Flashback Friday

Martin and I met almost 15 years ago. Actually, it was in October of 1993. I'm lacking a month, but it still works...(go with it). I was just talking to him and remembered the first time he met my parents. I think it was the second or third date, and I had invited him in. I knew we were going to get serious, even though we had just met, thus the need for the intro to mom and dad. My parents are very small people. My mom is 4'9" and my dad is 5'2". Martin, of course, is taller...6'3" to be exact. So I brought him in to meet my dad first, to which dad yelled to mom, "Joan, get in here. You gotta see the size of this kid!" My mom, being the mom she is (easily embarrassed by my dad), yelled back, "I don't want to see him, Harvey." From then on, Martin was intimidated by her.

Martin was a city boy. He didn't know anything about a farm (even an ex-farm) or country folks. A few weeks later, after we were pretty serious, Martin had to spend a couple of hours alone with my mom and sister, Mindy. I don't remember where I was, but mom and Mindy offered to take Martin to Smith and Edwards (the country boys store) for which Farr West is famous. Martin was completely thrilled at the thought. After years of hearing the commercials, he jumped at the idea of seeing it for himself. If you aren't from Utah, I'm sure you have no idea what Smith and Edwards is -- I will explain: They carry all sorts of tools, hunting gear, cowboy wear, lawn and garden materials, outdoorsy stuff, candy, and much, much more. Their slogan is "If we can't find it, you don't need it." It's true, there is so much stuff there the owners literally don't have any idea what is in the inventory.

So while at Smith and Edwards (surplus plus), Mindy offered to take Martin to the fishing aisle while my mom made a b-line for the ammo. section. Standing amidst the army surplus, and red necks with handle-bar mustaches, I wonder if Martin questioned what he had gotten himself into. Luckily, he stayed around and got to know me better. I'm soooo glad he did! Love you, babe! Here's to 15 years.

P.S. My mom really loves Martin. She just really needed bullets. Martin isn't intimidated by her anymore (most of the time).

Football and Soccer

Here's the "all-star." I am liking having Alex in football. I finally understand the game (for the most part) and that makes Alex and Martin very happy. It's fun to see your kids enjoy sports and get more confidence. I have to say, though, football is TOO complicated. How can you see what's going on, and keep your eye on the ball AND make sure your kid is blocking well? I don't know...please tell me.

By the way he is playing Tight End, I don't know what that means. However, he has been changed to Defense and I don't know what he does now (nothing's changed)...I just know he's completely covered in bruises!

I just have to say Alex stinks 3/4 of the time now. Martin has said he'll need to have his car detailed after football season is over because he can't get the stench out. We make Alex take a shower when he gets home and luckily, I just drop him off before practice so he's relatively clean then. I have never seen a kid so sweaty in my life (except all the other boys playing football). What are you supposed to do with the pads and helmet? Ugghhhh! So gross.

Okay, I apologize for my crummy camera again...but here's The Cuteness playing soccer at the recreation center. He was so excited to start something that his brother and sister aren't a part of. I am glad he was smart enough to figure that out by himself .
The Cuteness does the same thing his dad and brother do which is stick his tongue into his cheek when making an important play:)!! Martin does this when playing basketball and Alex does it all the time. The boys both do it when they're thinking hard too. Like with homework...just an observation that makes me laugh! He made some great plays!

I'm tagged

My friend, Brenda tagged me:

20 Years Ago:

1. I was in 8th grade.
2. I was into cheerleading and tumbling.
3. I was seriously boy crazy.
4. I was hating Jr. High.

10 Years Ago:

1. I was pregnant with Olivia and sick as a DOG!
2. We lived in Factoria in a little 2 bedroom apartment.
3. I was trying not to throw up (seriously…the whole 9 months) and stay out of the hospital.
4. Had a 2 year old little boy named Alex.

5 Years Ago:

1. I had a newborn baby boy (Isaac).
2. I was just released from being primary president.
3. I was living in a cute house on Squak Mtn. in Issaquah (I still love that house but the doors don’t fit in the jams).
4. I was trying to lose weight.

3 Years Ago:

1. I was trying to lose weight (see a pattern?)
2. Was trying to keep up with a teenager living with us.
3. I was devastated to hear my sister had late term brain cancer.
4. I was taking Isaac to the therapist to make sure his development progressed. He wasn’t interested in walking.

1 Year Ago:

1. I was contemplating 2 foot and calf surgeries.
2. I was worried about my sister’s brain surgery to implant a reservoir for chemo. She seemed so sick afterward.
3. I read the BOM twice.
4. I was trying to lose weight.

So Far This Year:

1. I said good-bye to my sister and went to her funeral.
2. I had surgery on my feet and calves.
3. Had a wonderful summer.
4. Started my baby in kindergarten.

Yesterday:

1. I slept terrible.
2. I went shopping at Target with Alex.
3. Took a nap (what?---I really had a bad night!)
4. I ate Chinese take out.

Today:

1. I took my baby to the bus to kindergarten.
2. I mopped the floor, vacuumed, dusted, etc.
3. I worked out at the Commumity Center and tried not to look at that hot guy who’s always there.
4. Took a shower.

In the Next Year I’ll:

1. Try to lose weight.
2. Go to the temple at least once a month.
3. Finish the New Testament and start studying D&C.
4. Think about a new home addition.

I tag Tonii, Stacey and Mindy.

