Shimer Shinanigans

Catching Up!

2010-01-24T15:01:00.000-08:00

Well, I think the easiest way to update this is to post photos as I go and explain what we've been doing. As always, there's never a dull moment in the Shimer household! The last we left off was in Oct. In November, we signed Addi up for swim lessons. She really loved it and is ready to continue after we've had to have a break with holiday and other activities going on.
Morgan has been keeping herself busy with "Tiger Talents". It's a group run after school with one of the teachers. They learn songs and dances and have been able to do several performances. It's been fun to go watch. She also participated in a Rec volleyball instructional league and then a clinic in Dec. She hopes to make it on a team this spring and try out for a competition team in the fall.
For Thanksgiving we went to Boise to visit my sister. Her husband works the night shift as a police officer, so he sleeps during the day, and they were also trying to sell their house so we decided to go to Golden Coral for Thanksgiving dinner. The kids had fun playing for a few days and we went to the Boise Christmas parade. It was freezing and loooonnng (we've decided I'm not really the parade type) but we enjoyed Cinnamon Rolls and hot cocoa afterwards at the mall!

The first Sat. in Dec. our ward had the annual Christmas breakfast and the primary kids were asked to participate in the program. Most of the kids were wisemen or sheppards. Elly dressed up in a costume we'd had for Halloween and was even a sheep. Morgan was Mary.

This is a picture of Rylan in front of his Science Fair Project. He wasn't planning on doing it until I found out it was 1/2 of his grade and I said if he got a C in that class from not doing the project he wasn't allowed to try out for the Jr. High baseball team this spring. He did it the day before it was due and ended up winning 3rd place overall, won several prizes, including $20 cash and invited to Districts. So much for my lesson on procrastination!!

Richard was able to come home on leave. He got here on the 22nd. He was able to stay for a few weeks before heading back. We had a fun Christmas. Here are the kids all ready to start in on their presents and stocking stuffers!

A few days after Christmas we headed down to Richard's parents house. The live up in the mountains in Idaho. My sister came and visited one day to share in the sledding fun.

We found the best sledding hill at the golf course and Richard drove the 4 wheeler up there. We'd sled down the hill and then we'd grab onto the rope and he'd bring us back up to the top. We got so spoiled not having to hike at all! The next day it snowed about 6 inches. We were glad my sister came up when she did! Because of the new snow we weren't able to use the 4 wheeler on the hill anymore and had to hike back up after we finished sliding down the hill. Addi said, "This must be how the pioneers did it in the olden days!" Ha! This is how I've always done it!! Olden days my foot!

This is my sister on the rope train getting pulled back up. It could actually be quite risky if the person in front of you had their boots in their face and they weren't strong enough to resist the tension pull up the steep parts. If they let go you were sure to get kicked in the face hard!

Morgan proved to be the best at finding strategies to hold on. By the end of our stay we figured out how to get whipped around the top so that it dropped you off at the top of the hill and you'd just continue to slide down. There was never any getting up at all! We got pretty spoiled! Some days we couldn't take the 4 wheeler up so we had to make trails in Richard's parents yard. That was a lot of fun also! By the end of the days it naturally made jumps and whipped around corners.
Richard went back to Korea on the 15th and has approximately 60 days left. He is due to return on the 18th of March, just in time for Rylan's first baseball tournament in Mequite, Nevada.

The final thing on our list of things is our big birthday party yesterday! Our little Elayna Ann turned 3 yesterday! It so hard to believe that she's that old. It really seems like just a few months ago we brought her home from the hospital. She is so much fun and a very considerate, sweet little girl.

She loves Dora and had a Dora cake and decorations. We got her a Dora backpack set, a little toy laptop computer with educational games, and a Cindrella outfit set. She asked for Cookie Crisp for breakfast and wanted Chicken Nuggets and French Fries from McDonald's. It's bittersweet that she's this old! It's hard to believe that this chapter of my life is closing (being a stay-at-home mom to little babies!) She is such a joy and blessing to have. Well! That's about it for now... we are busy doing baseball with Rylan and Bradly is doing basketball. I think I'm going to go back to school soon and that makes me excited. Still in the works of which direction I plan on taking. For now all is safe and sound in the household! Love to all!
Kim

2009-12-08T13:44:00.000-08:00

Make a Smilebox greeting

Coming from South Korea!

2009-11-01T14:59:00.000-08:00

As much as I'm dreading this, I know I need to get these on here and put a synopsis of my trip to Korea. There's just so much to it and so many pictures! I tried going through all my video as well and finally gave up on that one. I was getting too overwhelmed. Maybe next time with a regular update I'll add some Kore footage, but for today I'm simplifying and just doing a re-cap with photos. Here goes!!

I left on Fri morning, Oct. 16th. I arrived in Seoul at 6:30 Saturday night. (About 3:30 am. our time) and looked for Richard for an hour and a half!! I was amazed how few people spoke English and they were all trying to get me a taxi or a train! I had no way to phone him since he doesn't own a phone there and knew no one to get a hold of him. I figured he was on his way, but didn't know if he got lost or robbed or what! I paged him several times and decided to wait at the USO. He finally showed up and we took the city bus to the base 3 1/2 hours away.

The next day was Sun and I got the grand tour of the base and we went to church, where only 6 other members (give or take each Sunday) attended. Very interesting. On Mon we hung out some more and went to his shop. I left very sick and was still feeling pretty bad. That day the weather was windy, cold, and rainy. Two guys that Richard works with and hangs out with the most came and got us. You can only have a car if your are a Senior NCO so he's the only one that has a car. They took me to the infamous A-town. I've heard Richard talk about this place quite a bit so I was excited to go. It's about a 10-15 min drive from the base and is basically an ally with a few shops, restaurants, and mainly bars that the Americans from the base go to. I had my first taste of Korean BBQ there-Bulgogi. It was pretty good!

On Tues. we went golfing, hung out with this guy that Richard golfs with that wants to learn English, packed our stuff up, went to Gunsan (the town closest to Kunsan) and went out to dinner down in Gunsan with a bunch of people from Richard's shop. I found the Hanbok's (which is the traditional dress worn for holidays and back in the older days) but discovered that they are pretty expensive (about $200) so I decided my girls would not be getting one of those for sure! They are very pretty, though.

On Wed. we left the base. I couldn't leave that place fast enough! I don't know how he manages to live there! We took a city bus to Seoul and then figured out the Subway station. Here's our cards we each had with pre-loaded money we put on. We just set it on a sensor and it paid for our trip to the next station. It was so easy to get around and find everywhere we needed to go once we figured out how they had it organized. It was an amazing system they set up.

On Thursday we went to the Army base in Seoul and took a tour we had arranged through them to go to the DMZ (Demiliterized Zone) between North Korea and South Korea. I wish I would have gone back and taken a copy of the release form we had to sign stating that we understood our risks for being shot and killed by the North Koreans during our tour and how we were to behave. Our cameras could be confiscated if we ever took a picture that was unauthorized, etc. We went to the Joint zone that we share with the North Koreans and went to a briefing and then go to see the building where the peace treaty was signed. We even got to stand in North Korea for a few min. Richard is standing in front of the door that the North Koreans enter when they meet with the UN. He's standing with a South Korean gaurd. This picture on the left is a picture of the North Korean side of the Joint Force area. I am standing on the steps of the "Freedom House" a place built for the North Korean and South Korean families that were seperated to be able to meet and visit with each other. The place has never been used, however, because the North Koreans will not authorize their people to meet there. The building on the left is where we were in at the picture above. You can barely see the North Korean gaurd standing on the front of their building. He kept pulling his binoculars out and watching us. It was a little creepy. We were told that if approached by a North Korean we were not to acknowledge, smile, wave, etc. as they could shoot us immediately. I was allowed to zoom in and get a picture. You had to ask permission before you took pictures if you weren't sure. I thought it was odd that I couldn't smile or wave at the North Koreans, but I was allowed to take a picture!

We were then bussed to the actual Strip of land that seperates the 2 countries. You weren't allowed to take pictures of the area... I'm guessing they didn't want people to be able to map out the land to prepare for infiltration or something. You could take a picture from behind the yellow line. There was a viewing area before the yellow line with those binocular things you can put a quarter in (I'm sure it was won and not a quarter, though) but no cameras were allowed. I thought it was a funny sight to see all these people trying to get a shot from the yellow line, so that's the picture I took. After we got back from our tour we went to the Korean War Memorial Museum. This day was probably my most favorite day. I just found the whole DMZ thing very fascinating and really got a grasp about how terrorized the South Koreans are with the whole North Korean thing and how much North Koreans hate the US and South Koreans. My grandpa fought in the Korean war so it was very interesting to learn so much about it. We spent several hours in the museum and enjoyed watching all the videos and clips and displays there. Never could have done that with 5 kids trailing us!! These pillars lined all the way around the front of the museum. Each pillar has so many names of people that died in the war. You can see how many pillars are down the row on each side with that many names, and then these pillars surrounded the museum on the sides and front. I had no idea how many people had died in this war!

On Friday we found the South Korea temple. It was right in the middle of a neighborhood! We weren't able to do a session but it was neat to be able to find it and see it. We could see the Moroni from the main street and just kept following it into the neighborhood where the temple popped out around the corner!

After finding the temple we decided to find some of the palaces on our list. There were only certain times that English tours were and fortunately in all my online research, I found the times as well. It coordinated so well! We were able to go to the

Changdeokgung Palace and had an English tour at 1:30 and had just enough time to go across to another side of Seoul and make it to the 3:30 tour of Gyeongbokgung Palace.

So the Changdeokgung Palace was the 2nd palace and built in 1405 and was the principle place for the Joseon Kings and also the best preserved. The grounds has a public palace area, royal family residence building and a rear garden. This picture is the public palace area and these markers are where the dignitaries had to lind up next to their assigned marker based on rank when events happened. The picture on the left is inside the building you see where the people line up and it has the King's throne. This palace had descendants of the Royal family living in the family quarters until sometime in the late 1980's. After seeing the quarters, I decided I would prefer my own home. It was nothing like the castles we saw in Germany where it was totally decked out! These palaces were very sparsley furnished and had no updating at all!! The floors were heated with underground pits they stocked coal in and then chimneys to the side of the buildings released the smoke. It was very interesting.

So next we went to the Northern palace, Gyeonbokgung Palace, placed in the northern part of Seoul. The Changdeokgung palace is the Eastern palace. It was built in 1395. It is known to be the most beautiful (I thought so as well ... seemed most complete and furnished the most). The set up was almost identical to the other palace as far as main court, King's quarters, Queen's quarters, concubines, etc. The inside looked very different inside the quarters, however.

This is a picture of the pond on the grounds and the building was where they would do outside dinners and dances. I just thought it was so serene and beautiful. It is one of the most complete areas of the palaces. After touring the two palaces we also went to the National palace museum and the National Folk Museum.

This is an example of the queen's chambers. They had all these room right next to each other and with door ways into each other, but each room is very small.

Behind the palace is the "Blue House" Blue represents royalty and power. This is the President of South Korea's house. I thought it was funny that their president has a Blue house and we have a White house for our president. An interesting story about this that we learned at the DMZ was several years ago some North Koreanv soldiers came through an underground tunnel and showed up on this street to assassinate the President. 28 of the North Korean soldiers were killed, one escaped back into N. Korea and one was captured.

In the National Folk Museum, they had a display of different Hangbok's. I wish you could see the craftsm

anship and handwork they do on some of these dresses!

After going through the museums, we went to Insa-Dong, which is a huge market place meant for every tourist! It has all the traditional items one would want to remind them of the their trip. I was able to get pretty much everything I wanted for all the kids and I. I really wanted to get a celadon vase, which is a type of pottery that the Koreans perfected back in the Dynasty ages. China and other countries have tried to copy the technique but weren't able to. It was once so precious that only royalty could own it. Now that modern technology is here, it is more readily available, but still very expensive. I was able to get a pretty large piece for a great price so I was very excited about that. I had really wanted to get a "knock-off" hand bag from Gucci or Prada or something, but there were not booths that sold anything like that. I can't believe I didn't take any pictures of the market place because it was crazy! But I was probably overwhelmed with everything! We could barely walk back to our hotel from the subway we were so exhausted that night!!

Saturday we got up and knew it was our last day to get everything finished off our list! We went to the last Palace that remained out of the 5. It is the Deoksuggung Palace and located on the corner of Seoul's busiest downtown intersectio. It is from the Joseon Dynasty as well. We got there just as they were doing a change of gaurds ceremony which was so fun to watch! Maybe another time I'll add video of it. The costumes and music were amazing! There must have been some heritage thing going on because they had a fashion show going on from the main palace as well as different booths set up demonstrating how to do the knot work they are known for, tea ceremonies, a booth where they did people's hair in the traditional way, etc. It was so fun to watch and see. On the outside, they had a place set up where you could try on the Hangbok, so I decided to take them up on that opportunity. I was glad I didn't spend $200 on one because I totally felt huge and prego! We were not too far from the Dongdaemum Market, which is another huge market, but more locals go to it. It is more clothing. I was really hoping to get a good purse, but after being on the army base and asking around, we found out that really the market outside of Osan (base Richard was supposed to go to) was the best place for a knock-off. It was still fun to go through there, but since it was a Saturday it was incredibly crowded and crazy! After going through the market we went and looked for the Korean Village. It was so wierd because it's right in the middle of the crazy city. It's another one of those walk through neighborhood streets and then you come across it.

It was like stepping back in ti

me 100 years ago. It was really neat to see demonstrations of schooling, Kimchi cooking, floor mat making, rice grinding, etc. It was neat to walk through. We got to watch some traditional dancing and music as well.

The last main thing that was on our list was to ride up the North Seoul Tower, which is like the equivilant to the Space Needle in Seattle. It was probably one of the hardest places for us to find, but after asking several locals, we found it. It is a very popular place to go ... at least on the weekend! We should have went on Thurs, but oh well. We walked to the base of Mt. Namsam and then waited in line for about an hour and took a cable car up the mountain. After getting off we still had to hike a bit to get to the tower. After getting into the tower you have to buy another ticket and we waited almost an hour for our number to come up to get on the elevator to take you to the top of the tower where you can overlook all of Seoul. There was a huge multi country air show going on and we just happened to get to the top of the tower and in front of one of a few windows that overlooked a huge firework show going on. It was really cool to see. Then we waited in line for another hour to get down the elevator and waited another hour to get on the cable car. Then we dragged ourselves back to the hotel room.

