Jamie

Wrap up of 2011

2012-01-08T11:01:00.003-07:00

I either need to get better about updating this or just not do it at all. I do enjoy looking back at the posts, but it seems to pose a challenge getting here to update.
Here is a wrap up of 2011 that I never got a chance to write about.

Labor day weekend we finally made it out camping with Tammy, it had been like 3 years. We were headed to Simpson Spring area but due to some mechanical issues Tammy had we ended up on the side of the road, but the spot ended up being great. Dante and Maddy could freely ride their four wheelers up some hills with no worries of other people. This was a thrown together trip, but ended up being very relaxing and alot of fun.

They may fight alot but they really do love each other

See she really did come camping

Played Ozzy with some birds shot while just relaxing in camp.

Kiddos did lots of four wheeling

Got some target shooting in


Only this girl can pull off camping in a sequence dress while eating ribs. Hey at least she made sure her napkin was properly folded

Kenndy started preschool, she goes 2 days a week for 3 hours. It has really been good for her. I go help her class about every other Monday, its fun to watch them grow and learn.

First day of Preschool

Sad picture but glad I captured it

Meeting her classmates for the first time

We made it to a few concerts

I swear I'm never going to this concert again!


Sublime with Rome! It was probably one of the best concerts of my life. But I do love Sublime and had accepted that I would never get to see them.

25th time! We have taken our trailer out 25 times, wow we really do camp alot. Trever's brother Jay bought some land in Marysvale and made it into the "Slab", they built a club house, a very large garage to hold all the four wheelers and just as you would guess a big 'ole slab of concrete with 6 full RV hookups. Trever and Tyler went out Antelope hunting, took the trailer to his moms to stay in. They got their Antelope the first morning, had the meat to the butcher and on their way to Marysvale to the taxidermist by noon. They were tailgating at the Slab for the BYU/Utah game in plenty of time. He left the trailer there and our family went out the following weekend. There are so many four wheelers, Rangers ect we went on many rides. Kennedy rides in the Rangers in her car seat, and Maddy decides if she wants to drive or ride. It was a great family trip with just us for the first 2 days.

Hoovers best place to get all you can eat crab

They kept 3-4 big trees,put the cement around the trees

Rattlesnake anyone?

One a four wheeler ride up the mountain, the water was so cold

Didn't stop Madison, she was soaked. We ended up having to take her clothes off and wrap her up in a sweatshirt, but she had so much fun.

Kennedy foot print

Utes first year in the Pac 12. We did alright, I think as good as expected. Of course we were there to cheer them on win or lose

Halloween we had a Power Ranger and a Carebear

Yup what you "don't" see in the back is a burglar and a cat burglar

I made Kennedy a magnet board

First Gymnastics meet


Kennedy paying close attention to instructions

We sold this truck and bought a new one. I dont have a picture of the new one 2010 F350 way more truck then we need, but a happy Trever is a happy Jamie.

Jeff and Angela got married

We had family pictures for my mom, here is the one of our family. Maybe one of these days Ill get a real copy so I can print it. This one is crappy, I stole it off Facebook

We had a great Christmas and New year. I got a new camera and have not figure out how to get the pictures off it yet. 2011 was an excellent year for us, but looking forward to 2012.

First Grade

2011-12-06T20:11:00.001-07:00

Summer 2011 part 2

2011-11-06T22:53:00.001-07:00

As I start this post I would like to note how I remember all these trips. I have a notepad that stays in the trailer, and I write a brief bit about everywhere the trailer is taken. Its really fun to look back on the previous years and remember where we were, who was there and what we did. And its great for getting caught up here :)Mortensen Family reunion Deer Creek July 13-17thThis was a great trip filled with 4 full days of boating, hiking, fishing, playing with cousins we don't see regularly, swimming and alot of family time. There had been 2 drownings in this lake within the few days of our arrival since the temperatures were so low, and it made me very nervous. But the kids had no fear and we spent many hours swimming/wading in what I would call a freezing lake. This is a weekend we get to spend with cousins that live far away, and the kids all took their opportunity and lived it up.

I always get stuck riding with the kids :) But I will take any ride, love tubing!

Its now Monday as we head home. But we only have a few short 36 hours to unpack and repack and leave for Lake Powell/Capitol Reef. Where it will be much much much warmer. Too warm! Gone from July 20th-28thThat will have its own post, as the pictures are just amazing. Its defiantly a place you need to visit if you have never been.Lava Hot Springs July 29th- Aug 1 2011This is a trip the girls look forward to every year, they just love it. But Trever and I were so tired, with only a few hours to recuperate and repack. Also I think the novelty is wearing off for me, but I do love seeing them so excited and this was the first year Kristin and Shawn joined us.

All the kids were excited to be there

We got some river time in, but this trip was a little colder then normal and this was really the only day that was warm enough to tube. I somehow ended up being the driver and picture taker, but it was great seeing the girls having so much fun!

The adult girls then took a trip to the warm stream by the river, and upon our return the guys decided they were going to the bar. Well as the girls realized we had babysitters we too decided to hit the bar. We found Trever, being the nice wonderful caring guy he is, had agreed to give a lap dance to a girl that was there for her bacholrette party. What a good guy I have :) No really she actually had a great time, it was fun for all of us.

Then Mike bought our mascot. We danced, giggled and enjoyed company of great friends all night.

Then we woke up to this? Of course its Idaho after all

We made the best of it

That is one close race with Kennedy and Riley

Its now Monday and very rainy as we head home. We dont have another camping trip until my Birthday, my 21st birthday p

Where or where did the summer go?

2011-11-06T22:03:00.000-07:00

I know I feel like this every Fall, summer is just too much fun. But all good things must come to an end, and really after a none stop summer the down time is nice. But you can count on me being more then ready for Spring in a few months. I pretty much sucked keeping the blog up so I will do some quick updates on the summer and start fresh :)I blogged about our first camping trip to the Dunes. There are many more that followed. There is so much to say about each trip, we always have a great time. But in order to get caught up I will keep it brief.May 20-22 2011 -Wasatch CampgroundsThis was a first for our family. Very pretty place and so close. And golf in walking distance, does it get better? The rapidly growing river close by was very scary, which would deter me in the future with small children, but other then that what a great camping spot.

It was nice to have a playground very close, the kids sure liked it.June 9-12 2011 Double Boogie Open-This is always a fun weekend, non serious golf.. yes! Kristin and Shawn joined us as partners this year. Kylie joined us for the first time, she is going to be a good little golfer if we keep her going. Although the tournament was earlier in the year this year we were still able to make it to the Payson city pool. This part is for the kiddos, and they love it there. Although I did realize Kennedy is in major need of swimming lessons, she doesn't even have the the doggie paddle instinct she just sinks. Makes for a very stressful swimming trip cause she will just jump in without anybody knowing. At this moment I'm not finding any pictures, but I know I took some so stay toned. Bear River Service up Uintas July 8-10 2011Trever came off a graveyard so we headed up around 6am. It was cold, it had rained and I wondered why in the hell we were going camping in the high Uintas. By the time we arrived our buddies had breakfast ready, hot chocolate and coffee and I talked myself into thinking it would be bearable. The girls did not seem to mind the mud and went right into camping mode. As the day went on the sun came out and everything dried. This was the first trip Maddy was able to ride her very own first four wheeler. The first ride gave me heart failure, but we all survived. (for those that dont know, she hit a rock, high centered the four wheeler and flipped over the handlebars I heard the thud that was her helmet hitting another rock, she jumped up yelling "Im OK so glad I had my helmet on" as was I. It took me a good couple minutes to breath normal. The following days were great weather. We had a large group and ended up renting several 4x4's, rangers and four wheelers. Enough for our whole group to go on a long trip.

Found a very old log home

Our destination was a lake, however we ran into a snow block, so instead we had lunch and played

SO much water

Then we found a yurt!

Then back for some fun!

And the kids decorated their shirts

And this was the genious idea to keep the little ones safe

This was a great trip, we all had so much fun!To be continued.

T-ball

2011-10-26T10:03:00.000-06:00

Maddy played Spring T-ball, she really had a good time and wanted to play again. Since I played softball for many years I was excited she was taking an interest in the sport. For Summer I signed both girls up. Both their games ended up being Tuesday and Thursdays, add gymnastics to that and it was pretty crazy trying to be many places at once. But I had so much fun watching them play. Kennedy and her team had a really rough start, honestly they are just to young. The kids would hit and then run after their own ball, or run to second base, or run off chasing butterflies. But it was fun to watch them try, and by the end most of the kids pretty much had the concept down. Linkin was also on her team which was fun. Maddy really enjoyed playing, at this point she wants to play again on the fall league. She got to where she was hitting the ball on the first pitch just about every time. Although she still has a problem with stopping on each base to clean them off rather then paying attention.

Bugsssss

2011-10-26T10:02:00.001-06:00

Why oh why did I have to have a problem with bugs??? And more importantly why was it passed onto my daughter. I have always felt pretty sorry for myself, every time I go camping I would always end up with way more bites then anybody else. And now I have passed that on to my sweet daughter. We just don't do bites well. I had to take her into the doctor the other day for some bites. But it was so bizarre. I first noticed these 2 bites (on her forehead and back thigh) on Tuesday night. Wednesday they flared up pretty good but nothing some children allergy medicine couldn't handle. (OK to be honest I knew something wasn't right, but the meds seemed to take the swelling right down so we all went to bed). The next day she seemed fine so I went to work, Wonderful Aunt Malinda was doing crafts with the girls when I got the call that the bites had swelled back up. How bizarre, 3 days later and swelled up twice and gone back done. I called the doctor and was told she needed to come in right away. I knew she was fine, but better safe, right. So we held up the cm aping crew and headed to the doc. It went very fast and we made it out of town only a few minutes late. Basically she is allergic to bug bites and we need to drug her with benadryl every time we go out. That is not going to happen, we are out camping way to much and I will not have her in a haze the whole time. So we will keep a very watchful eye on her bug bites.This is just the one on her head

Sailboat ride on the Great Salt Lake

2011-10-26T09:57:00.000-06:00

What a wonderful, neat, cool experience! I am always watching the citydeals, or KSL deals ect and came across one for a 2 hour sailboat ride on the Great Salt Lake. I had never been on the lake, nor had the girls so I bought it. Trever, BJ, Barb, girls and I went on the ride. Captain J.R. gave us the best experience he could considering there was little to no wind. But it was still so neat, very pretty out there. We all learned so much about the lake. The girls actually really enjoyed the ride as well, and they even got to drive the boat. After we headed over to the big rock I have seen many of times driving along I80 but had never stopped at the rock. Amazing rock, so disappointing that so many people have graffiti the area so bad. Maddy floated in the lake. The rest of the family got it in, but not in enough to float. But enough we all had saltie legs. After we headed over to Seven Peaks (Raging Waters, which is what it will always be in my mind). Fun day

Visiting Dad/Grandpa

2011-07-13T14:07:00.003-06:00

Maddy calls the cemetery Grandpas Forrest.. sounds good to me. Kennedy never had the opportunity to meet my dad, but she knows all about "grandpa Ed", Im so thankful Maddy remembers him.

Z00

2011-07-13T13:35:00.014-06:00

This was the first time Kennedy went to the zoo and really understood and knew what the animals were. It was also the first time any of us had seen the new dinosaurs around the zoo. Kennedy is much more cautious then Maddy. It was a nice day for a family outing

Buggggs

Maddy loved the new dinosaurs

Kennedy not so much

And again

again.....

The train. Kennedy didnt seem to care to much about it. I have this same picture but Kennedy is only a month old. Ill have to find it.

The snake slide

Homestead

2011-07-11T23:57:00.007-06:00

I got a great deal on citydeals.com for a night stay at Homestead resort with 2-18 rounds of golf for an excellent price. A few friends joined us and we had a blast. The course was gorgeous, and the atmosphere around Homestead was so fun. We sat and listened to music outside our rooms while enjoying a cocktail. It was a great get away with our friends and enjoyable getaway from the kids. Thanks mom for taking them the night.
.

I wish I had not forgotten my swimming suit

Tasha graduates!!

