.

Jake tried to convince me it was an OCD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I'm convinced it's an OCO, Obsessive Compulsive Order. That didn't work on him though.

Now, everyone knows how different I am. : ) Although, I'm sure everybody has just there one little thing. Even if it is so little that it is unnoticeable and unrecognizable. This I guess was my safety blankie. Like none of us want to, I have grown up and don't need it anymore.

From the mouth of babes

SUNDAY MORNING

Kirsten: (whispering) "Dad, Dad, wake up. I have to wake you up because mom is anwry if I wake her up."

If only I could get a good night's sleep this wouldn't be so true. Although for my defense, it was 7:30 in the morning. I do get up on the school days....maybe this is her reasoning.

So sad....

Kirsten and Cruz were so sick this past week. Although the quietness in the house was a little peaceful, except for the fact that after this picture Katanya got their "barf bowls" and started to pound there heads. I guess she wanted someone to play with.

P.S. Yes, Cruz is asleep with one eye half open.

More power...

I think Jake needs one of these.

awsome super safe saw - Watch more free videos

Inspiration.... PART TWO

If you can remember the green bowl with oranges....this is what become of it. Before our California trip we finally finished painting the kitchen a new color. Jake made me swear before hand that this would be the only room that we repainted. (Which of course I did but I can reneg later.) Jake wasn't so sure of the color beforehand but he liked the after look.
My favorite thing about the kitchen still. I have had so many people ask me when we are going to get the doors on the cupboards. The same follow-up question comes next, "How do you keep them so clean?" Also, notice Jake finally got the piece on under the sink : )
Look at all that depressing snow. And yes it is piled higher than the mailbox in places.
We only painted the kitchen where the green used to be. I love it! Now for the chair underneath.....this is Jake's next project with the bar. If you can only imagine.....(The chair is the same color as the bowl on the table.)

Running Away...

A couple weeks ago we ran away. After school was canceled again on Thursday for blowing wind and snow, we headed down to the warm south western weather. We had to go to St. George anyway so we decided to go another 400 miles west. After spending a couple days in southern Utah, (also a BIG thanks to Earl and Vickie for letting us crash a night at there house,) we drove on to SUNNY California. We had a fun week with Harry, Dawn, and all the kids. Come the next Sunday morning, Jake and I kept debating if it was really time to go. Coming home to snow and going from 80 degrees to 10 degrees isn't so attractive anymore.

Most of our time was spent at the park across the street, and we have HUNDREDS of pictures of that so I'm going to skip that and here are a few highlights....

La Brea tarpits. This museum was quite interesting. We also had a "star" encounter here.

Outside by the tar pits.

Harry and Jake having fun. Power tools and equipment...who would pass it up?

Not such a smart move here. We went and visited Grandma on Wednesday. McKay enjoyed a game of scrabble with her while the other kids loved playing with Kilee.We went to the Santa Monica pier. We opted out of Disneyland this year and decided to do that another time when we had a couple of days to spend there.On the Ferris wheel.This was one of my favorites. In Arcadia, there is a neighborhood that you can feed the peacocks from your car. The kids loved it as well.After 11 days of running away, we made it back home. Before we left Kirsten said, "Mom, you can't run away from winter!"

Well, we sure tried. : )

Any ideas.....

I'm trying to come up with some songs to put on my ipod to make a playlist when I run. Any suggestions?

More snow and more snow

This weekend it didn't stop. I asked our neighbor if this kind of snow was a lot for Idaho, and he said this is a "normal" year. I'm not so sure about this anymore. Anyway we bundled up the kids and went and played. The snow was blowing and wet and blinding so I couldn't see the pictures I was taking. I was the first to go in. I guess maybe it's time that I invest in a pair of snow boots.

Inspiration....

This had me thinking.....

I love to see the temple....

I'm going there someday. About a week and a half ago we had the opportunity to go thru the Rexburg temple openhouse. The detailed work was AMAZING. Cruz was amazed by the murals in the rooms and how it enveloped you. We are blessed to have two close by us now!

What do you do...

...When you wake up and it's -18 degrees outside?

Honestly, it's a bit cold, sometimes I wonder why Idaho?

(and yes school was canceled today because of the temperatures)Jake's been working on the island / bar / cabinets for the kitchen while he's been slow. All of his new ideas give me to paint the kitchen .... AGAIN! ???? Plus side of cold weather: Maybe all of the "house" projects will get finished this winter.
Down side: I'm sure you can already imagaine all of these. I don't need to list them.

