A Little Service

Darryl's tree trimming skills have brought him great enjoyment.  Not only does he receive joy for helping others but he has fun trimming the trees-- especially if he gets to take it all the way to the ground.  :-)   He'd seen on Facebook that  a single lady had some trees she needed help with so today after he returned to Heber from a business trip he loaded his truck and ran over to take out some trees before the sun went down.  Well he didn't beat the sun but he kept working anyway.  There was a little light when he dropped the last tree.  It was fun for the boys and I to help too by piling all the branches and logs.

I Want To Ride My Bicycle

We enjoy a good bike ride and tonight the boys were begging to ride to the playground at Kade's school.  We took Kia along to get his walk in.  He was in heaven; unsniffed territory--and LOTS of it!!!

The FORT

The boys were having a great time today playing downstairs. My mom came this weekend to make chili rellenos with me so we could use up the chilies from her garden.  We made exactly 100 chili rellenos! We fried 79 of them and just froze 21 of them stuffed.  To make them we had to use 10 lbs of cheese and 57 eggs-- Crazy!  Anyway, back to the boys. . .  Every so often I would spot one of them passing by the kitchen carrying items but I wasn't' paying close enough attention to know what they had; they looked like busy little ants.  I had no idea what they were up to but they seemed very happy and entertained so I was pleased.  After a while their voices rang out, "Mom! Grandma!  Come and see our fort."  They used all the chairs in the house, couches, mini trampoline, safety pins, clothespins, a roll of tape, and all the blankets we have lying around.  It was a palace.  They were so proud and super excited when I agreed to let them sleep in the fort.

Happy Birthday To Me!

Darryl is leaving for another trip tomorrow, which happens to be my birthday, so we decided to go out for sushi tonight.  His travel schedule has been super crazy since the end of August and will be until the end of October.  He goes on a trip and then comes home and leaves the next day or sometimes we get him for one full day before he leaves again.  Pretty crazy but thankfully it's not always that bad.  Needless to say it was a nice to spend some time together and the food was wonderful!

What Does Busy Look Like For You?

At Lake Powell I met Sathanuman and he asked me what I've been up to lately.  I replied, "You know just being busy."  He asked, "What does busy look like for you?"  I thought for a minute but saying that I run the boys around to their activities just didn't seem to cover the whole day, so I figured he'd ask what I did when I wasn't running them around.  The days seem to fly by and it seems there is never a moment of rest so what do I do?  It has been a while since I documented a day in the life of us so I decided to keep track so I could remember what a typical day would be like.  Every "activity" goes until the next time is stated so every moment is accounted for(I did squeeze bathroom breaks in somewhere--ha ha).  Each day is pretty much the same thing but the activities may be a little different; I may be cleaning a bathroom, weeeding flower beds, doing laundry, fixing bike tires nad such, taking kids to different types of activities, etc. but everyday(with the exception of Saturday and Sunday) are all pretty much the same. SO... Sathanuman here is what I've been up to.  I finally answered your question. :-)

6:00 Kade usually gets up and starts his reading

6:30 I get up, get dressed , and ready to workout

6:55  Start workout

8:00 Make lunches, eat breakfast, check homework, get dressed for work, put Clint's shoes in the laundry

8:30 Send boys off to school and finish getting ready for work

8:45 Drive to work

8:55 Start class

9:50 Dismiss class and answer questions

10:05 Drive to library to take back books, then go home

10:15 Drive to Redmond Minerals to do shopping at Real Foods and take salsa and Tomato juice Mom and I bottled this weekend to Ron

10:40 Get home, empty car, feed Kia, put Clint's shoes on the shoe dryer, fold laundry and put it away, play a quick, new version, of a game Cole made up

11:15 Get Coles' lunch ready, eat, and finish folding laundry and putting it away while he eats

11:50 Clean up lunch and start dishwasher

12:00 Start mowing lawns

12:10 Bike Cole to school

12:20 Finish mowing lawns

1:30 Spray off and put the lawn mower away

1:40 Take cucumbers to the Harneys

1:45 Go to post office to mail letters and a package to Gary

2:10 Bike to school to get Cole and stay for Clint's SSP(parent teacher conference)

3:00 Bike home

3:05 Help everyone with homework, cut apples and cucumbers, and warm up bran muffins for snacks

3:10 Pest control guy comes and we keep doing homework, but Kade bikes to scouts

3:20 Pest Control guy leaves and we keep doing homework

3:30 Start making dinner

4:20 Kade home from scouts, help Kade with homework and keep working on dinner

4:45 Leave to drop off Kade and Clint

5:00 Drop Clint off at violin

5:15 Drop Kade off at gym

5:20 Grab purse from home

5:25 Fuel up the van

5:35 Arrive at violin lady's house, and grade papers in the car

5:50 Clint is done

6:00 Get home finish dinner prep and setting the table

6:30 Darryl gets home and we chat while I finish in the kitchen(he's been on a business trip to Canada so we haven't chatted for a while since phone rates are a little much)

7:05 Darryl goes to get Kade from gym, Cole and Clint come and wash their hands for dinner

7:20 Everyone is home and we eat

7:45 Boys shower, I clean up the kitchen and help Cole get ready for bed

8:30 Tuck the boys in bed

8:50 Enter homework scores

9:00 Watch a show with Darryl

10:30 Get ready for bed

11:00 Go to bed

Rollin' Easter Eggs!