Well, believe it or not, I didn't post all my pictures. I am now glad I didn't add video!! I'm exhausted and my kids are hungry and fighting, so I better get off. It was a great opportunity and a fabulous trip! I'll post again in the future and add some video and Halloween updates. So long for now! Kim

Quick update

2009-10-11T15:50:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted! I don't really have any pictures to add, but I wanted to catch up before leaving for Korea, as I know I'll have lots to put on then. That's probably the biggest news right now going on. I leave Friday for Korea to spend 10 wonderful days visiting Richard, seeing what his daily life is like, and then touring Seoul. I'm so excited! I'm flying Richard's mom in on Thurs and will leave Fri morning, getting there Sat. evening Korea time. I am so grateful for Richard's mom to be willing to watch my kids, as I know this is not just a simple task! It's a wonderful opportunity and experience I get to have thanks to her. I would not have been able to go had she not been so gracious to volunteer! My thoughts and prayers will be with her and the kids, since this is the first time I've really ever left them (discounting when Bradly was in PICU in San Antonio) and have a lot of anxiety with this, but I couldn't pass by this opportunity!

Since last posting, Rylan has broken his wrist jumping off the trampoline and landing on his hands. It broke his wrist and into the growth plate. He's had a cast for 5 weeks now and will be getting it off tomorrow. He was able to participate in the first tournament of the season and the first weekend of games and then missed the rest of the season. The team had their last games yesterday. We thought for sure we'd have rainouts, but of course they didn't so he pretty well missed the whole season. It was heartbreaking for him, since baseball is his entire reason for existing, but he's survived. They are continuing practice on Fridays and have try-outs in Nov. The Spring season will come on quickly as they usually start regular practice in Jan.

Morgan continues to do Tiger Talents on Tuesdays at the school. This year they are going to do more singing then dancing and cheer, so she's excited about that. She loves to sing. She is also doing Achievement Days with the church twice a month on Tuesdays and also Volleyball for the next 6 weeks on Tuesdays. Tuesdays are a busy day for her!

Addison is in swim lessons that just started last week. She is just down the street at the Rec Center and goes Mon and Wed. She absolutely loves it and it's good for her to have something that is just "her own".

Bradly wants to sign up for basketball and that will be in Nov. It will be fun to see how he does. He is pretty tall for his age (even taller then Rylan was) so it will be fun to see how he does. He and Rylan go out and play baseball everyday and Rylan has been working on teaching Bradly to pitch so we may have another pitcher on our hands as well. They are outside everyday for hours.

Elayna is extremely verbal and has really changed over the summer! At the beginning of the summer she talked a little, but now she talks like a mini-adult. She's potty trained and loves to read. Her favorite is Dora the Explorer and we really have to monitor tv time. She loves to play pretend with Addison and enjoys playing board games with me and going to the park. Now that it's getting cold, we haven't really gone to the park and she really misses that. It's so quiet during the day with just her and then mass chaos when kids get home from school.

As for me ... my biggest accomplishment is finally running 3 miles straight. I did that right before the mornings turned cold. I've been going to the base each morning to work out, but it takes longer to drive back and forth then my actual work out! When I get back from Korea I plan to pay the $25 the Rec Center charges to use their facilities each month and then when the weather warms up again I'll run outside again. It has become a fun passion and great stress reliever. It gives me a sense of accomplishment and pride that I can do it. I never was a runner and really struggled with it, so it's been a great sense of satisfaction for me. Most of my spare time lately has been researching Korea and the things I want to see. I've got it pretty well organized and am just ready to go.

Well, that's about it for now! Look for my posting the end of this month with fabulous pictures!! I can't wait! Love to all! Kim

Busy as always!

2009-09-06T14:05:00.000-07:00

Well, I really shouldn't so long between postings!! We have had so much going on, that I'm afraid it's another long posting. Since we last left off ... My sister came to visit near the end of July. It was a lot of fun to have her come with her kids and let cousins play and her and I have some stress relief and shopping fun! Two days before her coming, I ended up going to the ER for what ended up being another kidney stone. This one was by far the most painful one I'd had, but apparantly I passed it, because I haven't had anymore problems. It was a relief to have her here in case I was going to have to have surgery again! We took the kids swimming and we also took them to the Dinosaur Park in Ogden. It's such a cute park to take kids to. They had a great time.

She left and I took a few days to regroup and then packed up and headed to Richard's parents house for the last week of July. They live in a beautifuly area of Idaho called Garden Valley. I always love going up into the mountains and being there in the summer!! We stopped at Aunt Bobbi's house in Mountain Home and the kids had a blast catching chickens.

Rylan got to help Grandpa out by mowing the lawn for him. I don't know who was more happy ... Grandpa that he didn't have to do it, or Rylan for feeling like he get a pre-driving lesson! He thought it was great to ride on the lawn mower. I was a little worried, since a few weeks before his Uncle George hit a hole and flipped into the river, lawn mower and all. We didn't have any major accidents and he really enjoyed himself.

Going to Grandma and Granpa's in the summer just isn't complete without floating down the river that is just right outside their house. By the end of July the water had gotten so low that we couldn't take the raft out and they had to use the inner tubes. It was a lot of fun and Elly enjoyed her first cold water experience!

We weren't sure if we'd be able to take Grandpa's 4 wheeler out because the battery was dead, but Grandpa fixed it and the kids had a great afternoon riding the loop around their house and through the yard. Elly kept screaming and raising her hands up high like she was riding a roller coaster. Rylan and Morgan enjoyed being able to drive it by themselves, with me on the back.

Our final day at G&G's was the last day of July. We headed back towards Boise and stayed at Annette's house. Isaac was getting baptized later that afternoon. Aunt Liz was there with all her kids as they were heading to Jeff's family cabin in Montana. Grandma and Grandpa Holman were there and we had fun hanging at the water park. My kids slept in a tent out in her backyard and the adults stayed up late into the night chatting.

My parents followed my home and they stayed with me for a week. We got home Sunday, Monday was catch up day, Tuesday we went to Temple Square and went through the Conference Center and the Beehive House . This picture is at the top of the conference center and you can see the top of the SLC Temple on the left of the fountain. Wed my mom and I went shopping for some furniture decor that she needed for her house and that night my dad went with me to Rylan's pitching lessons. I can't remember what we did for the next two days now that's it's been so long, but I'm sure we had lots of fun!

After my parents left it was time to get ready for school. Morgan's 10th birthday was the day before the first day of school, but she went with her Aunt Shelda to a family wedding in John Day, OR and didn't get home until late so we celebrated her birthday on the first day of school.

Rylan is now in the 8th grade Morgan is now a 5th grader!

And the twins are in the 1st grade together, in the same class.

Morgan had a good birthday. She asked for a Tinkerbell theme and got a Tinkerbell cake. She got a Ripstick, a Korean outfit from Richard, and I got her a cheerleading type skirt with matching skirt.

This last weekend was my birthday, Labor Day weekend, and a baseball tournament for Rylan. My Visiting Teacher made me my favorite cake and that was a great treat. Richard sent my flowers, and we enjoyed awesome weather and watching Rylan's team win 2 and lose 2 games in the tournament. We traveled to Spanish Fork (about an hour 1/2 away, but with construction it took 2 hours) and had a game at 6:00 and 8:00 p.m. on Fri (my birthday). Most of the team got a hotel in Provo and stayed the night. Rylan stayed with his best friend and I packed pajamas with me and the other kids and I drove back. We got home around midnight and then left about 10:30 the next morning for the other 2 games. It was fun. So ... I'm all caught up now. 34 doesn't seem so bad. Wonder if my mid-life crisis will come at my midlife age of 35? Hope all is well and enjoying the beautiful fall! Kim

Summer Fun!

2009-07-19T14:45:00.000-07:00

Ok, get ready for a long post! Now that I've learned you can make your postings on here into a photo book, I've decided that this is my best journal! I'm excited to learn about this new feature and can't wait to use it and see how it turns out. Now on to the posting!

The end of June sent us to the Oquirrh Mt. Temple open house. Rylan didn't go but the rest of the kids and myself went to South Jordan area and met a friend that I hadn't seen since high school. It was so neat to go through the temple and so much fun to meet my friend and get to know her and her family!

A few days later, the twins celebrated their 6th birthday!! YIKES! Where has the time gone? Bradly wanted a Transformer's birthday, and Addi wanted a Barbie Princess brithday. They seemed to have a lot of fun and enjoyed it.

We've done so much this summer, the time just seems to be flying! We decided to go on a "fun family" vacation. Well, as fun as it can be with a single mom and 5 lovely, LOUD, kids!! We broke up the trip by families geographically. This allowed only a few hours of driving each day and a chance to visit just about everyone on my side of the family.

The first stop was Boise, ID, to visit my sister Annette and her 3 kids. My kids always love to go visit Annette's. They have so much fun with dress-ups and their backyard. We just stayed one night and then the next day we headed to my parent's house in La Grande, OR. We took the kids to a fun park they have there and then we got some KFC. We just stayed one night at their house as well, and the next day we got up and drove to Portland, OR, to my grandma's house. The kids had fun at my Grandma's. She always has some bizarre toys she's collected somewhere and they played with those things and then she took us out to Red Robin. We took the dogs for walks around her track below her neighborhood and showed her the DVD that Jered made of our Disneyland trip. The next morning it was time to get up and hit the road again. We drove to our final destination, Eugene, OR.

My sister Liz lives in Eugene. She just had a baby and we couldn't wait to see her! It was my sister's first girl. She is so cute! The first day we got there, I heard of a highschool friend in the hospital on bed rest with a baby. I thought it would be fun to surprise her. It took her a while to figure out who I was until I started talking and then she recognized me right away. It was fun to visit with her and catch up on things.

The next day, we decided to go to the beach. I love going to the Oregon Coast. Liz lives fairly close to Florence and I really wanted to go inside a Lighthouse. We went to one of the brightest lighthouses along the western coasline. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough cash for the parking, so we decided to risk it and just hike up there and back "real fast" before anyone realized we didn't have a tag. It was only a 1/2 mile, but with 8 kids and one in a stroller hiking up to a lighthouse in gravel seemed to be slower then we thought! After we got up there, they told us that it would be 40 more minutes before we could go through a tour. The tour lasts 20 min. Well, we all know that there was NO WAY my kids could wait 40 min to go through a 20 min tour and we had our car illigaly parked anyway! I had hoped they'd just let us poke our heads in. I really didn't care about a tour ... I just wanted to run to the top and go back down! Of course, they wouldn't let us. Oh well. We bagged the tour idea and ended up just going right back down. It was a beautiful lighthouse, and I really wish we could have gone through it, but I guess I'll add that to my list of things I plan to do once I have no kids left at home!

After that, we went and rented sandboards. It was extremely reasonable in price and so much fun! The sand dunes in Florence are huge and so bizarre, as you can't see ocean anywhere around the sand. The wind was out of control, and that made things a bit frustrating and made our time short there with little ones, but we had a great time and enjoyed trying a new activity.

After we got done hanging 10, we went to Moe's for some famous seafood. After leaving dinner, we went down to the beach to let the kids have fun. Once again, we came to a paid parking lot, so we thought we'd be daring criminals again and risk it. I had my sister's two boys while she fed her baby and the kids made me pretty nervous following the tide out. Sure enough, a sneaker wave came and got Bradly and I saw him about 1/2 a football field away, tumbling head over heels as a wave hit him from behind. Fortunately it pushed him to the shoreline, but I was afraid that when it retracted, it would continue taking him. I screamed at Rylan to grab him and fortunately he was able to get him out of the water. He was pretty worked up and that ended our day at the beach! Fortunately I had packed extra clothes for the kids!

We just chilled out the next day, and the day after that, we headed back on our way home. We stayed at my parents house for 2 days and got there the 4th of July. I was getting quite exhausted this time and Addi lost her chance to see the fireworks show so I put the younger kids to bed. I started feeling pretty guilty by 10 p.m. and so I took Morgan and Rylan to our church just a 1/4 mile from our house. We were able to see the fireworks at the college perfectly, so I sat in the car while they ran around the baseball field at our church and watched the firework show. Great 4th of July, huh!

We stopped at my sister's house in Boise and they took us to a fun park that has play equipment as well as water shooting out in fountains. The kids had so much fun and it was great to get them running their energy out! The next day, July 7th, we got home later that night.

It was good to finally be home, but we didn't have much time to recouperate! Wed., I had a friend that we'd been stationed with in Mt.Home come visit and spend the afternoon and evening. The next day Richard's parents and nephew came for 2 weddings we had that weekend. On Thurs. I went to my SIL's house to help set up for a dinner that her son and future bride were having. They decided to have a Luau, which the girl's and I performed in. For those that didn't know, while living in Italy, Morgan and I were able to take houla lessons and did some performances on the base there. So the girls and I did a houla for Dan and Ally's dinner. It was a lot of fun.

The next day (Fri) was their wedding in the Bountiful temple. I left the kids and went to it with Richard's parents. The officiator did an amazing job and I really loved listening to the things he had to say. It would have sucked to be the ones getting married, however. I'm sure they were wishing he would stop talking and just marry them! I can't remember a thing our officiator told Richard and I when we were getting married! But for me, it was wonderful to sit inside the temple and receive a reminder of the covenants I've made and listen to this man's wonderful words of wisdom. That night they had their reception at a beautfiul reception center down in SLC, so after the wedding, we got home, had lunch and got the kids ready for the reception. It was a very pretty place, but not a great place for my kids that get bored so easily. At around 8:00 I was pretty well done wrestling and intercepting my children so I opted to head home. I am so grateful I made that choice, because about 15 min after getting home, Elayna threw up ALL OVER THE PLACE!! During the reception, 4 other kids also got sick. I was sure it was food poisoning. Elly contintued to throw up every 10 min or so until finally at 12:30 a.m. I decided to take her to the ER. Finally at 3:30 a.m. they saw her and we got home shortly after that. When we got home I noticed that Addi threw up all over the couch. After getting her cleaned up and in bed as well, the phone rang at 4:30 a.m. Rylan had been spending the night at a friend's house and he also threw up at their house. When I got him, I saw he threw up all over their carpet, so I went home and got the carpet shampooer and shampooed their carpet. The parents never did wake up with me walking in and out of their house and shampooing their carpet! I finally got to bed at 5:30 a.m. and the kids got up about 8:30. UGH!

