Work . . . and PLAY!

June is almost over! CRAZY! Well, our month has been great, with both our work and our play. My parents always taught me work comes before play, so I'll do the same with this blog post.

WORK

The first week of June, Tony started working on the ranch for the summer, Connor started summer school for incoming Kindergarteners, and I coached a middle school volleyball camp on Monday through Thursday. Also that week, I came down with a bad case of THIS that extended through the next week, and I'm still feeling the effects now. Here is the evidence:

In about a week and a half, with a little help from Tony, Connor, and Mylie, I planted about 8 flats of flowers, a couple bags of sunflower seeds, over 20 bushes, 6 trees, and 6 raised beds of vegetables. Crazy? Definitely.


Tony built these great beds for me, and hauled in the dirt. He also created the corn tent below. They don't look like much in these pictures, but anybody who plants a garden knows that with the seeds are planted a whole lot of faith and hope.

Connor is taking care of a calf again this summer. Its name is Trey Hardee, named after his favorite US decathlete. That's Connor for you! Here he is using his new hands-free feeding technique.

Mylie has loved taking care of 5 baby kittens! The mama kitty abandoned them when they were about 3 or 4 weeks old, so we were left with the task of getting them to drink milk from a bowl. She came back a week or so later. So, she's not only a hussie, she's a bad mother too. If there was a DFS for cats, I would have called on her awhile back. These kittens are adorable, though! We just gave away two of them, but we have two more to give away! (We just HAVE to keep Sparkles, the white kitten--Mylie says.)

PLAY

The second weekend in June, we packed up and hit the road. After about 16 hours of driving, with a few too many pitstops ("You have to go AGAIN?!") we arrived in Nauvoo, IL. We had an awesome time there seeing all the sights. Rather than bore you with a wordy play-by-play, I think I'll give you a photo tour of just our favorite things (which are quite a few.)

Prarie diamonds from the blacksmith shop

Dressing up like pioneers . . .

. . . and playing pioneer games.

The Nauvoo gardens and statues of women

Carthage Jail

Having fun with cousins . . .

. . . and bugging them, too!

Skipping rocks on the Mississippi. We rented a house (along with three of Tony's sisters and their families) right along the river, which was awesome!

Just relaxing and enjoying time together. Tony and I even got to go running TOGETHER twice! One was through some farmland, and the other on a road along the river. Great fun!

So far, our summer has been great. And with some more fun work and some more fun play, July should be great, too!

My Dad

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

Typically for Father's Day, I send my dad a card. Usually, it starts out praising his qualities, then turns around with a funny punchline that attempts to make me look like the most amazing daughter ever! And mine isn't the only card of this variety that he gets. It has sort of become a tradition in our family to give funny cards--and arrogance is a common theme. But this year, I thought I'd do something different, and just share a few special memories I have of the greatest dad ever--MY DAD!

When I was little, our family had a tradition of "date nights" with Mom and Dad. We rotated who got to go with whom, and who had to babysit. I remember a few particular dates. The earliest date memory was going out for a treat after doing my first sit-up, a very important accomplishment in our family! Another time, (I think I was about 8 years old), we had a goal setting date at the elementary school. I have always remembered talking with my dad about what I wanted to accomplish in school and life, but then a few years ago, I found the paper where we had written the goals. I had accomplished every single goal I had set for myself up to this point in my life! I feel like that simple experience with my dad was vital for ME to decide the direction I wanted to go.

Most of my favorite memories with my dad involve sports. The first BIGGIE was him taking me to a Utah Jazz game when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade. Danny Ainge played for the Kings, and that's who they were playing. I was so excited to see Ainge in real life. Sometime during the first half, I asked my dad why they were playing on half of a court. The players were so HUGE that it made the court look small to me. My favorite gift from dad was a Boston Celtics shirt he gave me for Christmas. The Celtics were my favorite team at the time (again, 8 years old). I still have the shirt, and Connor wears it quite often. For several years, Dad took me to basketball camp in Billings, MT, and put up with Tami and I giggling all the way there. When I got into high school, he was my coach, which resulted in both good and bad memories. But the week after our state tournament each year, he took me with him to Casper to watch the 3A-4A state tournament. I always loved that! And finally, just last summer, he took Tony and me to the NCAA track championships. It was a great time!

