Powell !

After 8 years, this vacation keeps getting better & better! Family, Boating, Surfing, Wakeboarding, Tubing, Sandcastles, Lizard Catching, Kyaking, Waverunners, Indian Ruins, Swimming, Fishing, Grilling, Campfires, Guitars, S'Mores, Cute Toddlers, Sassy Kids, Relaxed Grandma & Papa, Blue Sky, Hot Days, Cool Water, Reading, Tanning. HEAVEN!

Tagged by my dear friend Erin!

MEG, SHEANER, ANDI, SARA, BUFFY you are TAGGED!
You know what to do, copy & paste, then erase my answers, add your own and TAG 5 people!

What I was doing 10 years ago (5 things)...
1. Celebrating Toby's 1st BD
2. Living in Park City
3. Went on a really fun snowmobile trip in Island Park, Idaho
4. Had just started working for my dad's mortgage company
5. Finishing up my degree at BYU


5 Things on today's "to do" list...
1. Make a bank deposit for my bro
2. BLOG (hee hee)
3. Get a cut & color (priorities)
4. Snuggle my kiddos & read them a bedtime story
5. Punch the timeclock

5 Snacks I enjoy...
1. ICE CREAM
2. Allison gave me some of her awesome apple crisp today- yummy
3. diet coke
4. slimfast
5. yoplait light, creamy yogurt

5 Things I would do if I was a millionaire...
1. buy a pimp house
2. buy a boat
3. pay off all student loans/ debt
4. buy stuff for my loved ones or those in need
5. stash some for a rainy day

5 Places that I've lived...
1. St. George, UT !
2. Florida's east & west coasts
3. Park City, UT
4. Sugarhouse, UT
5. Provo, UT

Day at the Lake

We had a blast today boating at Quail Lake with our friends the Whitneys. It was funny 'cause their son Caleb is one of Toby's best friends, but he had a Boy Scout activity to go to today so we went boating with his family without him (poor Caleb). Toby, Arielle & I all rode behind the boat but Jim decided to save all his back injuries for Lake Powell in a couple weeks (wakeboarding kills his back unfortunately). It was fun watching Alison & Bryce do the "chair thingy", forgetting the name- wake chair maybe? The weather was perfect- calm water, sunny blue sky, refreshing water and not too many boats.

Goodbye Cub Scouts, Hello Boy Scouts

Wow, my little boy is growing up. This past week he earned his Arrow of Light award and moved into Boy Scouts. It was sad to say bye to Sister VanSteveran. She was so sweet with Toby & always planned fun activities where the boys learned a ton. She made a nifty Arrow of Light award for Toby to hang on his wall. She gave Toby a big hug and said she will truly miss him! They have this little tradition in scouting where the "graduate" walks across a bridge made up of sticks held by all the boys in the pack. In all the pack mtgs I've been to I've never seen one of the boys drop a stick...until Toby's night! It was funny and they had to do it over again since Toby fell through the bridge.

Jim's Future Occupation

For those of you who know Jim pretty well, I thought you'd get a kick out of this video. I couldn't get it to post, so you'll have to click on the link. This video will really help you see why Anesthetist is the perfect fit for Jim! As many of you know, he is applying for Anesthetist school. Believe me, it took awhile for me to learn how to say & spell that word (and you'll see on the video that apparently in Britain they spell it differently) Basically Anesthetist's put people to sleep or administer pain relief during surgery or other procedures (like childbirth). Anyway, Jim has applied to his first school of choice (he'll apply to a few) and he's getting ready to take the Graduate Record Exam in a couple weeks. Wish him luck, he's really nervous! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuZl9tRqjoQ

Back to the Daily Grind

I have discovered a little something about myself. I like routine! (on my terms of course) School has started back up again and we're all pretty happy about it. The long "sibling squabbling" days of summer have come to an end. Toby's in 6th grade now and was too cool to have his pic taken on the first day of school. I drove past the bus stop with my camera, but decided to save him the embarrassment and not take the pic. I did, however, roll down my window and tell the 15 nervous 11 & 12 yr. olds that the bus driver called me and said he got held up and he asked me to give them a ride, so they all needed to pile into my car. Ha ha. The looks on their faces was priceless. Toby probably wishes I'd just taken a pic instead! I was nervous for him to ride the bus, change classes and all that "big kid" stuff. He jumped out of bed without having to be woken up by mom or dad and even packed his own lunch a couple of days. He's becoming such a responsible guy. Arielle LOVES her teacher who is so sweet & patient. She loves animals and has a pet bird in the classroom. She has already made a great friend in class (Charlotte) who likes gymnastics, swimming and animals. They're inseparable already with 3 playdates under their belt in the first week! With the school year starting back up so does soccer & piano. Toby's already had a game in Vegas, they went to Vegas and beat those city kids in 2 games back to back. Go Dixie Fire!

I FORGOT MY CAMERA! Whaaah!

Today was Toby's 11th BD Party. It wasn't his "real" birthday today so I'll save the special BD post for later. But as for "the party" was great! I made a list before we left the house to make sure I had everything squared away and everything went off without a hitch until 1/2 way through the party when I realized I FORGOT MY CAMERA!! I was SOOOO sad. We had 9 boys at the pool and they had a blast diving and playing with splash balls. We were lucky to have some friends who were parting with an Xbox and lots of games- they gave us a killer deal. So Toby was ridiculously spoiled with that big gift and also generous amounts of money from most of his friends. I made his favorite cookies (m & m covered chocolate moonpies) which he requested instead of cake. The weather was great, the boys had a blast and if I had just remembered MY CAMERA the day would have been perfect! (I did take a pathetic pic on my cell phone which I don't even know how to post- so just picture in your head nine scrawny 11 year olds posing- yeah some were actually flexing- in front of a pool on a sunny beautiful day. They actually cheerfully cooperated for the pic on my pathetic phone which they would NEVER do if I had a real camera present. )