So now it's Sat. and we have another day of wedding plans. Shelda's last daughter was getting married that day. They had a luncheon, but I opted not to attend, with kids home sick. I took Morgan and we went to the wedding. It was such a sweet ceremony, but the poor bride and groom were so ill that they couldn't stand much and had trash cans behind them. I felt so horrible for them, but it will surely be a day they will never forget!!

They had their reception right after and unfotuantely, it was so nice outside and beautifully decorated. I wish I would have been able to help with the set up and take down. They did a great job, but with sick kids at home and no hubby, I ended up not being much help. The next morning, we got a phone call that several more people got the flu bug. Richard's parents were heading out to West Virginia and Rylan had a talk in sacrament. We have so many elderly in our ward, that I kept the kids home and sent Rylan to give his talk and come straight home. Besides, I had a friend in the States visiting while she is living in England. We had a house to clean and disinfect! Unfortunately that night I got it. Angela stayed away for most of Monday, but on Tues we went to SLC and met with another friend from Aviano and we had pedicures done. It was so relaxing and so much fun. We went out to dinner that night. Angela left on Wed and at about 1:30 in the morning on Wed Bradly came up from his room. He threw up all over the floor. Now we had one more person to finish it. Morgan got sick on Thurs and we have about a week before we have visitors again, so we are now done and catching up! Whew! It's been an exhausting few weeks. Angela's family ended up also getting it and I think almost 30 people that I now know of have been infected by this horrible stomache flu!

Our other news is that we got word that we are just keeping our follow-on here at Hill. We knew that orders would probably change with Richard making Master Sgt. He called me while on vacation saying they officially canceled our orders to South Dakota and to put in another dream sheet. He asked the assignment clerk what his options were and it was, Kadena, Japan; Langley, Virginia; Warrens AFB in Georgia; and Shreveport, Louisiana. He wasn't too thrilled with those options, so he asked to just follow-on here at Hill since we are already here and they approved it. Of course, things can still change, but it's not likely, so it looks like we're staying put. I'm a little disapointed, but it's where we're supposed to be, so I'm fine with it. I think we'll go ahead and move to another house in the area, as we'd really like to have a garage and live in a better school district. Well, that's about it for now. Hope all is well with everyone else and enjoying their summer! I just got my passport in the mail this weekend, so my next big thing will be going to Korea in Sept! Can't wait! Love to you all!

Kim

The first few weeks of Summer Vacation

2009-06-21T16:20:00.000-07:00

Rain, Rain, Go Away!! That is now my theme song! It has rained here everyday minus just 2 days in the last 3 weeks!! It has been very hard to go to the pool and enjoy our "schedule free" days when it rains all the time!

We have kept ourselves busy, as usual! We had friends come stay with us that we were stationed with us in Italy. They were in the process of moving from Alaska to ...? Not really sure. It was CA and now may be Hungary ... still waiting to find out. They are currently with family in Arkansas. The Decker's have 6 boys, so it was quite the houseful but so much fun! It was just like having family come!

The Decker's left on a Fri. morning and right after they left, I took off with Rylan, Bradly, and Elayna for a baseball tournament in Idaho Falls, ID. Morgan and Addi got to stay with their Aunt Shelda. It makes it so much easier to have 2 less kids! My brother was able to come meet us down there and we were able to meet his girlfriend. Rylan pitched a great game on Friday, but the 2nd game got rained out. Saturday at 2 a.m. Richard called from Korea and woke me up. He was on the baseball website and found out our games and schedule were changed and we weren't even playing in the same town! After frantically changing my ideas for the next day, we arrived to games just to have those rained out and the tournament canceled. That was the most expensive 1 game tournament I've ever spent!

The next week I had the opportunity to go to the Salt Lake Temple and go to another set of friend's from Italy's family sealing. They adopted 2 little girls into their family and had them sealed to them. I'd never been to a sealing (except for my own, which I don't remember)so it was a neat experience!

I experienced the flu twice in a one week span of time, and last Sunday was suffering through my latest bout. I heard Addi cry from outside, but was too sick to get up, and I figured she'd come to me if it was bad. Later, she laid down with me and took a nap, but never really told me what was going on. That night, I was picking up the bathroom and found blood all over in her underwear. Turns out she flew and landed straddle on the outside bar of the trampoline. I checked the source of the blood and sure enough, she had quite a tear that looked fairly deep. I contemplated taking her to the ER but being without a hubby, very sick with the flu, and getting Rylan ready for a week-long scout camp, I decided to just take her to the base dr. the next day.

Mon. June 15, I sent Rylan off to camp (praying he wouldn't get the flu!). We heard of several other scout camps closing due to Swine Flu, a stake canceling Stake Conference due to their Stake passing it around, as well as the next stake over also canceled their Girl's Camp. While he was gone, the first death due to Swine Flu happened in the next county. I just found out today that my neighbor had Swine Flu last week. He seems to be fine and was teaching Sunday School today.

Anyway, back to Addi... I called the base and after looking at her they decided that she would need to be seen by a Pediatric Surgeon and sent us to Primary Children's in Salt Lake. She needed the surgery before 24 hours and since it happened the day before we were a bit pressed for time. Thank heavens I have my Sister in Law here!! This is the first base we've ever lived with family and I have sure needed it this time! She was such a blessing to be able to watch all the rest of the kids while I drove Addi and I to Salt Lake. They immediately decided to do surgery and was able to work her in right away.

Her surgery lasted 45 min and they repaired the tear as well as inserted a drain tube through the scope sight, which was through the inside of the upper fatty part of her thigh. She came out of anesthesia very well and was even able to talk to her dad on the web cam before they released us. We got home and settled late the night and had a pretty rough night, but each day got better and better and she's doing awesome now! You can see the drain tube hanging down between her legs. The bottom is a bulb that collects the blood that drains and I had to empty it several times a day.

Bradly has finished t-ball and really enjoyed it.

Elayna is now potty-trained! I think she was the earliest and easiest child to potty train! She's only 28 months old. We've had 2 accidents at night, but I'm fine with that! It's so nice to be done with diapers FOR-EVVVV-ERRRR!!

Her big thing is to act like a puppy dog. It's very cute to see her crawling around on the floor. She loves to do tricks for you ... for treats, of course! She also loves to lap out of a bowl! She is always cracking us up. I can't believe how big she is getting and that I'm slowly closing in on this stage of my life. I'll miss it, but I'm excited to be done at times as well.

Our biggest news of the week is that we are now parent's of a TEENAGER! Yes, Rylan turned 13 years old today. We changed our normal tradition of presents after dinner so that Richard could watch before he went to work. We met him on web cam at 3 our time. He requested Chocolate chip waffles for breakfast, 24 hour cake, and pizza for dinner. He got a baseball that measures your throwing speed (like a built in radar in the baseball), a titanium sports necklace (supposed to be magnetic healing energy ... all the pros are wearing it and a big thing around here with a lot of the kids on the team), and a NY Yankees baseball jersey (#13, A-Rod, which is his baseball number for the Jr high and Sandlot team) Notice that Rodriguez's name is spelled wrong? Richard had it made in Korea and I guess they made a bit of a mistake ... still trying to decide if we want to fix it or not!

Richard is doing very well. He just got called as 1st counselor in the branch presidency (branch of about 15 people! LOL!) and is also umpiring softball. He enjoys golfing at least once a week and his team placed 3rd in the golf tournament last week. He was playing on his squadron softball team, but I think the team kind of fell apart with a lot of people on swing shift and deployed or home on mid-tour. We've been so blessed to be able to talk with him on the web-cam twice a day. He's completely involved with everything we do (even surgeries!) and it has made such a huge difference! I'm hoping it will really help with the transisiton when we get back together.

As of now we don't know what's going on with our orders since he made Master Sgt. There are too many Master's in South Dakota, so we think that is probably out now. We are looking into a Military Training Leader position at the AF academy in Colorado Springs, but don't know if openings coordinate with when he leaves Korea. More to come later on this!

Coming up this next week is the twins' birthday and we leave for our big summer vacation!! Hope everyone gets to enjoy some nice weather, since we aren't! That's about it for us! Love to all! Kim

Retraction!

2009-05-31T21:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, so we've actually had quite a busy last two weeks of school. Of course, I should have known it would be full of activities! I guess I had wishful thinking!

First of all, Morgan had her final performance with her Tiger Talents group. It ended with several afterschool practices and with an assembly for the entire school. It was lots of fun to see, but hard to take Elly, as it was smack dab in the middle of nap time! Oh well ...
It was her last performance and she really enjoyed the opportunity to learn so many songs, dances, and other speaking parts. I know she'll really miss it!

The next event we got to celebrate was kindergarten summer birthdays. They gave the kids a chance to celebrate their birthday on a day in May for those that had their birthdays in the middle of the summer. For the first time in their lives, the twins got to celebrate their very own birthday all by themselves. Addison had her birthday on a Tues in school and Bradly had his on a Wed. They each got to bring snacks to their class. Addi chose Dibs ice cream and Bradly wanted cupcakes with lizards on them. Addison gave out crazy straws. They had a lot of fun and enjoyed passing out the treats and being sung to.

Elly loved coming to the school with me and sitting in the chairs an participating in the class things. We came about 15 min before school got out and they were still cleaning up when we'd arrived. Then they'd all sit on the floor on their assigned letter on the mat and she loved finding a letter to sit on as well. She really loved sitting by Bradly and enjoying some of his birthday treat!

Before Bradly's party, I had to go to the Weber County Fairgrounds. Morgan made it to the District Math Olympiad for the Krypto category. She was very excited about making it, and her and her other team member practiced after school for a few days. Her team consisted of her and 2 other boys. They had to try out for it and compete out of all the other 4th graders at their school (there's 3 classrooms of 4th graders). If you don't know what Krypto is, it's a mathmatical game. your given a certain number of cards and you have to get rid of all the cards in your hand by using each number mathmatically to equal the number that is pulled from the deck. She's definately the champion at our house, so we knew she'd do well in the competition! They are timed and the team that gets krypto the most times in that time wins.

Second place winners!!

Rylan had a baseball tournament for Memorial Weekend. The first day of the tournament was On Friday, but the twins had their kindergarten program on Friday as well. I found out that they were performing it for the school on Thurs. so I went Thurs to watch it. It was so cute! I can't believe my little twinners are going to be 1st graders!!

We got done with games fairly early on Fri, so I took the opportunity to borrow a rotatiller and get the garden ready for planting. Sat. morning I got up early and headed to Wal-mart for plants. We put sunflowers in the back, then 2 rows of corn, some tomato plants, green pepper, jalopenos, and a pumpkin and watermelon plant. We had strawberries come up again and this year we have a lot of berries on them! If I can just keep the birds away!

The kids lost a game, so we were out of the play-offs for Mon. That was a huge relief to me, because Mem Day is the HUGE Saver's sale! Everyone that knows me around here knows that I have no other committments made for Fed. Holidays in UT!! Those are the 50% of Saver's sales. I get clothes for so cheap there and they are darn cute clothes! I took Morgan with me, since she was in need of the most and is the hardest to buy for. She's so tall and skinny!!

That night, we continued our family tradition of getting the fire pit up and ready for the new season! I thought it would be a great chance for my boyscout to use his skills, but unfortnately he failed! I figured there was NO WAY I'd be able to get it started, but alas I came out victorious!! We had a lot of fun and enjoyed roasting hot dogs.

So last week was the last week of school! Thanks heavens ... it's bitter-sweet, but I'll be glad to not have a definate schedule anymore!! I am no longer a day-care provider and will work at Mc Donald's if I am ever that desperate to work again! It was a blessing and got us financially ready to send Richard to Korea, but I am SO GLAD it is done! The day before my last day, the boy I watch was laying on Elayna on the couch with a pillow over her head! He's lucky he didn't seriously hurt her, or I may have seriously hurt him. I'm glad it's done and I will NEVER do that again!

I have taken the plunge to potty-train Elayna. She is willing to go on the potty chair, but I'm not sure if she's connecting the feeling of the urge to pee with running to the chair and doing it. If she sits in front of the tv and watches it, she'll eventually go, but she has yet to catch herself. I'll try to the end of the week and then we'll wait another month before trying it again. I just really want to have it done before the end of summer! We'll see. She's not even 2 1/2 yet, but she's dry when she gets up from naps and doesn't have much in the morning when she gets up.

Finally, I'm posting the most hilarious video that the kids shot today after church. Please excuse the trashed house. It is indeed a day of rest for me and we simply don't clean or pick up on Sundays, but I thought this was too funny and had to add it. Sorry if it takes a long time to download!

Love to you all and enjoy the summer ... it's finally here!

Things are slowing down! Woo Hoo!

2009-05-17T15:19:00.000-07:00

Now that school is starting to wind down, so are other things. Rylan is now finished doing Jr. High baseball. He's had the opportunity to work for a couple neighbors and earn some money. He owes me about $200 for a new window, so that work will be really great for him. He is weeding for one neighbor and mowing lawns for a few others. I think he's learning some great work ethics and am proud that he's paying off his debt. He also had his last mid-week games. They tied for first place for this league, so that was very exciting for them. Especially being a first year team. We had a double-header on Sat. with our Salt Lake league and he pitched the first game. He did really well ... only pitched 69 pitches in 5 innings, which is really good. He only let 1 score and had a fabulous catch as short-stop as well as made a great double play off of second. It was a good day for him and I loved the wonderful weather! The other kids had a great time playing at a park close by the fields.

Bradly is really enjoying being on his T-ball team. We have found a way to ease his anxiety. When we get there he chooses where he wants me to sit and then is relieved when he can find me. He's been sticking me on the sideling in the grass where there really isn't anyone. I guess that's easy to find me when there's no one around me! They had team pictures on Thursday. Of course, my camera is way cheaper than paying $12 for a team photo so here is my professionalism. Too bad Uncle Jered wasn't there!

