Bunches of Updates

Ok where to start......

Memorial Day Weekend Campout. We went to a campground up by Payson Lakes called Black Hawk. This thing was waaayyy up the mountain on the top at 8000 ft. It was such a gorgeous campground, and was big enough to accomodate 50 people. The dogs had lots of room to run and play and most of the time we were able to let them off their leashes. One problem though...RAIN. Almost the entire time. My cousin Matt put this huge 50 foot tarp up over the fire to shield us from the rain, and that worked wonders until the wind kicked in and we had to take it down. We hiked a mountain, got lost on the way down, and Cas and Dave had to come rescue us. Good thing we don't call her Ranger Cas for nothing! Fun trip, tons of people showed up (about 30 or so people), and it was just a good time.

Kindergarten Graduation. Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it to this one, but Chris took lots of pictures for me. Ambria graduated Kindergarten yesterday morning. I can't believe she is going to be a big first grader this year. She learned quite a bit this year, and is such a great little reader. I am so proud of her and excited for her to go the full day next year with her friends, especially our neighbor's little girl Kela. They are inseparable. The fight, make up, fight, make up, just like all best friends do! It's hysterical.

6th Grade Graduation. Wow. It's offical folks, I have child in Junior High. Miss Ke'alohi graduated the 6th grade last night. They held a graduation ceremony for the students and their parents at their school at 7:00pm last night. I was able to make it to this one, and it was fun. At the end each student had written a goal on a sheet of paper that was then put into a helium balloon. We all went outside and they counted to three and let them float away. It was pretty neat. It's amazing to me to think Ke'alohi was just in 2nd grade when I met Nick, and now she is going to Jr. High. Where has the time gone?

End of School, Start of Summer! That's right. The kids are all out of school as of today. Next year Nakoa will be in 2nd grade, and Kolya in 4th. They were talking the other day that they will no longer go to the same school as Ke'alohi and they won't ever be all 3 in the same school again. That is pretty sad for them because they have been so close the past few years all in one school. It's time for them to start branching out on their own and becoming more independant. The kids all went to their other parents today, well not Kayden of course. We are off for 2 weeks, and then it's our turn for the following 2 weeks to have them all. We look forward to the time off, but it is also very nice to have a consistent amount of time with them too. I love summer.

Moving into a New House. The 3 oldest kids mom and stepdad bought a new home. It is sad for us because it has been such a nice thing for us to have them so close. They walk over after school and are just a few blocks away. It gave us a good opportunity to spend some much needed time with them. However, this is such a great thing for the kids. For the first time EVER in their lives they will have their own rooms. I wish more than anything I could say the same when they are at our house, but that's not happening until we move. It will be great to have room to run, a yard to play in, and space to be alone for them. They deserve it. This is a new house, never been lived in before, in Eagle Mountain. I am super happy for Kalei and Troy and I wish them luck with the new home.

Loving my Time off. It's been a month now since I took my leave, and I must say I don't think I realized just how bad I needed this break. I have spent hours with my kids that I took for granted before. N0t to mention I have caught up on sleep, which feels fantastic. What a good idea it was.

Time to get Healthy. Nick and I bought our cleanses today. These are M'lis detox cleanses that clean out your entire system. It's such a great thing for your body, your organs, your blood, your mind. Here is the link to the site if you want to learn more, or are interested in them. http://www.mlis.com/ Next weekend we will get a body wrap to help get rid of some of the toxins and shed some water and helps cellulite (YES!).

New Dog Update. Grizzly is a stud. Still working on the whole potty training thing and is being kenneled in the day while we work. He sits, will walk right next to you on walks, and listens very well. A great tempered dog, completely different then Bear, but they make good buddies and wrestle all day. Bear likes to be the Alpha dog, but I'm pretty sure one day Grizz will out grow him and kick some doggy butt!

Did I mention I love sushi?!

Have a great weekend everyone!

I HATE WHEN THINGS BREAK!

So, in the last two months Nick and I have spent over $1200 in car repairs - between the two cars. I swear it feels like we are always dumping money into those things, just for something else to break or go wrong. It's funny really how dealers fail to tell you "these are your estimated yearly maintenance and repair charges associated with this car". Those charges may be the breaking point in the decision to communte to work every day by bike, or at least it would make me highly consider buying a moped. ;)

So, now that the cars are up and running great again, something else MUST break down. Thus is life, #*% happens right? RIGHT. Nick worked from home yesterday because our air conditioner has been acting up. I know, it's May right, yesterday was the first day we hit 90 degrees, but man it was hot as heck in there when I got home. I had managed to talk him out of calling the AC guy so we could save our money for camping this weekend since we have this huge trip planned with a bazillion people and I wanted to make sure we had what we needed. That quickly changed when I walked in the door to our sauna after work last night.