2011-07-11T23:29:00.004-06:00

Did we think it would happen? I sure have my up and downs with this girl. But I love her like a daughter and would not expect anything less then graduating high school. And I reminded her every.single.day. I know there were several mornings she was cursing my name, but it was all in love. She did it, and with a pharmacy tech license to pave new opportunity.
Little Miss Tasha came into our lives a few months after we moved into our new house. She was so smart and full of enthusiasm, I'm sure that's why we fell in love with her. She was 11, I believe. She quickly became part of our family. I hope to see all the hopes and dreams she had at 11 years old come true. My girls view her as a sister and I hope that never changes.

Maddy graduates Kindergarten

2011-06-20T16:03:00.016-06:00

We made it through Kindergarten and with flying colors! Maddy had so much fun, she really just loves school. I am so grateful I was able to volunteer in her class most Wednesdays, it was such a joy getting to see her at school and getting to know all her friends.
My dad made a deal with me when I was a little girl that if I missed no days of school (other then being really sick and cant go) I would get to pick any toy I wanted from Toys R us at the end of the school year (I'm sure it was within reason, but I don't remember ever being told no). So I started the same tradition. Maddy missed two days of school, one was when she had 102 temperature and momma bear made her stay home despite her pleas, the other we were going on our first camping trip of the year and that's important. She climbed Sand Mountain and rode four wheelers that day, I'm sure she learned way more then she would have in school that Friday. So she did get to get a toy, she chose a zooble home, and was so pleased with her choice. I remember one year I chose bridal bears it came with decorations, marriage license, invites and all to have a wedding for your bears. I remember the ceremony well :) I hope she remembers her chooses.
Maddy went into Kindergarten a very smart little girl, and while she came out a little smarter what I noticed most was she came out a girl. It was like she went and grew up on me. She had her own thoughts, opinions, suggestions and attitude. Oy what the next 12 years will bring :)
Diamond Ridge, Maddy's school has a French immersion program. We registered her for it at the beginning of Kindergarten. Its a lottery who gets in, and only a percentage is from the school. So its pretty slim chance, well she got in. I was very excited she would have this opportunity. Months later, I get a letter from the district stating Maddy has tested into the districts "gifted and talented program". Another great opportunity for our very smart little girl. We really weighed our options on what would be best for her education and decided to keep her at her home school in the French immersion program. I sure hope we made the right decision. Time will tell. I didn't expect to be making these life changing decisions at 6 years old.

Doing her gymnastics routine for her Kindergarten program

End of the year program. They learned the National Anaheim in sigh language

Mrs. Miller her kindergarten teacher

Christmas photo of the kindergarten class
I was grateful to make it to her field day. I remember my field day as a kid, it was so fun and exciting.

Let the games begin

Maddy playing games

Popsicle s after a hot field day

Kenna had her fun at field day too

Dad and Maddy on the last day of kindergarten

First camp trip 2011

2011-06-20T15:12:00.007-06:00

We left on Kennedy's birthday for the Sand Dunes, it was a great trip and so nice to finally get out for the season. The weather was wonderful on Friday, Saturday got pretty windy but we made the best of it
Riding Linkin's four wheeler with no fear

They are out of here

Maddy driving the four wheeler herself, shes getting pretty good. Might be time to buy her one for herself soon

I always love these passed out pictures, shows how much fun they have!

Camp. We went with Kristin, Shawn, and their brothers.

Kristin has some cool pictures of Dante and Maddy walking up Sand Mountain, Ill post when she gets me copies.

Kennedy turns 3

2011-06-20T14:31:00.006-06:00

She is so funny, she would never say she was turning 3 only show you 3 fingers. And it took her forever to get only the 3 fingers up. This was the start to our crazy fun summer, so we just had a little get together Sunday before her birthday. Of course all she cared about was the cake, that girl loves sweets.
Aunt Malinda made my Barbie cake

Aww

So many great gifts

Big girl bed!

On the day of her birthday we loaded up for our first camping trip of the year, to the Sand Dunes.

Zoo field trip

2011-04-20T08:53:00.007-06:00

I joined Maddy on her class field-trip to the Zoo. She was so excited to ride the bus, it was so loud and hot. She told me it wasn't what she thought it would be, next time Ill be driving myself! The zoo was fun. I was not able to bring Kennedy so we will need to make another trip soon.

My group of kids

Kennedys first trax ride

2011-04-20T08:51:00.002-06:00

We went to a blaze game. The girls only wanted to sit at the very top, man those stairs are steep.

Gymnastics

2011-04-20T08:40:00.006-06:00

Maddy is loving Gymnastics, and shes really good at it. They have asked her to start the classes that train them to do competitive gymnastics. The times didn't really work, and well 3 hours 2 times a week seemed like a bit much for now. So we just moved her up a level for now.

Easter

2011-04-20T07:56:00.011-06:00

So many Easter egg hunts this year!
Maddy started out with an egg hunt at school. I went and helped with the party, it was fun hiding all those eggs. Those Kindergartens are fast, they had them all found within minutes. Right after school we headed to Elmo for the annual Easter festivities. Trever had to work, so Malinda drove down with the girls and I. When we arrived grandpa Elroy took the girls to an egg hunt at the Elmo retirement home (the only business in Elmo).

This was Kennedy's first egg hunt she really understood, add in her obsession with candy and the girl caught on very quick. She got more eggs then the big kids. They brought out all the residents, you could tell they really had
a good time watching the kids run around being young.

The following day the rest of the family joined for a day filled with egg coloring, playing, egg filling, playing, filling water balloons, lunch, climbing rocks in the desert, massive egg hunt in the desert, water balloon fight with launchers. Girls had a lot of fun. Then we were invited to go ride four wheelers, Maddy has been told she cant have one until she can drive one all by herself. She never cared too much in the past, but this time she was determined. And she did great, I just hung on the back while she did all the driving and steering. She may have a four wheeler in her future.
I didnt take my camera out to the desert so those will just have to be memories. But what would a Easter be without a bunny

Actual Easter weekend we were going to go camping, but with all the rain and snow we decided to stay home and do some spring cleaning to our yard. Not as fun, but has to be done. We did our first egg hunt at our house, that was fun. All recycled candy from previous hunts, but its finding the eggs that's the fun part right!

Then off to my moms for another egg hunt, you would think they would be wore out but nope.

Quick Vegas Getaway

2011-04-04T14:31:00.008-06:00

I went from this

to this in just a short few days

My mom and some of her buddies were headed to Vegas for a couple of days and my aunt Barbara invited me. They had a 2 bedroom suite with my mom so she and I would share a bed. Trever had recently left on a guys golfing weekend trip to Mesquite, so it was my turn. Somehow it all worked out and I was able to go.
I flew down Monday morning we checked into our gorgeous suite at the MGM. Then went to check out Hoover Dam and the new bridge. When we were there last year on our way to Disneyland it wasn't quite connected yet, it was amazing to see if all together. No wonder those engineers make so much money. My mom had not been there since her honeymoon... 33ish years ago! It was fun to be there with her.

We got back to the hotel and gambled gambled gambled, then I met up with Serene and Ajay my neighbors it was a pure coincidence we were there at the same time, and gambled more with them.
Tuesday we gambled, shopped, checked out the newest hotel cosmopolitan, hung out pool side (very nice knowing it was a blizzard at home), gambled, then went and saw Le Reve at the Winn. So amazing what some humans can do, it was a terrific show. We had dinner after followed by hours of gambling, 3 am to be exact. Waking up at 7am the next day was no fun, but it was back to real life. But not before I got a little more gambling in. I'm seeing a pattern of gambling..hmmm.
It was a quick getaway, but very enjoyable and I loved spending the time with my mom. My uncle and I even made her leave her phone behind here and there, it was great she got some time to herself. Although she was angry with us when we would get back to the room and she had 10 voice mails! And it was great seeing some people I had not seen in years.

There was crystals everywhere, very pretty hotel

Spoke to soon

2011-03-12T20:27:00.000-07:00

Kennedy peed on my brand new phone while sleeping. Its broken. $500 to replace.

Sleeping Beauties

2011-03-10T19:26:00.005-07:00

I love to watch them sleep, so innocent and sweet.

Princess

2011-02-25T17:44:00.001-07:00

The other day Trever took Maddy pheasant hunting, so it was just Kennedy and I eating breakfast. Kennedy asked me if I was done, I told her I was full and couldn't finish all my breakfast. She told me "mommy if you finish all your breakfast you will be a princess like me"! This girl cracks me up

Maddy turns 6

2011-02-25T17:11:00.009-07:00

So we had a FLIP FLOP party! So many friends came, we played musical chairs, pin the sticker on the flip flop, a race with sticky things you throw at the wall, a pinata, and of course decorated flip flips! Each kid got to take home a pair of flip flops they decorated, it was a mess but fun!

Are there any left in there??

Aunt Malinda made the cake

Enjoying the cake

She is growing up so fast!

On her actual birthday she lost her second tooth

Getting through Winter

2011-02-25T16:44:00.009-07:00

Jan/Feb and into March is so hard, they are the worst months. So I try to find things to get us out of the house. Here is somethings that have been keeping us busy.

I got a great deal on a 10 pack of Jungle Jim all day passes. $2.60 each, cant beat that for a day of fun.

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Trever built me some new shelves for the storage room

Loving each other

Playing with friends INSIDE

We went and bought new life jackets for the whole family today and it has us all more then ready for summer!

First time at the dentist

2011-02-25T16:39:00.003-07:00

And Kennedy did great!

And no cavities! She was so excited to get her "own" token to take a ride on the dentist carousal

Program

2011-02-25T16:32:00.003-07:00

Maddy's kindergarten class had a Christmas program. They sang lots of cute songs, and each got to tell a joke. Maddy's joke was "What do you call Santa when he is not moving? Give up?? Santa paws"

Getting so grown up

Then in February the whole school did a founders day program. Each grade did a different part, and the whole school sang Hero, it was touching. Kindergarten did the pledge of allegiance in sign language.

Christmas

2011-02-25T16:15:00.006-07:00

Calm before the storm
We had another great Christmas, spent with family and friends. Trever had to work Christmas eve and Christmas day on graveyards but at least he got to be home for the important parts of the day

Very own scooter

Happy girl with her new DS

Helping eachother at Grandma Maynes

Progress

2010-12-22T16:35:00.002-07:00

Few quick notes.
Kennedy FINALLY potty trained a few months ago. She still has to wear a pull up at night, but we are working on that.
Maddy was really excelling in her Kindergarten class and I was concerned the year would be a waste for her academically. So I had her teacher test her for the schools AR (advanced reading) program. She tested at a second grade level, and gets to participate. Finally something to challenge her. We are two books in and she has passed them both off. Its neat to see her loving to read, its like a whole new world has opened up to her. She is getting some Fancy Nancy books for Christmas, I'm excited to read them with her.

Finally

2010-12-22T15:41:00.006-07:00

We really got a lot of snow in November and early December. With all the snow we had and it was only November I was really scared for how much snow we would have by January and February. We finally broke down and bought a snow blower. We had one that was given to us, but it was really heavy and not all that useful. I'm now sure why we didn't buy a more practical one years ago. After we bought it, no snow. We had few snow storms since but its been really wet heavy snow so the snow blower isn't much help. As Trever put it " I paid $500 to make the snow stop", if that's all it takes I'm in! The weather has been odd, its been raining for the last 3 days. It snows at night, but rains during the day. Odd for December.

December

2010-12-22T15:18:00.018-07:00

The holiday season/December is always busy, and this year was no different.
All the family, work, friend parties, birthdays it seems the month just flies by. We had a great time, and the kids had fun at all of them.

It was nice to have healthy kids back!

Decorating the Go Utes Tree

I am not a fan of Chucky Cheese, but Maddy had been asking for a long time if she could go. I made a weekly chart with chores, no whining, ect and told her if she got all her stickers every day for a month we would go. What a great month, little to no whining. So she earned her trip to Chucky Cheese.

I know I know. The brown boots with black pants, but she is a very stubborn little girls. I have to pick my battles.

I bought the girls their first advent chocolate Christmas countdown this year, my mom also bought the girls one. Then Grandma Barbara made the neatest stocking/mitten countdown. So they each had two countdowns each day, sure helped them to wake up in the morning!

My friend Brandy had her baby Cambria in November, she was 9lbs 9 oz. We had lunch when Cambria was 4 weeks old and 13 lbs! She is almost as big as Kennedy

Tyler turned 30, Trever 36. The 3 of us hung out while Sara finished up finals. On their actual birthday we rode the bus to Wendover. Nobody won, but nobody really lost too much. Win in my book.