I also got my hair cut this weekend. We didn't have to leave for Rylan's games until 12:00 so I took the opportunity to go in at 9 a.m. I had to call the kids as I was driving to put shoes on and wait in the driveway for me. We sure cut it close!! I have to remember that this girl cuts my hair about an inch shorter than I ask for, so next time I'll try and grow it out an extra inch before having it trimmed, haha! Of course, that would take about 6-7 months with how slow my hair grows. I had her put red in the bottom and a few streakes peaking out on the sides again. Richard would have me go all red, but to get it back to blonde would be a nightmare, so this is about as close as I'll get it. Anyway, I really wanted my sides to be the same and just shorten up the back to make a really exaggerated bob, but it's way shorter than I expected. It looks fine and I'm ok with it, but I would prefer to have it a little longer. Here's the pics of the front and back. Do you love my little assistant?

Our biggest news of the week ... saved the best for last! Richard made Master Sgt! Hip Hip Hooray! We are so proud of him. We think this will probably change our orders from South Dakota since they put him in for a Tech Sgt position, but we don't really know for sure. The only thing I know is that I'm not putting the house up for sale until we have hard copies!! It will take almost a year for his line number to come up, so we don't really have the benefits of Master yet, but we're so excited and proud of him and now he'll NEVER have to test again in the military!!

As a final note ... to all you bloggers. Is anyone else having to cut and copy a url for their pictures where they want it? I used to be able to downloand the picture and just click and drag it to where I want, but now I don't see the picture when I download it, I just see a url. This just happened 2 weeks ago, so I don't know if I accidently changed something, or if blogspot has changed things.

Finally enjoying beautiful weather. Hope summer is here! I would really like to just have one seasons worth of clothes in my kids' closet. It's getting really hard to hold enough clothes for 3 seasons! We've had winter, spring, and summer in the last week alone!! Love to all! Kim

AHHHHH

2009-05-11T13:41:00.000-07:00

I just spent 20 min putting together a post and waiting for videos to download. How frustrating!! OK, I'll try to do this again, but it's going to be a much shorter version, which you probably would prefer anyway!! 1-Rylan's last Jr. High game- I'm posting a pic of Rylan with his two closest friends that are also on the Sandlot team. I was bummed that I never got to see him play on this team. Being a 7th grader, he really didn't get much playing time, but on several away games he was able to play short stop. The last away game, they let the 7th graders play the entire game. I assumed they would also give them playing time on their last home game, but unfortunately he didn't get any, so these were the only pics I could get. 2- Morgan had her first major performace from the Tiger Talents. They've spent 2 days each week after school for several hours to get ready for this performance. I taught the girls a "cheer dance" and that was a lot of fun. It was a little inconvenient with Richard gone and my watching 2 extra kids after school, but now it's done and it turned out really cute. I won't include a video of it because it's so long, but I'm posting a pic of Morgan and a short clip of one of the 2 solos that she had.
3- Bradly has just started T-ball. He was disapointed when I broke the news to him that he can't have a bat bag until he's 12. Sorry, I don't think T-ball is serious enough to require a bat bag! He's pretty ticked that he's playing T-ball and not "Baseball" but he'll get over it. The biggest affect of his seizures as a baby we've found is the spatial memory loss. He has a lot of anxiety about getting lost and not knowing where I am or where to go. I was pretty concerned that he'd not be able to remember the order to run the bases, etc. but he plays outside a lot with Rylan and has actually done very well with it, however, he doesn't want to play anymore because of his anxiety of not being able to find me after the game. The coach has been very good about heading off his "anxiety attacks" in the middle of games, and I'm learning to sit right in the middle of the very first row of benches and keep waving my arm at him to remind him where I am. I run out to the field the minute the game is over so he doesn't have another "freak out" and hopefully we'll see improvments! Last Thursday, Rylan had his last Sandridge game, Morgan had her performance for Tiger Talents, Bradly had a t-ball game, and the school had a family film night where we got to see a play that the twins performed in. The both were in "The Little Gingerbread Man". Addi was the little old lady, and Bradly was the fox. It was a crazy day, but lots of fun. I also had to prepare for all of us to go our seperate ways for a baseball tournament in Pocatello, ID. Addi and Bradly stayed at Shelda (Richard's sister) and Amber's house (Shelda's daughter who has a son Bradly's age). Some friends were nice enough to pick up Rylan on Thurs at 6 a.m. and I stayed and took the kids to school. I left after I dropped them off and just took Elly and Morgan. It was so much fun to go and watch. It was amazing how different it was to not have the twins. We all made comments several times about how quiet and low key it was! It all changed the minute I picked them up from Amber's Sat at 9:00 p.m. The boys did pretty good at the tournament and won 2 games and lost 2 games. One of the games they lost to ended up winning the whole tournament.
I had a good Mother's day. I bought myself a few shirts the weekend before, and Rylan's coach bought each of us mother's some chocolates. I thought that was very nice of him! I woke up Sund morning to pancakes, eggs, and hot chocolate. Morgan made me breakfast in bed, and then put together a little play. Even Rylan participated! The night before after going through the mail, I accidently recycled the stuff I wanted to keep and put on the counter the stuff I wanted to recycle. In the recycling ended up being a $10 gift card to Kohls. She was so excited to find it and made a card and was proud to present to me a homemade card with a $10 gift card to Kohls. I thought that was cute. The twins had also made stuff from Kindergarten.

We had to have an impromptu funeral last night. Yep! Morgan's lizard of almost 2 months died last night. We had a feeling that it was coming, as it quit eating it's meal worms and started eating rocks and was starting to look skinny. We found it last night stiff and not breathing, so she took it into the backyard and buried it in the garden. Hope the rotatiller doesn't get it next week! She's doing well with the loss and is excited to get a frog now.

Well, that's about it for now! Only 46 more Sacrament meetings left to go through!! The rest seems to be going fast ... that just goes the slowest! LOL

Whew! I'm ready for a nap!

2009-04-26T18:16:00.000-07:00

Our lives are filled with baseball, baseball, baseball! You would think Rylan would be burnt out, but he just broke my bedroom window today playing in the backyard. He has it Mon-Sat. He has games with the Jr. High on Tues and Thurs; games with the Sandlot through a city competition Mon and Wed., and games with the Sandlot through state competition on Saturdays. He has been able to start twice as short stop with Sandridge, which is really excited! Morgan has enjoyed doing the Tiger Talents. They do a bit of acting, singing, and dancing. I have been teaching the girls a cheer dance on Wed. They will be having a performance next month. I hope they will be ready for it. It's been a lot of fun but a bit crazy, having to take the kids that I babysit, plus my own kids. Morgan had a Talent Show with the 5th grade classes. They did a bit of line dancing, and then individuals signed up to do their own performances. Morgan and another friend did a song they've been working on with Tiger Talents. We also participated on a "Deployment Day" on base. It was really neat. We showed up and they bussed us to the building that they normally go through for the deployment. They willed their candy to someone, talked to the chaplain, made sure their shots were up to date, had a briefing about the area they were going to and got to see a camel spider and scorpians and snakes. Then we watched a demo on the canine dogs. They got to try on all the chem gear, see the robots that blow up bombs found in Afghanistan and Iraq, and talk on a cb phone. It was really neat and fun. They each got dog tags and have loved wearing them. On the 18th of April, Rylan had two baseball games in Bear River (about 30 miles West of us). It was a bit stressful getting us all out of the house by 7:45, but we made it ... only to be 1/2 hour late from making a wrong turn and going an additional 40 min out of my way. It sucked! Rylan made it just in time for the game and pretty well missed warm-ups. The coach wasn't too thrilled, but he dealt with me very well! I was totally stressed. After the game I took Rylan and Addi home (due to Addi's behavior) and took the rest of the kids to Salt Lake to meet some friends that we had been stationed with in Italy. It was so much fun to see them again. We were laughing that we all got to Italy about the same time with just our first born and now we each have 4 and 5 kids! Here we are at the park after going to the aquarium. Morgan got to go on a field trip to Fort Buenaventura. I wish I could have gone; it looked like so much fun! They got to ride in canoes and throw hackets, make moccasins, and eat mountain man stew. It seemed like a lot of fun! Rylan had a Sandridge game on Wed and then went to his competition team's games. They had him shut out the first game. We were in a tie, so they brought him in to finish it. He was able to shut them down, but his forearm seemed to be bothering him. The next game was with our last team that we were on, the Blackhawks. Rylan really wanted to pitch against them and beat them. The coach sent him out on third and I saw him run back in. He said that he couldn't throw the ball at all. He had injured it pitching on Sat. and then it really bothered him when he pitched the last game. He sat out for the entire Blackhawks game. I took him to the Dr. and he said that he strained the tendon and muscle and he is not allowed to throw AT ALL for 2 weeks and needs to see a Physical Therapist. It's a real bummer, but hopefully he'll be fine by his next tournament in Pocatello in May. It's really up to the Physical Therapist. They call it "Golfer's elbow" and Pitcher's elbow. He was throwing a cutter and just strained it. This last Fri. we had a talen show at our church. The girls and I did the houla. When we lived in Italy I learned a bit from a lady in our branch there that was Hawaiin. It was fun. I wish I knew how to edit the video to be short enough to show, but it's too long. Well, that's about it for now! Richard is doing pretty well and will finally have a chance to adjust now that the exercise and ORI is over. I think his stuff should be there this week. That will be nice for him. He was finally able to go to church and said there was about 18 people there. He knew 2 from previous bases. Someone gave him a laptop so it's been nice to chat everyday. His computer seems to have problems with the web cam so we just talk. Well, that's about it for now! We'll chat with ya'll later!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-14T12:58:00.000-07:00

Things have been very crazy and hectic. We are getting into a schedule, and are doing great! We're so busy, that I don't think I've had a chance to think about the stress of not having a hubby. Of course, it probably helped that he would work all day, come home for an hour (and mostly nap for that time) and then either leave for refereeing basketball, or to baseball until 10:00 p.m. For the most part, it doesn't seem much different, with the exception of weekends. Only 48 more of those to go!

I did fall off the ladder the other day trying to secure the shutters that flew out due to a storm. I was pretty scraped and bruised, but felt very blessed that I didn't break anything. I pushed the ladder out of the house and I was at the very top of the second floor. I saw the railing coming toward me and didn't want to fall on that, so I pushed myself toward the house and slammed into it and slid down the brick. Then I landed on the legs of the ladder on the cement. It took me a few days to recover and then I started my workout routine.

I've been going to the base everyday and working out. It helps relieve the stress, compensates for my stress eating, and gives Elayna an opportunity to play. They have a gym just for parents and there is an enclosure with plexyglass and a lock. She loves playing with the other kids and on the slides. So far, I've been good about going and I can feel the difference ... now if I could only see the difference!

Our life is mainly baseball, baseball, baseball! I have been so blessed to have parents so willing to help out. I usually just take Rylan to practice and his coach brings him home. He gets home around 10:30 p.m., so I'm glad I don't have to leave and get him. I worry about Rylan getting burned out on baseball. He has practice for the Jr. High team everyday afterschool until 5-5:30. He was having batting lessons on Wed from 6-7 and then going straight to Sandlot practice until 10-10:30 and on Fri. lessons from 8-10:00 and then Sat he had pitching lessons. However, any spare minute he has, he is outside with the kids playing ..... you guessed it! Baseball! He is working very hard with Bradly since we just signed him up for a rec league. It's fun to watch Rylan "coach" him. I'm actually quite impressed with his coaching skills!

This last week we got ready for Easter. Mon. we decorated Easter eggs, Tues. Rylan had his first Jr. High game. He pretty much rode the pine, but I attended anyway. Morgan had "Tiger Talents" so I took all the kids. We had to leave due to Addison's behavior, and so I told him he'd have to take the cel-phone from now on and call if they play him. Being a 7th grader, I don't expect much play time. Wed was baseball, and the last day of school for the kids.

Thurs was supposed to be the first day of a tournament they had. It was kind of rainy, but dried out. Salt Lake usually has a bit warmer temp then in Ogden, so we headed out. We got all the way there and found out that the game got canceled. I had to go to Salt Lake anyway, because a friend was fixing my computer and I bought him a cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory as payment (much cheaper than Best Buy!) Thurs. night Richard's parents arrived at our house. It was fun to have them come for the weekend, and Rylan enjoyed having his Grandpa watch his games and I LOVED having Grandma stay home with the kids. I think that'll be my last time to sit and watch an entire game! We stayed up way too late each night playing games and Fri and Sat was filled with games. The kids played awesome on Fri, but very disappointingly on Sat. It was good experience for them.

Sat the Easter Bunny comes to our house and since I had to get up at 5:30 to be ready to go by 7:00 a.m. for Salt Lake, the Easter Bunny left a note saying how busy he was and would come a little late that day. Then when we got home from the tournament, I sent them outside so the Easter Bunny could arrive without being seen. I make clues for them to find their baskets (about 3 each) and they enjoyed finding their baskets and presents. Rylan got a new bat bag, Bradly got a spiderman kite and batting gloves, and the girls all got matching Easter dresses.

Sunday we went to church and headed to Richard's sisters for a huge family dinner. They put together a little egg hunt (with plastic eggs) and we stayed late playing games. Richard and I have been trying to do Live Messenger so we can chat with web cam but I was having some problems. Ben (our nephew) worked on my computer until 10:00 that night and we finally got it to work. ... I've had fun chatting with family online with the web cam, but we have yet to see Richard. He can see and hear me off my web cam, but we can't see him .... just hear him. He may have to buy another web cam. It does eliminate the 2 moral calls a week problem!

This morning has really been the only day that has sucked! I spent too much time this morning talking with Richard and didn't get ready for working out early enough. I decided to still go, but 1/2 way there realized I forgot my Mp3 player and water ... oh well. Decided that even though it's 10 am. and no supplies, I was still going to go. I had a good workout, and stopped to get gas on the way home. I had Richard's truck and Elly's carseat doesn't fit very well in the back and it slid part way off the bucket seat. So as I was filling up the truck I put her in the front and then top off the tank. I go to get in (let's just review a little .... frezzing cold day, rain, look like crap, and tired from working out, as well as it is 11:00 a.m. now ... airman are going to lunch now!) and she locked the door!! I kept saying, "Push the button" as I would mimic pushing the unlock button and she kept copying me by pushing her finger at the window like I was. Ahhhhh! What am I going to do? 15 min later I borrow a cel phone and call my Sister in Law in Kayesville. However, she can't get on base! So I call the shop chief at Richard's shop and ask if we can call him when she gets to the gate and someone get her on base to get me my keys ... however, she lives 20 min from my house and she's watching 4 of her grandchildren and it then takes 15 min to get out to base. I went to tell the person parked behind me that it would be a while before he could get up to the pump, and when I turn around the sweet man who lets me borrow his cel phone has the door open where Elly was. I guess he was able to convince to push the right button and push it the right way. My purse was dumped out and she enjoyed chewing a brand new pack of gum, but I got home by noon! Of course, she fell asleep on the drive home, just to wake up as soon as we got home and so she basically has had no nap today, and I have a ton of housework to do, since it's been neglected with visitors for 5 days!

