End of Summer

Summer is coming to an end (but unfortunately the heat isn't).

The MILESTONES

Ryan and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. I surprised him and took him to Solvang to shop, swim and hike. It's a cute danish town. Oh and Kennedee got to come too. She's easy to pack along and she loves vacations.

The VISITORS

Thanks for the visits from the Lytles, Roberts in Huntington, The Sines, The Hopewells. It is always nice to see good friends who live far away.

Ryan's Favorites

Ryan bought a scooter................and with 65 plus MPG he drives it all the time.

We went and saw Jack Johnson in concert in Irvine and spent the weekend with my all time favorite people Katie and Noah Lowry doing some mountain biking and golfing. I hadn't even been on a bike since I was like 15. It was kind of scary at first.

Ashley's "little sister"
I am a volunteer "big sister" to a 17 year old named liz. We spent days at the beach, shopping, having lunch, skirball museum, bowling, and painting and just hanging out. I am glad I can be a part of her life and hope that I can be a good example and mostly a friend.

~~F e A R s~~

Okay so I have some weird fears. #1 I am extremely claustrophobic. When I sleep at night my feet have to be out of the covers (or I feel entrapped). If I watch a movie where somebody is going through a tight space, I seriously have to turn my head....I CAN'T watch it. So as you can imagine I don't like cuddling too much. However, the hotter it is the more this fear shows itself, but when it is cold, it almost dissapears. You bet I'm cuddling for that extra warmth.
When I was younger I used to have these dreams (but I swear they seemed totally real) that my eyes were open and awake, but I couldn't move my body or even my mouth to yell to somebody. And after a struggle, I would finally break free. So I think this phobia links back to when I had these weird dreams.
#2 Bandaids. I don't care if there bloody and old or brand new. They ick me out beyond belief and if I have to wear one, it is off in an hour and replaced with a new one if necessary.
#3 I am scared of being pregnant. Now I know that sounds weird because getting pregnant and carrying a child is beyond exciting and full of joy........but I am scared the entire 9 months that something might be wrong. I worry every minute and over read the "what to expects". I am also scared of pregnancy because I really did not enjoy most of it with K. I was sick a ton, all food sounded gross, I got the most painful thing called "Gout" and I also had several kidney stones throughout, but didn't realize it until 7 months gestation when I went to the hospital a few nights with large stones. But with all this said, I know I'll do it again, becaue of the end result and of course those great moments during when you feel them moving.

Question # 4
What is your weird phobia? Or what just absolutely scared you?

Late Night Thinking

So when I was in Utah a week ago, I was talking to a friend of mine who was having some mother-in-law problems. As I went to bed that night at my sister’s house I sat and thought about the “all evil mother-in-law” and the “wicked step-mom”, because for some lucky reason when it comes to these commonly negative terms (think “Everybody Loves Raymond” and “Cinderella”) I have it really good. So here’s a shout out to my Step-Mom, Heidi, and my Mother-in-law, Cathy.

Heidi-Why I Love Her
1. She has planned some of the greatest family trips and activities. And when you are planning for 8 kids combined that is no easy task. Here is Heidi held by some of us at a ropes course. (never done one? Ask me about it)

2. She thinks about us even during her busy life. For example she was at Gymboree the other day and bought Kennedee a bunch of clothes cause she was thinking of us……(Oh, and she has great taste, so the clothes are DARLING)
3. I like to ask her for advice because I know she will be supportive and not judge and will listen well to whatever my struggle may be.
4. She has a fun sense of humor. She makes bets with my husband and lucky for him, she just can’t put down that diet coke and pays him out every time (smile). Here is Heidi caught in action right here with diet Coke at the baby shower she threw me.

Cathy-Why I Love Her
1. She is really creative with events and themes. She planned and threw my baby shower and always has the cutest décor and table settings for every holiday.
2. She is very genuine and really cares. There is not a holiday that passes by that she doesn’t send us a Happy dadada Card. And not a gift received without a thank you card sent.
3. I like when she buys clothes for herself, and then realizes she doesn’t like it on her……and then instead of returning the item, she gives them to me. So I’ve got a cute wardrobe from her mistakes (and she also has cute taste and it helps that we have the same size).
4. And she lives close by. Yeah for us. So she has us over for yummy dinners and watches Kennedee for us sometimes too. Here she is with me and her mother, Carol.

F i R S t S

It is so exciting when your baby has a first. This last week I went to Utah and "K" had her first trip to the zoo. The next day we went to Preston Idaho. Well before I was born my mom's side of the family goes to Preston Idaho every year and we
camp out by the Bear River. We pump up inner tubes
and float on down the River. This was her first time
camping. She got so dirty camping. We also went to
the parade for the Rodeo, again this was her first
parade and she loved it.

Gramma Colleen giving Kennedee a bath. She loves the dogs.

Braden and K with grandma on the trailer that

picks us up when we get to the end of the waterfall.

My beautiful sister Megan (left) married less than a year. My sister Katie who is 3 months prego with her second.
Yes! I dyed my hair dark. I am going back to my natural color. What you guys thought I was actually a blonde?

Can I Vent ?

Somtimes ya just got to get it off your chest. So here I go. Ryan sure doesn't want to hear it.

1.I went 7 years with no traffic tickets and then BAM, 2 this year. I got one in March because I had left Kennedee for the first time for a week, while we went on a cruise.........so I was excited to pick her up and was drivin' fast. Then today. AAAgghhhhhh! Ryan has been pulled over 11 times in his life and just got his first ticket last month. I tried to bat my eyes and just get a warning, but apparently I don't have the same charm Ryan has. The cop ticketed me............so betweeen the 2 of us we have 3 tickets this year.

2. Why can't I just have one grocery store to go to. I shop at 5 stores to get groceries, that's right, FIVE. I love Trader Joe's and Fresh and Easy for dinner ideas. And then of course you have to do your Costco run for the big stuff like DIAPERS, and target has a few stuff I gotta have, and finally Vons for anything left like ice cream. And if you know us, we have at least 4 different flaves of ice cream in our house at all times. Too many stops

3. Kennedee hates to sit in the shopping cart, so when she starts screaming to get down, I give in and let her run wild knocking stuff off shelves and then I regret letting her down. Well the other day I was with my mom-in-law and she made Kennedee just cry it out and sure enough after 5 minutes she shut up and stayed in the cart. Easy, right! Well today I thought "I am going to be tough". So she started crying to get out of the cart and I just let her scream and let all the other customers just stare me down........thinking to myself "just 5 minutes and she'll stop". Yeah, right! Kennedee knows I am a softy. If she cries hard enough, mommy is sure to put her down. But I stuck with it and 20 minutes later, quiet. Of course it helps when you grab a box of goldfish off the shelf and let her start eating it before you pay for it......but hey, I was tough and didn't let her down. Mommy wins........finally!

Need to get something off your chest? You listened to me , now I will listen to you. Share and read others and hopefully we can just laugh it all off.