Cherry Hill Waterpark

We went to Cherry Hill Water park today. It was so much fun. Most of the time I was in the lazy river. Emily was super tired, so she just hung out with me and mostly slept. Yes, she is asleep in this picture. Ethan and Isaac played in the lazy river, but most of their time was trying to dunk each other. They were having a blast. They also went down the rapids part of the park 4 times. I went down once and was always stuck behind little girls in trains of four. It was impossible to get around them. They went so very slow. The lines were huge for the rapids so I decided not to go again. Issac stayed the night before at his friend, Luke Priest, and he had a lot of fun there. He did not get much sleep staying with Luke though. Hopefully, he will go to bed earlier than the rest of the nights.

Emily is also asleep here, but she just was sprayed by one of the water features. She did not like that much at all.

My New Condo!!! Finally!!!!

Here is my new condo. I am finally in a place of my own. My kids are so excited also. It is such a great place that is stocked with everything. All I had to buy was food for the refrigerator. It had all the cleaning supplies and utensils. All the utensils and pans are Kitchen Aid brand also. They spared no expense in outfitting this place. Everything that was put in it was brand new last week. I am truly lucky or blessed to find such a great place for my kids and I. I even got a great deal on the place. It also has a washer and dryer. So no going to the laudromat. Yea!! I have a two car garage also.

A Great Day!

I had a great day the other day with some of my friends. It started out at one of my favorite restaurants.(Do not ask me why. I do not know.) We went to the Spaghetti factory and it was great. I was so hungry because I did not have enough time for breakfast. I know, it is very bad to skip breakfast. It was also so late in the afternoon when we finally ate lunch. So I got the hearty meal and all my friends thought I was crazy. They did not think I could finish it. Guess what? I finished it and I also finished first.(Probably not something to be proud of) I also could not leave without having the spumoni ice cream. Yum! Yum!



After the spaghetti factory we went golfing at an amazing course. It was the Jeremy Country Club course. It was simply amazing in design and beauty. It was one of the hardest courses I have been on. I lost 13 golf balls on the 15 holes we played. It was to late in the evening to finish all the 18 holes. It was the first time I played since last year and I was just messing around the whole time. I was the comic relief for my friends I am sure. I do not think I drove them too crazy with my antics. I hope not because I really want them to invite me to play golf again. I did not keep score because it would definitely be an all time high score.


What beautiful holes at this course. There was one hole that there was the tee box I drove from and then I had to get on the green or lose my ball. There was no fairway! It was crazy, but I did manage to get on the green with my drive. I did not lose a ball on that hole and it amazed my friends because it was one of the only holes I did not lose a golf ball. After golf, we went to the house and had amazing fajitas for dinner. It was a great day! I now have the kids for this week and we are having fun shopping for school clothes and other various activities. Tonight I get the keys to my new condo. Yea! I am so excited. I did love being at my friend's house for so long, but it is time to move on. My next post will be pictures of the new condo. It will be a great place to live. I think my kids will love it. It has a lot of fun things to do there. See Ya!

How cool was The Dark Knight?

This show was the coolest!!!!! I would love to see it again, but not at 12 midnight. If anybody is interested, please contact me;) It was not much fun to get home at almost 3 a.m. and work the next morning at 9 a.m. I was very tired the next day and the next picture is what I thought about that day at work.
I should just insert my picture(minus the coffee cup).

John Mayer/Colbie Calliet concert

John Mayer was amazing as a guitarist and singer. I was really surprised how much I liked the concert. He told stories about the songs and was comical when he talked to the audience. The sound of the concert was great. Every song you could hear what he was saying and it was the first concert that I could hear after. I would recommend seeing him if he is in concert again. It was a great time!

Ronnie was so excited to be at the concert. She was in La La land while watching John Mayer. She really liked the concert and especially John and his moves. We also went with Whitney Sorenson and she had a blast also.

John Mayer doing what he does best.

Colbie Calliet playing Bubbly. Colbie was who I wanted to see the most, but she was kind of boring compared to John Mayer. There was not a lot of energy from her show. John Mayer was definitely high energy. All in all it was a great time.

What do you beleive?

" Sometimes the things that may or may not be true are the things a man needs to believe in the most. That people are basically good. That honour, courage and virtue mean everything ; that power and money ... money and power mean nothing. That good always triumphs over evil. And I want you to remember this.... that love....true love never dies ! Remember that boy ... remember that. Doesn't matter if it is true or not, a man should believe in those things , because those are the things worth believing in...... got that ? " Robert Duvall acting as Uncle Hub in Secondhand Lions telling all young men what they should believe.

Here is a story without an author but is similar to the quote above. They both have wisdom in them that we must take with us everyday and instill them in our hearts to what is the best way to live life.