Where's my calgon? Well, that's about it for now. I'm putting the slideshow at the top of our pictures for the week. Talk to everyone later!

He's really gone!

2009-03-29T15:51:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's been quite the emotional week. Richard did leave on Wed. We had many things going on and a lot of projects, but finally at 12:30 a.m. on Wed. morning we got it all finished and went to bed. 3 1/2 hours later I got up to finish getting him ready and to get all the kids dressed and ready to take him to the airport. We left about 6:00 a.m. and drove Richard to the Salt Lake City airport. His flight left at 8:00 a.m. They offered to allow us to go all the way to the plane, but we didn't want to draw out the emotion ... it was nicer to feel rushed and late and not really think about it. When the ticket lady had sympathy for our situation and told our family thank-you's for our sacrifices, I did get quite teary-eyed, but I walked in front of all the kids so they wouldn't see. They were all holding up so well and almost excited with adrenaline in the air. I'm sure they don't really comprehend one whole year! He goes so often for a few weeks that I'm sure they just assume that's all it is. We had one last final hug at security and the kids and I left. We got McDonald's for breakfast and Bradly even said, "YESSSS! This is the best day of my life!" First of all, how pathetic it is that my kids think breakfast at McD's is so amazing, and 2nd of all, I totally knew they really didn't have a clue what the next year was about to be! LOL!

We happened to pull into Roy right when the younger kids started school so we took them straight into their class. Rylan's school starts about 30 min earlier, so I walked him in and signed him in late. He had baseball tryouts with the Jr. high and the cut list was out that morning, so I was anxious to see if he made it or not.

So that is our other big news! The Jr. High only has one team for the whole school and the school consists of 7th, 8th, and 9th graders. I was really hoping he would red shirt, which means that you're kind-of on the team ... you go to the practice, and can only be at the home games and you have to sit on the bench. After all week of continuing to be called back, he found out Fri morning that he made the team! He's not even red shirting!! He and his 2 other friends on his Competition Sandlot team made it and several 8th graders red shirted! We are so excited for him and this is a huge accomplishment!!

Richard called me at about 10:30 a.m. our time on Thurs. He just got in to Kunsan. It took him over 26 hours to get there!! He was also able to call on Sat. He has no phone and no way for me to call him so he uses the twice a week moral calls that the military gives us and calls from the hall phone in the dorms. He got there and hit the ground running! They started an exercise Sunday so on Sat they gave him all his chem gear. Poor guy. He hasn't done any in processing or briefings or anything. He'll work at least 12 hour shifts and we'll have to wait until the exercise is over before we can grasp our means of communication. He may buy a cel phone there, but wants to wait because in a few weeks, he may be going to Alaska TDY for 7 weeks. No sense in spending that much money on a cel if he's in Alaska!! If he doesn't go on that TDY then he's trying to go on a TDY in June to Japan (Kadena AFB). This would be great because we have several friends there and it's a money maker!! Right now we're just going with the 2 calls a week, but they are only 20 min and after he talks to 5 kids, I don't have much time left.

He does have an address now: TSgt Richard Shimer
8th MXS
PSC 2 Box 693
APO AP 96264

I know he would love to get mail from anyone, and it's just like mailing stateside. Well, that's about it for now! I'll try and get back on my weekly schedule. Thanks to all for the love and support. I've really appreciated the phone calls! We all now I'm a more verbal person and it's so nice to have adult conversation!! So please keep the emails, phone calls, and comments coming! Love to all! Kim

Getting ready to say Goodbye!

2009-03-08T10:50:00.000-07:00

It's definately been "hurry up and wait" with the Air Force! The very next day after getting back from Disneyland, I had the kids that I babysit, and Morgan had an orthodontist apt. I dropped her off at lunch and instead of putting her retainer on her desk in the classroom, she put it on her lunch tray. At about 3:00 I got a tearful phonecall that she dumped it! I left Rylan at home with Elly and went over there with rubber gloves (thank heavens for that)! Since it was so late in the day EVERY lunch trash bag was in the dumpster, so Morgan and I spent the next hour and a 1/2 traipsing through slop, searching for a stupid retainer. After going through EVERY bag we still couldn't find it. I couldn't take the smell anymore and decided perhaps it would be worth the $85, rather than go through it all over again! Tuesday was spent getting all the stuff together for Richard to get packed out. $500.00 later (he decided at 8:00 at night to buy a $200 bike from our neigbhor, and wanted a recliner to take as well) he felt ready to go! UGH!!! We stayed up until after 11:00 that night organizing what would go in the suitcase and what the movers would take. We still had no idea when he was flying out and it takes 6-8 weeks for his things to get there, so we knew his suitcases needed living priorities. He's packing some towels and 1 set of sheets as well as his pillow, blanket, and mem. foam matterss topper in 1 suitcase, and clothes in the other and a set of uniforms in the carry-on. Wednesday, he got packed out. It was good to finally get something FOR SURE and accomplished with this PCS.

The movers worked quickly and were done in just an hour or so. ... Fastest pack out we've ever had!! I was extremely panicked about our plans with selling the house. The orders didn't authorize moving and storing our stuff and I spent the day calling around on how much it would cost to store my things, how much rent was for the apt I had been looking at, how much it would cost to have movers get the big stuff moved into the storage unit, etc. I was imediately very overwhelmed and discouraged. There was just no way I would be able to handle all that by myself with all the kids, nor could we financially manage it! I called the base and asked them what my options really were. Finally I got a straight answer. I don't know if Richard wasn't asking the right questions, or what! Anyway, they told me that the military will move us 1 time and that they will store our stuff for 90 days. What order and when I want to do it all is up to me. We decided to time out the house selling so it coordinated with having the stuff stored for the 90 days before he arrived to SD. If our orders change after receiving the hard copies for the move, then the AF will pay for it themselves to ship it to the next base. This makes the most sense, stress-wise and economically, so we decided to wait and put the house up for sale until later so that it will work out timing wise to have the military pack me out and store our things. This will help so much. We can adjust to Richard being gone and have a fun summer without worrying about people coming in to look at the house.

Thurs., Richard's parents came to visit. We had a lot of fun playing games and visiting. On Friday night we went to a restaurant that we'd been wanting to go to since we moved here. It is called the Rodizio Grill (Brazillian Grill) in the Trolley Square Mall (where that shooting was a few years ago). It is pretty spendy but such a fun experience. The waiters just bring meat around on huge skewers and you say if you want it or not. They even had a really great grilled pineapple. It was probably the best food I had ever eaten!!

It's so nice to have a child that babysits!! I couldn't imagine having to take the kids to that restaurant! I think Rylan will be my salvation with Richard in Korea! We had a really great time going out to dinner ... Richard's parents, his sister and husband, and their son and girlfriend all went. Then we went to Daniel's house (Shelda's son) and played guitar hero for a while. I have heard so much about it, but I had never played it, so it was a lot of fun. Especially with a bunch of adults looking like compelete fools and morons!

Richard's last day of work was on Wed. That was also the day he was supposed to fly out. I felt like he was staying longer, for sure, that night when we got no phone calls and he wasn't on a plane! LOL! He now has a plane ticket for Mar. 25th. So far he is still going to AZ for training on the plane that he isn't working on. We are hoping to go with him as well, but Rylan has a tournament in St. George, and we're just waiting to see if it will all work out schedule-wise. We have friends there in Tucsan that we would love to hang out with. He is supposed to leave this next Sat. but if we go, we want to see the Grand Canyon and will leave on Fri. We will be gone for a little over a week. Then he has a few days and will fly out. Feb and March are going so fast!

Well, that's about it for now. Don't know when I'll get a chance to blog again. Hope all is well! Kim

We're Baaa-aaack!

2009-02-22T18:27:00.000-08:00

Disneyland was so awesome and I'm wishing we could have stayed for much longer; but alas, all good things must come to an end! Here's the low-down on the trip. If you get bored, just scroll down to the end!My sister got to our house Sunday night. After they arrived the snow began to fall. That night I was putting Elly's carseat back together (I had washed it) and was missing the clip to clip her in. I couldn't find it anywhere, so our trip began with a bit of an inconvenience of buying her a carseat. My sister and family were ready to hit the road before us on Monday, so they left. I had just shut the door (after asking Morgan to make sure all the windows were locked) and then stupidly asked Richard if he had my keys. They weren't in my purse when I shut the door and usually he uses my key to drive the suburban because his key is inconsistant. I guess I should have asked first before shutting the door. He lost his house key and without my keys, we were locked out of the house. Morgan did a very good job securing the windows and we were totally left stranded outside our house! Good thing: No one could break in! Bad thing: Neither could we! Not really a way to start a vacation.Morgan did remember that the tiny little bathroom window downstairs was still unlocked because she couldn't reach it with the towel cabinets in the way. Sure enough we were able to open it and we got Addison to squeeze through and jump off the cabinet and procede to break into the house. Now that we knew we could break in when we got home, we left an hour behind schedule! ... but who has a schedule when you're on vacation?!! We then went to Wal-mart and put ourselves another hour behind schedule by getting a carseat and winter boots on clearance, then setting the carseat up. By now we decided that we might as well eat since it's almost lunch. All this and we're only 3 miles from home!!Snow continued to fly in flakes and about 4 inches accumulated on the road. We sure hoped California would be sunny! We got to our first pitstop just as my sister was coming out from check out at hour hotel. We got awesome deals at Circus Circus ($25.00 a night) and had a lot of fun. We watched the circus act in the hotel, and checked out all the things a casino can pack into their facility. We ate dinner and then went down the strip to see the different shows the hotels had. I had no idea there were so many shows! We weren't able to see the Pirate's show (one of my priorities) due to cold and wind, but we enjoyed an awesome volcano show at The Mirage and I loved the water/light show at the Beliagio. We did find out while trying to tape the shows that I also forgot to bring the charger to the camcorder. I was so mad at myself!! I had hoped to find something at Wal-mart, but no such luck. I just used the record feature on the camera and am relying on my sisters videos!After putting kids to bed we left Rylan in charge and Annette, Richard and I went to gamble a little. It was my first time ever gambling (if you don't count being 7 and putting my $2.00 allowance towards one of my Grandpa's race horses at Whoop-Up-And-Down days in Calgary, Alberta, Canada!) I'm not much of a gambler and didn't really understand the slot machines, so I can be rest assured that I will never have to attend a Gambler's Annonymous meeting. I was shocked at how fast $10 went!! Maybe I should have tried Craps or Blackjack, but I didn't want to waste the $20 minimum!Tuesday we split up from Annette's family. My kids wanted to do the Adventuredome in the hotel and her kids weren't interested. We let each kid pick a ride. It was hard to put that much money on rides when we spend so much on tickets to Disney, but it was the whole experience we were going for. Addi and Morgan chose the trampoline that you are strapped to so you can do tricks and stunts. They guy gave us a buy one get one free deal, so that was cool. It looked like so much fun I wish I would have tried it. Tuesday evening we arrived at our hotel and they denied my credit card!! We only have one credit card, and we only have it for emergencies. Apparantly, since we seldom use it, the company put a freeze on it since it saw all of a sudden charges in Vegas, etc. I had to answer 7 questions about my life not relating to my Visa. I would be a terrible game show contestant. One question asked me about a house we owned 10 years ago, which we didn't own a house 10 years ago and I was sweating bullets!! What if I answered something wrong? We had no hotel, no credit card, nothing!! Fortunately I answered all my questions right and they re-enstated the card so it all worked out. The next morning was our first day at Disney. Everything worked out wonderfully! We got pictures with Mickey Mouse as soon as we walked in and went straight to Pixie Hallow. Everyone we heard told us how hard it was to get in to that. It was the longest line we had at Disneyland!!! After that a Star Wars Jedi training show starting about 30 min later so we got the first seats and ate our lunch while we waited. We were so excited that the 3 kids that REALLY wanted to get chosen did!! It was a blast to watch. That night we saw the Fantasmic show. That was probably one of my favorite parts!! We got there about 45 min before it started, got awesome seats, and sent out the men for our dinners. It was a fabulous show. By the time it ended it was 8:00 p.m. and the park was closing. Thurs. we got to Disney and went straight to the Princess meeting line in Fantasy Land. We were about 3rd in line. We got to see several more characters and pretty well finished off Disneyland by closing that night. Friday we went into Disneyland and got our Souveniers we wanted. Everyone got mouse ears with their names on the back (including Richard and I and Annette's family) and got a really cool shot of us with the Disney castle in the background, with our matching Disney shirts. I felt a bit like an idiot, but it was a moment, so I sucked it up. My sister found shirts on sale at the Disneyshopping.com site and her family got different Disney characters, while I made all the girls in my family where Minnie Mouse shirts, and all the boys wore Mickey Mouse shirts. They were only $3 something a piece on sale at that website. After our souvenier shopping we went to California Adventure. The two days before had been really nice at 64 degrees, but Friday was chillier and at about 1:00 it started to POUR rain! The park totally emptied out, though!Fortunately at CA Adventure, there are many indoor activities at their "back lot" so we saw Playhouse Disney Live, and some 3 D shows in theatres. By then the rain stopped and we finished off the park. We left about dinner time and had planned on putting kids to bed and leaving Rylan in charge while the adults went back to the park (it closes at midnight on weekends) but I was so tired that we watched my sisters kids and let them go. It would have been fun, but Annette said it was really busy and cold. I wouldn't have had too much fun! I was starting to get grumpy with lack of sleep and complete busy-ness! I would have loved to see the fireworks over the castle, though!Sat. we all slept in and then played at the pool. By the time we got done with that it was lunch and we even took naps. A friend of mine that we were stationed with in TX lives in San Diego, so she came and met us at our hotel and we went to the beach. It was pretty cold and windy, but the kids still loved chasing waves and playing in the water. Poor Elly got her feet swept up from under her and fell forward in the ocean. She stood up and fell b ackward in the ocean again. Fortunately a couple walking along the beach saw and happened to have their hotel towel with them. They gave it to us to wrap her up in. We stripped her and wrapped her up and headed back to the hotel. Annette caught up with us as we were leaving. They beach hopped for a while and we met up with them the next morning. Sunday was time to end the vacation and start our tip back home. We pulled over in Vegas again. I had hoped to see the Pirate's show, but it didn't start until 5:30 and we were way too early for that. I didn't really want to hang out for several hours, so we drove up to the temple and then checked out the base. Glad we aren't getting stationed there! After Vegas we drove on to St. George and stayed the night. We stayed at our most expensive room there, and it was definately the crapiest!! We got up the next morning and went to see the St. George templed and then got a tour of Brigham Young's house there. It was really neat.We got home at about 4:30 in the afternoon. It was good to be home, but we had a busy week. I had the kids I babysit the next morning and Richard and I both had talks on Sunday and I was in charge of Sharing Time. Nothing like vacations!!-Richard's situation has changed once again!! He got a notice that they extended his report-no-later date! He was also told that his orders did not authorize packing or storing our household stuff so if I sell the house I have to take care of EVERYTHING on my own. That sucks!! We're trying to get it changed. If not, then I don't think I'll put the house up for sale until closer to him coming home. So anyway ...back to th e report no later! He went to sign his change and they said it was because he had training in route! What?! The training in route is for the A-10, which Osan has, not Kunsan. So they are sending him to train on a plane for a base that he's not going to, on a plane that he won't be working on! Ugh!!! Oh well, it gave him more time to let his stuff get there! Of course, I don't really trust it yet. Things here have literally changed every few days, so it may catch up to them that he's not going to the base anymore that they're sending him training for and he may have 2 days notice that he's flying out! He is getting packed out on Thursday. Wed, Thurs, and Fri are 1/2 days for the kids, so it should be GOOD TIMES I thought the year in Korea was going to be bad, but I'm beginning to think that GETTING him to Korea is going to be worse! Well, my videos aren't uploading right, so I may post again tomorrow with a few videos I took with my camera. Check the slideshow again before you log off. Sometimes it takes awhile for all the pictures to download and come up. Sorry so long!!

