THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving was great! Here's the low-down, or down-low - whatever.

Wednesday we had a visit and lunch with Grandma & Grandpa Cash (on their way to Dave & Robyn's). Then we met up with Obo & Aba (TJay's parents) and drove down to Price where we ate at Grog's (very, very yummy food); then we continued down to Moab where we had rented a house: 3 bedroom, 3 bath, living room, full kitchen - it was very nice (for the same price as a motel room).

Thursday we woke up to rain - it poured all day - but we still went to Arches National Park. It was very cool to see the park in the rain, we didn't hike that day, but could still drive around and see the park. We ate at Denny's (it was open and we didn't need reservations) and went to the movies. The kids & I saw Bolt (Ky & I wanted to see Twilight, but Trey won out); TJay & his parents saw James Bond.

Friday the rain had stopped, but it was still very cloudy. We hiked to some arches and saw the northern part of the park. It was fun to see the park partly covered in clouds, it brought a whole new dimension. We ate pizza at Zax (again, very good food).

Saturday was our final day of vacation and the sun was out & bright! We hiked to the windows, double arch and the others in the lower part of the park. It was outstanding! We had the best time and loved all of the climbing and hiking. We went to Green River and ate at Ray's Tavern (it was then we realized that everywhere we ate - except Denny's - was a bar). Very yummy hamburgers!

We had the most fun and loved our little holiday vacation!

Tagged!

I got tagged . . . here are the rules:

1. Go to your pictures file.

2. Go to the 4th file.

3. Go to the 4th picture.

4. Post it and tell the story.

I tag: TJay (who has to do the 5th picture in the 5th file, since we share pictures); Nisa, Julie & Gina.

This is a picture of Alyssa (5 years old) and Treyson (1 1/2 years old - notice the beautiful blonde curls!) collecting eggs Easter morning 2005. We love to egg hunt, and after the initial finding of eggs, we take turns re-hiding and re-finding (this can last for hours). We still love doing that. I have to include a second picture of Trey & Kylie (8 years old) looking for eggs.

Aren't they cute?

Tagged!

I got tagged . . . here are the rules:

1. Go to your pictures file.

2. Go to the 4th file.

3. Go to the 4th picture.

4. Post it and tell the story.

I tag: TJay (who has to do the 5th picture in the

TWILIGHT

Well, you knew it was coming . . . the Twilight report. It was AWESOME! My cousins wife's sister (ya, follow that one) rented out a theater for the Twilight premier. So a few cousins, Kylie, Robyn Cash & I went along with 160 other people (I actually saw a former neighbor there while we were in line). There was popcorn & soda waiting for us (Kylie heard some lady say, "why do they get special treatment?!"). We had great seats: 3rd row center (the upper 3rd row, not the too close to the screen 3rd row). Gina (cousin's wife) and her sisters made apple cookies for everyone, handed out "party favors": prizes for best dressed (aka: wearing t-shirts) and spa coupons to everyone! They really made a party out of it. They are too cute!

We loved the movie & can't wait to go see it again (Lyssa gets to come with us next time). I loved the actors they chose, the cheesy parts, the not-so cheesy parts, everything. My favorite parts were the vampires running & jumping and when Alice killed James. :) After the movie, Gina's mom had a party at her house with a Twilight cake (we didn't go there because I'd been sick). It was great! If they do it again for New Moon - we are totally there! I can't wait for New Moon to come out! Thanks for the fun, Gina!

This ends the TWILIGHT report.

There is gross info below.

Read at your own Risk!!

Sick: I've been sick for almost a week now! YUCK. I HATE being sick. It began last Tuesday (Nov. 11) with a telltale throat tickle. I tried treating with natural rememdies, then added my prescription decongestant (left over from last spring's sinus infection). By Tuesday (18th) I was sooooooo miserable, I went to the doctor and got an anti-biotic and nose spray (stay on the decongestant). He said I had a sinus infection & ear infection. By Wednesday, it had moved into my chest for a little bronchitis. (Sad that I'm so sick often, I know exactly what I get and when). Luckily Wed & Thurs were half days at school, so I could go there and come home to nap. Friday was no school, but I woke up feeling a bit nauseous. When Trey went to school, I took the girls to the mall to get Twilight shirts (only feeling like vomiting a couple of times), went to see Robyn at work and puked on University Ave in Provo. Picked up Trey, went home, vomitted, napped and woke up to go to Twilight (I'm crazy, but I couldn't NOT go - and I felt better after the last trip to the bowl). I thought it was my amoxicillin that made me sick. So on Saturday, after I was feeling better, I took the amoxicillin with food, so I'd be ok. Well, you guessed it, sick again. So, now that I'm feeling a bit better - and eating again, I'm NOT going to take the meds again. I guess I'll call the doc tomorrow and see if I should take something else since, I'm only half-way through the 10 day kill the bug spree. But, I'm feeling a little better - Finally! :)

Smokin . . .