So, again today he stayed home after I gave him the green light to call the tech. So, here we are $99.00 later, STILL with a broken air conditioner. What did we get for $99.00 you ask? Oh, we got $2800.00 of repairs to put in a complete new unit. JOY.

Hair Cut and Color

This is my cute girlfriend Kristi. She had just had her hair cut but wasn't liking the back of it, so I colored it and recut it for her. I think it turned out pretty cute and she was way happy with it. I didn't take before pictures, so you only get to see the end result! Sorry!

So You Think You Can Dance?

Friday and Saturday of this past week was Ambria's dance recital at Jive Music. She has been going to dance now since August, and this is their one performace all year. She couldn't decide whether she was scared or excited.

Thursday morning when she woke up she mentioned to Nick that her foot was hurting. She said she had landed on it funny while playing outside the night before. As she hobbled around the house we wondered whether or not she would make it to dance for her program.

Friday went much better. She woke up and seemed to be feeling great. Friday Night she had 2 performances, one at 6:00pm and one at 8:00pm. Her dad and Grandma came down to take both her and Kela to those shows.

Saturday was an even busier day with three performances at 2:00, 6:00 and 8:00pm. Nick and I went to the first show at 2:00 with my parents and Kayden. The girls were the second dance and they both did such a good job! Kela is Ambria's best friend. Her mom Heather who is our friend and neighbor.Heather has been kind enough to take Ambria to dance each Tuesday and keep her til we get home from work. Otherwise she wouldn't be able to be in this program.

Here are some pics of both girls in their costumes before the performance on Saturday. Didn't they look adorable?

Oh Did I mention Kayden had a good time too? This was his entertainment the entire time we watched!

My Favorite Boys

I love his coloring

"You looking at me little dog"...



Bear can't take his eyes off Griz!

Check out that tongue!

" Look into my eyes!"

"Alright, fine, I'll give the little one a break!"

He alost looks husky here doesn't he?

One Pet, Two Pets, Three Pets, FOUR?

Yes, it's true, we have 2 cats, and now -believe it or not- we have 2 dogs. We thought Bear really should have a buddy because he LOVES dogs so much. So, we got another doggy last night.

Meet Grizzly (aka Grizz)!!

Isn't he cute? He's a 9 week old male half chocolate lab, half Chesapeake Bay Retriever. They call him a "chesadore". He is absoltely adorable!

We brought him home last night and he cried on the ride home. I think he misses his mama, but when we got there he seemed to be ok. Bear likes him, he just wants to control his every move. He thinks he's the alpha dog! Poor little guy gets kinda scared but I think he will survive!

I will post more pics of him later!

Mother's Day

I had a wonderful Mother's Day this year. It started Saturday night when Nakoa gave me a card he made for me at school. It said Happy Mother's Day on the front with a pot of flowers on popsicle sticks. Inside it said Pick a flower and you will see what things you can ask from me. The sticks said "feed my hamster, take out the trash, and make my bed". I thought that was so cute and he was so super excited to give it to me!

Then, I slept in Mother's day until about 11:00am and woke up to find some crafts Kolya made at school for me. They had a saying on them that is supposed to bring good luck if you hang them by a window. So cute!

Nick bought me an Ipod shuffle for the gym, a gift certificate for a deep tissue massage, and the Chii I have been wanting. It's a flat iron, a really really nice one. Plus a card that was beautifully written as usual. And the kids all signed a card for me too.

Then I got to see Kayden's present. I walked down the hall with Nick and he drew me a beautiful blue scribble picture all down the wall and on the bathroom door with crayon! It was cute so I couldn't be mad.

I sure missed Ambria. She was the only one we didn't have. Later that night we went to dinner with my parents, Julie and Mark, and Audrey and Cole, and all the kids at the Old Spaghetti Factory. When we got home Ke'alohi made me a huge poster with all of the things she loves about me written on them with little crafts.

It was such a great day. I have such wonderful kids and such an amazing husband, and so much to be thankful for.

Oh, wait, one last thing. My BFF Chrissy made me this www.stocks-sitting.blogspot.com
Years and years of pictures, videos and stories about Kayden, Ambria and the other kids that she has been keeping and put on a blog for me to keep. That meant a lot to me. Lot's of sentimental gifts this year, and that is all me! I am way sentimental so it was just awesome.

Thanks everyone!