Same ole Crazy!!

2009-02-04T18:09:00.000-08:00

This last week has been full of stress and fun. Richard was designated as having the Super Bowl Party at our house. Our tv has been going out for about 6 months now (lasted 14 years!!) and Richard felt that this would be the perfect time to get a new one. I wanted to wait until it was completely out, but he was afraid I wouldn't get one as big as he'd like and since this was most likely another 15 year committment he wanted to make sure he got what he wanted. Of course, he wanted a 72" car payment, which I was definately not down with. I had been looking at prices for the last 2-3 years knowing that ours was going out anytime now, but I hadn't really researched much about technology and Consumer Reports stuff. I spent the afternoon doing my research. Superbowl week is definately a great time to get a good buy, and there were many incentives. We got the top of the line Samsung (which oddly is the frontrunner on LCD tv's... who'd have thought?) with 1080 pi (best color and dots per square inch or whatever) and 150 HZ (how often it refreshes itself for clearer picture). I wanted more like a 42-46" tv so we comprimised at 52". It looks way too big, to me, in the family room, but it was incredible to watch a movie on and the Super Bowl was probably a lot better on it!

Richard found out on Thursday that he had to test for Master Sgt this Tuesday (Feb 3). He had been watching the dates to come out but the computer system was down for quite some time. He really assumed that it would be after he got to Korea so he wasn't nearly as diligent as I had wanted him to be in studying. To have 5 days notice was shocking!! He did say that he felt pretty good about it so we shall see. We won't find out until June.

I'm having an "I hate the military" year! Richard's orders have been screwed up for some time now. I am used to dealing with the idiocy of the AF, but we are just getting too close to him flying out. After Christmas the Portal said that his orders changed from Osan (good base) to Kunsan (not so good). He spent much time trying to get this changed to no avail. In the meantime, he was waiting for M-16 shooting to get hard copies and get the outprocessing process started. In the military, without the hard copies, you really can't do anything. So we are going to Disneyland next week, he still hasn't shot, and he still doesn't have orders, but is supposed to fly out 2 weeks after we get back. Shipment of his stuff takes 6 weeks and he can't make an apt for shipment until he shoots and gets his orders. Oy Vey!! He typed up a letter asking to have his assignment delayed by 30 days to give him more time to get ready to go. Yup!! How did you guess? DENIED!! He was hoping that this would give him more time to get ready to go, allow him to see 1 of Rylan's tournaments (in St. George at the middle of March) and change his return-no-later for the next place we'd move (which of course WOULD HAVE worked out perfectly because it would make the report-no-later for the end of May, which is when the kids are out of school and we could all go together!) Gotta love the military!

On the silver lining side ... have to count every one that comes! His orders now say Osan (good base) ... but I'll count on that when the hard copies are in his hands!! We shall see!! Right now I'm focusing on Disneyland ... where all my dreams come true!!

PS -- Got locked out of my house this morning with Elly and a stinky diaper and a husband at some meeting. I learned how to break in. Can't decide if I should remedy my break in possibilites or leave it for future mishaps. Next time you hear from me will be with my Mickey Mouse ears on ... and a slight tan! (I hope)

THEY SAY IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY!!!

2009-01-26T13:17:00.000-08:00

Our baby is 2 years old now!!! Though we've been seeing signs of the terrible two's coming up, it came upon us very fast! She chose French Toast Sticks for breakfast and McDonal'ds chicken nuggets with fries and peaches for dinner! She got an Elmo cake and enjoyed her presents. I got an awesome deal at one of those Rose Petal Cottages so she got that, a toddler learning palm pad (does alphabet and numbers) and a little puppy that she can walk on a leash. She got an Abby Cadabby doll (in the pictures) with the birthday money her G&G Holman sent her. I think she had a fun birthday!

I think everyone enjoyed the new cottage. It's always nice to find a present for a child that more than one person enjoys!! She likes to put the two sides together and make it an entire house. I also forgot to mention the Elma helium balloon ... I think that was the highlight of her birthday!! She had to take it to school to get the kids, to the store, etc. She wanted to take it everywhere with her (she even wanted it to sit in her high chair to eat dinner with us!)

I finally finished my project this weekend!! Wahooo!! I was really getting sick of my family room holding everything from the laundry room, and my laundry was really starting to pile up! It is now completely finished and it looks pretty nice. That was the last of our major projects for this house! Now it's time to put it up for sale!

Do you have any idea who this man is that I am taking my picture with?! I had the awesome opportunity to meet the man that crashed into our house!! I'm hoping he will email pictures of the plane sticking out of our bedroom. It was amazing to listen to! It was a true miracle that he is alive... I loved hearing his analogy on the importance of always having a plan in mind (and relating that to the youth on how the should have a plan so they won't fall into temptation) and also on the importance of not rationilizing. He talked about how he had many signs to not continue the flight, but he kept rationalizing, and finally he ended up crashing into our house.

Our other big news is that Elly is now sleeping in a "big girl bed"! I have never bought a toddler bed before, but I've always had a twin size bed to put them., but with 5 kids I ran out of extra beds!! I really didn't want to buy yet, so I found this bed on KSL.com for $20. Totally my price range! The little lights and moon glow in the dark. She really loves it and hasn't really had any problems with getting out and refusing to go back in. She tried one night, but I put her back in and she didn't try it again (whew!)

That's about it. I also saw the Dr. this week for my migraines. I have dealt with them for 20 yeras now and just suffered through, but with Richard leaving, I knew I would probably have more, and needed to be able to tolerate them. I have found a miracle medicine!! You put this pill on your tongue and it makes the migraine go away! It's not a pain killer, but reverses the constriction of the blood vessels.

Well, that should be enough for now! Hope all is well for everyone else!

Following in Daddy's footsteps

2009-01-18T15:30:00.000-08:00

I'm posting my photo of the week. Elly was so cute trying to wear Richard's work boots around.

Here's a picture of my Laundry Room Progress!

I have decided that my life is constantly crazy, but it's never anything that I get to do!! It's always busy making sure everyone else gets to do what they want. I know my time will come and I love watching my kids (and husband) play basketball, baseball, volleyball, etc, etc. I've just been maintaining my cleaning schedule and trying to get things ready to sell the house. Unfortunately I didn't get around to laying the tile in the laundry room. I did get a step closer by removing a huge pile for D.I. (but 2 days later I found out I donated my frame that had our wedding pictures in it) and figured out the center and where the very first tile should go so that the rest will fall into place. I was able to purge out all files that aren't needed (phone bills, banks statements, etc.) and getting ready for tax season ... more like tax return! We got our Vegas hotel booked and have 21 days till we go to Disney! Wahoooooooo!!

Other than that ... same ole-same ole! Richard refereed 8 games yesterday, refereed church ball and played a game on Thurs., Rylan had baseball Tues, Wed, and Fri. I bought stuff for Richard to put strawberry blonde streaks in my hair. Hope to do that today and tomorrow and HOPE HOPE HOPE! to get the laundry room done!! Richard doesn't work on Mon with Martin Luther King Day so maybe we'll be productive. !

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Gettin' in the swing of things!

2009-01-12T12:12:00.000-08:00

The tree is finally down!! Why does it take so long to get Christmas stuff put away? I think the outside stuff is hopeless until March. It's under about a foot of snow! I have no pictures for this week ... just been cleaning, organizing, and doing laundry laundry laundry. I hate laundry! Richard refereed Thurs and Fri and all afternoon and night Sat. Rylan had Scouts on Tues, pitching practice on Tues, practice Wed and Fri. I was going to start Addi in gymnastics but realized, "What am I thinking?!!!" I don't have time with everyone elses's stuff plus me babysitting to ad one more thing to my list! She just seems to really need something for herself and something to release her energy. Maybe swim lessons when we get back from Disney. We are working on the laundry room right now. I bought tiles on clearance and can't wait to get started on laying them down! Saturday the kids had a primary activity and I went to the BX for an addtl 50% off clearance sale. Totally scored on that one!! I got there right as they opened and had the store to myself for 1/2 hour. Guess the economy isn't affecting everyone! Richard starts his master's classes this week and church basketball starts. He plans to play and also referee for the church while maintaining his refereeing job and studying to make Master Sgt. Think he's overbooked? He was also asked to help coach Rylan's baseball team until he leaves. Oh! And Rylan had a "Track it and whack it" clinic on Saturday on how to hit the ball. Whew! Glad the week is over. I'm hoping to put all my sparetime into laying tile! Wish me luck! Kim

Vacations Over!

2009-01-04T20:10:00.000-08:00

Well, as you can see, I've been on vacation for a bit. On Christmas Eve we left for Richard's parents. It was so much fun! We stopped at my sisters on the way and picked up a pizza to take with us up the mountain. It was starting to get dark and a storm was coming in, so I was getting a bit nervous. Last year we went up there we couldn't get up two hill with the van, however, I felt a little more comfortable with the suburban. We had no problems and got there just at the beginning of the storm. Richard's mom arranged for a couple in their branch that dresses up like Santa and Mrs. Claus come visit. The kids were floored to see Santa sitting in Grandma and Grandpa's living room. It was fun to watch Elly!

I don't think Elly quite knew what to do with the real live thing! She was just used to him sitting on the table reading her stories. I think he must have been bigger than she imagined!

We had such a good Christmas. The kids didn't get up too early and they all seemed happy with what they got. It wasn't an expensive Christmas, since we are going to go to Disneyland, but I didn't hear any complaints at all.

The next week we spent having so much fun in the snow! It made me feel a little bit better about going to South Dakota. It snowed 41" the week we were there. We woke up to 17" of new snow on Christmas morning alone. Richard and his dad took the snow blower out and cleared out the driveway. We got the 4 wheeler out and tied a tube to the back and had such a BLAST!!

As you can see, Elly was too sure about the 4 wheeler or the tube. We made it her try a ride just one time but she was very happy to watch everyone. Addi and Rylan are our daredevils and they were in heavan! We made 2 ramps out of snow and they made for good jumps! Here's a video for your enjoyment. One is Rylan and the other is of Richard.

Even Richard's dad took a ride (of course, we were much easier on him!) Richar'd brother came down and surprised us on New Year's Eve and the next day we showed him the new trails and he helped the twins make a slide. Yes, that's snow you see just right below the roof!

We had a lot of fun and was sad to leave our vacation, but ready to be home and get back into the swing of things! Hope everyone else had a great New Year!!

SICK-O!

2008-12-22T20:56:00.000-08:00

Sorry, no pictures. I had hoped to do one of those fun elf cards that's floating around on some people's blogs, but no such luck! After about an hour of it downloading, I figured out that my modem was disconnected. I tried again later and there were errors, so I guess it's not meant to be! I am really learning to let go this Christmas! We have been nothing but sick! Sat. Elly had the stomache flu, me on Mon/Tues, Rylan and Richard on Wed/Thurs., and Addi on Sat. Also on Sat. Elly started screaming and holding her diaper. I took her to the hospital and did tests for a bladder infection. The Dr. also said it could be a yeast infection. Mon (today) I finally took Bradly to the Dr. for his ear. Last week he fell on the corner of the landing on his ear. He complains of it hurting now and then. Last night he woke up crying from pain. He ruptured his ear drum and there was a large clot in his canal. The Dr. showed me and it was amazing to see. We'll just let it heal for a few more weeks, and if there is still problems, we'll look into it further. 2 kids left to get the flu. I quite trying to make treats to pass out, and I haven't gotten my cards out yet. It'll have to happen after Christmas! I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and remember the priorities and the real reason why we celebrate it! Love to all!

Are our lives ever NOT crazy?

2008-12-15T19:45:00.000-08:00

We've had a lot going on last week! Our Chirstmas decor is up. We've had a Santa that my SIL gave us about 9 years ago. My kids love it! It has 3 different story books that when you insert, Santa will sit and read to you. Here is a picture of Elly passing on the story tradition. She will spend 1/2 hour listening to the stories over and over.

