After school

Today "the babies" and I were waiting out on the lawn watching for Maika to come walking around the corner. We were so excited to see how her first day of school went. She walked home with Hayden and so I asked how their first day went. Hayden said, "Awesome!" Maika said, "Not too good. My teacher was acting like a total Psycho!" When I asked why, she told me that she was screaming at a girl to put her chair away and that it made Maika jump.

I have to admit that I was a little worried when I found out who her teacher was. I remember helping in Maika's kindergarten class and hearing this particular teacher screaming at some kids from clear across the hall. I just tried to play it off and tell Maika that she better always listen, so she wasn't the one getting yelled at. I also asked if hearing a screaming mad woman made her homesick for me...She said, "No! You are way nicer than my teacher!" Good answer, Maika:)

So does anyone have advice or know of this teacher? She's a first grade teacher. Her name starts with a "D".

Logan, on the other hand loved her teacher. She came home chomping at the bit to do her homework! She said she had a blast doing the crossing guard. Mostly because she got out 10 minutes early. She got her calculator out and added up all the pages in her chapter books because they have to read 3,000 pages this year. I told her to start reading the Harry Potter books. She wasn't too excited about that because she says "they're boring!" Whatever. She is a good reader, but doesn't love to read. She would much rather run around outside, than sit quietly reading a book. I can't blame her, she's a kid! But, hopefully this year, she'll develop a little more love of reading.

This morning went well again. Hopefully we are all this chipper by the end of May:)

Bak two skul

Today was the long awaited day. My two oldest are back in school all day long! Maika is starting first grade and Logan is starting fifth! They were both really excited about going back to school. Logan told me the other day that she thinks she's a nerd because she likes school so much. I told her I hoped she would always be such a humongous nerd:)

Last night we packed their lunches, laid out their outfits and backpacks, and got them into bed at a decent hour. I think it went pretty smooth because they both awoke with smiles, and I didn't have to yell (I mean kindly remind them to) "hurry up!" once!

Maika is excited to get to walk to school with some friends from the neighborhood and Logan gets the fine opportunity to ride the bus this year. Logan was also picked to be a student crossing guard one week every month and this is her week, so she has to be there extra early and stay extra late. We were telling/teasing her that she could be the "Good Day Crossing Guard" because she could smile/say hi to every one she helped cross the road. That way every person would start the day off right.

I hope they both have a great day and can't wait to hear all the news when they get home. Nalani and Bronson are going through withdrawals right now, but once Nalani starts preschool I think she'll be okay. Bronson, on the other hand is stuck with boring ol' mom.

The Mother of ALL Relays

Kelly just finished the Mother of All Relays this past weekend. "Hood to Coast" spans 197 miles, starts at Mt. Hood and ends at the beach in Seaside, Oregon. Kelly's work sponsored his team which consisted of 12 people: co-workers, customers, friends, and a few strays, when people cancelled on them.

This was a huge accomplishment for Kelly. He said that it was just as exciting getting ready to run as football games used to be. He also said it was the hardest physical thing he has ever done. I think that's saying something! Especially since he used to be a college football player for BYU. I am really proud of him, and maybe I'll even be inspired to train for next year's race...stranger things have happened!



Kelly's teammates gave him the nickname of "the Brown Blur". I think people were a little taken aback because he doesn't have the traditional runner's body. He's bigger and beefier than those little skinny guys in the really bad short shorts. He said that his IPod was a life saver and it helped when the Suburban stopped to hand him water, just when he wanted to walk for awhile he would see it up ahead and tell himself that he couldn't let his team see him WALKING.


I think his team had a great time. They got to stop at our house and a co-workers house for meals, showers, and rest. Most teams just lay sleeping bags down in some field and hope to get some rest, all stinky and sweaty. I'm sure they had a great time visiting and joking around. He said the funniest part was at the beach and the whole team runs across the finish line. One of the girl's pants started falling down, so she was running with her hands in her pockets to keep them up. She tripped over something and couldn't catch herself and did a face plant right in the sand. To top it all off everyone saw her Grannie Panties anyway. I would've died! Kelly said she handled it pretty well, but was out of there pretty quick!



Well, I better get training right away. It will take me a month of Sundays to work up to one mile. Who knows how long it will take me to get up to 8 miles (in a row, mind you)? Not to mention the number birthing 4 children has done on my bladder. Wish me luck!

Jack can't talk Thai.

But, the boy can sing! We bought tickets to the Jack Johnson concert back in April and have been anxiously waiting for last night to come. It was such a fun concert! We went with Jeremy "the Hillbilly" and Rochelle "the toothless wonder".

My favorite songs were "Do You Remember" and "Angel", they are now added to my play list for your listening enjoyment!

I was a little concerned that I might be getting high from the cloud of marijuana smoke that hung over the crowd, but other than that had a blast. We loved the fact that he brought over a local "sistah" to play the ukulele and sing a few songs with him, Jack even jammed on the uke for awhile too. If you get the chance to see him in concert you should! Did I mention he's easy on the eyes?

Here I go again...

