Bono, Edge... Here I Come! I Only Had to Wait 14 Years.

Today, I hold in my hands two tickets to the upcoming U2 concert! I'm so excited! U2 is my all-time favorite band. I remember I was about 12 or so when I got my first U2 album..."The Joshua Tree" My uncle Bob, actually copied it onto a tape for me when we were visiting them in Oklahoma City and I listened to it the entire. way. home. "With or Without You" in my opinion, is still the best song in history!

I regularly try to teach/brainwash my kids that U2 is the best band. ever. They have a little different taste than me, but indulge me occasionally as I taxi them around in the mini-van. Someday they'll learn:)

So, 14 years ago Kelly and I were getting ready celebrate our first anniversary. We had plans...U2 was coming to Salt Lake City. They hadn't been there on tour in years, and I heard they hated it the first time, but were ready to give it another chance. Maybe that was just local folklore...anyway we jumped at the chance.

I was on the phone as soon as tickets went on sale. You see, this was before most things we sold on-line. But we got tickets and planned to go with Kelly's sister, Michelle and her husband Dan. We planned on going until there was a wedding that came up...we gave up our tickets. I still have demons about that, being that we don't see or talk to those people anymore. Definitely not worth giving up U2 tickets for.

Fast forward 7 years. U2's Vertigo tour was going on. This time I was about 8 months pregnant with Nalani so I opted out:)

And now, after last year's concert was cancelled because of Bono's back injury, I was afraid I'd missed my chance:) But, thanks to Craigslist we get to go. What a way to celebrate my 15th anniversary:)

Have I mentioned my love for Craigslist before??

A New Year

I'm not making any promises, but I think I'll try to blog a little more:) I just had my 35th birthday yesterday. I was pretty spoiled! I got a beautiful grey pearl ring from my good friends, an awesome cookbook I'm excited to try, along with some very cool measuring spoons from Anthropology, 3 beautiful arrangements of fresh flowers, a new cute purse, new earphones, a cute pin, magnet, cards and visits from friends who stopped by, dinner out, and a late night shake date. Let's just say it was a good and busy day. Reading Facebook on your birthday is a lot of fun too...so thank you all for helping to make my birthday special! The gift I got from Kelly is what is inspiring me to update the blog...I got a new laptop. I've never had one, and I have to say it's kind of nice sitting here in bed, blogging! So, thanks babe! I love it, and I'm excited to go take the classes that will actually allow me to learn how to use it.

Tomorrow morning I get to fly to Utah. My sisters and brother and I are headed down to the SJC (San Juan County, for those of you not familiar with my lingo). We are trying to finally get the rest of my dad's house cleaned out and get it ready to sell...we should have a busy weekend ahead of us. It's funny though, because I was talking to my sister, Melanie, who also has four kids...how sad is it that cleaning out a house sounds relaxing to us?

I'm grateful that Kelly is willing to take a few days, to work from home and hold down the fort. He has the normal running around to school, plus 3 soft ball/t-ball games to wrangle them to, the opening ceremonies for softball/t-ball on Saturday, and then DJ-ing a dance for our stake on Saturday night. I picked a good man to be my husband, and a good dad for my kids!

Anyway, I hope you all didn't faint dead away from seeing an update to my blog:)

make believe

Let's just all make believe it hasn't been over three months since I last blogged, okay? Thanks.

STP

Seattle to Portland: A LONGGG bike (pedal-bike) ride...202 miles! Kelly did it this summer! He wanted to do it last summer, but had an unfortunate Achilles Tendon puncture wound he was healing up from. So he planned to do it in 2010...In February he broke his ankle playing basketball at the gym. That was a weird call to get, since he was supposed to be at Yoga class (he said there was a pick-up game after Yoga). Anyway, due to injuries we thought that STP would have to be put off until 2011...Well, five (yes, FIVE!) days before the race Kelly thought he was in good enough shape to give it a go.

I think I've mentioned our affinity for Craigslist here before, but once again, Craig came through! Kelly found some local people who signed up, but couldn't compete and bought an entrance for STP. He was pretty-much obsessed with it for the next five days: getting his bike in ship-shape, doing research on the course, buying a new Garmin to track his ride, snacks, butt cream (that's a long time to sit on a bike seat!), etc.