Monday, Richard refereed 4 games that night. Tues. night Rylan had scouts and Richard reffed 4 more games. Rylan also had scouts. Wednesday was a 1/2 day for the kids and Rylan had pitching practice. We are so excited to have him working with Corey Wade; a pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers. It's a great opportunity for him. Because Rylan is on the Sandlot team we get an awesome discount. He practices with 2 other boys for the time slot and it was only $8.00. Rylan also had practice later that night. His pitching was at 5:30 and practice was at 8:00 so it was too far apart that he couldn't just stay at the Sandlot, so they drove back and forth.

Thursday was a big day for Morgan!! It was the day she got her braces off! The first picture is the before picture. You can barely see her braces ...

Here she is getting her braces taken off by the assistant (or whatever they all the orthodontist assistant). She got to choose a retainer that she'll have to wear all the time for 6 months and then just at night for the rest of the time. She chose a hot pink glow in the dark retainer and had a "High School Musical" sticker inside. WOW! The ways things have changed since my time!

Morgan was so happy to get them off! They gave her a "congratulations package" and filled it with all the kinds of candy that she couldn't have with her braces on. Here is her eating her first chewy candy since 7 months ago. She requested carrots for dinner. How often does that happen?!

Thursday night was also a Court of Honor for the scouts. They were really nice and presented Richard a Leatherman as a thanks for being in charge of the 11 year old scouts for year. Hmmmm .... I don't recall getting anything for being the Webelos leader for a year and making sure that each of the boys got their Arrow of Light! (While I had a baby in the middle of it ... and dragging 4 other kids every time after school.) It's ok... no bitterness! LOL

Rylan also received his 1st Class. We are very proud of him for getting this. He really needs to work on Merit Badges if he wants to get his Eagle.

Friday Richard didn't have to work since he got called in on Weekend duty. We decided to go out for lunch. Rylan had baseball practice and got done at around 10 p.m. By then Addi is coughing uncontrolably and is really laboring with her breathing. She has a pretty weak immune system and seems to decline so fast when she gets sick. It stressed me a little with her having been on a ventilitor as a baby and having RSV. I worried that it was rapidly turning into something scary. But she didn't have a fever, so at 11:00 p.m. we went to Wal Mart and bought a vaporizer. I have no idea why I've never gotten one before, but that thing is AMAZING! Everytime she gets in a coughing fit, we turn that on, and within a bit she settles down.

Saturday we woke up to SNOW!! Rylan had a clinic at the Sandlot on the mental sport of the game. It was incredible to listen to! They are having Richard help coach until he leaves so they had a clinic at night for coaches and during the day for the kids. I got to go to the one for the kids. This guy works with MLB, NFL, and the Ultimate Fighter champions. It was so fascinating and there were so many "life" lessons as well as team lessons. I think any athlete should hear this man speak!! (I took very detailed notes, so if you're interested I can give you a more specific low-down). When I got home Richard was in the shower and Elly in the bath and I was informed by 3 other frantic kids that Elayna threw up on Richard 4 different times. Whew! I'm glad I left when I did! haha! He even tried to call the Sandlot ... too bad they didn't answer their phones during the clinic! It was a loooonnnngg night with a little one that refused to throw up in the bucket!! Richard slept on the couch. He enjoyed going to his clinic that night as well. I thought it would be the same but it was totally different.

Sunday, Rylan received his first calling in the church. He has been called to be the Deacon's President. He's pretty excited and is taking it very seriously. I'll have to go to Deseret book and see if there is any good books that will help him.

So that's about it for now! This week is full of cooking goodies to pass out!! Hope I'm not passing out the flu too!! Happy Holidays to all and hope we can all slow down to actually enjoy it!

Sorry

2008-12-07T20:29:00.000-08:00

The post below has a huge space between the title and the post ... sorry about that! I don't know what happened. Please just scroll down.

Crazy Life, as Usual!

2008-12-07T19:54:00.000-08:00

This week has been quite crazy! Richard had work off Mon and Tues. That always throws me off schedule! I always think I can get so much more done since he's home, but I find that I just don't want to do my daily stuff when we can do so many other things! It was a beautiful day; so close to the 60's in temperature. I decided that would be the perfect day to get the outdoor Christmas stuff out. Since everything was out already and it was Monday, we put the tree up and all the decorations for Family Home Evening.

Tuesday was Richard's birthday. I ended up getting myself a present. Didn't that work out great? Michael's was having a 40% off frames sale and I had an additional 25% off so I wanted to look for frames to put our new family pictures in. I've been tired of my wall picture arrangement downstairs (we've had it for our 14 years of marriage) and I was ready for a change. So I got a beautiful frame with 6 arrangements. It is 3 dimensional and in the middle is metal leafing made into a tree. At the bottom is says Family Tree. It sounds really bad in description, so next week I'll have to post a picture! We got home just in time to pick up the kids from school. That night, after kids went to bed we went out to dinner. He chose Texas Roadhouse. It was so good, and my meal lasted me for 2 other lunches!

Morgan had a performance with her Tiger Talents. I only took her and Bradly ... it was so nice to have just 2 kids to look after! They each sat with Santa.

Saturday was the craziest day of all! We had a ward Christmas Party at 9:00 am. I volunteered to cook up sausage. Morgan was part of the "entertainment". She was Mary in the re-enactment. 5 min before we were walking out, Richard got a call that he had to go into work and fix 2 ejection seats. That was a big blow because Rylan had to be in Ogden for baseball fittings, etc. We sat and ate breakfast, Morgan moved over to another family to stay with (they took pictures for me and brought her home) and we left to take Rylan to Ogden. When we finished with Rylan we had to go to Pleasant View to pick up Poinsetta's for a fundraiser. After delivering them, we went home, had lunch and I headed to Wal-mart and the Comissary. Richard met me there when he got off work and took Elly from me. I got home and we found dinner out of the bags and I frantically got ready for Richard's squadron Christmas party. We stayed until 10:30 and even won something!! This is only the 2nd time we've own anything .... and both times it's been a bottle of wine! Oh well.

We got to be designated drivers that night! It wasn't planned, but a girl that Richard has worked with in another section lost her driver and she had 3 kids in the playroom, so she asked Richard if we could take her and her kids home. When I pulled into her driveway on base I found out that she moved into the house that my friend lived in.

Do you need a laugh for the day?! It's no secret that I have horrible perception with driving. Well ... driving a suburban has definately been a challenge, but a back up camera has helped. Guess I should have used it!! Do you see the stroller under there? That's the second one I've totaled in 3 months. Don't worry ... I won't run over a kids someday. I always check behind me, but I must have kicked this as I was walking around and it rolled behind the suburan.

I found Elly in the sink like this the other day ... she never fails to crack me up!

New Photos

2008-12-04T15:57:00.000-08:00

My awesome brother-in-law took our photos for us. I really wanted family pictures done before Richard went to Korea, so while we went home for Thanksgiving he took time out of his schedule as a police officer and did pictures of each of us with Richard. They have their own business they do on the side: J Clayton Photography. I have a link on my blog, so if anyone in the UT, ID area want pictures done, check out their blog (they are just starting to put the blog up so it may take a while). I love how they turned out. Hope to post more of our goings on later! Kim

I have Survived!

2008-11-24T09:56:00.000-08:00

Well, I survived the Vegas TDY! Richard got back in the afternoon on Saturday. The last week went much better than the weeks before. I guess after you get in the groove of things, it isn't so bad. I really loved not cooking for 2 1/2 weeks! Isn't it funny how you change your expectations on housework and eating when your hubby is gone?

Morgan is part of a program at the school called "Tiger Talents". They meet after school once a week and work on songs and dances. They had a performance on Tuesday.

She had a solo to sing for part of the song "Footloose". I figured out how to record a bit of video on my camera (my camcorder is way too outdated to put video on line) so here is a few seconds of her performance:

She has a performace this week for the city's tree lighting ceremony. She has really loved being part of this organization.

Wednesday, Rylan went rock climbing with the scouts. That seemed like a lot of fun. Why do the scouts get to have all the cool activities?

Thursday, Morgan had her orthodontics apt. SHE GETS HER BRACES OFF!! She's very excited to get them off in Dec. I'm a little stessed about the retainer thing. Apparantly it's not something you just wear for a period of time, but after a while, they suggest you wear them at night for the REST OF YOUR LIFE! They said that she wouldn't be ready for phase II before we moved so I think I may buy an extra retainer so that when we move and she loses it, we'll be covered. I'm really hoping she won't even need phase II since we've made room for the rest of the permanent teeth to come down straight. I'm crossing my fingers at least. She was so excited to get the braces, but she is REALLY excited to get them off!

The twins also had a fun POW WOW at school. They choose Indian names and made outfits and drums and other crafts.

Bradly's Indian name is Brave Bronco (he's a Boise State Bronco fan because of his Uncle Jered and cousin Isaac)Addi's name was Rainbow Rose

Here's there kindergarten class. Aren't they soooo cute?! I love this age!

I've been working on the downstairs bathroom and hoped to get it done before Richard came home. The shower head had not been installed right and water had ran down the wall. It curled the tape up and peeled the paint off the sheetrock, so I ripped it off, put joint compound on, re-taped, and layered the compound on top. It ended up looking great. I ran out of time and will have to paint today. We've almost got all the little "projects" done to put the house up for sale.

Sunday was a Thanksgiving dinner at my Sister in Laws. We had 38 people in her house!! It was crazy but a lot of fun. ... And good food!

That's about all. We're getting family pictures done by our awesome private photographer this week on our way to my parent's for Thanksgiving. Hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving! I'm grateful to all of you who have become our lifelong friends, and provided so many experiences for our family!

My Crazy Week

2008-11-16T19:28:00.001-08:00

Well, it has definately been a crazy week! Monday I watched the kids that I babysit. They were picked up close to 4:00 because the little boy had a Dr.'s to see if he had Strep or not. Of course, he did. I didn't have to watch the kids Tues and Wed because they didn't want to get the baby sick. Tues. morning was a Federal Holiday, which in UT means SAVER'S sale!! I have become a true Saver's addict and find the cutest stuff for so cheap. Every federal holiday is additional 50% off. I get so many clothes for the kids and rarely pay over $3.00 for anything. I found a great deal for a Christmas present for Rylan, but he often reads my blog, so I'll tell you about it after Christmas. Tues was volleyball for Morgan and Scouts for Rylan. He is my babysitter when Richard is gone, but he really needed to go to Scouts so I took all the kids to the gym. That was definately not fun. Wednesday was a 1/2 day for the kids and Morgan complianed of her throat hurting. She's had strep before and she felt is was strep so I took her in at 10:30. I hate it when my days gets broken up like that. She didn't have strep on the rapid culture so I took her back to school (for the hour and a 1/2 that was left).

Wed. night my CO2 alarm went off. I opened the windows and it went off and I thought I would watch to see if it would go off again or not. Around 11 at night I was working on a quiet book and realized that my head was really buzzy and I had a headache. I figured that I better call a friend that works for the Fire Dpt and see if he had a tester. He was working that night and told me to call the Fire Dpt from my town. I called and told them what was going on but that I didn't want ANY firetrucks or sirens. I had 5 sleeping kids!! So they showed up in an ambulance, but thankfully with no sirens. They went through everything and it all checked out. We're thinking that the steam from the showers set off the smoke detecters (it's all the same system).

Thurs and Friday were 1/2 days as well, so I had 7 kids for both those days. Friday, I also decided to rip up some sheetrock mud and tape that was damaged by water around the downstairs shower. Hopefully I can get that re-taped and mudded before Richard gets home! Fri was also a parent's mtg for Rylan's baseball team. We decided to just get fast food for the day.

Sat. my SIL called and wanted help putting up crown molding in their dining room. Richard's brother was down for a game and brought his son. The kids had so much fun and were really good while we spent 7 hours putting up

the crown molding!

Elly really enjoyed her ice cream treat!

And here are the Bob the Builder Wanna Be's! Sorry about the picture! Rylan was taking it.

In other great news .... I saw gas below $2.00 a gallon for the first in over 4 years. YEEEEE HAAAAW! So nice with a Suburban now to fill up! Well, you can wake up now. The book is over. Sorry for such a long posting. I knew it was going to be a loooong week! Sorry you had to endure it too. See ya next week! Kim

MY NEW THEME SONG: PLEASE LISTEN

2008-11-10T19:36:00.000-08:00

If you have internet fast enough, could you please listen to my music playing right now to get the full effect of my week. .... I will pause now for you to listen.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Did you get it?! Yes! It's been quite the crazy week! Richard has left me for Vegas for TDY and I'm a single mom with 5 kids now. I was in charge of Super Saturday, however, somehow that ended up with me being the sole person to put together that day. I made Olive Garden soup (3 batches) the night before and ordered bread bowls. We had apple juice mixed with Sprite. I did have 3 other ladies teach classes, but I ended up being in charge of the other 4. I had to set up and take down. My oldest watched the kids alllll day long and I came home to another lovely mess to deal with. I had things broken, a closet door on the floor, and a little girl who obviously had a corn dog for lunch with ketchup and mustard, and no one bothered to clean her up afterwards. It was caked all over her hands, face, clothes, and my furniture!! Rylan had baseball try-outs a 1/2 hour after I walked in the door and then we had a church Thanksgiving dinner at 5:30. I slept sooo hard that night!

Here is a picture of some of the crafts that we did:

It actually turned out very nice and I think the ladies had a lot of fun. I'm so glad! I couldn't believe how many people in our ward had never done a Super Saturday. I had heard a lot of negative criticism before we had the event, and most people didn't want it to last very long so I thought tentatively it would be from 10-12:30 or so, but I didn't get home until 4:00. We made soap, salt dough ornaments, bracelets, quiet books, glass blocks, and Family blocks. I'm soooo glad it is done. It is a huge project to put together.

Along with my theme song, I have a crazy week this week. It is Morgan's last week of Volleyball, and the kids have 1/2 days from Wed. on due to conferences. That means that I will also have the two kids I babysit for the rest of the days, and that makes for a looooong day! Especially when I won't have some one come home to lend an extra hand!! Now you know what will be running through my head over and over and over again for the next few days. Here is a picture of Morgan at her last Volleyball practice:

Sorry it isn't a very good picture. It's hard for me to get action shots. She seems to really love it and will miss doing it, I'm sure.