Trever's work does a kid party every year. This year it was at Clark Planetarium, they got to sit on Santa's lap on the moon and watch a movie t'was the night before Christmas. Worked out great since Maddy and I had been reading that story a few nights before.

Trevers family party. Lots of crafts and games. This was all the kids listening to April tell a story, they all had a part in the story. Maddy was the gingerbread man and got to run around like a crazy girl singing "run run as fast as you can, you cant catch me Im the gingerbread man".

Maddy and I went ice skating. She did pretty good for her first time (well second but she was way too young to go her first time)

Maddy and her friends

My moms family party at my Uncle Phils house. Maddy was so excited for this party.

Maddys Kindergarten performance. It was really cute program. They sang about 6 songs and each had a part in telling jokes. Maddy's was, What do you call Santa when he is not moving??? Santa pause haha

I cant cant forgot about this note. Maddy was mad at me for something and went stomping into her room. Few minutes later she comes and throws this note at Trever and I and went back to her room. Good thing she went back, because we could not stop laughing. Kids!

Christmas is just a few days away, we are all very excited. Although Trever does have to work nights on Christmas eve and Christmas day, at least he wont miss the fun parts.

Wrap up 2010 Utes season

2010-11-29T13:27:00.014-07:00

What a season! We started off so well, and us fans tailgated to show our appreciation!

Kennedy dancing to the band

Swoop and I

The girls

Kennedy taking a little nap

THen we got all ready for the TCU game. We were there early for the ESPN game day coverage. Maddy and some of our tailgate lot was on TV holding frog legs.

Too bad this is not the butt kicking we gave those frogs. Instead we lost in a pathetic way. Oh well dust yourself off and move on. Nope we didnt do that either, we lost the next week to Norte Dame. Luckily we pulled off the next two wins, but not by much.
We did have a great time getting ready for the BYU game, but it was COLD!

Girls in Jay and Deanas trailer

Maddy dancing with Swoop

Us girls watching over the BYU bar

And after 6 long months of waiting.... the burning of the coat.

And now we are fed and ready to go to the game.

We didnt pay our best, it was a stressful game to watch, and we were so cold. But a win is a win, we will take it!
Already excited for next season! Hope they dont raise our tickets TOO much!
Until next year.. cheers!

Sick babies

2010-11-12T17:40:00.003-07:00

I hope this isn't the start to a sick winter. Both girls have already been pretty sick. First it was Kennedy, she kept getting a tempeture of 102-104 so I finally took her in. The doc thought it was strep but because her throat was so raw he decided not to test her for strep and just treat her for it. It was almost a week before she got better. Maddy was so good with her.

Then just as Kennedy was getting better, Maddy started not feeling well. She was giving us a hard time about eating, and then she started saying her throat hurt. Then her lips started getting sores on them. Kennedy had fever blisters from when she was sick but these were bigger and nastier looking. Took her in, she tested negative for strep. Doc said it was probably a adnoid virus that mimicks strep but it lasts 10 days. And it did, it was a long 10 days. By the end her lips and mouth were covered in canker sores. I felt horrible for her.
Kennedy took her turn caring for Maddy. Both are better now, hoping that was their one time sick for the year.

Right Mommy

2010-11-12T17:38:00.016-07:00

Kennedy is really talking well now. Some of the things she says that crack me up. The tone that goes along with them make me chuckle every time.

but its my favorite

but your my mommmy-- she uses this one in hopes of getting what she wants. Usually only works in the middle of the night.

are you my bestie?

oooooookkkkkkkkkk

right mommy?? After just about everything she says, its followed with "right mommy"

She sure is a handful, but has the cutest dang personality to make up for it.

Halloween 2010

2010-11-12T17:38:00.014-07:00

Another busy Halloween. I let Maddy pick what she wanted to be this year, she picked a mid evil princess.. she picked, but it turned out really cute. I figure this is my last year I get to pick for Kennedy, I saw the cutest spider costume in a way overpriced magazine and told my mother in law (aka sewing goddess) a picture of the costume and got just what the picture showed. Kylie was admiring a costume out of the same magazine that was $200, Barb offered to make it for far else and it turned out so amazing. I told her she better keep it as a prom dress.
We had our annual family party, it was all good other then Trever dressing up....

There costumes turned out so cute

Kennedy so proud of her pumpkin she carved

Maddys pumpkin

Tyler and Sara's party went as planned.. really fun right up until the end when someone ruins it.. sad to say my last name was involved this year. But still a great party

Some of the girls

Family 2010 Halloween pic
Since this year it was raining we decided we better give the local trunk or treat a try since the rain may ruin the real trick or treating. It was a better experience then I thought, it was nice seeing all the neighbors in a quick time, the kids got enough candy it didn't matter if it rained, and my duty was done. But I still believe the fun of trick or treating comes from going house to house. We had some family and friends come over and a few ventured back out into the rain for "real" trick or treating. Maddy went and loved it, but she was a soaked mid evil princess in the end.

Kids before trick or treating

All of us before trick or trunking, the picture after would have been better! We were all soaked

Haunted house
We took Maddy to her first haunted house. She begged to go last year, I just felt it was too soon and didn't want to ruin her for life. I had hoped she would forget, but nope she reminded us daily throughout the haunted house season. So Trev and I decided we better take her, Kristin and Dante came with us.. it was also Dante first time. In the end we all had a blast. Dante was afraid to walk in the front and Maddy was brave enough to be our guide the whole time. She really only got scared when it got pitch dark, and the "chainsaw" guys were running after mom.."thats my mommy" she was screaming. She is already talking about next year haunted houses.

Catch up

2010-11-12T17:36:00.018-07:00

I have alot to catch up. Amusing as it may seem to others I just noticed the last post "art" and realized a "art Jr." will follow.

Kennedy has been a naughty little girl with pens and crayons, but this one was bad. I took me hours to get the pen off. I had to scrub tiny marks with hand sanitizer, then let that spot dry to make sure the ink had not bled. It took several hours over several days.

Here are some actives we have doneover the last month.

Making brownies for daddy while hes at work

Pumpkin patch

loading the pumpkins

and final step.. decorating the pumpkins. We also went to Wheeler farm another day but I forgot my camera. Also forgot the camera when we went to Gardiner Village. Maddy went with Grandma Barb and told Trever and I we just had to see all the witches so the family went. The witches are pretty neat.

Maddy's favorite night time activity, Kennedy and I just recently were invited to join. It was a Maddy-Daddy activity for the last few years.

Dunking Oreo's in milk

Playing at the park. Kennedy is pretty strong she can hand on a long time

Trip to Hollywood connection. First time the girls played miniature golf

Sledding at West ridge golf course

Maddy loves sledding

Kennedy not so much. This about sums up her feelings on being cold

Art???

2010-09-30T21:44:00.004-06:00

Remember this sweet girl???

Trever noticed some "art" on his truck the other day, thankfully he was home only with Kennedy, she ratted Maddy out in a heartbeat. But really you cant believe anything she says. He called me at work to ask if I knew anything about it, sorry I sure don't. After a lengthy discussion we decide it had to be Kennedy or a neighbor kid, certainly not our Maddy. One of those rotten children had drawn "art" all down the passenger side of Trever's truck with a rock. There is a pile of rocks right by where the truck has to be parked when we don't have the trailer down the hill, so would one think we put the paintbrush in their hand???? When Maddy got home we calmly asked if if she knew anything about the art on daddy's truck................. (we always love our children *insert*) well yes I did it, she replies. Mixed emotion, WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU DRAW ON DADDY'S TRUCK WITH A ROCK... thank you for telling the truth.... I love you I love you I love you.
At least she told the truth, she got punished for doing something she knew was wrong but was also not punished as harsh for telling the truth, she could have easily let us believe Kennedy of a neighbor kid did it.
She wrote this note to us while having to sit in her room and think about right and wrong choices. Ahh the joys of parenting :)

Your mean

2010-09-28T20:01:00.005-06:00

Tonight, Trever and I were getting the girls ready for bed and we told Kennedy she needed to go potty (we are in the long process of potty training) she gave her response she does every time " I already went potty" we reminded her that was hours ago and she needed to go again...not a new conversation but this time she busted out "you guys are mean, I want my grandma" I said really, you want to go to your grandma's house, she said "I walk to grandmas house".
So watch out grandma,she just might be on her way.

10 years!!

2010-09-17T15:14:00.003-06:00

On September 9th Trever and I had put up with each other for 10 years, quite the accomplishment! Just kidding, we have a great relationship and love one another very much.. most the time :). Its crazy looking back over the last 10 years, we have accomplished and been through so much. I cant wait to see what the next 50 years bring us, the good the bad and the ugly. Love you Trever!

We went to Lake Tahoe on our honeymoon, so Trever really wanted to go back there. I wasn't so thrilled about the idea but went along for him. We have barley been home all summer, and the thought of leaving for another 4 days did not sound good to me. Plus, for whatever crazy reason we decided to take the girls to Lagoon the day before we left and stay the night. We got home at 8am, NOT PACKED yet and our flight left at 11am. Crazy morning. But, I am very glad I did. I forgot how pretty that lake is. And it was nice to spend 4 days alone with Trever, no interruptions. I forgot how great it is to have each others undivided attention. Ahh but after 4 days of playing on the lake, gambling, sleeping in, and few other activities it was back to reality.

First day of Kindergarten

2010-09-04T15:36:00.006-06:00

Maddy has been waiting for this day for a year! It finally came, and she was so excited. We were all ready to walk to school, but when we woke up it was horrible weather. Our brand new deck was covered in hail, IN AUGUST! Her teacher is Mrs. Miller, so far so good she seems to like her.
I cant wait to see what she learns this year. She is going into Kindergarten doing two digit addition and subtraction (21-15 or 32+18), counting by 2,5, and 10's to at least a 100 (she counted to 606 in the car the other day, I had to finally stop her our sanity was in jeopardy haha). She is reading pretty good but still needs help with some words like celebrity she couldn't sound out. Still having a hard time with all the silly English spellings, but heck I still have a hard time sometimes. She can tell time on a traditional clock, which is great but no tricking her into going to bed early anymore. I have been telling her all summer she cant go to kindergarten if she cant tie her shoes, I kept trying to teach her but she would get so frustrated. The night before school started she locked herself in her room and figured it out. I was so proud. She knows money but only change, we are working on bills. The other day she was out playing in the circle and a neighbor guy had one of those blow up hammers she asked him how much it cost, he said .50 cents, she said Ill give you .25 Im only willing to give you a quarter. The other neighbor came over to tell me how impressed she was that Maddy not only knew her money but could negotiate. I had her doing half hour of homework a day all summer, mean mom at the time but she is going into Kindergarten well ahead of what she needs to know. And really she loved it, she had to remind me to give her homework most the time.

And just a reminder of what changes in a year, this was start of preschool a year ago

Rockport 2010

2010-09-04T15:22:00.005-06:00

Kennedy, Riley, Kylie and Maddy playing on the beach

We went to Rockport again this year for my birthday. We had alot of people come out and it was a great time. Trever and Mike had golf tournament for work so Becky, the kids and I drove down Friday morning. Later we were joined by Fosters, Jay, Deana and the kids, Ed and Jen, Silvers and kids, and Tyler. Indie was a sick boy so mom had to stay home with him. I was pretty nervous the week leading up to our departure, the weather was not looking good. It was pretty windy but we still had a great time and were able ot boat and have fun on the water tramp.
I didnt take many picture, not sure why guess we were just having too much fun.

Sage came with us, and is now a celebrity! Will be November in Cabela's 2011 calander

Kennedy riding Sage

Guys cooking us a yummy breakfast

Elmo days 2010

2010-09-04T15:14:00.003-06:00

Another fun time at Elmo days. This year Trever wanted to see a concert Friday night, so the girls and I drove down Friday morning. Kolin and Kolsen needed a ride home, so I driving down was me and 5 kids! We were cramped to say the least, but we made the best of it. I had to stop at Cabela's on the way down, taking 5 kids into a store was interesting. I don't know how people have that many kids. We went to the wave pool, all the kids had a great time. Trever came down late Friday night after his concert with Tammy and Brent. The town was not having a town dance this year so we had our own in Jans yard, good times. Ty and Sara were at a Star Wars convention so they couldn't make it, just not the same without them.