Every few years growing up--it seems like maybe it was after Mom had a baby--she would head to Alaska for a couple weeks, leaving Dad and the rest of the kids home. I had a lot of responsibilities while she was gone, but we also had a TON of fun! This trip usually happened during the winter months, and so us kids would all go to Dad's basketball practice. At the end of practice, we'd all put on our cowboy boots with the slick bottoms, and hold onto the car's rear bumper. Dad would drive as we would "ski" behind the car all the way home. There were some great wipeouts!

Speaking of wipeouts, Dad taught me how to ski, and we had a lot of good times skiing together. My very first day (I was 6 years old), he started me on the bunny hill. After he thought I had the hang of it, we went up the mountain. I'm not sure why, but he decided to take me on "Levi," a black diamond run, the first time up. Now Levi really isn't that bad of a run except for the very start of it, which is VERY steep. There were a lot of crashes and a lot of tears, but now, years later, Levi is my very favorite run at Pine Creek.

I could go on and on, but basically, I just want to say thanks, Dad, for all you've taught me and all the memories! Those are the things that will last forever. I love you! Happy Father's Day!

WARNING: The following images may not be suitable for all audiences. Viewer discretion is advised.

After our camera's untimely death, I figured the memory card inside was also a loss. So I didn't bother removing it. Yesterday, Tony thought we should at least check it out before tossing it, so we plugged it into our new camera and took a look. We were priviledged to see the last thing our poor camera saw before falling to its death. And I decided I'd share . . .

Don't scroll down if you don't want to. . . .

Since you've come this far, you may as well see one other disturbing image. I walked into the bathroom the other day to find this:

I guess Sleeping Beauty was having a hard time dealing with her friend's tragic death (see Poor Barbie post). If we had only known she was struggling so much. Maybe there was something we could have done for her. It really didn't need to end this way . . .

T-ball JOY

My first film with the new camera. I call it T-ball JOY.

Enjoy.

Some Random Ramblings

I ordered a new camera. It's a camcorder/camera combo. Our old camera, bought soon after we were married, was still recording onto VHS tapes (What are those?!?). And then with the camera/toilet incident, we just decided to replace both with one. Nice. Now I just have to read the manual so I can use it!

Secondly, I'm TRYING to finish the Twilight series, which I started back in January or so. I'm on the last book, and it is now a month overdue at the library. I'm afraid that whoever is on the list to get it next is cussing me right now. But I'm lacking motivation. I guess I care enough to finish it. I read about 20 pages a day or so, but honestly, what's the big deal about these books? I can think of at least 20 books I've read that I like better than any of the Twilight books. Oh well.

A spin off the Twilight thread now . . . What's with the name Renesmee? I almost puke every time I read it in the book. That and every other name that somebody just made up from some other name. Enough, people!

Finally, something more upbeat. A few Mylie-isms for y'all. Mylie loves helping me do everything. We get a lot of one-on-one time every day because she loves following me around and doing whatever I'm doing. And she says some really cute things while she's helping me. For example, last week we were out working in the yard, and Mylie commented on what a good worker she is. I agreed, and then the conversation continued about Mom being a good worker and Dad being a good worker, and Connor being a good worker ("yeah, at pole vault," Mylie added.) Finally, Mylie concluded the conversation with, "And Mariah's a good TOY-ER." So cute. This afternoon, she helped me plant flowers. She must have noticed me getting information about the flowers from the little labels stuck in the dirt. She asked me how big one type of flower was going to grow. I told her I didn't know. So she pulled out the label, looked at it as if reading, and said confidently, "Seven feet, Mom." Wow, what a flower! Finally, one of my favorites: Mylie loves helping me fold clothes. She often shows off her grasp of the English language by saying, "Mom, you fold that clo (pronounce with a long O sound), and I'll fold this clo." And I guess if we each fold the singular, we will eventually have all the CLOTHES (plural) folded!