An old Cherokee was teaching his grandchildren about life. He said to them, "A battle is raging inside me ... it is a terrible fight between two wolves. One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego. The other stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."
The old man fixed the children with a firm stare. "This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too."
They thought about it for a minute and then one child asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"
The old Cherokee replied: "The one you feed." Anonymous

Scout Camp 2008

I went to Ethan's scout camp for 2 days. It was a blast! I hung out with the crew and had yummy food(not!). It was definitely better than last years fare of dehydrated everything. This year it actually looked like food you could possibly stomach. I went with Ethan to his merit badge classes to make sure he did not skip or fall asleep. He was up most nights until 2 a.m. He was having the time of his life trying to cause trouble in a good way. One bad thing happened though, while I was coming back from the camp on the dirt road, a rock hit my oil pan and put a nice sized hole in it. I did not notice until I was at a grocery store in Driggs, Idaho. When I came out of the store there was oil spilled everywhere. It was a lovely site. So I was stuck in Driggs for a few hours until my friend Matt picked me up and hauled me to Idaho Falls with a tow truck. I stayed overnight in Idaho Falls and waited until 2 p.m. the next day for my car to be fixed. I was supposed to be to work by 12, but I did not get there until 5 p.m. oops!! I did meet up with one of my good friends, Brad, when I was in Driggs waiting. We had a great steak dinner and passed the time by chatting for a few hours. I was lucky that he was down from Bozeman, MT for a family reunion. It all worked out in a good way:) I spent time with my son and some great friends. How can it get any better!!

Ethan, looking like all the boys that have not taken a shower for 4 days. They smelled even better than they looked. Wow!!

Music is Life!!

Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing

Thanks for all the joy they're bringing

Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty

What would life be?

Without a song or a dance, what are we?

So I say thank you for the music

For giving it to me!!!!!!!

-Anonymous


Music I currently like (Most of these bands I like because I went to Vans Warped Tour in SLC with my son on June 28th) It was very cool to be there, minus all the tatoo freaks, but it was so very hot outside:


We the Kings - You need to check these guys out. Their album is so very good. Every song is a story that you want to hear over and over. The band signed autographs for Ethan and he was so excited. They signed a picture for him and his Vans t-shirt.



The Academy is - I have not listened to the album yet, but the band was great. They were very upbeat.



Cobra Starship - Minus the swearing, this band is so very high energy. They were the best at the Warped tour in showmanship. My son loves these guys. I do not blame him.


Others from the tour I like currently are Color Me Fred, and Reel Big Fish.

Bands I am currently listening to a lot are Something Corporate, Jack's Mannequin(Something Corporate's lead singer), Secondhand Serenade, and Death Cab for Cuties' new album.

I love music!!!! It puts joy and sunshine in my little life when there is so much gloom and darkness around at times.

I am going to several concerts in the next few weeks. I am very excited. My next concert is going to be the Flobots - July 18th at the Avalon(Yes, I know they are very angry individuals and have so much angst, politically speaking, but they are fun to listen to), John Mayer/Colbie Calliet - July 21st at USANA (Who I am currently living with roped me into this one. I am not a huge fan of either one of the performers, but it will still be a fun time.), and Secondhand Serenade - August 23rd at the Murray Theater(I missed them last time they were here at Thanksgiving Point, but he is coming back. His songs are my life story now and I feel solace listening to him.) I am going to also try to visit the Gallivan Centers concerts when I get a chance. I will not be able to go this week because I am going to Ethan's scout camp in the middle of this week. My next pictures will come from scout camp. How fun!!!!

Things 2008

Someone wanted me to do this little informational blog. So here it goes.

Jobs

1. General Manager for Staples inc. for the last 10 years. 1998 - present Yeah, I know it is a freaking long time.

2. Manager for Pedersen's Ski and Sports - Snowboarding, skiing, mountain biking, and roller blading shop. I was actually in the basement of Crossroads Mall working from 1992 to 1998. I miss Crossroads mall in the good old days.

3. Franklin-Covey day planners - I was a tele-sales associate that tried to sell their full day day planning seminars. It was short lived - only 4 months.

4. Lab technician at the University of Utah - Genetic epidemiology. My major, believe it or not, was Human Genetics. Yes it does sound like a bunch of B.S.

Movies to re-watch

1. Anything by John Hughes - Sixteen Candles, Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I am sure there are many more, whatever they are I love them.

2. Any Pixar movie I could watch many times except for wall- E. Emily's current pixar favorite is Finding Nemo.

3. Any Indiana Jones movie.

4. Current movie I have liked this year - Get Smart

Places I have lived

1. Currently live in Park City, Utah from 2006 - present. It is amazing! I love to be outside and breathe the mountain air. It makes me feel so alive.