Kearns Parade

2010-09-04T15:05:00.004-06:00

Its a campaign year so we threw candy for my mom in the Kearns parade. Maddy walked the whole parade, she did great! She got a little excited throwing the candy, sometimes getting a little close... many people got a handful of candy to the face from a foot away. Luckily, they all took it well. We almost didn't have a enough people, Thanks Ty and Sara for helping out!

New Deck

2010-08-25T15:52:00.006-06:00

The starting, the "redder" deck is the old one.

With the heat starting to fall, its been nice to go outside and watch TV while hanging out on our new deck. The girls love it, and I must admit I think its pretty fun to watch a move outside too. Reminds me of when I did "sleep out pig outs" with my dad, Maddy will experience that soon!

We FINALLY got the deck we always wanted. When we were building the house the builders just were not interested in building the deck we wanted so we settled. So happens our friend Mike use to build decks for a living, he was kind enough to donate at least 70 hours of his time to build us a deck. And we love it! It now connects the backdoor to our bedroom door. And its not wood, so no more painting! Mike did a really good job, there are no screw holes you can see which is why it took so long but it looks amazing!

Im not sure what happened, I had pictures from start to finish almost every day they worked, but they have disappeared. SO I just took this picture tonight, its dark and knot that great but you get the idea. Its a great deck, we are loving it.

Lava Hot Springs 2010

2010-08-18T17:08:00.007-06:00

Soda Springs geyser

Getting soda water
Took our annual trip to Lava this year from July 30th to August 2cd. Some of Trever's family joined us this year, his mom and step dad Elroy, Kolin, Kolsen and Kylee (nephew and nieces), my sister in law Malinda and son Ryan nephew AJ, and we brought our niece Kaycee, neighbor (might as well be daughter) Kylie and our friends Mike and Becky and grandson Riley. We had a full group.
Last year the service getting food was so bad we decided to camp this year, it worked out so much better. Other then that we did all our normal activities, swimming, water slides, river rafting, eating, and playing. But this year we took a drive up to soda springs to see the geyser and get some soda water. We got to the geyser just minutes before it was going off, and right as it did a gust of wind came and we all got so soaked. It was hot so it felt nice, but that water felt so yucky. Then we went up the road a couple miles and got our own soda water. I brought flavors to add to it, it wasn't too bad. Kinda cooper tasting, but Maddy really liked it. It was a great little getaway.
This was the end of a very long run for us, it was nice to know we would finally get a weekend at home. Last weekend in June we went camping, July we had our 4th party, then camped for 5 days, then golf tournament/camping for 3 days, then lake powell for 4 days then Lava for 4 days. It was a busy month!

Lake Powell

2010-08-03T22:16:00.021-06:00

Amazing, you hear about it from other people or from books but until you actually see it.... you get to see the true beauty.

Went to Lake Powell last weekend, it was my first time ever and Trever's second time.. but really his first since he doesn't remember much of the first time and he never actually went anywhere on the lake. All I have to say is what an amazing place, every time we rounded a corner I was amazed all over again.
The trip was pretty much put together as a last minute plan, going with Trever's brother Jay, wife Deana and 2 kids AJ and Kaycee. We got a hotel room since we had too many people to haul camping equipment anywhere. Trever's mom had wanted to take the girls for a few days and since Elmo was along the way to the lake, we figured it would work out great. We didn't realize until a few days before leaving, because we had changed from going to bullfrog to Wahweap we would need to head the opposite direction. Between picking up Kylee to haul down to Elmo, dropping kids off in Elmo, few wrong turns, and not hitting the canyons with hundreds of deer on the side of the road until dark it took us 9 hours to get there. I told Trever "this better be worth it". Did I ever eat my words, it was so worth it. The place is so gorgeous. I hope to make it an annual trip.

Rainbow bridge. So cool to see it and learn the history behind it. SO worth the hike

Cliff diving!

Cliff diving!! So much fun
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We went to a slot canyon in AZ. It was so cool, they had flash floods 3 days before that had water way above our heads. We could see all the debris. I was a bit freaked out looking at the memorial for the 11 people that died going through the canyon in 1999. They got caught in a flash flood. The canonyon now has rescue ropes and a sensor an hour up stream to give an hour warning of any water coming down. It was so worth the extra drive. I hope to make it an annual trip.
The day we left we headed into Page, AZ to a slot canyon tour. It was so cool. Back in 1997 they had a tour group going through and a flash flood came through so fast it killed them all. They now have a memorial set up, and have since (court orders) put in rope lines, stairs and have a sensor an hour up the bank that sets of a signal if water is coming. So they have an hour to get tourists out. 3 days before we were there a flash flood came through, you could see derby from the water above our heads. So crazy to think only 3 days before the water was well above our heads.
I would really like to go explore more of the slot canyons, the one we went through was called cork screw.

Double Boogie open

2010-07-26T16:41:00.006-06:00

This is always a fun weekend! This year our friends Mike and Becky joined us as our tournament partners, and camped with us for 3 nights. Friday we woke up and hit 9 holes before heading to the pool. Trever and Mike continued with another 18 holes, in 103 degree weather 27 holes is way too much! The pool was fun, but it was still so hot. Saturday our tournament didn't start until 2, wow talk about hot! It was nice to have a few people driving around cooling us off with water guns, I think I dumped at least 5 waters on myself. We actually golfed pretty good, and Becky did a great job on the small putter hole. Maddy got to ride with us while we played a few holes, but she wanted to head back to do arts and crafts with Aunt Malinda. Great weekend, but defiantly hot.
This was my third golf tournament of the year. I played in the unified police tournament, my moms fundraiser and this one.

So many deer on this course

Its nice to be camping right on the course for when those cold beverages are calling your name

Raging Waters

2010-07-12T21:35:00.003-06:00

Took the girls to raging waters for the first time. Trever and I had not been in over a decade, so we were all pretty excited. The girls loved it, specially Maddy with all the water slides. She really loves water slides, it was so neat watching her go on all of them. The faster the better she told me at one point. The only ones she didn't go on were Acapulco and the one next too it, she really wanted to but I decided she needed to wait a year or so. Didn't get too many photos

Hillbilly Camp out

2010-07-12T21:12:00.004-06:00

We went camping for 5 days! That is a long time without a shower, well Ok I showered but its not the same in a trailer. We had a blast! We went up near Bear river service in the Unitas. I was so nice to get out of the 90+ degree weather. Our friends Mike and Becky, their two kids, and Kylie came up for the full 5 days. We did a lot of riding 4 wheelers, playing and relaxing. Saw lots of deer, a moose and a whole lot of cows that were dropped off across from our campground on day 3.

Then on Friday about 20 people, mostly people Trever works with came up for a day of dress up. On Saturday we all dressed up for a Hillbilly theme. It was hilarious seeing everyone's outfits. I wish we had taken a group photo.

4th of July

2010-07-12T20:57:00.007-06:00

Another great holiday came and went. Trever took vacation during the holiday season so he was off for 2 weeks, nice to have him home. As we do every year on the 2cd we went to Granite high's celebration they do. The girls always have a great time, Trever's family really puts on a good get together.

We had our party the next day. All went well, the slide we rent was a hit with the kids, about 50 pounds of chicken was consumed, followed with a fabulous firework show. Its amazing how I spend 2 months getting ready for this party and its all over in one day, but its worth it.

Triathlon complete

2010-06-30T20:24:00.006-06:00

I finished!! And not last!
I did it and finished!! Time was an issue, seems we have something every weekend so I finally decided to do the Lunatic Triathlon in Price since we would be near there for a family reunion. It didn’t start until 10pm, which I was a bit nervous about. Then when I got there I found out they switched the order from swim, bike, run to run, bike swim UGG I hate running and now I have to do it first?!?! But all went well; I did the run in 30 minute, less than 10 minute miles pretty fast for me. My official time was 1 hour 22 minutes. It was nice to have a cheering squad, Trever, my mother in law Jan, sister in law Deana, nephew Kolin. And friends Mike and Becky drove down from SLC just to cheer me on, I really have great family and friends. I had a great time; I think I will try for another one… maybe.

Starting the swim, the last leg

Starting, they switched the routine at the last minute so the run was first

2010 Mortensen Reunion

2010-06-30T20:11:00.007-06:00

The reunion was at Huntington reservoir, very nice place. Almost all grass and concrete = clean children. We even had an inflatable pool for the kids to play in. Lots of good food, games, and nice to see the family. But, we spent the majority of the time boating. Our family had 4 boats up there. I'm not sure why getting bounced around on a tube, face pounding into a tube over and over is so appealing?? But I couldn’t get enough of it. Maddy had a great time too, she is a tough girl she wouldn’t let go for anything. She would get completely submerged and come up still hanging on. Kennedy liked the tube, but was not so happy in her life jacket unless she was swimming. The water was pretty cold but she never wanted to quit swimming, I think she would have stayed until she had hypothermia and still been happy swimming. It was Kylie's first time ever going to a lake. She was nervous on the boat and tube at first but by the end of the weekend she was flipping off the tube.
Trever normally refuses to get on anything being pulled by a boat, but we even got him on the tube but only if the little ones were also riding. What a wuss

Kylie, Maddy and I riding being pulled on a tube

My two older girls

Boating, camping, games, having fun is tiring

ABC- Dance performance

2010-06-23T19:31:00.006-06:00

Maddy had her summer dance performance, they danced to ABC. Maddy did really well, and had a lot of fun. This may be her last for a while, so Im happy she enjoyed the recital. I think she is going to try gymnastics for a while, seems more her style. Let her give that a try and then let her chose which she likes best. Its going to be sad leaving dance, she has made so many friends. So we will see what happens

Lagoon- Maddy's paradise

2010-06-23T19:29:00.002-06:00

Forgot a camera, dang it! We planned out annual Lava trip and then found out it was the same weekend as Chevrons Lagoon day. So Maddy and I tagged along to Thatcher’s (Trever's previous employer) Lagoon day. It was a perfect day at Lagoon, not too hot and the lines were not very long. Maddy still loves the Tidal Wave but this was the first year she could ride “The bat” which is now her new favorite ride. She is 41 inches so we were scared they wouldn’t let her on the rides, but they didn’t even check. Kennedy is still too short to ride too many rides; we will take her next year. She had a great day playing at her great grandma’s house.

First camping trip of 2010

2010-06-23T19:28:00.001-06:00

We went to Diamond Fork campground we had never camped there before, it was really nice and not dirty. Maddy was able to ride her bike all around the camp loop which kept her happy. Ended up being just the 4 of us, we went on a 10 mile bike ride up the canyon. Very pretty, but pulling both girls up a mountain gets very tiring. Great trip for our first time out this year.
No pictures, I was still researching what camera to buy to replace the broken one

Viva Las Vegas-

2010-06-23T19:27:00.006-06:00

On a late night whim we decided we were going to UFC 114 Rampage vs. Evans. Our good friends Kristin, Shawn, Trever and I really wanted to see this fight so off to Vegas we went. We went for 3 days; our only plan was to watch the fight. It was nice just lounging around the pool all day, with no agenda. Trever and Shawn did go to the UFC convention that was being held in town, they waited in line for 3 hours for Titos autograph. Crazy boys. The fights themselves didn’t turn out how we wanted, but it was still amazing being there live. One of the nights we ate at Dicks in Excalibur, it was a blast. Odd being treated that way, but lots of fun.

my last picture taken with this camera, the girl sitting next to us dropped and broke it.

Poem

2010-06-03T21:40:00.006-06:00

Y for yes and N for no
a fish in a dish....N.. why, because a fish would swim out of a dish (and the look on her face was like DUH mom)
a ship for a trip...y... because you and dad went on a trip on a ship when I was 3 but you can only go on trips if your with your mom and dad, right mom?
some chips and dip.. y... we do chips and dips all the time. (Guess we need to get our diet in check)
a pig dancing a jig...n... pigs don't dance

What would you wish for?
Sun- no snow, wind, clouds, sand only sun sun sun
cake- one with 1 million candles so that I get one million wishes
cha-cha-- because its so fun

I love little kids minds. This was a homework sheet Maddy and I were doing

Preschool graduation (ll)

2010-05-27T22:55:00.003-06:00

Dang she is short!
Maddy graduated preschool for the second time yesterday. They had a cute little program where they sang several songs the kids have learned over the year. My favorite was the one about putting mommy in a box so she could kiss her all day long, and at the end of the song Maddy brought me flower lay followed with a kiss. My heart melted. Her teacher, Mrs. Sweet was the best teacher I can only hope she has equally great teachers in the future. We gave her and the assistant Mrs. Jean a gift certificate, Maddy made them a paper purse to put the certificate in along with a baggy of hello kitty gumballs for each and a paper thing she cut out of the two of them holding hands. I couldn't cut one out if I was paid too, she is already more creative then I will ever be. She also made Trever and I one, here is a picture of it, but she wasn't thrilled with this one because we didn't have enough shoulders LOL
She is so excited that she finally gets to go to Kindergarten. She told me today I'm going to miss her so much when she goes to Kindergarten.