So, July 16th comes around and Jeremy is nice enough to drive Kelly up to Seattle where they stay at his Auntie Linda's house. (I was getting ready to embark on my own 4962 mile road-trip on the 18th, so I had quite the packing job ahead of me. More on that sure to come.) Thanks Jer!

I think they had to be up to the University of Washington by 6am. So, Jeremy takes Kelly and sees him off at the starting line, and calls and says he's on his way home. After that, Kelly's on his own. We wait and see what his phone updates bring. He called at the 40 mile mark and said he felt good, called at the 100 mile mark (which was his goal for the day. STP goes for two days, you can choose to ride in one day or split it up in two) and said he wanted to keep going. I was all for that! So he called in Rainier, which is about 30 miles from our home and said to make him a couple PB & J's, grab some ice water, and towels and meet him on the route.

We are at Skinny's with Jeremy and Rochelle waiting to cheer Kelly on, and all the other riders that passed us. We thought we could spare some cheers for them too. Then we see who Jeremy has dubbed "The Brown Blur, aka, Kelly! We are so excited and cheering him on, and you can see on his face how excited he is to see us...Then, the momentous challenge of getting up on the sidewalk...then CRASH!! His life flashes before MY eyes, especially after the injuries of the past year and a half. He's just laying there on his side and doesn't move for a few seconds. Later, I asked what was going through his mind, his answer? "Are you effing kidding me?! I make it 165 miles and this is where it ends?!" Believe me, I sooo wish I would've had my camera to capture it.


Luckily, he was able to get up and brush himself off. The only thing that was majorly injured was his pride. I was happy that he got some new gloves, as they were shredded and it would've been his hands. He was able to scarf down his sandwiches, wipe himself down with the wet towels, drink his water, and he was off! And, so were we! We ran home to try and squeeze a little more packing in and drove into Portland to watch him cross the finish line. As we passed him on Highway 30 we honked our horn and hoped it didn't scare him into another crash (he's going to be SO happy that I'm telling his crash story in Bloggerland).

It was awesome to be at the finish line and cheer on all these crazy people that think it is fun to ride a bike for 202 continuous miles. I actually got a little teary eyed from the pride welling up inside of me for my husband. His finish time was 12 hours 32 minutes. Until next year, happy riding! Hopefully you'll have some buddies to ride with next time and there won't be ANY injuries during the off-season!

A Little Post to Catch Us Up on Logan:

This is a picture of her with our Pediatrician, Dr. Alexander. I could do a whole other post on why we love our Dr....Suffice it to say he is a Hawaiian lovin' fool. He plays the ukulele (Kelly even bought one from him), almost always writes a "prescription" for new albums or concerts we should go to, and has once or twice had cd's that he's made for us.

Anyway, this is him wrapping Logan's arm in a cast. She was playing "Capture the Flag" in PE class. She was running really fast and stopped herself with her arms up against the wall, which bent her wrist back and broke her forearm. She ended up with a nice florescent pink cast. We were really glad when she had it removed. You can't imaging the funk coming from that thing!

We were really happy that the break happened after her volleyball season ended. We were able to go to Oregon State for the final tournament. It was a lot of fun watching her and her team improve over the season. The games were so exciting to watch. The volleyball was a club thing, so the season was from October to April...long, but fun. During this time she participated in track through the school. Let's just say volleyball games=fun for this mom to watch VS. track meets=BORING for this mom to watch. I had no clue how long track meets last, and how you have to wait for events...I think she wasn't that into it either, so it was even worse. Logan just recently turned 12. For us that is a big deal. In church that means she goes from a little kid to a young woman. Kelly and I had to speak in church on Mother's Day. It is a tradition for the primary kids to sing songs about and to all the moms in the congregation. Kelly and I were up on the stand behind the throng of kids, and there is Logan towering over most of them in her last Primary Mother's Day performance. Kelly and I both got choked up:) Kelly also teaches in the Senior Primary, and since it was Logan's last Sunday there, they let her pick her favorite song and lead it. She chose "Love is Spoken Here" which makes Kelly cry each time, and then to see Logan up there leading it made him lose it, which made the chorister lose it, and round and round it went:) I was told a few times during the week how sweet it was to see. We asked Logan if she was sad that she won't be able to do any more Primary Programs. She quickly said, "No!" and then said, "Well, I'm a little sad I won't be able to sing for dad at Father's Day."