Well, I decided to vacuum on Saturday (dang cold weather, I should be at the lake on Saturday), that was my first mistake. I was vacuuming the living room and heard a funny noise. Then I smelled smoke. Then I looked down and saw smoke billowing out of my vacuum cleaner. First I hollered, then I turned the blasted machine off, unplugged it and set it outside. It is now in residence in the garbage can. I went to buy a new one (I was only part way done with the front room), and TJay said he'd come and we'd look at TV's. So, what did we come home with? If you guessed a new vacuum, you'd be wrong. We bought a TV (TJay's story will differ, he'll claim it was all me, he didn't want to buy one, yada-yada). So, I guess I get to go on Monday to purchase a new vacuum, again not finished vacuuming. So, if you come over, don't look at my half vacuumed front room (or, maybe do, but only the vacuumed side not the unvacuumed side. Kind of a glass half full sort of scenerio). If you have any advice on what kind of a vacuum to get (think cheap; not bagless) then please let me know. :)

TWILIGHT!!

TWILIGHT!!TWILIGHT!! I am soooooooooo excited. I've been reading Midnight Sun online and it's getting me so excited for the movie on Friday! I'm also totally thrilled to be going with my sweet Kylie. She is so excited, especially to see Jacob (a total hottie - according to Ky). She is so excited too. We've been looking forward to this for a long time.

In other exciting news . . . I had a date last night with my sweet Lyssa. We had the most fun. We started out going to the chiropractor for adjustments and a 10 minute massage (Lyssa's first professional massage). We went to Chili's for dinner and ate dessert first - just in case we didn't have room for it after we ate our dinner. Then we took Trey to Dave & Robyn's for his sleepover (we always love to see Dave & Robyn!). Then we went to Roberts and after looking over the entire store for the perfect craft, we found what we wanted to do: paint. So we bought some way cute things, rented a chick flick and went home to watch a movie & do crafts. We made hot cocoa, of course, while we painted and watched. It was great to have some one to one time with Alyssa. Sometimes she feels left out, being the middle child and all, but I want her to remember that she is an important and loved part of our family!

Treyson . . . can't be left out. Friday he had his Adaptive PE test (gross motor skills) and he ROCKED! Last year when he was tested, he scored at 13% (7% is severely delayed; 12% is moderately delayed; 50% is normal). So the district supervisor qualified him for services. After one year: The supervisor thinks Trey's score will be around 60-70%! That is a huge difference in a year. The man testing Trey was so suprised at how far he was getting on the test. Treyson even did things on his own that he needed to be tested on. Treyson is awesome & I'm so proud of him! (Even if he didn't want to come home from Dave & Robyn's and wanted a longer sleepover). :)

TJay . . . this is a longer blog than I'd planned, but I can't leave my sweetie out. He is leaving for Seattle tomorrow. He'll be gone to a PASS conference for SQL for the week. Back on Saturday, we will miss our Daddy! He will have a lot of fun and do a lot of networking and learn a lot, so that is good. And, while he is gone . . . TWILIGHT!! (I had to return to it).