Will they ever look at the camera at the same time?

Last day with that mop of hair, its was chopped off a few hours later

Soccer

2010-05-26T21:57:00.003-06:00

Soccer part two.... I have to remember when I put Maddy in soccer at the ripe ole age of 3, just weeks after Miss. Kennedy was born. Maddy, well.... enjoyed yelling through the cones, that was about it. So two years later we gave it a try again. She was much more focused this time, but probably not going to be a professional soccer player. She had a couple really good players on her team, which was great for winning but not so great in her love for the game. She just didn't understand why she ran so hard after the ball but somebody else always got to it first... great life lesson.
So while i don't see a soccer career in her future, she at least had fun most of the time. The first game daddy was able to attend she scored a goal, the smile on her face made it all worth it!

Kennedy turns 2!

2010-05-20T20:20:00.007-06:00

Alright, so Im a little late. We had a small birthday party for her at the house, but she had a great time! She is talking so well now, its funny I ever worried. She has started potty training, but I can say now its going to be much more of a challenge then Maddy was. She will go every time I (III) put her on the toilet but she hasn't started telling me when she has to go. She has her 2 year check up tomorrow, we shall see what her weight and height is at (33 inches (50th), 28 pounds(70th).
Random things about Kennedy
1. She loves to shower, I cant say the word shower without her taking her cloths off and running to the bathroom

2. Obsessed with Mickey Mouse
3. always walks, every time I get her out of the car she says "I walk I walk" over and over until I put her down
4. always hauling a blankie around, not to particular on which blankie but has to have one with her most the time
5. mommy's girl
6. favorite food is asparagus and instant oatmeal
7. favorite treat is fruit snack, she will do anything for fruit snacks from going on the potty to picking up toys. She just about hyperventilates when she hears the words.
8. busy little girl, always into something
9. dances anything music comes on including when our phones ring
10. loves shoes, changes them at least 5 times a day

To better days!!

2010-04-13T20:11:00.004-06:00

We have been a bunch of sicko's around here lately, its not every often any of us get sick but we have had a bad run. Last week I had to go to the doctor, got put on antibiotics for my first ever bladder infection. Few days later took Maddy in for her 5 year check up, she is 41 inches and pounds 10th percentile for height doc said she will likely be around 5'2 just like her mama. She had started complaining that morning of an ear ache, she is now on her first ever dose of antibiotics, she had an ear infection. Kennedy had a weird rash around her mouth that wasn't going away with anything I tried, the doc put her on a prescription ointment. At least I got a 3 for 1 doctor appointment! Few days later I woke up unable to swallow. Went to the doctor Sunday, it was strep so I'm on my second set of antibiotics in a week.
This morning we headed to Price for Trever's grandma Jennings funeral. Trever was coming off a graveyard but we hoped he could get hour or two of sleep before we had to leave, nope it was snowing and there's nothing more dangerous then driving that canyon in the snow. We got the girls dropped off and were on the road by 7am, no sleep for Trever. Few minutes before the funeral, I was swishing my magic mix stuff that numbs my throat so I can swallow.. a few mishaps and before I know whats happening its all over in my hair. Nasty, and not much I can do about it. Thanks Sara for the comb!
The funeral was nice, Betty was a wonderful lady. Throughout the day Trever suspected I had shared my strep with him so we headed to the doctor to get him on antibiotics early. He was right, that's just great we both have strep. Luckily I'm feeling much better today. Then we get a call that Maddy has slammed her finger in a car door, nothing worse then hearing your child screaming in agony for her mommy. She cried so hard her nose bled, I didn't know that was possible.
We are all finally home safe and sound; Trever is sleeping, Maddy's horrible swollen black and blue finger is wrapped up safe, and Ned and I are watching Mickey Mouse. What a day!

What a long 10 days!

2010-03-24T19:17:00.009-06:00

Last weekend we hosted a 50th surprise birthday party for our friend Mike. Party went well other then it snowed all day long. Trever shoveled 4 times and we still had our driveway covered. Nobody could make it up the hill to our house, including the guest of honor, we had to go find him and lead him in another way to our house. But in the end, the party was a great time!

We pulled it off, he was surprised!

Maddy had began not feeling well but never got too bad.
By Monday Kennedy was pretty sick so Tuesday I took her into the doctor, she had croup. The first time shes really been sick, I felt so bad for her. By that night I had caught the bug and was miserable. Wednesday was a very long day to say the least. By Friday we were all feeling much better. Trever was swinging Maddy onto our love sac and ouch, Maddy said she hurt her arm. We didn't think to much of it and sent her to bed with a watchful eye. By morning she would still not move it so off to the instant care we went. Dislocated elbow, the doc POPPED it back into place and she was as good as new. By Monday Trever decided to take his turn being sick, and sick he was. Good thing he had the week off. By today we are all feeling great and with the nice spring like weather (48degrees) we picked Maddy up with the Bikes and rode 5.4 miles, but we stopped for picnic lunch at a park for a little rest. Glad to be back to normal!

Happy 5th Birthday Maddy

2010-02-23T07:45:00.007-07:00

Miss Madison turned 5! She was so excited, she had been counting down the days since she got a calender for Christmas. Trever taught her about birthday weeks, which meant a really long week of "but it's my birthday week" response to everything she was told to do. We had a great birthday party for her. Before I know it, I will be posting about her turning 6.

Decorating cookies.. not much else to do in February

Aunt Malinda makes the cutest cakes!

Party at school

Then on her actual birthday at school, they had a little birthday party for her. I was the helper mom for the day, I go about once a month its alot of fun. After presents from mom and dad, we went to cold stone for Ice Cream. Great end to a great birthday

Disneyland

2010-02-18T20:49:00.023-07:00

We had a magical trip to Disneyland, it was so nice to get away and have a family vacation. We told Maddy 9 months ago we could to go Disneyland, so she had built this trip up for 9 long months. And it was everything we hoped for.

Friday- Trever was coming off a graveyard, the plan was to have me drive to Vegas.. That was the plan. We decided to rent a car, after a bit of a hassle with Enterprise we ended up with a Mazda 5 from Hertz. Worked out great, but put us about an hour behind. Trever ended up driving all the way to Vegas, and never slept the rest of the day… crazy boy. We stayed at Circus Circus, filthy place but perfect with the kids. Maddy had a grand time. The rides were very slow; she never had to wait in a line. Trever and I managed to not gamble even one dollar, such restraint we have.

Saturday- We started at the M&M store, wow that place is crazy. Who knew they made enough M&M stuff to fill 4 floors. We told Maddy she could pick one thing; she walked away with a package of regular M&M’s. At least she kept it cheap! Then we were going to head to Hoover dam since I have never been, Maddy and I take a helicopter ride. But it was raining way hard so we decided to go on the way home. The drive to Anaheim was pretty scary, so much rain. We saw 3 people that had hydroplaned off the road. After a 2 hour adventure through Barstow, we finally made it to our hotel. After checking in, we headed to the grocery store. Somewhere along this path I lost my wallet. Not fun to lose your debit card, credit card, ID and all your cash 2 days into your 10 day trip. And on a Saturday night, the bank would not be open for 2 more days! Luckily it all worked out.

Sunday- Our first day in Disneyland, we all had so much fun. There were really no lines, and the few times there was the parent swap and single rider sure came in handy. Maddy’s favorite ride so far-space mountain. She rode it 8 times by the time we went home.

Monday- We really should have done some more research before taking this adventure, but live and learn. We drove to LA, around Beverly Hills and into Hollywood. Hollywood is a filthy place; we didn’t stay long as I was frightened for my children. They had many characters following them around to get pictures taken for tips. We did go into Madame Tussauds wax museum, pretty cool. They look so real. Maddy made a wax hand of U (for Utes, she became a very dedicated fan on this trip, she would only go on red cars on the rids, only sit on red chairs and when we saw people in BYU clothes she would start yelling “GO UTES” to them), and Kennedy peed on Trever.

We then headed to Huntington Beach, which was a lot of fun. The weather was perfect. Kennedy was a little weary of the waves at first, but by the end of the day both girls were running in and out of the waves. I wish we could have spent several days at the beach.

Tuesday- 2cd day in Disneyland. We used our early morning so we got a lot of rides in quickly. It started raining by mid-afternoon so we got to ride a roller coaster 4 times right in a row. Even with rain jackets on we were soaked! The rain slowed so we went over to California Adventures for the first time, we rode Soaring first. What a neat ride, by the time Trever and I had both taken our turn riding it (lucky Maddy got to ride everything twice with only standing in line once) it was raining VERY hard so we headed back to the room. We played games with the girls in the room, and enjoyed our family time.
Maddy’s favorite ride today- Train roller coaster

While Maddy and I were riding Soaring it was getting pretty wet outside

Wednesday- This was our early toon town day, it was nice to get to spend some time with all the characters. Mickey doing his town meeting was very cute, and I love all of their houses. Since we really didn’t get to spend much time in California Adventure we spent the rest of the day there. Bugs life show was neat, the best part was at the end when the bugs go crawling under your butt.. Maddy flies off the bench and starts starring at the bench with the most bewildered look on her face. Trever and I could not stop laughing.

Maddy’s favorite ride today- She flipped from it being Hotel and Mulholland Madness(it will always be wild mouse to me)

Maddy’s favorite ride today- She flipped from it being Hotel and Mulholland Madness(it will always be wild mouse to me)
Thursday- We had planned on going to Lego land this day, but changed our minds. Since we had been on most the rides we spent the day going on all our favorites and said goodbye to Disneyland.

3rd time on this place house swing ride

After riding Space Mountain so many times, I think Trever was getting a little friendly with the camera.
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Disneyland is an exhausting place!

Friday- We drove into San Diego and went to Sea World. Very fascinating place, I wish I had several days to wonder around. Unfortunately the girls were not as interested. The Shamu show, touching/feeding the dolphins, and the play land were about all they liked.

As we headed to our hotel both girls feel asleep. Trever and I had wanted to eat at a fish house so we went to King fish house. It was perfect timing, both girls slept through the whole dinner and Trever and I got to enjoy a nice “Valentines day” dinner. Tall beer, lots of King crab legs(Trever got some fish jambalaya dish), sleeping children made for a great dinner with my hubby. We later went swimming at our hotel, even though the 65 degrees feels nice still a little cold to swim outside at night. We lasted about an hour before we were all froze, (the conspiracy theory guy I was stuck talking to didn’t help either) and ready for bed. We did get to watch the opening ceremonies for the Olympics.

Maddy took this picture on our way to Sea World. We stopped at San Clemente Beach.

Kennedy would get really worried when the dolphins would leave. They both got to touch a few dolphins.

Saturday- We drove to the Hoover Dam, we were going to take Maddy on a helicopter ride but by the time we got their reservations were full. Maddy and I walked along the Hoover Dam, she told me she wanted to slide down it but then decided it wasn’t a good idea because she wouldn’t have a way back up. She cracks me up. We had decided to stay in Downtown Vegas to show the girls the ceiling screen. That probably wasn’t the best idea, not the best place for kids. Trever and I don’t mind it when we go, but not so much with the kiddos. We were in bed by 9pm… IN VEGAS. And no gambling. We are going to Wendover next week to get our gambling fix. We were so ready to be home we woke up at 4am and drove home.

We had a really great time together. And the best part, Kennedy started talking. Actually putting several words together, it’s about dang time. Still hard to understand her, but at least she’s trying.

Not up to much

2010-01-25T18:20:00.006-07:00

Maddy thought it would be nice to take a picture of Kennedy upset about nap time, what a good sister. We had been playing "summer", that's how boring things have been.
Its been a pretty boring January. I'm never a fan of January and February, one of the reasons I wanted to book our trip in February. The longest two months of the year, and they seem to last forever! Its even harder when you go to the store and they have all the swimming suits out, really we are at least 4-5 months from swimming!!