2. Idaho Falls - 1998- 2000 and 2001 - 2006 (I will need to explain later). A big dust bowl that the wind blows constantly. There is really nothing to do there. You need to drive almost an hour to get to anything worth doing. I lived there for almost 8 years before Park City. why? Now I know why nobody wanted to visit us while we were there.

3. Olympia, Washington - 2000 - 2001 It was a beautiful place to live. We were there for only a short time, but it was so green and an hour from the Pacific Ocean, Seattle, and Portland.

4. I forgot Twin Falls, Idaho. Twin Falls is my hometown. I lived there until I was 18, then I went to U of U for school. I lived back in Twin Falls between 1996 and 1998. This is where I first owned my own house. It was short lived because Pedersen's ski and sports went out of business in the Idaho stores. Therefore, I needed to find a new job which brought me to Staples in Idaho Falls.

5. Salt Lake City - while going to school at the University of Utah. 1992-1996

6. Provo - I went to BYU after my mission for one year to get residency.

7. Oklahoma for 2 years on my mission

TV shows

1. Gossip Girl - I know kind of girlie, but it is actually good.
2. One Tree Hill - I love Peyton!
3. Lost - Intriguing
4. Scrubs - very funny!

Places I have been

1. Cancun
2. Maui
3. Victoria
4. On a cruise - Matzalan, Puerto Vallarta, and Cabo San Lucas
5. I have not been there yet but I really want to go to the Mediterranean :) Maybe this October. I need to use my new passport.

Favorite Food

1. Chunky Monkey Ice Cream

2. Jalapeno cream cheese poppers

3. Anything Mexican

4. A good salad or soup from Whole Foods - I go there almost everyday.

Favorite Drinks

1. Rockstar Juiced - unfortunately I am addicted

2. Izzie sodas - any flavors - they are pretty healthy - no caffeine and 70% fruit juice - 2 whole servings of fruit in every bottle. My kids love them!

3. Water only in a bottle

Places I'd rather be

1. On a beach anywhere in the world

2. Anywhere but work

3. The outlet malls in Park City especially Bannana Republic

4. At the temple - I go every week and that is almost not enough. It is an amazing place that keeps me focused on what is right and true.

I hope you enjoyed this :)

July 4th Weekend

Here are the cousins playing together. They had a blast playing ball and playing on the trampoline. We also went to Kung Fu Panda, which was suprisingly funny. It was a lot better than Wall - E.
Just don't tell Emily I said that. She loves Wall-E. I hope your 4th was as enjoyable as ours.
Here is a video of sky jumpers coming down into the stadium during the opening ceremonies. 5 jets from the Air Force also flew over the stadium during the opening. Emily loved the jets.
We went to the Stadium of Fire at the BYU Stadium for the 4th of July. We had a great time with Maria, Ed, Noah, Taya, and Ian. The Blue Man group and Miley Cyrus performed for the show. Isaac was in awe the whole time watching Miley. We could not hear very well because of all the girls screaming, "We love Miley". She has quite a fan club. Glenn Beck was also the announcer for the show. He was very patriotic. He made me proud of being an American. The fireworks were amazing. It was like it was a finale every minute for the entire 40 minutes of the fireworks. I thought Idaho Falls fireworks were good, but this beat them hands down. It was great except for all the ashes of the bombs falling on us. Emily did not like the big bombs sounds either. She was hiding her head most of the show. She was hilarious when she was dancing to Miley though. I wish I had a video of her dancing.

Capitol Reef July 2008

Emily hanging out in the shade.

Bryan and Isaac under the arch.

Here is what I was doing on hikes. Emily was not into walking on the hike much. If she was on the ground, she wanted to play with dirt and rocks.

Kids resting in the middle of our hike.

We are finally back from the national park tour. We had a blast seeing all the beautiful parks. We had some great hikes that left my calves so very sore. The kids were very tired when it was all done but they thought it was worth it. I am going to share with you the last of the trip pictures. We hope you enjoy them.

Bryce Canyon July 2008

Part of the Bryce Canyon Ampitheatre.

A natural bridge at Bryce.

A beautiful part of our hike at Bryce Canyon.

Bryan, Ethan, and Isaac at 9,000 feet at Bryce Canyon.

Kids on a hike at Bryce Canyon. It was an amazing site.

Zion's National Park pt. 3

Beautiful Zions
More of Zions
or My beautiful little girl and boy!

Zion's National Park pt. 2

The gang hanging out.
The kids looking for lizards at Zions
Emily's bed for the night because she was snoring.

Zion'sNational Park July 2008 pt. 1

Today was an amazing day. We went to one of the most beautiful places in the nation. This was my kids and my first time to see Zion's National Park. The day started at Cedar City, where we stayed last night. We had a great breakfast at the hotel. It was actually a full breakfast which does not happen too much in this day and age. Then we started our way to Zions. I am just going to share a few of our pictures with you.