We are in the last full week of school. I can't believe Logan will be in middle school next year. It seems so long ago that I gave her the, "When you're 12 you can get a cell phone," or "when you go to 7th grade you can wear mascara." Time goes by too fast and now she has a cell phone...she hasn't asked about the mascara again, so I won't be reminding her. Logan has done awesome in school this year. She received rewards each semester and we just got a letter in the mail telling us that she was receiving another reward on the last day of school. It's a secret and I haven't updated my blog for so long that hopefully she won't find out about it.

We love Logan very much. She is a HUGE help to me! She loves her family and it shows, most of the time:) She's happy to have a cell phone and be able to text her cousins and friends. One day she was helping her younger cousin with math homework. It was so cute to watch, because she was talking with her hands and I had to remind her that Zion couldn't see her.

Maybe this post will get me back in the groove of blogging and I will catch-up or stay current with other things...only time will tell.

Funny Faces

Faces have been changing around here for my girls...

The first face that changed was Logan's. She had to get glasses. Doesn't she look cute? Her eyes aren't too bad, but I think she enjoys seeing everything a little more clearly.

The second face to change was Maika's. She had to get braces for her extra jacked-up teeth! This is the start of many years of ortho care for her. The first phase is to widen her jaw, and to correct her over bite and cross bite. She is learning how to eat with her huge bite plate on the bottom (you can't see it, because it's clear), and to take extra good care with brushing. Who wants to see left over PB and J after lunch?

It's probably my fault that Logan needs glasses and Maika has extra jacked-up teeth. I was as blind as a bat before Lasik changed by life, and I spent many hours on the road to Cortez and Durango for ortho care. Just hearing a Def Leopard song takes me right back to my grey Astro Van and Highway 666 (yes, that's the real number!).

The third face to change was Nalani's. She lost her first tooth yesterday. She kind of freaked out for a minute and had some tears. But a few hours later she,

lost her second tooth! I guess she wasn't too scarred:) The Tooth Fairy was extra nice and brought her $10 since she lost her first and second teeth on the same day! Nalani is the earliest loser out of our family so far. Logan and Maika were both well into their Kindergarten year.

This afternoon I took Nalani on a little date to Fred Meyer so she could spend the money that was burning a hole in her pocket. She chose a sparkly purple "Hooptie Loo" (hula hoop) and three packages of bubble gum, which were devoured by the neighborhood as soon as she got home, and she didn't even care:)

So there you have it! The faces may have changed, but they are still cute!

Crazy Hair Day!

In celebrating Dr. Seuss Week, Maika's school started it out with Crazy Hair Day. This is what we came up with...Don't you think she could pass for a Who?

We created this fabulous look by sticking empty Gatorade bottles in her piggy tails. She was so nervous waiting for the bus to get here, and didn't want to go out until Taylor, Hayden, and Autumn were outside too :) It was so funny to see her run across the road and see all the kids' reactions.

On a side note, this look completely freaked Bronson out! He kept crying and telling me to take the bottles out of Maika's head:)

Vampires

This picture has nothing whatsoever to do with this post, except that I think it's funny. Logan and Maika got a hold of him the other day and dressed him up in Nalani's dress...I love having blackmail material for the years to come:)

Yesterday morning, Bronson woke up whining for a Band-aid.

Me: You don't need a Band-aid, you just woke up.

Bronson: Yes! Mom! I NEED a Band-aid!

Me: What happened?

Bronson: (Very serious, frowny face) A vampire bit my elbow!

Me: (inspecting the scratch on his elbow) Where was the vampire?

Bronson: In a castle, with me and Nalani and Maika and Logan.

Me: Where was I? Where was Daddy?

Bronson: At the store...