Trever has been on a run of graveyard shifts, I let the girls have sleepovers in my bed sometimes on weekends when hes on graves

Making daddy a pineapple pudding layered cake. Ok maybe I thought it sounded good. But I did buy Maddy a kids cookbook and we make something out of it almost daily. The other day was apple with peanut butter in the middle, pretty yummy. Yesterday Maddy made daddy "lucky party punch" she was so excited. Basically it was just a soda float, but she had alot of fun making it for him.

Last year during preschool I never really knew what to do with all Maddy's projects, I mean they really pile up. This year Mrs. Sweet gave us parents the idea of taking a monthly picture of everything and then only keeping the really important projects. What a great idea, so I have a folder I put her stuff in every day, then at the end of every month I take a picture of it all. When shes not home (because she throws NOTHING away), I toss most of it. Then at the end of the year I will make a folder with all the special projects I kept, and pictures of each month. Brilliant if you ask me

Who Me??

2010-01-09T18:21:00.006-07:00

Today Ned was left alone for a few minutes and this was the result? The funniest part about it is when I said who did this and she tilts her head and shrugs her head with that look of " who me". Then she ran into Maddy's room to try and hide

Our new favorite family activity..... Mario Brothers on Wii. Its so much fun, Maddy loves watching us play and is so good at the mushroom match game. Even Ned enjoys sitting on my lap and watching. We beat the game, but now have to go back to get all the coins. Good Winter activity.

Bring on 2010

2010-01-04T19:52:00.008-07:00

2009 was a great year, but I'm ready for 2010 and hoping it will be a great year. We brought in the new year with Kristin and Shawn and all the kiddos (including Tasha and Kylie). We all (even Shawn) danced all night, listened to great music and watched the countdown yelling 3 2 1! HAPPY NEW YEAR. Then it was straight to bed, Trever had to be up in 4 short hours to go to work. Maddy was having an emotional night, so she opted to go to bed before midnight.
Im hoping in 2010
* lose some weight.. don't I say this every year?? Maybe this will be the actual year it happens
*have a weekly meal plan done ahead of time. I have already started this and its going well. Its so much easier to know what will be for dinner, and have all the ingredients ready to go.
*Exercise at least 3-5 times a week. I did buy the elliptical so I will put it to use. Not only will this help with goal #1 but just help to be healthier.
*help Maddy with her chore chart. Shes really good about doing the chores, its me who slacks on keeping track
*read with Maddy 20 minutes EVERY night. I do this often, but we seem to be slipping away. She is reading so well, I need to keep working with her, specially while she still really enjoys learning. She wrote me a note at church on Xmas eve that said "mom I love you veri much Maddy" and didn't even ask how to spell anything. So cute

That's a good list for now, right?!?

Christmas 2009

2009-12-25T22:44:00.013-07:00

WAKE UP SISTER!!!!
Christmas was everything we hoped for! I tried to keep the girls presents to a limit, and failed miserably, but they had so much fun opening them all. My mom, Barb, BJ, Ty and Sara, Indiana Bones came over for Christmas morning. When we went to wake Maddy up, being the happy morning person she is... yelled at us for being in there and didn't really care that Santa had come for the moment. Once we got her out of bed, she was way excited. Trever told her "all" her grandparents were there, and in a haze of sleepiness she said very sternly "NO dad not all my grandparents are here, Grandpa Ed is my Grandpa and he is not here". It was a sad moment, but nice to know she still thinks about him. Then the chaos began, presents everywhere! So many great presents, happiness and memories. I truly am thankful for my family, holidays really make me remember how great you all are. Maddy wanted to make Kenna a build a bear for a present, I let her do it all on her own. She put a message that was put in "Lilly's" hand that said " I love you Kennedy very much, I will take care of you every day, I love you Kennedy" I almost started crying when she made the message in build a bear.
Trever had to work tonight which really sucked. But hey I got caught up on this, so some good came out of it. Love my girls, Trev, friends, and my family.. today was great!
New Trike, it has blinkers that make the annoying noise normal ones do, a horn and even lights. Ned was thrilled with the trike.
Maddy was really excited about the scooter (and Hello kitty water cooler, gum ball machine, and shoes) Santa had left, shes just not a morning person. We had to talk her into getting out of bed at 7:15
Maddy made me this present all on her own and even wrapped it on her own. The wrapping was so cute, and the gift was a half colored hello kitty princess.
So many gifts to open
In daddy's pants
Everybody needs a 64 oz flask... right??
Stockings at my moms, Kenna is getting increasingly frustrated about something
The 3 of us at my moms
Grandma Mayne got Maddy a makeup kit, she loved it and played with it all afternoon. We all got our finger nails painted, including her.. she did her own :)

Christmas Parties

2009-12-25T21:50:00.005-07:00

We had so many Christmas parties this year. Always staying busy. We started out with the Mortensen family party at the WV fitness center. It was a good time, same as always nothing much different. Maddy really liked her glow gift, as did mom and dad once we got playing with it :)
Maddy, Kenna, and Nya

The day I get them both looking at the camera will be a great day
Maddy's preschool had a performance, it was very cute. As they were getting ready the teacher started saying all eyes on me so we can start, and Maddy blurts out "Just start the music so we can sing" the crowd busted out laughing. Her teacher always tells me how much she loves Maddy and her cute personality.. I asked her after wards if she still thought she was cute... she still loves her! Wow could she be surrounded by more boys?? Back off!!

Awaiting Santa's arrival
Our friends the Silvers were kind enough to invite the kids to a Santa party they host. Its mostly all boys that Cody and Eric invite so Maddy had to adapt, she had a great time. Kennedy and Riley tortured all of them up to the time Santa arrived. All the kids were way excited. This was the second time Maddy has seen Santa, the first time at the mall she told him she wanted a "hello kitty gum ball machine" and this time she told him she wanted a jewelry box. Luckily I had both already, we had a happy girl on Christmas morning. This is when I realized Kennedy didn't want much to do with Santa. She would stand by him, but not sit on his lap. I think her little pig tails were in every bodies pictures because she wouldn't leave his side, but sitting on his lap was a NO.

We had our adult party at Mikes. I'm pretty sure not much needs to be said about the night, other then the electrical fire we had during our dance off. Nobody seemed to worried, we all just kept dancing.
I love this picute!
My moms family party was at my Uncle Phil s house. Santa and Mrs Claus visited this party. Maddy, Jack and Eli were very excited when they showed up, and really Kennedy was too. She just wasn't going to sit on his lap. Again, I think her head was in everybody else's picture.
cute family pic
Really?? Nobody could look at the camera? My mom with all her grand kids-Dylan@5 weeks old

Temple Square

2009-12-15T21:29:00.011-07:00

Funny picture from after Maddy's 3rd dance performance couple days ago. She did a great job, she gets better each time. She danced to Rockin' around the Christmas tree, the girls were all cute. She remembered almost all of the dance!
Umm what are we doing???

Trever's mom came into town for a family Christmas party a day early and stayed with us. We all went down to see the lights at temple square. I have not been down there in years and the girls have never. Very pretty and it was nice to walk around browsing with the family. Girls thought the lights were neat, but we went a little late so they got tired. When we go again in 5 years we will go earlier in the day. Trever was pretty proud of himself that we got out of there without hitting all the traffic.
Kennedy is finally starting to talk.. some but its progress. She does have the cutest little personality, she makes me laugh all day. She walks around all day saying "shoe" because they are her favorite object. She loves shoes.

Winter is here

2009-11-23T20:40:00.007-07:00

Its official, Winter is here and the long months start. The girls had fun sledding in this winters first snow fall. It was Kennedy's first time, she giggled all the way down the hill. As I shoveled the walks today I realized I'm already sick of Winter. Hope it goes by fast.

After 9 weeks off, Trever is back to work! His arm is healing well, he started physical therapy and will continue for the next few weeks.

Today was our first parent teacher conference. Maddy's teacher just loves her, and went on and on about smart she is. Maddy loves Mrs. Sweet as well, she really is a great teacher. They had a Thanksgiving feast today at school, and made a book about what they are thankful for. The last page was this picture she drew.
With winter comes the end of Utes Football. We had a blast at every game, and luckily had good weather for every game. Well it rained during one game, so we stayed back at the tailgate lot. But other then that, every game was nice and warm. Still have the BYU game on Saturday, hoping to win that game so we make it to a good bowl game.

Halloween 2009

2009-11-03T21:32:00.006-07:00

Girls had a great Halloween, and I liked that it wasn't nearly as busy as normal. We had our annual family Halloween party, Ryan helped Maddy carve her pumpkin since Trever and I had to leave early to be with Bones. Maddy had a cute little fall program at school, they sang 5 songs. I had to work but Trever and my mom were able to watch her and he got lots of video. Thursday night we went to rec center to help my mom, girls had fun as well. Maddy really liked the spook alley they have. I think next year she will be ready for a Haunted house, we will see.
Friday night was Ty and Sara's annual party, the girls made an appearance then left when the adults got their crazy on. Always a good time. Trev and Ty were Mario and Luigi, the costumes were a big hit. I think it was the real mustaches they both had, but they looked like morons when not in costume!
Halloween day was spent tailgating, it was a fun day. The girls trick or treated all day, and then one last time in the neighborhood at night. Kennedy waited until she was with Tasha to say trick or treat, but the next day she kept walking around saying it when she wanted more candy. She really liked the concept of getting candy and putting it in a bucket.

RIP BIg guy

2009-10-27T23:26:00.005-06:00

Sunday while my kids enjoyed a fun family party, Trever and I had to allow Bones to go to a better place. He was very old, and was not enjoying life anymore. Although he never showed he was hurting, my big guy had been in pain for several months. Medication helped as long as it could, but the day came he needed to go see his buddy Chance and his papa Ed. Anybody that knew Bones fell in love with him the moment they saw him, and all of them have their own favorite memory. Although I have several memories, my favorite is the first time I saw "Apollo". Trever and I had been wanting a Golden of our own, we had been looking and just was not finding the right dog. Saturday February 19th 1999 we went looking for "our" dog. Trever wanted to take the first one he found home, but I said no I will know when I find the "one". After a long day of pet store adoption days we went to the Golden Retriever rescue center, I walked downstairs and a very frail, skinny, sad dog jumped up on the gate to greet me. His eyes were so loving, and instantly I knew he would be our dog. His name was Apollo but we later named him Bones because he was so skinny.
Now convincing Trever took a few minutes, as the dog was in pretty bad shape. But when I explained I knew he was our dog because of his eyes, he just accepted and loved him as much as I did from that moment on. My dad had taught me how to know which was the right one through their eyes.
It was rough when we got Bones, he was a mess. He had been abused, which made him very nervous around certain people. Trever's brother Tyler was living with us at he time, Bones would get really excited to see him, but something from his past made him so scared he would pee on Tyler every time he saw him for the first few months. Bless Tyler's heart, he allowed Bones to work through it and they became the best of buds.
The first night we got Bones, we had been hanging out on our back patio and then just went to bed. We forgot all about him, it wasn't until we woke up we realized we had not brought him in with us. We ran outside in a panic, just to find him sitting right by the back patio stairs waiting to come inside. 10 years later, he has never ran away. Although later that night we would discover he had ticks, so to this day I'm thankful he was happy sleeping outside that night.
Bones was truly the best dog. He loved to duck hunt, the thrill of bringing a duck to dad but I think he loved being in the stinky mud more then anything. He loved the snow, he would put one ear to the ground covered in snow and run around in circles. It was so funny to watch, but he was so happy doing it. He loved his buddies Chance and Brody, when they were younger they would all bump chests and then run around wild. Brody is already so sad without his buddy. But the most loving part of Bones is how good he was with the girls, he loved them so much he put up with anything from them. The girls would sit, climb, pull, tug, and ride him and he would just sit there calmly while they played with their big buddy Bones.
Sadly, his body started giving out him. We did our best to keep him with us as long as possible, but his desire to run and play won. We had to let our big guy go. It was a very hard decision, but we know we made the right one. Although every minute our hearts are still breaking when we realize he is not at our feet. This morning I let Brody in the house and Kennedy stopped the door from closing and started yelling "bo bo bo" to come inside. It broke my heart. I know my heart will be broken for a very long time, he was a wonderful part of our family. We will all miss you Bones, Our big bubba Jones. I have so many great photos of Bones, but it was before the days of digital cameras so Ill have to post them when I go through all my printed photos.