So what do you think we'd be doing on September 19th??? How about rolling our Easter eggs.  Yep!  We never had time back in April so I kept those eggs in the fridge thinking I'd run the boys up a hill sometime and we'd get it done.  Well here we are in the middle of September and my fridge has stunk for about 6 months and we're finally doing something with those eggs!  Kade and Clint wanted to do the traditional shooting the eggs so we packed their BB guns and the eggs when we went to visit Grandma this weekend.  We were going down to help Grandma make salsa, V-8 juice, and pickles-- what a busy weekend.  Cole wanted to do the traditional roll the eggs so I drove him up to the hills on the west side of Aurora and he rolled his, all 12 rotten eggs!  Man was that stinky!  As they say, "Better late than never!!!" 

Kade the Co-pilot

Kade has been working as staff on the last Lake Powell trip for the past 5 days.  He said it was a ton  of work because they had about half the number of kids than they usually have.  All the hard work was forgotten when Darryl told him he could fly home in the airplane.  The day just got better though when the pilot offered the co-pilot seat to Kade.  He was thrilled.

Workin' At Powell

Kade headed down to Powell with Ron & Lisa this morning to work as staff.  He was very happy to have the opportunity to go and spend more time in paradise, and work a little while he was there.  I met Lisa and Ron in Orem and the whole way there Kade was like a caged animal and chatterbox.  He couldn't stop talking and wiggling while we were waiting for them and the rendezvous and so I told him to get out and run around the parking lot to burn off some energy.  He didn't even question it.  He immediately jumped out of the car and was running around the empty lot.  It was funny.    While at Powell they had some crazy weather.  One night they had 50-60 mph winds-- pretty scary down there.  The highlight of the trip for Kade was the day he got up on the slalom ski.  He was SO happy.

Webelo Woods

Kade just spent the entire day at scout camp, 6 am to 6 pm.  He said it was one of the best days of his life.  Everything a scouter does is everything he wants to do.  I'm so thankful programs like this exist and there are amazing people that carry them out!  He passed off many requirements and is very close now to earning his Webelo patch.

Webelos Woods

Sept 12

Kade just really loves most everything about scouting. It really is a program that is just designed around his personality. Today he had Webelos Woods, basically a day camp. They left at 6 am and got home about 6 pm. When Kade arrived home he bursted through the door and announced, "Best day ever!"  I love that he has something he finds so wonderful.

Inmates are Everyday People

Sept9th.

We had a terrific Young Men and Young Women activity tonight. We got to tour the county jail and then hear from two inmates. It was eye opening for many of the kids to see that the inmates weren't scary looking or didn't seem "evil." The inmates talked about how they were so similar to each of the kids there but then they started dabbling with drugs and it was a slippery slope from that landed them on an undesirable course. They talked about how hard it is to stick to living the life they really want to live because the drugs have such a hold on them and once they use they usually end up doing something to get themselves locked up. One of the jail wardens told us a very sad statistic. He said that even though the inmates seem to be thinking clearly now and are very determined to never do anything that would get them in trouble with the law, they have a 86% chance they will be back in jail within six months after their release. I think that was surprising to the kids because the two inmates that talked to us seemed like they were genuinely fixed and they didn't seem like repeat offenders. Before tonight I think in the kids minds, they thought people in jail were just worthless human beings. After tonight I think they saw that it's just someone like them that made a bad choice.  One of the inmates talked about how his drug addiction stemmed from him feeling worthless and now he realizes the worth he does possess. I hoped all the youth really heard what he was saying and realized their own worth, and not to underestimate it.  One of the most powerful messages the inmates shared was that after they had messed up they felt like they were completely worthless. They said if they would have realized that their worth wasn't determined by their mistakes, and just dealt with their choices, they would not have turned to the drugs and become dependent on them.  I hope the youth know that they will make mistakes, because we all do, but one choice isn't all you get--you get trillions, if you choose to keep going!  It was such a great night and I'm sure those immmates shaped the lives of many who were there.

Here We Go!

Darryl just pulled the houseboat out of the dock and is headed to the shoreline where the Redmond leadership retreats will be for the next 10 days.  It's a rough job-- really it is, but the dividends are pretty great.  I know I've said it before but it is just so wonderful to me that a company has created an awesome opportunity for it's employees to bond with their coworkers; evaluate, ponder, and discuss ideas; and rejuvenate their souls.  They talk a lot about it being an investment for the company and I see how they get a great return on their investment.  Thanks Redmond Minerals!

Theater Junkies

Sept. 5thYes, we went to another play with the Goodes tonight. We had our date scheduled at the Hale long before we knew about the play we went to last night. :-)

We love a good show and so we didn't mind going back to back.

TVT's The Curious Savage

Sept. 4thWe love a good play and The Curious Savage is one of our favorites,  so we couldn't pass up watching Timpanogus Valley Theater's production tonight. The Goodes love any chance they can get to go too so they came along with us. It was a fun show and spending time with Darryl and the Goodes made it even better.

Special Moment

Sept. 3rd

Tonight Wendy and I went over to my old neighbor's house, the Chavez'. Their son was murdered in Mexico and they were having a service of some sort and she invited us to come. We didn't know what to expect. It ended up being a 2.5 hour ceremony of everyone chanting in Spanish, but it was pretty special to be apart of it. I really think it meant a lot to Maria to have us there and so I was happy to be there for her.  Turns out they do the ceremony for 9 days and so she invited us to come back but there was just no way I could do it this week. I hope she receives peace soon.

Kindergarten--Yes!

Cole was so excited to start kindergarten, until someone told him he'd have to math.  He didn't even know what that meant but whoever it was made it clear to him that it was awful.  Grrrrr!  Not sure who would ever say such a thing-- guarantee it wasn't me!  I think I may have successfully calmed his fears and now he's just excited again.  It's so great that he loves school so much.  I hope he always does.  This year he has Ms. Mahoney, and Maestro Valero.  Here's hoping he too has a spectacular year!