I go through cycles of being Grinch-like. I've just come to accept this about myself. The past few weeks my temper has been gradually building. The fuel of my fire? My next-door neighbor. She is a nice enough person, but absolutely clueless in the manners department.

She runs a day-care out of her home. She has what seems to me a TON of children there. People are dropping their kids off at all hours of the day, and I think some actually have to spend the night at times. People absolutely rave about her, so she must be doing something right.

To make a long story short...she lets these kids out to play in the backyard at 7:15 every morning! One of the kids has the most annoying scream EVER and he doesn't know how to talk in a normal volume. They are always fighting over swings or slides or banging on things with a plastic baseball bat. At 7:15 AM these noises carry, and my bedroom windows don't even come close to blocking out the noise! Three or four times I've opened up my window and yelled at them to be quiet. I've even told them to go back in the house until it gets later, and they've listened to me.

You would think that my neighbor would get the hint, but they are back at it every morning. Lately I've been sleeping like crap, so 7:15 seems a lot earlier than it really is. This morning was the straw that broke the camel's back. I tried the yelling-out-the-window-route, but they just ignored me. When I couldn't get back to sleep, I got out of bed, stomped to my closet and got my sweats on, put my sleepiest look on my face, and glanced in the mirror to make sure my hair looked sufficiently messy, then continued to stomp out my front door.

My neighbor looked a little sheepish as she peeked out her cracked front door. I explained my concerns and asked if she could maybe keep the kids in the house a little longer in the morning. She agreed with me, so hopefully I'll be getting some better sleep tomorrow...I mean if we all know we shouldn't generally call people on the phone before 9am or after 9pm, we shouldn't let noisy kids bang around in the back yard during the 7 o'clock hour, unless you live out in the country and the only things you'll be waking up are the critters in the bushes!

Hopefully the Grinch inside me can go dormant for awhile now:)

influences

A couple of weeks ago our bishop gave an outstanding talk on all the different people who have influenced his life for the good. It really got me thinking about the many wonderful people who have touched my life: parents, grandparents, in-laws, siblings, step-parents, friends, church leaders, etc.


Yesterday I learned that one of those people, an influence for the good in my life, was killed tragically in a small plane crash, near the area in Utah that I grew up in. Kim Acton, 51, was my boss for about 5 summers, and during the school year after volleyball season. He was such a fun guy to be around. I learned so much from him...how to work hard, how to play hard, how to take jokes, and how to pull some pretty good pranks. He was a devoted husband, and father to 5 children. I loved watching him with his wife, Debbie. You could just see how much he absolutely adored her, by watching his face light up when she and the kids came in the restaurant to visit him. I felt honored that Kim and Debbie would take time from their busy schedules to come to St. George to be at my wedding.


One thing that sticks out in my head was that his was one of the only restaurants in our small town open on Sundays. We all had to take our turns working shifts, and would often beg him to close on Sundays. But, those were the busiest, most lucrative days we worked, so more often than not, we started begging to work Sundays because we knew we would make lots of tips those days. Finally, he decided to close on Sundays and soon after was called to be the Bishop of his ward. He would always joke that he was going to open the restaurant back up so they would release him:)


The kids from Blanding all loved Kim. Every home game during football season, he would feed the whole team lunch. The full-time missionaries in town knew that there was always a free meal waiting for them. I think he just made people feel so welcome and loved, that he was always surrounded by people who thought the world of him. He was such a genuine man! I hope that his wife and children (one of whom is on a mission right now) will find comfort during this hard time. My thoughts and prayers are with them.


Brian Bayles, 33, was a co-worker of mine at Kim's restaurant. He was also always happy and joking around. He was friends with everyone! He left behind a wife and 4 young children. Again, I hope that they will find some peace.


The other man, Eric Johnson, was older than me, so I didn't know him as well, but I knew his younger sisters. I know that he was a good man and loved his family. He also left behind a wife and 4 young children.


Growing up in Blanding, a small town of about 3,100 people, something this tragic impacts everyone. There are two stakes in the Blanding area, but all three of these men were in the same ward. I can't imagine how hard this time will be for their families. One thing I know for sure, is that they will be taken care of. It's times like these that I wish I didn't live so far away. I wish there was something more I could do to help out. Click here to view an article about these men and what happened.

Surfin' Safari

Our family's been surfin' lately. Now that the weather finally feels like summer again, we've been spending more time on the boat. On Monday, our friend Spencer, taught Logan how to get up on the surf board. He literally ran around the island pulling her! Of course, I forgot my camera that day, so the next day we brought the camera and she tried again. We are so proud of her! I think now that she's got a little courage in her, she'll tackle wake boarding next:)

I couldn't figure out how to get the video to work on my camera, so we just have the still shots. Jeremy figured it out after she was done, so next time we'll get the live action.
Our next little surfer was none other than Bronson! Kelly was out in the water and Bronson jumped in after him, so Kelly decided to try and surf with him. I was a nervous wreck having to drive the boat while my son was being dragged behind it, but Kelly did awesome! Bronson's head never even went under! Our talented, computer-nerd friend, Jeremy, made this awesome video. Thanks Jer!