Happy Birthday KIM!!!! aka Streak.

Today is my bestest friends birthday! I just wanted to take a second to tell her how much I love her. She has been there for me through thick and thin. We survived our teenage years together and still she is there for me as I raise my family. She is such a smart person I have learned so much from her. Some of my favorite memories..

- When we skipped school in her jeep. We were stopped at a red light and my sister was stopped on the opposite side. Kim yelled, "DUCK!" as we drove by. My sister did see us not only because she knew Kims jeep but because the top and the doors were off the jeep! She could see us trying to hide beneath the dash.
- The time Kim got grounded from ME! When we had boys over.
- The time I made Kim cry because her fart smelled so bad.
- The time Kim helped my nephew with his first crawl. Kim just pushed his butt and kept pushing. I think he may still have carpet burns on his face today.
- Sleeping in at Snow College when we were supposed to be driving to St. George.
- Getting reeces peanut butter shakes at Arby's and popcorn chicken at KFC.
There are so many great days I have had with Kim. Thanks for your true and genuine friendship!

Keegan reading my poolside entertainment

St. George

We are back from St. George and we had a great time. We went with Kim's family. Her 2 brothers were also there with their kids. We did lots of swimming, shopping and eating. It was a nice weekend with friends and family. We stayed in the same hotel as last year and pretty much did the same things. The boys went to the movie and saw Indiana Jones. While the girls did some shopping. We also went to Fiesta Fun. The kids loved it but the adults were going crazy with how busy it was in the arcade. And the smell! It was like dead sweaty butts! Really very gross!

Thanks Brackens for letting us come to your family vacation. We had such a great time!

Painted Lady Butterflies

Several months ago Daesha saw a really neat thing on TV that she just really wanted. It is a butterfly habitat. If you haven't seen this before, here is a quick explanation. You mail in money and 2 weeks later you get two jars with 5 larvae in each. And a mesh cage. As time goes on you get to watch the larvae get bigger and bigger until they make a chrysalid and then they emerge as butterflies! It really was fun to watch and really fun for Daesha to learn just how this process works. Every time the commercial would come on she would have me run in to watch it with her and exclaim the whole time how neat it would be to get that!

So last week we had lots of fun watching the butterflies drink from oranges we placed in their cages and letting them crawl on our hands. These butterflies only live 2 to 4 weeks. One died so we decided it was time to let them go. So we went outside and I demonstrated to Daesha how to grab them without hurting them. As the first one flew off out of sight Daesha began to cry. She cried as I took the rest out one by one and let it fly away. It was pretty dramatic for her to let her butterflies go.

The next morning I went into Daesha's room to check on her lizards and the little one, Stich. Was dead. Oh great! I thought. I don't think she can handle loosing more pets. But she was surprisingly ok. She didn't cry. I had a small jewelry box which we buried in the flower garden. As Daesha was digging she found a worm and put that in the box too. Our first pet burial and I am sure that there will be many more to come.

Daesha's school picture

Got Dirt?

This weekend we went to one of our favorite places in Utah. MOAB! We left on Thursday morning and came home Sunday night. On Thursday we arrived before check in time at the hotel. So we went for a little ride. (3 hours) It was Keegan's first time on the 4-wheeler and he really liked it alot. We got to use his car seat in the back of the Rhino. And Daesha rode with Ted. We went to a place called "Top Of The World". It was a beautiful view from there. I used to like looking over the sheer drop offs and toss rocks off the cliffs. But I found that I wasn't so excited to get close to the edge. The protective mother in me was aparent this trip. Because my heart was beating every time Daesha let go of my hand. Poor girl probably had the blood stop circulating in her hand from me holding it so tight. Ted hasn't gotten to this point yet. He was throwing rocks and trees over the edge.






On Friday we went for another ride to "Fins and Things". I loved this ride it was alot of big steep rocky hills and lots of scary spots that made the ride exciting. I got to drive the Rhino with Ted's mom as my passenger. She was so dang scared. I felt really bad for her but I was laughing at her too. She even said Shit once! HAHA. Sorry Betty I just thought it was so funny! Now if my kids start to say shit I know who they heard it from!!! HEHE.
Saturday we went on a ride called "Hey Joe's Canyon" We decided to put Daesha's car seat in the Rhino too. She loved riding in the back and watching all the action behind us. Grandpa Kent rode behind us most of the way. He said that Daesha was either talking or singing the whole time. It was a very dusty ride to a mine that I never did see. Ted saw it and said it wasn't spectacular. But it was a fun ride along the Colorado river.
I couldn't believe how good the kids were the entire weekend. When we go on rides we pack our lunches and snacks and go all day. Keegan never cried once. The first night in the hotel both kids slept perfectly. The second night I woke to Keegan making motor sounds in his bed. After a few minutes I shushed him and he stopped for a couple seconds and started up again. This went on for an entire hour! Ted kept laughing at him. He's a proud Dad, he said he must be dreaming about riding the wheeler.
Daesha always cries when we are packing up to go home. She loves staying in hotels and going to the pool every day. She got a bit too confident this time and jumped in the deep end. A boy about 9 or 10 years old jumped in and got her out. I told the boy thanks for saving my daughter and he said, "your welcome. That was pretty cool huh." Don't worry Deasha was fine, she wasn't even scared. Little stinker!
On the way home we went on a hunt for ant hills. Yes, ant hills. These ants collect prehistoric shark teeth for their ant hills. After finding the place from GPS cordinates. We did find some Itty Bitty shark teeth. Such a very interesting trip. From driving all hours of the day to searching and picking at ant hills while trying not to disturb the red ants. And trying not to step on cactus. Which Daesha did. And Kent got a flat tire on his trailor. But the trip was worth it. Daesha with the help of her Dad found 2 horny toads. We told her she had to let them go before we leave so that they could go back to their family and of course she cried. She told us that because she had two they could be a family. Can't argue there. So now she has 2 lizards and 10 butterflies in her room. Plus a handful of dried up rolly polly bugs.