Eleanor Roosevelt Award

2009-10-27T23:16:00.003-06:00

Karen Mayne, my mom was awarded the Eleanor Roosevelt Award this year. Each year, the Utah State Democratic Party gives this prestigious award to a Utah woman who exemplifies, “the high standards, compassionate philosophy and actions of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.” No one deserved this award more then my mother. Several people nominated my mom, here is the letter I sent in nominating my mom:

I would like to nominate Karen Mayne for the 2009 Eleanor Roosevelt Award. She deserves this award because of her many years of devotion to the Utah State Democratic Party. Not only has Karen been an active member of Democratic Women for over 25 years, she was also nominated and served as President for several years. She has devoted her life to the Utah Democratic Party.

Karen is currently serving as the State Senator for district 5. She has taken charge with this title to continually serve and advance the needs of her district. She is already hard at work campaigning to get fellow Democrats elected. Whenever a Democratic hopeful is in need of somebody to walk door-to-door, put up signs, run a booth, or complete any of the other countless tasks involved with a campaign, they all know they can count on Karen. She has assisted in hundreds of campaigns over the years, never out of obligation, but because she truly feels the importance of getting Democrats elected.

Karen is very well known in the community. She is a member of many committees and boards, including: Kearns recreation board, Kearns Lions club, Kearns coalition, American Federations of Teachers, Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational and Environment Health Advisory Board. She has received many awards and accolades for her endless service, such as: Honorary Mrs. Kearns, Para-Educator of the Year, Award by American Federation of Teachers, and Lucy Beth Rampton Award for Public Service.

Karen Mayne has earned this award, as well. As her daughter, I have witnessed first-hand her lifetime commitment to this party. She has and will continue to give endless support to the Utah Democratic Party. I believe it’s time she is recognized for her hard work.

I really don't have any great photos of the event, my camera is still acting up. She gave a wonderful speech, I was so proud of my mom. Over 600 people came to support her, and it was great to have some of my closest friends and family there. Several prominent people such as Bill Clinton and Eleanor's grandson wrote letters congratulating her. It was a great day that she deserved.

Baby Dylan

2009-10-27T22:54:00.003-06:00

Welcome Baby Dylan Eddie Mayne. Born October 15th 7lbs 10 oz, coming in as the largest Mayne boy. So little, cute and precious. Almost makes me want another baby... then Kennedy screams!

Chicago

2009-10-27T21:57:00.017-06:00

I went to Chicago his month. I had never been and my cousin Shane was getting married there so we decided to go. My mother was my traveling campaign, and we had a great time.
We arrived in Chicago very late Wednesday night, after 3 itinerary changes (still not so happy with Delta). Thursday morning Katrina and Shane had arranged to have her father take Mom, Connie, Craig and I to the Museum of Science and Industry, WOW what a fascinating place.Mom and I

In the front of the museum, not just everybody gets to see this, There is no way to walk to the front steps its only by boat. Katrina's dad use to work there so he wanted us to see how pretty it was. It was raining and we had no umbrellas, but in the end we made it out there :)
There were so many real planes, helicopters, trains, and my favorite the real submarine. We got to tour the sub, it was so neat. It was the U 505 (German) that the US took down, it was very fascinating to see what living quarters 58 men had to survive in. I'm not a claustrophobic person, but I think anybody would feel uneasy in there after an hour, it was very tiny inside..
Sox stadium, we didn't actually stop this was good enough for me

Obamas house in Chicago. My aunt Connie, mom and I got out and as we were walking across the street secert service came in front and back of us. He wasnt even in the US as the time! We were told to stay on the other side of the street.
Katrina's dad had a friend that lived on the 63rd floor of a building right down town and allowed us all to go up there. Although the weather was not great, it was so beautiful. My camera is not the best to begin with and it seemed messed up, so here is the best picture I could get. It does no justice, it was so peaceful up there
Same place, picture of Trump towers. Again weather wasn't good so you cant see the top of the building but this is how close we were to it, and shows how tall trump is to a 63 floor building.
My bestest cousin Jenny and I
The weather didn't get any better by our second day. Most of our traveling campaigns stayed behind , but my cousin Shannon and I hit the city for some more site seeing. It rained the whole time, and not just drizzle it was a downpour the whole time. Our umbrellas were broke in the first few minutes which made for an interesting day, but it was a lot of fun. This was standing on the glass box on the Sears tower 103 floors up. The street is right below if I were to fall!
Shannon standing in one box taking pic of me in another box. I wish the weather was better, pictures would have showed how neat this was.
The wedding. The groomsman all wore Kilts, pretty dang cute was the 2 year old in a Kilt! It was a very beautiful wedding, and the reception was so much fun! We all danced until it was over.

Trever Surgery

2009-10-27T21:46:00.003-06:00

Trever had to get another surgery. During the Chevron annual golf tournament, he decided trying to "throw" his buddy out of the cart would be fun. When the cart started sliding he went to grab the bar when he felt a pop/spring/OUCH.. you ask him. His bicep had detached from his bone, and one month later we learned he needed emergency surgery. He has now been out of work for a month, we are hoping to get him back soon. If he watches any more movies or plays mafia wars on Facebook another minute we will both go crazy! The family time together has been very nice, but there can only be so much of that before everyone needs things back to normal. He is healing well, hopefully at his appoitment on Monday the doc will release him back to light duty

End of Summer

2009-09-28T16:22:00.018-06:00

This is how we all felt by every Sunday afternoon this summer.
We had a great summer, it was very very busy but a lot of fun! There was very few weekends from May to October that weren't non stop. We were able to take our trailer out camping 7 times, swam at least once a week, Maddy learned how to ride 2 wheeler very quickly, camped at Lagoon, bi-weekly field trips to various places, many runaways to the golf course, few Wendover trips and one or two lazy nights at home. Also made it to Lava hot springs and Sun valley. Trever and Tyler had a road trip adventure in May (of course I was told not to "blog" about it because Trever does not believe in posting your life on the internet.. as if anybody actually reads this) Here are a few random pictures
Trever and Tyler's road trip, maybe this is why pictures are not to be posted hehe :)
Helicopter ride they took
OR Maybe this is why.....
Cave they stopped by
My dads grave, there are two benches. Very peaceful. Maddy calls it Grandpa Eds garden
Swimming at Aunt Tracys
Playing at Grandma Maynes
Helicopter at Discovery Gateway
Maddy, Kennedy, Jack, Eli and some neighborhood kids enjoying some cookies. This is why I love living in a circle.
Kylie Rae shooting her first gun, she was so scared but loved it once she did it.
Girls night 80's style!
Night Tasha got her first car, we tried to surprise her but it didn't really work out. I think the extremely failed attempt at a surprise made her appreciate it even more :)
Uncle (really cousin) AJ and Maddy at Oktoberfest
Had to throw this one in there, she will not quit eating mascara, I even threw them all away and she go them out of the garbage.

Back to Preschool

2009-09-09T16:41:00.003-06:00

Maddy has finally accepted she has to do another year of preschool rather then entering Kindergarten. At least she gets to attend a different preschool, the new elementary they just built offers the program. We went to meet her teacher, Mrs. Sweet and I have to say she is so good with the kids. Today was Maddy's first day and she was so excited, she woke herself up at 7:30 and asked me if it was time to get up.

The Big 30

2009-09-09T16:31:00.003-06:00

I turned 30 this year, I thought it would be alot more difficult but it came and went. That's not to say it wasn't a fantastic week! I had a stretched out 8 day birthday, and deserved every bit of it.. right?? Started out on Sunday with a get together with my family. Tuesday a few of my friends attended the Nickleback concert with me, but before I was treated with balloons and princess cake/accessories. On my actual birthday I received a beautiful bouquet of roses from my husband along with a card that read "Happy birthday week". And we ended the week with a camping trip to Rockport. Complete with good friends, decorated "30" camp sight, and a whole lot of YOUNG fun!

Snowbird

2009-09-09T16:14:00.006-06:00

Middle of August (yes I'm catching up) we got the opportunity to go to Snowbird for the night for a Democratic fundraiser. Trever had surgery to remove a polyp in his throat the morning we went and had just come off a graveyard shift, what a trooper! We were able to enjoy all the activities they have to offer up there, enjoy a nice dinner with live band and ended the evening with a swim and in bed by 9pm! Very relaxing getaway!

Kennedy really liked the bounce house
Maddy doing back flips
Alpine slide

Sunvalley

2009-09-09T15:53:00.008-06:00

I finally made it back up to Sunvalley, I really love it there. My mom, Paul and family, and our family all went up and rented a condo. We all had a great time, it was nice to be back up there. Although bitter sweet there was always the feeling someone was missing, Sunvalley was my dads favorite place. The only place he would go and actually relax, even though he was always there on business.

We stopped at the Mammoth caves on the way up, pretty lame but hey had to find out for myself.
This was taken on the top of Baldy Mountain. They wouldn't let Kennedy ride the ski lift up with us. Trever proposed to me on that same ski lift, we tried sharing the fun news with Maddy but she was more interested that there were bras hanging in the trees on the way up!
The 4 kiddos after a night of swimming. The pool was heated to 90 degrees and since it rained alot of the time it was nice to still be able to swim and be warm

Married 9 Years!

2009-09-09T15:50:00.002-06:00

Trever and I celebrated our 9th anniversary this year on 9-9-09 and wouldn't you know it 9 has always been my favorite number (for no real particular reason), I'm taking it to mean this is going to be a great year!

Elmo Days

2009-08-16T20:22:00.009-06:00

Kennedy, my niece Kaysha and nephew Kyson

Elmo days fell on the weekend of July 24th this year, so that is where we spent the holiday. We left at 7am Friday morning, I was so excited to see my girls. I had missed them so much! As always, we went to the wave pool when we got there, fun as always. Trever's family was not in charge of the festivities this year was a lot more relaxed. Maddy rode a sheep, only lasted about 2 seconds. That girl isnt scared to do anything, shes always having fun but sure makes my heart stop sometimes. The whole family went to the town dance, Trever knocked over Kennedy while doing the ChaCha! It was pretty funny, Tyler, Dave and Trev were really getting into it. Kylie got to be in the parade with the other kids, her first parade ever. After all the games and tie dying shirts we headed out to the desert. This was the first year we took Maddy to the top of the maze, she liked it but was a little more scared then I thought she would be. I was OK with that, some of the gaps are very far apart. Kylie shot a gun for ths first time, Maddy didnt seem to interested and I was OK with that for this year. Then ended the desert trip with some four wheeling.

All of us dancing at the town dance
Waiting for the parade to start
four wheeling

Golf Tournament

2009-08-16T20:11:00.004-06:00

Maddy putting for the first time on a real course. She did pretty good
I started golfing this year, I even bought my own clubs. I'm doing much better then when I first started. I still suck, but keeping score has helped me realize how much better I am getting. I played in two tournaments, the first was a fund raiser for my mom. I played with Trever, Paul and Tony, it was a lot of fun. The second was one I have played in for years now, although this was the first year I knew what I was doing. Trever's brother does an annual "double bogey" tournament, mostly so the women and kids have a tournament to play in. It was at the Payson golf tournament, and we camped in the middle of the course. The day before the tournament we went to the Payson county pool, they had alot of little water slides, Kennedy didn't want to stop going down when I quit taking her she was trying to get strangers to take her down. It was a fun weekend. That Sunday morning, Trever took the girls to his moms and they stayed there until Friday when we got there for Elmo days. It was a quiet week and much needed, but I missed them so much!

4th of July 2009

2009-08-16T19:29:00.003-06:00

Our annual party went great! We rented a big inflatable water slide, that was lots of fun! We put the slide in the neighbors backyard along with a few other water toys. I believe this was the start of Kennedy's love for water slides, and of course Maddy really enjoyed it. She must have gone down it 100 times or more. Jeff did an excellent firework show, I think it gets better every year. I didn't get a chance to take too many pictures, too much going on but we did have another great party.