In other news ... I got my haircut short. I've been thinking about this for quite some time now but I've been growing it out for about 8 years now! So I got sick of growing it out and having it the same length for the last 5 years. Here is a picture of the "new" me. I'm still getting used to it, but I like it:

Hopefully you don't end up seeing someone take my head and put it with some random pictures. I have several friends concerned with the security of these blogs. I agree, but I figure no one could care less about an image of me. So, if you see my head with a Nazi flag, or burning a bra, or on a stripper pole, please know that my image was stolen! LOL

Have a great week, ya'll! Kim

Spooky Halloween Fun!

2008-11-02T19:25:00.001-08:00

We had a lot of fun this Halloween Week!!

First of all, it was Red Ribbon Week. There were themes for each day they could follow. Monday was Hippie Day and Tuesday was Crazy Hair Day. Don't they look crazy? The two kids in the back are the kids that I watch before and after school. Wednesday was Disco Day and Thursday was Hip Hop Day or wear you costumes. They didn't have school on Friday so they had their class parties on Thursday. I was asked to the class party with another mom for Morgan's class. It was a lot of fun. We ended up having all the 4th grade classes combined so we had 60 some odd kids to entertain for an hour and a 1/2. We ended up doing it "carnival style" and set up 8 different stations. I was in charge of Pin the bow on the Frankenstein. I was so busy with that and doing a Haunted Mad Libs story with them while they ate their treats. I didn't get any pictures of Morgan's class party. I did sneak in and get a picture of the twins in their kindergarten room.

Addi was a lion-It looks like she took off her Lion's Head

Bradly was a vampire

Elayna was Mickey Mouse; Morgan was a dancer and Rylan a baseball player. Later Morgan wanted to wear the scary make up so she decided to be a Zombie Dancer.

Here's a picture of the kids minus Rylan and including the ones I babysit for before they went to school. They look so cute!!

It's been a crazy week for us! Friday night was our Ward's trunk or treat and then we took the kids Treak or Treating. This was the first year since moving here that Richard could join me! It's so much easier having another set of hands! I'm in charge of our Super Saturday here (day of crafts) so I've been running around getting supplies for that. It will be next Saturday. Richard is leaving TDY for Vegas next week (be gone for 2 weeks) so I've got to put the finishing touches on that and put it together without his extra set of hands to help! Rylan should be able to babysit on Saturday.

Next week Rylan will be trying out for a new baseball team on Saturday. It's hard to leave our original baseball team here, but they want to participate in a tournament in New York and we just don't have the extra funds for that. Rylan's best friend's dad is putting together a team that will have some incredible opportunities (2 of the coaches played MLB) and he called to "recruit" Rylan. He promised Rylan 3rd base position and pitcher. It was a hard decision, but we decided to go with this new team and leave our old one. They will be including a membership to a baseball training center, have several clinics (one on the mental aspect of the game, one on running agility, one of hitting, etc), and participate in 5 tournaments. It will be nice for me because the coach lives a few blocks from our house and will be able to take Rylan to practice for me. Try-outs are this Sat and they start practice in Dec. Isn't that crazy?!!! It will be really good for him though.

Well, you know by now that we have orders to Rapid City, South Dakota. We are excited and trying to prioritize options for moving. We have decided to put the house up for sale in April. It could take a year to sell it with this economy!! Other than that... things are going great! November should go fast! Richard will be gone to Vegas, get home for a few days and we go to my parent's house for Thanksgiving until the end of Nov! He'll be heading to Korea faster than we'll be prepared for! Love to all! Kim

WE GOT ORDERS!!!!

2008-10-26T19:51:00.001-07:00

So we finally got orders this last week .... mmmmm can you guess where we are going? It was a real shock, but we are very excited. It was something we had put on our dream sheet but it was in the middle of our requests. Richard's report no later is April 2010. I guess a lot depends on when we sell the house. I think I'll put it up for sale this Spring and if it sells during the summer then I will see if they have open housing for us there and if so we'll move; otherwise I'll rent somewhere here and finish out another school year and meet Richard there. I called and they said that they are only putting in-bounds in new houses. Some are getting finished this spring. They will be going to privatized next year. We left Sheppard before they went privatized, so I don't know what to think about it. Anyone with comments on their experience with privatized; please post!! We aren't ruling out buying either. So Nielson's ... here we come!! I'm getting excited now that the shock is wearing off!

Twin?!

2008-10-26T19:49:00.001-07:00

I was putting in updated pictures in my frames and in my friends I put all their old pictures (starting from birth) in the back of the frame. I pulled out one of Rylan's and we were shocked how much Rylan and Bradly looked alike! They look more like twins then his twin and him look like twins!! hahaha

Bradly's big goal

2008-10-26T19:46:00.001-07:00

We've finally gotten all our bikes in running order. Bradly's doesn't have training wheels, but he's so close to being able to ride it I don't really want to buy a pair. He likes to ride Addi's bike that does have training wheels, so I hoped we could just leave his off and just teach him to ride. He's sooooo close! He can do it for a few minutes until he's doing it by himself ... then he freaks out and crashes. Hopefully in the next week or two! We've been taking advantage of the awesome Fall! - Big change from the last posting of a foot of snow, huh!

Morgan's Haunted House

2008-10-26T19:43:00.001-07:00

Mogan's class made Haunted Houses (like gingerbread houses) for an activity. They are going to take them to the Retirement Centers to enjoy. They turned out really cute!

This Week's Goings On

2008-10-26T19:35:00.001-07:00

On Friday we went with some friends to a corn maze down the street. We went and got Little Ceasar's pizza and then down to the maze. The kids had a lot of fun playing on the slides. We went through the maze pretty fast and wanted to go through the "haunted maze" but it wasn't going to start for 45 more min. We decided to go back to their house for hot chocolate. When it was dark we went back. I was a little concerned for Bradly (my tenderheart) and Addi and they had a little one that probably wouldn't appreciate the experience either so Richard stayed in the suburban with Elly and Bradly and Brandon and watched a movie. It was pretty lame. There were just kids walking around in black with chain saws. Shari and I decided that we needed to spark things up so we asked the boys with chainsaws to follow us and then we'd move aside and they could turn them on in Rylan and Cayden's ears. The group was waiting for us since we got behind talking to the "spooks". We caught up and told them to keep going. After a few minutes we stepped aside and they snuck up on the boys and turned on the chainsaws. It was the funniest thing I had ever seen!! Carl had the girls up front and even he jumped about 2 feet high. Rylan looked like a frog with his knees about up to his chest. It was the highlight of the month for me!!

Nothing big

2008-10-19T20:20:00.001-07:00

No major action this week! The kids had no school on Thurs and Fri. I wish I could say that I did som fun stuff with them, but I can't. I went grocery shopping and did the checkbook on Thurs and finished reading a book "The Host" (2 hours in the bath tub ... had to take advantage of kids to watch Elly!) and cleaned the house. I did take the kids to Wal-mart for them to spend their allowance money. Had to leave with a screaming baby all through the store! Saturday was beautiful. How did we take advantage? Picked grapes, pulled out the garden, weeded the flower beds, and trimmed perennials. Fun, right? We did have a great family game of kick ball in the backyard. Boys against girls ... boys won. We had an airman from Richard's shop come for dinner tonight. He's been having a hard time. We decided to play another kickball game. I think it was great birth control for him! Not much else! Kim

2008-10-12T17:09:00.001-07:00

Well, a lot has gone on since I last posted!! Two weekends ago, we knew the first cold front was coming through. We’d been enjoying an unseasonably warm fall (in the early 80’s) and it was supposed to rain and be in the 50’s. I needed to get the Halloween decorations out anyway, so I decided now would be a great time to pull out all the clothes for the winter. Saturday was miserable and cold!! The kids won their first game and played through the pouring rain, but the second game got called. They were ahead 9-1. It was conference weekend and I got so much done!! I got all the winter clothes out, packed the summer clothes for younger kids to wear when they turned that age, and boxed up Elly and Bradly’s clothes to give away since there’s no one that needs their hand-me-downs. I was able to clean out everyone’s closets and drawers. It looks so nice now!! Many of you know that this last April I had the spiral perm that made me look like a 70’s afro, so I had Richard straighten it for me. He cut me hair for me a few weeks ago and I decided that I just can’t beat what he charges, so I had him straighten it. I had called a hairdresser earlier, and they wanted to charge $50. I just bought a box at Wal-mart for $8.00 and crossed my fingers. I’m so impressed that I think I may keep going to him. His service is great for the price!! Well worth it!! It was also our 14th Anniversary this last week. Richard’s parents were coming up anyway and he asked them to watch the kids for us while we went to Logan to the Anniversary Inn. It was so much fun. We were able to go to a session the next day. It was such a beautiful temple!! Saturday was Rylan’s last games. They won the first game and he pitched for the entire second game through the rain and snow and sleet. They won that game too. Richard umpired 4 games that day in miserable weather! This morning we woke up to snow!! I’ve never seen this much snow this early! It’s that damn global warming Gore keeps warning us about. Rylan shocked us today in sacrament by bearing his testimony. It was very nice. He sure is growing up. Well, that’s about it for now. Love to all! Kim

Fun Game

2008-09-29T19:22:00.000-07:00

So, here's how the game works:1.As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Quite a week!

2008-09-28T20:09:00.000-07:00

Monday night my SIL called to see if I wanted to can peaches. How could I refuse following the prophet?! Besides, all me sisters all over the states were putting me to shame. They were doing peaches, pears, tomatoes, etc. I was becoming a slacker!!

I finally got the two windows that have been broken for almost a year and a half fixed on Wed!! It was so wierd looking through them without any obstruction. There were Hobo spiders inside one and the repair guys were really freaked out. Guess I need to spray around the house!!

I want to say a huge CONGRATULATIONS to Rylan!! He got his first Progress Report of Junior High and got a 3.8 GPA. We're very proud of him. He seems to really enjoy Jr High. He loves going to all the games, regardless of the sport or if it's the girls or boys team. He also went to his first Stomp. I guess that's a dance. I didn't really realize what I was saying yes to until I was visiting teaching later that day and was talking to a mom of a high schooler. In my mind I kind of thought we'd wait until he could go to Stake dances before going to school dances (which would be age 14) but I guess it's too late for that now!! It is right after school and I guess is more of a pump it up hang out thing. His response on it, "You had to leave your shoes in your locker and it really smelled in there!" The music was "ok" I guess.

I put up a picture of him pitching this weekend with Richard umpiring in the background. Richard switches umpiring outfield and behind the plate for each game. Doesn't Richard look great?! Hard to believe he's ALMOST 40!!! (gotta rub that in when I can)

Richard came and got me from Relief Society today and said, "You've gotta come see this". Apparantly there was no one that could play piano in Priesthood so Rylan volunteered! Mind you, he would only let me teach him for the winter last year and then lost interest in "lessons". He does like to work on songs, just hate lessons.

In other news .... Elly now has mastered rattling off numbers and yelling "HIKE" and also throws her hands in the air and says "Touchdown." Bradly is doing awesome at reading!! Blown away by his reading level. Addi is getting some control over her emotions and is starting to show improvements on deep breaths. She is our awesome artist and is seeing the downfalls of being in the same class as her twin. Morgan is enjoying a program afterschool that works on performaces. They are doing a dance to "Footloose" and she tried out for a solo singing part. Should find out this week if she gets it or not. Volleyball starts Oct 7th for her. Enough for now!

Gotta get in the habit!

2008-09-21T17:03:00.000-07:00

I have got to get in the habit of grabbing my camera with me!! I have missed so many cute candid moments this week! We had a new member of the family for a few days until I took it to the Humane Society. It was actually a very sweet kitten. It was all black (they named her Shadow) and allowed Addi to tote it everywhere OUTSIDE with her. It was taken on the trampoline and down the slide and never scratched her once. We talked about getting her spayed and feeding it but making it an outside only cat. I had hoped it could be a win/win situation. It stayed at our house for 3 days and followed the kids everywhere, but it kept going in the neighbor's garage and they were complaining. She was such a good cat that I thought she'd be better off with a family that could let her in during winter time. I didn't want to be an irresponsible animal owner and having an animal at all the neighbors. So I took it to the Humane Society. Addi went with me and did very well.

Baseball was fun this weekend. Richard umpired 5 games and Rylan had the last two games of the day. He pitched both games. They played two really tough teams. The first game they lost to the team that won first place in the spring season. They lost pretty bad. That team could really hit the ball!! (Rylan wanted me to add that part by the way! And now he's mad that I just added that!) The next game was against our rivals. We came SOOOO close!! We lost by 2 runs. Oh well. They had Rylan pitch the last two innings so they could close it up. I thought that was quite a compliment to him.

I posted pics of Richard and Elly. As you can see, she got into some of Morgan's lipstick (are you kidding me?! I woud NEVER wear that color LOL!) The next is of Richard playing on the ward's softball team. I guess there are other advantages to living in Utah!! They made it all the way through regionals. I guess we're a baseball family.

Hopefully I'll remember my camera more this week!

Rylan

2008-09-14T20:47:00.001-07:00

No, I'm not missing a kid ... as tempting as it may have been, we didn't get rid of Rylan. He had a game that day. We're hoping our personal photographer (my brother-in-law ... doesn't he do an awesome job!!!) will get him another time on our way through Idaho.

Still Figuring this out

2008-09-14T20:25:00.000-07:00

I'm hoping to add some more pictures on here. Thanks to my friend Sherrie, I finally learned how to put on music and change the backgrounds. I can see how this can be a bit addictive. We had a looooong weekend of baseball! Rylan had a game at 9:30 in SLC. We have to be there an hour early and then leave early enough to get there. Elayna was up from midnight until 3:00 a.m. and then I got up at 6 a.m. to get ready for the day. Richard umpired 5 games that day so we did baseball until 8:30 that night. Richard umpired Rylan's 2 games. They beat a team from South Jordan that was an all-star team, so that was exciting. I want to put on pics that my brother in law took of the kids in Twin Falls and their first day of school. I forgot the camera for the game ... I wanted to get a pic of Richard umpiring Rylan.

Am I really on?!!

2008-09-09T20:33:00.000-07:00

I hope this works out!! This is just a test run. I have so many friends doing this, so I guess it's about time I get with the times and put one together. Hopefully I can stay on top of it!!