It's been a long, crazy week of volleyball camp, summer school (for Connor), T-ball, and trying to get my bazillion flowers, shrubs, and trees planted. More on that later, if I can get my new camera figured out. My bath tub is calling me. AHHHHHH!!!

State Track

I'm a track junkie. I've been to state track 13 of the last 14 years, and don't plan on quitting this practice anytime soon. In fact, I'm so crazy about the state track meet that I lost my mind this year and took three children along with me for 3 days at a track meet. And actually, they all did amazingly well.

Besides my love for track, I also have a lot of invested interest in several of the athletes that competed this year. First of all, my dad is the head track coach at Cokeville, so I enjoy watching all his kids. My brother and sister, Sullivan and Olivia, were in 4 events each. Tony is the pole vault coach at Mountain View, so I've paid a lot of attention to his kids. And finally, almost all of my volleyball players I've coached do track, and their team was there to win a state championship.

Everybody that I was there to watch did very well. The Cokeville girls and boys each took 2nd place as a team. The boys team did it with only 5 athletes, which is quite an accomplishment. Sullivan took home a 1st, 2nd, and 5th place. Olivia got a 1st, two 2nds, and a 5th. Tony had a girl vaulter take 3rd, and his boys went 3rd, 4th, and 7th. And finally, the Mountain View girls tied for the state title after an exciting 4x400 meter relay (the last event), where they did just what they needed to to be state champions. It was an exciting weekend.

Even though I was able to see all the highlights and watch the kids I really cared about, state track was a little different for me this year. Usually, I watch every single race and know everything that's going on. But with three kids this year, I didn't have that luxury. Instead, we made it into a mini-vacation. I invited my sister-in-law Angela to come. She brought her two boys, and we did a lot more than just watch track. We went to the park 3 times, visited the mall, went swimming, ate at McDonald's and Sanfords, and went miniature golfing. It was tons of fun! But even with all that fun, I struggled a little with not knowing what was happening in every single event. So now I'm short on sleep after two nights of staying up until midnight on the computer reading every time of every race, comparing times between classes, and making myself aware of state records, repeat champions, and team standings--all vital information for a track junkie like myself. And now this has become a long boring post with NO PICTURES--due to the camera/toilet incident (read below.) Sorry.

Taffy and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Like usual, I woke up to Mylie's request for a TV show, a drink, and her pink blanket. I was still WAY too tired to get up, however. But I dragged myself out of bed and mentally ran through my to-do list for the day. I had no idea what awaited me . . .

First, Connor wanted to play outside in the mud. But after a few minutes, he realized he needed a jacket. Being focused on the jacket, he forgot about the mud on his boots and ran across the family room and kitchen before I yelled at him to stop right now and take those muddy boots off. He then got mad at me for stopping him so rudely, and threw one of the boots at me, landing himself in a timeout. Even though he helped me clean up the mess, I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

With the kids outside playing and Mariah napping, I hit the treadmill. What was supposed to be a 5-mile run turned into just 3 miles after the fifth interruption. Mariah woke up early, and was crying more than normal. It was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

I checked my email and learned from Tony that the school board had decided that teachers aren't allowed to take more than three consecutive days of leave. We were aware of this possibility, but now it was official. There goes our plan of a November cruise.

Connor wanted to make some chocolate milk for himself, Mylie, and Jaxon. Instead of asking for help, he scaled the cupboards, and threw the Nesquik container down to the floor where it exploded all over the carpet.

I listened to Mariah scream the entire time I folded laundry. She seemed okay when I picked her up, but then screamed impatiently as I got ready to feed her.

While feeding her, Connor came in with bad news. Mylie had "made" him drop the camera in the toilet by requesting that he take a picture of her poop! Our camera warrenty doesn't replace cameras dropped in toilets. It was DEFINITELY a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day!

I sent him away and fiddled with the camera, seeing if there was any hope of it working again. When I finished feeding Mariah and walked out the door, I found Mylie on the floor, making a road for her dump truck. Creative, yes. But she was making it out of playdough, pressing it down in the carpet! AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!

And then it was lunch time. After lunch, I think I'll move to Australia.

P.S. I guess there is something good that has happened today. I haven't cried . . . yet.