I think what really happened was he fell off the bed last night (because he did fall off the bed) during a nightmare about being chased through a castle with his sisters. Dreams are so crazy and sometimes so scary. But, Bronson is truly convinced that he was bitten by a vampire...I think they could've found a juicier place to bite than his elbow...Maybe the Cullens have moved from Forks?

Faith...

This woman, Natalie Norton, whom I don't even know, is the strongest example of faith. To me. She's living through my (and most mother's) worst nightmare. She has the most beautiful, heartbreaking way of expressing herself. Go read her blog...start sometime in December and work your way forward to today. Have a box of Kleenex handy! I found her through my cousin, Jenni, who lives in Hawaii. Natalie is a photographer and took Jenni's family pictures...

Looking Back, It's Pretty Funny!

Last Sunday Kelly wasn't able to make it to church, so I had to brave the kids (Bronson) by myself. Surprisingly he was so mellow and good. He even fell asleep while I was holding him the first hour...then I felt something warm spreading over my lap and soaking into my tights (and he'd already gone pee TWICE since we'd been there!). So, I lean over to Logan and tell her to keep an eye on the girls while we run home to change.

So we're back to church in clean clothes and I'm teaching Kelly's lesson...it all goes pretty well. I leave his class in the hands of others and head to teach my Young Women lesson. About twenty minutes before class is over Maika's teacher brings her to me and says she's not feeling good. There are tears in Maika's eyes, so I believe her:) I have her sit with us while I finish up my lesson. Done. During the closing prayer I hear curious noises and open my eyes to find Maika throwing up. Crap! I cut the prayer off and tell my 16 year old girls to leave (I don't know how teenage girls will react to throw-up and don't want a Barf-O-Rama started). Another teacher brings me stacks of paper towels and the garbage can. We strip Maika down and Rochelle lets her wear the extra shirt she's wearing. After we get things cleaned up, I leave to go find the other kids and get the car to drive to the other side of the building where Maika is waiting so we can make a sneak get-away.

Needless, to say I had had Bodily Fluids Overload. I was happy to be home where Maika could continue to throw-up in the toilets:)

Logan was another story. Her words when I finally found her crouching in my closet playing her DS? "What?! I'm deathly afraid of throw-up! I don't want to be anywhere around Maika!" Me? "Get out of my freaking closet!"

Like the title says, it's pretty funny now.

Christmas 2009

We had a very nice Christmas this year. This is our tree after Santa came to visit. I just love sitting in the living room with only the tree lights on. There is something so relaxing about it. And, during this season we all need something a little relaxing!

We spent Christmas Eve with Jeremy, Rochelle, and their kids. We also had Rochelle's cousin, Tresa, with her boys, and a new friend, Marla that we met at church. Tresa's husband is deployed to Iraq this year, and Marla's daughter was with her dad for Christmas. A special treat was to have Jeremy's dad, Lane here too. He got to play everyone's grandpa for Christmas:)

I made the kids line up on the stairs for a picture before all the madness began...it's funny how they all have their "blankie's" in this picture. I think Maika's is hiding under the blanket that actually keeps her warm...you can see what's left of Logan's hiding behind her back.

NOTE: I switched to the video camera at this point...

Here are the highlights of what everyone received.

Bronson: added to his collection of GeoTrax trains and Transformers.

Nalani: A vanity, dress-up make-up, a Barbie head that she can put make-up on and comb her hair, clothes.

Maika: A Nintendo DSi

Logan: An iTouch

Aundrea: two pair of boots, one pair black, one pair brown, both comfy!

Kelly: A Camelback for his bike rides, a gift certificate for 1 1/2 hour massage.

We are truly blessed to have such wonderful family and friends and hope everyone felt love during this season!

Five Years Old

Nalani turned five this year! What a big girl! She recieved some really fun gifts this year: she got a Leapster with a bunch of books for it, cash, the cute new dress she's wearing in the picture, and some dress-up stuff. We love you, sweet girl!

Make a Wish

These are our good friends Jared and Chelsea...they have four darling kids: Payton, Tate, Cohen, and Tessa. Over Thanksgiving weekend we were able to see something wonderful happen for them!