Cabinet booth picture taking

Brother and Sister
Most of the time they play so cute and good together... And every once in while Katanya has learned to hold her ground and be the bully. (She didn't want Cruz to get out of the cabinets.)

New Year's Resolutions.....(torture)

....NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS....

or should I say Crazy New Years Resolutions..... ....So of course, we were in Texas for New Years and Betsy and I made a few goals. One of my (mine being the key word) major ones for this is 2008 and 2008. I have to give all the credit to Betsy on this creative idea. I modified my goal however and instead of miles I am running kilometers knowing how my summers can get.....

....so now I have to give Nate credit for the GREAT daily progress program he made. Figuring I run 4.4 miles (7 kilometers) each day, 6 days a week, I will have my goal met by the end of November. This gives me 30 days out of the year that I can miss do to traveling or such. Believe it or not, when I go to update the sheet, just seeing all the different numbers on where I am and keeping my in the "green" makes me want to go run even more.

I am happy to say, 18 days into it, and I am on track! Jake and I bought a treadmill at Sears and have been able start training (Jake is actually training this year. He has his "own" goal for Moab.) and I am able to keep up with my 2008 in 2008.

Along with my other goals, I have outlawed my soda. No carbination at all! When midnight came, I dumped all of my diet Pepsi down the sink and said a tearful goodbye. Then on the night of New Year's me and "someone that will not be named" made a bet of no "sugar sweets". These two goals made the car ride home a VERY LONG one.

As of right now, I am successful at this. Although I haven't set a date of how long.

Weird cravings

So it's Friday night, I have just ran 5.3 miles, put the kids in bed and now I am browsing blogs.

I have a mysteriously WEIRD CRAVING! (I owe Nate for this one).....and NO I am not pregnant!!!!!

I want Rudy's coleslaw with brisket and their homemade BBQ sauce on their white bread. Yes, you put them all on the bread and enjoy. I've been thinking about this for days.....

The only problem....I would have to drive hundreds and hundreds of miles just for this.

Anybody else have any weird cravings?

*SNIFF SNIIF*

I miss Betsy....(and Texas's warm weather).

I've learned in Idaho during the winter it's either snowing, or blowing, or both. In this case....BOTH.

This was yesterday afternoon. It took me over half an hour to do this stretch alone ......

This was this morning : (

I haven't gotten up the will to want to go do it again.

This is how it all starts....

McKay wanted an mp3 player for Christmas.....next I'm sure will be a cell phone....and then a car. : ) But to give her credit, the only other thing on her list was a World Geography factbook. She wants to memorize all the facts and all the capitols. So far she has the U.S. and Canada done. McKay loves to spend time with Aspen.
....and she loves to just "hand around".

That's our family in Texas. Back to reality.

Another hobby....

Jake decided that it was time to start our playmobile collection. He has been wanting to since our trip to New York. Cruz LOVES them! Cruz loved playing on the tramp or in the sandbox. This was his "favorite." As he says it best. I love sandbox, love tramp.

Miss Photogenic

Like many cute babies, Katanya is just plain photogenic and I love how her pictures turn out.



Her cast finally comes off tomorrow morning! Yay! A nice long scrubbing bath is due for her.

My Cabbage Patch Doll..

Finally we are home and now I can't get back in the blogging mode. Betsy brought up a good point while we were in Texas. How come nobody blogs on vacation? Good question, but I have no good answer. So my goal is to highlight a little of each of us on our Christmas break.

Kirsten wanted a cabbage patch doll for Christmas with pink hair. Even more she wanted pink hair herself. So Jake and I figured, why not? It looks more of a bright pinkish red in these pictures, which it is, but has since faded to a pink. As time goes by it will go to a light pink.

Fire in the hole!

Click here to see what we (or Jake) has been up to in Texas!

Lack of....

Lack of free time, lack of boredom, lack of sanity =

Lack of Blogging.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

We left for our trip on Wednesday evening. We had a few setbacks (brakes, too much stuff, and loading a trailer).

Thursday we ran errands and spent a night at & with Keli & Sean. (see here) (Kirsten's pink hair will be explained later)

We left Friday morning, (not as early as we hoped) but we were on our way. At midnight we finally ran into a major snowstorm. We had avoided bad weather all day. It then took us 2 hours and a lot of doubt in my mind to get 27 miles to the nearest town.

