Chaos

What chaos is going on right now in the family. This week the girls started school. Yea!! Emily is in 5th grade, Kayla is in 3rd grade and Hannah will start kindergarten next week. Wow, what will I do?? Well, I started working on getting my mortgage loan officer license yesterday. It is a 20 hour course that has a three hour test after completion of the 20 hour course. One would think that after 10 plus years in the mortgage industry that this would be a cinch. Ah, no. Most of the info I do know but, wow, a lot of things have changed. I am also doing the crossing guard thing again. That is a cinch.
This week the girls are doing the "Future Falcettes" at Clearfield High. My niece Samantha is on the drill team at the high school and they do a fund raiser which boys and girls learn a dance and then they perform at the first high school football game at half time. The girls did this last year and had a blast. It is a lot of fun for their Dad and I to go and watch them.
Also, they all start soccer this Saturday. We haven't heard anything about Kayla's team yet but Emily and Hannah will overlap some of their games. They all play at different fields, too. I know.....what was I thinking??
Let the chaos begin!

Boating

Our cute neighbors/friends asked us to go boating with them yesterday. Mark had to work so I took the girls and we went to Pineview Reservoir for the day. We had so much fun. The girls haven't been boating before so they were way excited. They spent most of the time in the water swimming and jumping off the boat. Emily got out of the water maybe three times all day. Kayla was pretty much the same way and Hannah got out a few more times. We had lunch on the beach. Kayla rode on a huge tube and was a real trooper and brave. The tube broke and no one else was able to ride it. It was a bummer. The girls slept all the way home and we nursed sunburns last night. We had a great fun.

St. George

We took an opportunity to go to St. George last week thanks to Mark's awesome sister and brother-in-law (we love you guys). Mark's brother-in-law's family owns a condo down there and they let us use it. We left Thursday morning and arrived back home on Saturday night. It was a quick but great trip. We loved it. The weather was perfect. We went to the outlet stores (duh) and I love the Old Navy store down there. We ate at the In-N-Out burger (the absolute best burger hands down). The girls were dying to go swimming so we took them to the Green Valley Resort. They have 3 outdoor pools and 1 indoor pool which the girls played in the most. We had a great friend loan us her portable DVD player so the ride down wouldn't be too miserable for the girls. We are grateful for the opportunity for this quick but relaxing trip.

Anniversary Part 2

For our anniversary, Mark surprised me by taking me to Park City on a little overnighter. It was great fun. He arranged for a babysitter for the girls (thanks Grandma and Grandpa Stratton) and we took off on Thursday evening. We stopped in Salt Lake and had dinner at Macaroni Grill and continued on to PC. We stayed at The Yarrow, very nice hotel. We just hung out which was very, very nice. We wanted to go to Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory but we didn't make it there. Love their carmel apples. Friday we spent the day at the outlets. Torture, torture, torture. Found a couple of bargins at Eddie Bauer (my favorite store ever). I haven't been up there for a while and did not know about a couple of new stores like Columbia Outfitters and Lucky Brand Jeans (my favorite).
It was nice not to hear or answer to the name "Mom" if but for a small moment but I missed it, too. It was great to see the girls come running out of the house when we arrived home. Love those girls of ours. Lucky to have this life of mine. Well, more like blessed.

Anniversary

This Friday will be our 22nd anniversary. Wow. 22 years of marital bliss. Seriously. Total and complete bliss. Thanks Mark for 22 wonderful years. I wouldn't change my life with you for anything in the world. I think anyone who can remain with me for that long deserves a medal.

Now that the serious stuff is over we can talk candidly about the 22 years together and give you a glimpse into our life together (whether you want to or not.) I remember one Christmas, about 19 years ago, that Mark went by himself to get us a tree. Let's just say that he hasn't done it since. He came home with what he thought was a fantastic and beautiful tree. Needless to say, I DID NOT agree with his choice. I said to him, "That is the ugliest tree I have ever seen." He promptly picked it up and threw it out the front door into our front yard and that is where it stayed for a couple of days. We laugh about it now, but it wasn't funny then. Also I remember when we were just barely married and I was brave and I had to...lets say...toot. One would think that I would retire to the bathroom but it was late and I was already in bed and too lazy to get up. I tried very carefully to do it quietly. Not so fortunate. I tooted. Mark sat up in bed and said with all seriousness, "Was that a shotgun?!" I laughed so hard that it took a solid two minutes before I could tell him that it was me. We still laugh about it to this day.
I hope that you have enjoyed this little glimpse into our lives. I have thoroughly enjoyed the past years of my married life. We are very blessed to have 3 beautiful and bright girls. I hope that we are fortunate to have many many more years of happiness.
I love you Mark.

4th of July

Happy 4th of July, everyone. Sorry it's late. Always a day late and a dollar short. Isn't everyone?? We had a great holiday. We had a BBQ with our neighbors and did fireworks. Most of our neighbors came. Our neighbors across the street were able to get a giant BBQ and we were able to BBQ all the meat at the same time. People brought salads and desserts. Mark and I made home-made ice cream. The best ever. It was great fun. The party was a great success. We will make it a tradition.

Sorry but I do need to complain. What is with these "pop-its"? They (manufactures) fill small white paper with gun powder and pebbles that pop when they hit the ground or a person. Then they market it to children. WHAT??? Hannah threw one at me and it popped when it hit my leg. It hurt. Then I caught Hannah popping one in her hand. She thought it was great fun. I'm sorry but gun powder, rocks and children???....great combination???....I think NOT. My Hannah loves the 4th of July. She asked me all last week about it. She loves the fireworks. I think she is a pyro.

Privacey?? What's that??

I am always bombarded with questions by my lovely girls when.... 1) I am on the phone trying to have an adult conversation, 2) Talking with a neighbor/friend face to face or 3) Using the restroom (my personal favorite). They (every Mom) say that if you want your children's attention, do one of these things and you will have it. This is so very true. Every single time I get on the phone, the girls always find me and ask questions like, "Mom, can we have lunch?" or "what are we having for lunch/dinner?" It's 10 in the morning. Or, "Mom, I NEED to talk to you." What makes matters worse, is that they compete with each other for my attention or they compete with the person I am conversing with. But since the girls got out of school, my favorite one is, and it always happens when I am in the restroom.... "Mom, can we go to Lagoon today?" Are you kidding me??? Can't you wait one small, tiny moment so that I can do what I need to do before we start the questions??? Mom?, Mom?, Mom?. Sometimes, I don't answer hoping that they will give up and stop looking for me, but no such luck. I have always told them that I am changing my name and not telling anyone what it is. That will teach them. What I wouldn't give to get a little privacey.