Last Spring, Payton was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor on his optical nerve. It's been a whirlwind for their family since then, with chemo, doctors appointments, brain surgery, and just the stress of having a sick child. When this all started, the twins, Cohen and Tessa were just around 7 months old. I can't imagine the work of twins, and potty training a two-year old, then adding cancer treatments to the mix! Jared and Chelsea are both so strong and faithful. I know they have a wonderful support system of family, neighbors and friends...but they are truly Super Heroes!

That's why it was so nice to be there on this special night. The Make A Wish Foundation wanted Payton to be their Guest of Honor to kick of their Season of Wishes. He waved his magic wand and lit the Christmas Tree in the Pearl District. Then it was time for his wish to be granted...A week at Disney World with his mom, dad, and little brother, Tate. A break from the babies for Jared and Chelsea because grandma is coming to town to watch them. A week of worry-free fun! I can't think of anyone who deserves it more! Love you guys!

Maika Jordan

Maika's basketball season is almost over:( We are absolutely loving watching her play! She is a little hustler! She drives down the court, shoots and scores! She is NOT a ball hog and happily passes to her teammates under the hoop. When Maika is dribbling the ball she has her tongue sticking out in concentration. I'm afraid she might bite it off one of these days! There are the cutest little girls on her team. This little number 50 constantly has a smile on her face...even when she's doing something wrong (like stealing the ball from her own teammate) you have to love her cute smiling face!Kelly signed on to be the coach this year. I think he was dreading it when I talked him into it, but now he really enjoys it and likes spending time with Maika!

Nalani, Bronson, and Logan entertain themselves by taking silly pictures of each other...
We will enjoy these last few weeks of the season and then in 2010, start up with Logan's volleyball and basketball. We'll see how Bronson handles sitting in a gym ALL day...should be fun times!

Max Hall Hates Me and Thinks I'm Classless!

Because we are Ute fans. Ever since Uncle Jay became a coach for the University of Utah, we are fans! It gets a little sticky when they play BYU, but this year Max Hall made it a little easier to be a Ute fan:) We still love BYU too, don't worry. That's (one of) the nice things about not living in Utah...you can love and cheer for BOTH teams. This year Utah played the Ducks in Eugene, at Autzen Stadium (where it NEVER rains, yeah right!). We were so excited to get to go! Here are Logan and Maika making the "U" We were pretty-much surrounded by Utah fans, so it was fun and loud. I thought Logan's trash talking would get us into some trouble...she takes after her daddy.Here are the three of us, decked out in our red and white....Hey, I wonder where Kelly is?

Oh, he had a field pass and was hearing some major trash talkin' from the Duck fans behind him. He said it was fun to be down there...actually I think the Ducks were still pretty embarrassed by the whole "Incident" with Blount, so they were pretty mellow.
Jer, Rochelle, Talon, Layne and Jared came to the game too. We had a lot of fun, even though the U lost. In the past four years Kelly has spent a small fortune buying t-shirts for the teams playing against Oregon: Oklahoma, USC, Arizona, Utah...I told him it must be bad luck because "we" always lose. I think he's still getting an Ohio shirt for the Rose Bowl. I sure hope it works. It will be a long New Year's weekend if Kelly is moping around because Oregon won!

Cross Country 2009

Logan decided to try Cross Country this year. We all had fun going to watch her participate. Some of the meets even had races for younger kids so Maika ran once too. She figured out real quick that it's better to train:) On the sunny days Bronson and Nalani entertained themselves in the stream that runs through the park. On the rainy days we all huddled together under an umbrella and were grateful that we weren't out there in our shorty-shorts running:)

Logan did a great job! I think it's good that she enjoys something now that she can continue her entire life...if I would've been a runner and done it my entire life, maybe I wouldn't be battling the gym 5-6 days a week trying to get this "baby weight" off.

Star Students

Last month we were excited to get notes in the mail from both our girl's teachers. Maika is loving 2nd grade and her new principal, who decided that it's good to have awards for kids even though it's not considered PC because it might make others feel bad! Maika received an award from her music teacher. She is excited/nervous to perform a solo part in her upcoming Winter Program later this week. We are proud Maika and happy to hear she is such a good student. It's funny to hear her teacher tell us how "she always stays on track," because at home I swear I tell her 20 times to do something before it actually gets done. I'll have to ask her teacher what the magic trick is.