Just Happy

This is just a happy blog, so if you're grumpy go ahead and skip it. :) I'm just feeling good today (maybe because I don't have to go to the gym until tonight, so I'm having a leisurely computer morning).
Kylie is a BEAR to get up in the morning: it goes like this, "Kylie, get up" (kind of softly spoken by me). "KY, it's time to get up" (hollered a bit more harshly). "Kylie get out of bed NOW! You're going to be late for school! (so, now I'm a WEE bit cranky & harsh). Sometimes it's repeated and lectures and yelling (both ways). Followed by "have a great day at school". (ya, right, like that's going to happen now.) So, after one of these all too harsh mornings (in which I yelled at my sweet hubby for suggesting I was being a bit too mean), TJay (who wakes up the same way Ky does - BAD) suggested I begin the mornings by just laying down with her and hugging her. So, I've tried that, I get up earlier so that I can crawl in bed next to my Ky and just lay there by her giving her hugs. Guess what? It works beautifully! Ky gets up (still not right away, but eventually), I feel good, we always get some time alone together (everyone else s still asleep), and the morning starts off beautifully. So, my mornings go better now. :)
Also, I was so worried last week about parent-teacher conference, it's always a bit nerve-wracking, sometimes parents suprise you with bad vibes. But 24 out of 27 parents showed up (yeah) and it went so well. :) And, it's over!
Wednesday, I get to go to a fireside to listen to one of my favorite authors (not Stephenie Meyer): Rachel Ann Nunes. She wrote the Ariana series which a fun LDS novel series. I'm excited for that.
More good news, we are finalizing our Thanksgiving trip to Moab plans and I'm so excited. We are renting a house with 3 rooms and a kitchen, for about the price of a motel room. We will be going to Canyonlands and Arches and I'm just getting excited for hiking around with the kids. We had such a great time last month, I'm excited to be going again.
Next week, our school has 2 half days and Friday off! woo hoo! I'm excited for that. Friday is my date with Kylie (and Robyn Cash and a bunch of webb cousins) to see Twilight! In Kylie's words, "the guy who plays Jacob Black is a hottie!" (she is right, have you seen pictures of him?) The other two get to play with Uncle Davey, since Daddy will be gone to Seattle all next week (i feel a chocolate pancake dinner coming up).
So, anyway, I'm just happy right now. (knock on wood). And happy I got to sit and get caught up on my friends' blogs and blog a bit this morning. I love lazy, rainy mornings. I don't have to go in to work until 11:30. Perfect! (Gina, thanks for drawing an eye for me - it's up on the bulletin board because it's our eye unit now.) :)

Election Blues

Well, it's sad but true, Sarah Palin won't be in the white house (I pretended it was her running). Now we have 4 years of Obama. I keep hearing, give him a chance, he may turn more centrist than far left. Pelosi & Reid may not run away with a huge liberal agenda. So, I will wait and see. I will support President Obama until he proves that liberal socialism is what his true identity is. I hope the Democratic rulers will right the economy, better public education and save social security. I also hope they'll take care of the oil crisis and stay in Iraq until it's safe for us to leave - and not have to go back later to finish the job. I hope Obama finds Osama (that's just fun to say) and the major test will be handled better than Biden seems to think it will be. I wonder if Obama will find as he sits in the Oval Office that it's not as cut and dried as he thinks it will be. I hope he doesn't bankrupt coal companies and cause more job loss. So I will pray for my country, for my leaders, and hope for the best.

Halloween

I don't know how to do those cute collages. :) But I still wanted to post all of our wonderful spooks for this year.

Kylie was a "dead corpse bride". She bought a bride outfit and splattered it with "blood". The funny thing is one of her good friends from school did the exact same thing (same dress even) and they didn't plan it. They had talked about being goth brides, but then didn't plan it out anymore. I guess great minds think alike. :) Her friend came over to trick-or-treat and have a sleepover, so they looked like twins.

Alyssa was a beautiful brunette witch. Our neighbor didn't even recognize her with long, BROWN hair. She loved it and as always is so generous. She loved getting made-up. She even got to wear her costume to her dance class this week and thought that was great!

Treyson is IRON MAN. He was so funny because when people would say, "hey, Iron Man". Trey would lift up his mask and say, "I'm really Treyson. I'm just being Iron Man for Halloween." He is such a funny fellow. We would start walking to a house and he would say, "that's not the house I want to go to", and he'd refuse to go. So, we went to some houses in our neighborhood, and some were skipped.

TJay was dressed up as a horror movie person (Ok, I'm bad at keeping them straight, he had a hockey-type white mask on, green jumpsuit - like prison clothes and a sword). He sat by the candy outside (unseasonably warm that night - NICE!) and would point with his sword to the candy when kids said "trick-or-treat". He hid his blackberry behind his sword and played games all night - and twittered.

I sprayed my hair black in the morning and Ky saw me and said, "mom, you're Bella". So, I was Bella Cullen (read Twilight). I decided I wanted to be Bella Cullen instead of Swan because she was beautiful and not so clumsy. We had lots of fun. We went to TJay's office to do trick-or-treating before heading home to the neighborhood. We have more candy than we should ever eat! :)

We love Halloween!

W