Lava Hot Springs

2009-08-16T17:32:00.004-06:00

The end of June we made our annual trip to Lava hot springs. Overall it was a great time, Maddy sure does love it there. The first day was pretty rainy, but hey that's no surprise it always rains at least once when I go to Idaho. Luckily, it cleared up and was a great day on Saturday to go to the pool. They put in 2 new slides, 60 foot drop FUN FUN! Maddy kept begging to go on them but was way to short, finally we agreed to let her stand in line with the understanding they operator may tell her no. Never once did they say no, only one even questioned me if she was tall enough. She loved the "big" water slides, they were fun but I still think the green slide with no line is the way to go! We never could get Kylie down the new slides (maybe next year) but did get her down the red and green slides. We also took our tubes and made it down the river a couple times. The river was pretty high, I didn't feel comfortable letting Maddy go down the from where we start, she was pretty bummed but still enjoyed getting to ride down the tail end. Kylie went down from the beginning with us, and to our surprise wasn't scared and really enjoyed herself. Our friends Torrey and Amanda her kids, 2 brothers and mom and dad also joined us. Kennedy thought it was pretty cool to walk from room to room.
We had really horrible service this year, its never been great but was by far worse this year. I think we will start camping up there so we can make our own food.

Walking on Sunshine

2009-06-25T21:07:00.008-06:00

Maddy had her summer dance performance last night, her troop danced to Walking on Sunshine. They did a pretty good job, much better then Suzy Snowflake. Maddy is getting alot better, and seems to be enjoying dance class more.
After the show, Kennedy having a good time walking with Grandma and Granny
We went camping last weekend up the Uinta's by Lilly Lake. We drove through Evanston to get there, its very pretty up there. It rained on and off the whole time, but we still have a lot of fun.
At the end of a four wheeler trailer we have this place where there were a bunch of machinery and four wheelers being stored. Kinda neat, Im not sure we were suppose to be in there but it was cool looking around

This week the weather finally got better. Maddy got to use her new toy at Tracy's pool. We got Kylie doggie paddling and kinda swimming. Maddy decided to try no arm floaties and did really well. With a little more work she will be a pro.
Looking foward to a very busy summer, but have a lot of fun activites planned. If we can get the weather to hold.

Start of Summer 2009

2009-06-14T16:33:00.011-06:00

Well we were off to a good start of summer, until all the rain! We started our weekly trips to my cousins pool, its so nice to not have to worry about Cryptosporidium. And then the rain started, and has not stopped for over a week now. So frustrating, but should be done sometime this week. Looking forward to warm summer days!

I took the girls to the Cooper Mine as a way to pass the rainy days. It was a bit chilly, but nice to be out of the house. Maddy really thought the models of the mountain were cool, and of course the big dump trucks.
She can ride a bike with no training wheels, FREEDOM! We went on a family bike ride today, and she made it all the way to the Millers house and back. Her little legs were peddling so fast trying make it up the hills.
Last weekend we went camping up South Willow with just our family. It was nice to have just us up there. We had to go to the very top of the mountain, and due to the weather we were the only campers up there. So peaceful and beautiful. It rained some, but for the most part it was great weather. We saw lots of deer, and they would get really close. Maddy and I took a walk in the river, it was super cold. Kennedy enjoyed walking around exploring all the new things to her. She took her first face dive out of the trailer, my heart dropped but she made it through with only a few scratches.

Weekend

2009-06-01T11:35:00.003-06:00

This past weekend was great! On Friday Trever and I went on a much overdue date. He took me to Hale theater to see Treasure Island, then went to dinner at Ruby Tuesdays. Then Saturday was all about me! Trever had to go down to Elmo to help his mother with an estate auction (I am now the owner of a sheep trough) , he suggested just he and the girls go so I could have a day to myself. What a great day it was. I laid around, got a pedicure, did some shopping, ate Chinese food, took a nap. It was a nice day, but by about 5 I was missing my family. They returned around 8, and we still had to make appearances at 2 BBQ's. Sunday, Trever went golfing and the girls and I played around the house. Then in the afternoon we dropped Kennedy off to my mom, and took Maddy out fishing on the boat. The weather took a turn for the worse on the way out, so we wernt really able to fish but Maddy at least got a couple laps around the lake in the boat.

Yard

2009-05-25T20:36:00.002-06:00

I finally got my flowers done, well almost. I only have a few more to put in, I decided I needed more color. I love summer :)

Maddy Graduates Preschool...

2009-05-21T21:21:00.003-06:00

for the first time!
Since she was in the older class all her classmates are heading off to Kindergarten, but not Maddy she has another year of preschool ahead of her. She is pretty bummed shes the only one not going to kindergarten but I'm sure she will get over it when she meets her new classmates. And our brand new Elementary is opening for the 2009 school year so at least she will be attending a different preschool next year. They did a cute little program, sang lots of songs and then got "diplomas". Afterward we went out for ice cream at Leatherby's. Maddy leaves preschool counting to at least 200, I'm sure she could go higher but my sanity only permits to 200. Reading simple sentences such as "the dog ran fast", addition and subtraction up to 20, some clock reading, thats about all I can remember for now. She really enjoyed Miss Kaleanas preschool, and learned alot!

Wheeler farm

2009-05-19T18:57:00.006-06:00

Maddy went on a field trip to Wheeler farm last week. She had fun, and really liked that Gavin got to go on her field trip. I remember that place being a lot neater then it is now. I guess maybe its just the difference between a child and an adults perception. Kennedy liked the animals, of course she tried head butting them through the fences.

All of us!
Maddy and her friend Sara feeding the ducks!

First Camping Trip

2009-05-11T18:53:00.004-06:00

Maddy going for ride on the Rhino

We took our new trailer out for the first time this weekend to Skull Valley! It all went very smooth, and it was very nice having the bathtub to wash the kids after a long day in the dirt, and being covered in sunblock and bug spray! We took our neighbor Kylie, and then Kristin and Shawn & boys, Torrey, Amanda, Gavin & baby Mayrn, and Randy (guy Trever works with) and his family all met us up there. Worked out nice, every kid had somebody their own age. There were lots of 4 wheelers, dirt bikes, a Rhino and even Dante's 3 wheeler! Other then the bugs, it was alot of fun. Nice to get away, and I'm so glad its finally warm enough to go camping! We did learn Kennedy has allergies, poor girl had a rough couple hours. And I came to the conculsion I dont react well to bug bites. I have well over fifty, and they are huge. My poor scalp is covered. From now on Im eating a bottle of garlic pills before I go camping, nobody will want to sit by me but at least the bugs will stay away (I hope!)

Roasting Marshmallows with Reese peanut butter cups, yummy!
Kennedy kept escaping, good thing there was alot of open space
Going for a ride on the Rhino
Get off my bike!!

Kennedy turns 1!

2009-05-05T21:27:00.015-06:00

Miss Kenndy Belle turned one today! I know I say it all the time, but really where does the time go??? I cant believe its already been a whole year since little Kennedy came into this world. We had a birthday party for her at the park on Sunday. She got her very own cake, and ate almost the whole thing. Of course she was sharing with Linkin and I.
For the most part she is a very happy baby. She really has brought so much joy to our family, making us a complete family. As I did for Maddy, here is a list of things about Kennedy

1. Wont have official weigh in until her year check up next week, but weighs appx. 22 pounds
2. Loves food, all food
3. favorite place is Maddy's room, whenever she has disappeared i know where to find her
4. likes large characters, loved the ones at chucky cheese
5. walked at 10 months
6. takes one nap in the late morning
7. has been carrying the smurf/sea bug she got for her birthday around for 2 days now
8. already gets very upset when something is not going her way
9. learned how to open my cell phone, and now its all she wants to play with
10.big time mamas girl, but getting better as she gets older
11. twirls her hair when she gets tired
12. Loves food, all food
13. gently head butts all dogs she comes around, as if its her way of communicating with them
14. despite my best efforts, she is a Cinco De Mayo baby
15. gets really really mad if you don't feed her fast enough
Love you Kennedy!

Its tasty

ALL FOR ME!

Easter

2009-04-26T16:58:00.009-06:00

Kennedy and Indiana Bones

Well Easter came and went. Easter stretched out a week for us. Friday night Maddy got to color eggs, then Saturday I took the girls to a hunt at the Grantsville Park with Tony, Cammie Jo and Maryn. They had a lot of neat stuff, some kids even won bikes. Then Easter morning Maddy was excited to wake up and find out the Easter bunny had come. The baskets were hidden downstairs, she first finds one I had put together for the mom but took the news of it not being hers pretty well. Then she found Kennedy's, didnt take the news so well this time. But she finally found hers, and was very excited!!! I have the funniest video of it, but still cant figure out how to post videos on here. Later we went to my moms house for dinner. My mom had an Easter egg hunt for the kids. Dinner was very yummy, specially the pineapple ham YUMMY. The following weekend we headed down to Elmo for our annual Easter egg hunt down there. The kids started out by coloring eggs, while the adults filled hundreds of water balloons and eggs. Then its out to the desert for an Easter egg hunt., followed by a water balloon fight with launchers and all. We all had a really good time, Maddy really loves going down there.

Flying a kite
launching water balloons at the "other team"
Easter bunny hides the eggs in hard places to get to
Ready, Set, Go!
Kennedy wanted to color eggs too
After egg hunt at Grandma Maynes

NOT A VERY FUNNY APRIL FOOLS JOKE

2009-04-01T13:03:00.002-06:00

Passing of Grandma Vi

2009-04-01T09:13:00.004-06:00

Trever’s grandma Vi passed away, so this past weekend we headed down to Elmo for the funeral. We hit a storm on the way down, some family members had to turn around and go home. It was a pretty scary drive, but we made it. The service was very nice. Vi was a great lady, so kind hearted but could also run cattle with the best of them. Trever’s grandparents were true cowboys; I had never met a real cowboy before them. The first time I went to Elmo I was about 17 years old and never really been out of the city. So after an eye opening day in the desert, and navigating around a small town, Trever and Tyler take me to their grandpa’s house. He immediately decides we need to watch a new video he had gotten on how to deliver a calf. The boys fall asleep, and I'm left with this weird cowboy learning how to deliver a calf. Pretty crazy day, but it’s been great experience spending time with them. They are both missed. Thanks to Ty and Sara, I am now the proud owner of that very video.

The rest of the weekend was a nice visit with Grandma and Grandpa Elmo. Maddy got to feed baby lambs and a calf with a bottle, and hold baby bunnies. Kennedy really liked the bunnies. I think Maddy's favorite part of going down there is going out with Grandpa to collect the eggs every morning, and a few sneak peeks throughout the day.

Happy St. Pattys day

2009-03-17T21:37:00.004-06:00

We usually get together with some friends to have few green beers, but that didn't work out this year. Daddy made the girls some green breakfast (cant say I was too upset by missing that one!), and he made some corn beef and cabbage. I had never tried it, so I agreed to. Its OK, but nothing great! I guess its fine for once a year.

Walking

2009-03-12T22:10:00.009-06:00

Miss Kenna is walking! She still walks like a drunk but she is walking! Within a few days she will be cruising around everywhere. I knew it was going to happen soon, so yesterday as Trever was racing to leave for work he put her down on her feet, wouldn't you know it she took a step. So he sat down and for few minutes we sent her back and forth, and after a few times she took 4 steps! With Trever now on his 17Th straight day of working, I was so happy he got to witness her first steps! Since then she is up to 10-15 steps at a time. She will be running around in a few short days. I tried posting a video but its not cooperating

New Trailer

2009-03-12T21:50:00.004-06:00

Well we did it, bought a brand spankin' new trailer! I cant believe Trever talked me into it. I have told him for well over a year now, if he wanted a new trailer he had better show me the cash because I wasn't financing a new trailer! So we meet way on my side, and I agreed to finance some of it with a plan to have it paid off.. very soon. We got a brand new 2008 27 foot hideout. It has the queen "master" bedroom which is completely blocked off with a wall from the rest of the trailer, all but unheard of in this typ/length of trailer. There is a couch which we wanted, and a triple bunk for the girls. We will never really outgrow the trailer, as there is enough beds for us, and any friends the girls may want to bring in the future we know that is coming soon. Maddy's friend next door has already named dibs on the top bunk. We picked it out at the RV show which we did not take Maddy too, so when we brought home the pamphlet on the trailer and showed her she was pretty excited. Well at her b-day party somebody said "Maddy I heard you getting a new trailer" she said "Yeah I am, but its only in a book we don't really have it". She was very excited when we actually got to bring it home. I can not wait until summer, I need to see the sun and go camping. Hopefully we will make it out Easter weekend as usual. Usually we go to Sand dunes, but with the so many kiddos in the group now Sand dunes just isn't the safest place so we will probably head somewhere else. Cold or not, I need to go camping!!!!