Logan also received an award from her science teacher for the term. I always like going to the assemblies and seeing her interact with her teachers and friends. Boy, things have changed since I was in 6th grade :) Keep up the good work, girlies! Love you!

I Can't Wait Until I'm Eight!

Maikalani Sarah Last week was crazy! Three of my four kids were sick, we just got back from Utah, and we needed to prepare for out of town company coming in for Maika's baptism. I have some of the best friends in the world! They came and cleaned my house for me before I got home so that was one less thing to worry about. We had some delicious meals brought in, and that helped too! Now, I could just concentrate on getting my kids better so we could enjoy our big weekend.

(Logan, Dad, Maika, Nalani, Bronson, Mom)
Grandma Marcia and Grandpa Gary flew in on Friday morning. Grandma Winna, Auntie Jennie, Auntie Jo, Chaz, Zion, and Etano drove in on Friday night. We all had dinner together and then started preparing the feast for after the baptism. Kalua pork, teriyaki chicken, potato/mac salad and fried rice were on the menu. After Auntie Jennie gave the traditional pedicures we were off to bed.

Saturday morning started with Maika's basketball games. I'm not being prejudiced here, the girl is a BALLER! She scored 18 points between her two games and can dribble like a pro! It was so much fun to watch her with her tongue hanging out like Michael Jordan. Kelly is her coach and finally had to tell her to stop stealing the ball from the other team:) I guess Auntie Jo's basketball camp this summer really paid off!

(Grandma Marcia, Maika, Grandpa Gary)

After the games, we all came home to finish the final touches on the meal and get ready to go to the church. The program was beautiful. Both grandmas spoke and Kelly and Maika sang a song together. I was fighting back tears the whole time! I'm grateful that Candy played the piano for us and Rochelle had her camera ready...I forgot mine! Jodi typed up and printed the programs...I told you I had great friends! I think they were willing to do anything for the meal afterwards:)

(Chaz, Logan, Grandma Winna, Etano, Dad, Maika, and Bronson stuffing his face)

Besides Zion being sick with a horrible migraine headache, it was a wonderful day! Thanks to all who came to share in our joy. Thanks to everyone for loving Maika and supporting her!

Taking the Time

I'm so glad that my family took the time this summer to go visit my dad in Monticello. Otherwise, my kids wouldn't have the memories of cutting wood, shooting guns, cook outs, or playing with Grandpa.

We got the news on a late Monday night, October 19th that my dad had passed away from complications of Diabetes. It came as a complete shock! Just two days after his 58th birthday.

I'm glad we all called him on his birthday...it was always a good day for him when his birthday was on the opening day of the deer hunt. I'm glad my brother, Jesse, and my sister, Rachel, were able to spend that weekend with him. I'm glad his sisters and nieces and nephews were down for the weekend. I'm glad he seemed so happy this past year. I'm glad he called and talked to us all the day after his birthday, for Maika's birthday...He told her she was the best eight year old he knew. I'm glad he thought his grand kids were pretty darn cool! I'm glad my dad taught me to love the beautiful creations of this world.

I miss my dad! But, I'm glad that we had great and some not-so-great memories. That's what family is about, getting through things and coming out loving each other in spite of it all!

In loving memory of Robert Curtis Holden. October 17, 1951--October 19, 2009.

Weirdly

This cute little girl just turned 8! (This picture is from a few years ago, but we're hoping to get new ones in the next couple of weeks.) She had a fun birthday. We got to go out to breakfast Saturday morning and to the church Harvest Party, Saturday night. She loves playing with the Bendaroos she got and looks forward to getting a set of Scriptures with her name on them when she gets baptized next month. We love you Maika!

Now, a funny story. Last night she was complaining of a sore throat and said it made her talk weird. I told her to go to bed and get some rest. Her next question? "Mom, if I wake up weirdly tomorrow can I stay home from school?" I couldn't help but crack up! "Yes, Maika, if you wake up weirdly tomorrow you can stay home." She woke up weirdly...