Saturday we were off again. We were in New Mexico, and about 20 minutes into our "stressful" morning drive (very slick roads) we were the first ones to come up on a rollover. Jake and I stopped and helped the family. Luckily no one was hurt but the highway patrol couldn't get there for two hours. They ended up being from Austin and had been driving all night. Jake helped find a tow truck (the parents didn't speak very good english) and then a couple of them rode with us and the rest got into a van that had been traveling with them. We were off to Austin once again.

Our kids have been used to traveling and didn't say a word. It ended up taking an extra 5 hours and they were great! We dropped the other kids off at a local WalMart and then we finally got to Betsy's at midnight.

The rest goes as follows:

Relax, eat, relax, watch movies, eat, and believe it or not Betsy and I have actually been running (starting on Christmas)! I have a goal of improving greatly on the Moab marathon. (btw Karl, it ended up being less then what Jake told you. : ) yay for travel agencies.)

It's been a great couple of days and we are looking forward to another great week here.

I'll follow up with a Christmas post as soon as I find the pictures.

Merry Christmas to Everyone once again. We love and miss you all!

From the mouth of children

(Yesterday evening @ 9 p.m. Kids are getting ready for bed)

McKay: Mom is tomorrow the first Sunday?
Me: Yes.
McKay: Then we have to go stuff ourselves.

McKay then proceeds to tell Kirsten about fast Sunday.

Kirsten: Are you telling me that I can't have breakfast or lunch anymore on Sundays? That's crazy.

Cat in the Hat

"The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So Cruz sat in the house all that cold, cold, snowy day."

"...So all he could do was to sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! And he acutally liked it, all of the bit."

I think Cruz has watched Cat in the Hat too many times. I turned around from doing the dishes and straightening the kitchen to find him doing this. And he did this for a good 20 minutes.

Buckle breaking....

Katanya decided to live life on the EDGE today. The edge of the couch that is. The third party, the floor won.

Short version: Katanya decided to stand up on the open face end of the couch. I was throwing away her diaper, turned around and told her to sit. I was less than 3 feet away. A split second later, stomach done on the floor with her hand underneath her. She hardly cried. I only knew something was wrong because she wouldn't put weight on it. She wouldn't pick up anything and it was her right hand. Figured out baby-sitting arrangements for when the girls got home and it was off to the ER.

McKay did this same thing to me over six years ago. Although she wasn't with me at the time it happened and I didn't know anything was wrong until a couple days later. I wasn't going to go thru that again. Better safe than sorry.

Why also, is it as a parent you feel like you should protect your kids from these things. My first words to Jake was, I am so sorry. He looked at me and said, "Kids are kids, it could have happened with me." I am constantly following her and reminding her to sit. I have baby-proofed the house for these kinds of things, yet I know it was an accident but I still feel like it's my fault.

Outcome: She has a buckle break right above her wrist. She will have a splint on for a couple days and then we go to the ortho-pediatric (I think that's right) for her cast. As much as Katanya hates doctors, this will be fun (NOT). This is our third ER visit in 8 weeks with her.

Although I realize that after we came home from the four hour ER visit and 5 dollar pizza for dinner now that my night was gone that she still hadn't learned anything. Katanya started climbing again on the couch. I took her off and decided to go downstairs to play. Down there she decided the fun thing to do was to climb on top of the toy storage containers. My next month is going to be crazy following her around. Although as in the picture, she is still happy : )

Kirsten's response to this: Mom, now all the girls except meeeee have broken an arm. (when she said me, it was more of a whine)

And the winner is ....

The past week, McKay had to write about somebody special to her. She chose Axel. I thought part of the ending of her essay was so sweet I wanted to share it. (I am not trying to embarass anybody.)

....I feel pretty good with Axel. He is my favorite uncle. Here is 10 reasons I like him. They are:

1. He brings food to me in bed.
2. He acts like a kid.
3. He likes computer games, just like me!
4. He gets mad when we get him wet.
5. He gives me piggy-back rides.
6. We like to play the same games.
7. He is the youngest in his family.
8. He has the closest age to mine.
9. He is in school, like me
10. He is the best uncle EVER!!!!

Kirsten's favorite song

Cousin Sarah and Kirsten at our "girls" party when Jake was out of town for a week.....

Kirsten Loves this song. She sings it everywhere and is always asking for it.

I don't know if this is a good thing or bad thing.