Five of the Weirdest Things Ever

There are some things that have happened while I lived in Washington that you could say are weird, for lack of a better word. Here they are:

1. When we lived in Factoria in an apartment I was reading in the afternoon one day. Pretty soon I noticed a crackling sound like there was a fire in our fireplace, which there wasn't (we never used the fireplace the 3 years we were there). So I ignored it for a few minutes and then went outside on our deck and saw the apartment building next to ours by maybe 20 feet was completely engulfed in flames! I grabbed Alex and ran outside. The fire department had to cut holes in the roof to let out the flames and extinguish the fire. It was pretty bad! Luckily, no sparks caught out building. Surreal!

2. Again, while living in those apartments, the woman directly below us (on the ground level) was raped one night in her OWN APARTMENT! A man entered from her window, which was open because it was a hot summer! They never caught the guy (to my knowledge).

3. When we first moved to Issaquah there was so much rain one year that the salmon were actually crossing the street in the flood. It looked like they were taking a walk. AWESOME!

4. The black out of Dec. 2006 was super cool. The wind blew so hard one night that the power was knocked out throughout most of the east side of Seattle. I remember looking out the window during the night and the huge cedar trees all around were bent nearly in half. We were without power for almost 4 days--some people longer. It was in December so it was cold. We were glad we had our gas fireplace and stove to cook.

5. One day I was driving down the street just past Target and noticed that the ground was really bumpy and almost wavy. I thought my tire was flat so I pulled into the Library building on Newport Way and got out of the car. That's when I noticed the trees all around were almost bouncing and swaying. The woman in the car in front of me got out too and said she thought it was an earthquake. Which it turned out to be (I think a 6.3 or something). Sidenote: The doors in our house never fit right in the jams after that! How inconvenient!

Okay, so there's six, not five.

6. When my family was visiting in November one year we all went down town Seattle to do some site seeing. We were bombarded by a throng of protestors (who were protesting fur clothing). They were holding signs of skinned animals and bloody clothing. These people meant business...my family was a little bewildered by that. Ahhh, only in Seattle!

Okay, so now your turn!

Go Jess!

My adorable niece, Jessica was nominated for Homecoming Queen at Weber High in Ogden, Utah. I went to Weber High and I remember Homecoming Queen was a major deal there. Jessica is the absolute sweetest girl out there. I'm not kidding. I don't think she's ever been in trouble--for anything. She is also a 4.0 student and in the FFA (she's an amazing botonist), and an amazing pianist. She feels funny having been nominated as she feel she is not your basic cookie cutter beauty (not a Warriorette, cheerleader or SBO). But I feel Weber High has actually made a wise decision (for once). No one else I know has more character. I love you Jessie! Thanks for being such a great example to all of the little girls in the family.

Photo: My nieces Savannah, Maddi and Jess on Christmas Eve. I love this picture! I love my nieces.

A Woman, a Vacuum and a Mission

Yes, I am attached to my vacuum. Some people spend a lot of money on plasma screens, iPhones, designer jeans...nope, not me. I spend hundreds of dollars on vacuum cleaners. My Dyson, or as I like to call it, "Old Reliable," died not long ago. I would go into details about his slow, painful demise but it's still too difficult to talk about.


Enter: The "Riccar," the newest member of the family. What a name, right? It flows. Not unlike his smooth pivoting casters. This bad boy can clean anything and I do mean ANYTHING. He is quickly becoming my favorite child. Why spend so much money on a vacuum cleaner? My husband and kids tell me I'm a real neat freak...and I admit that might be the tiniest bit true. Hey, at least I can admit it.

First Day of School

If you have a blog I think it's some kind of unwritten rule that you have to do "the first day of school blog." So, wanting to abide by unwritten rules, here are the kids all decked out in their new school threads, posing for pictures...poor things. Alex wouldn't allow that. He's in 7th grade..., duh. Olivia was excited for school, as usual.
Here's the cuteness on his first day of kindergarten, or any kind of school, for that matter. He didn't do pre-school and neither did his siblings, so we'll see how it turns out with him. He was, I think, overly excited for school. It reminded me of those days Martin would go back to the U after summer break. You wouldn't think a grown man would be so uncontrollably excited to go to class, but Martin was. I get nauseous just thinking about that. He had pretty much this same expression on his face.

Isaac kept telling me to take more pictures so I've got about a million of these. Usually he hates pictures. But that's what school will do for you.

He was pretty cute getting on that bus. Such a giagantic bus, and three 5 year olds on it. Notice he brought his bff, "Tippy." Tippy is his little white beanie baby he got a while ago. We don't know why he's called Tippy. We don't ask. Mrs. Duke's kindergarten is always allowed to bring a stuffed friend on the first day.

And yes, I cried okay?

Wonder Woman Fun

So Martin reminded me of something super funny that I hadn't thought about for a long time. Do you remember that Wonder Woman had a lasso that when she puts you in it, you have to tell the truth? How cool would that be? I want a truth lasso so I can use it with my kids, my sisters, my neighbors, the mailman...okay, maybe that's weird.

But still....

Getting back to our vacation...We also drove to Cascade Falls in Moran State Park and here's some pictures. It was so amazing and if it had been warmer ouside, I would have stood in it, and then shook the water off like a dog. But, ooowee, that's some cold water!

Another photo of the Cuteness. He was not happy that we had to hike .2 miles to get there.
The fam using the timer on my terrible little camera.