Trying out my new camera (toy)

Best weekend EVER!

I mean it! :) I really had the best weekend ever. Do you ever feel like life is going along well but you are kind of sleeping through it and everything is the same and you are just on autopilot, being a spectator in your life. I have felt that way forever and Sunday, I woke up and took charge of the goodship Kayla! :) Two major things happened that I can't reveal just yet but man, am I excited!! I see great things in my future. Heavenly Father always blesses us when we ask.

The thing I can talk about is my new camera and our fun weekend! Mark bought me a new camera fully equipped with a 2mb sd card! i am so excited! My camera that I enjoyed so much was sitting on the bar a few months ago and I thought it was out of little hand range but Zachy was able to reach the strap, pull it down, and crash! it was all over. I can't wait to take a bunch of pictures again. I miss being attached to my camera. It's not a digital slr, but the next best thing. It's great. Love you dear and I love thos gift cards from work!

Ken was here this weekend. What a fun guy! Mark and I needed the laughs. Ken is the kind of guy that is just funny to be around. He is an a#1 character! We all laughed so hard I had to make sure I wasn't drinking soda when he was talking because usually when he is around I have some kind of pop coming out my nose and that hurts! Ken and Mark are such good buds. I love seeing Mark when Ken is here because he is always laughing and joking. We ate at some good spots, the kids tortured "Uncle Ken" right to death, and the guys reminisced about the time they lost to a pair of GIRLS in an official tennis match! Hee Hee!

Baseball season starts this week. It's going to be a long month! :)

I've been tagged...yippee!

I have been tagged by Becky and Lauri! That has always sounded fun. So here I go.....
What were you doing ten years ago?
I was living in the beautiful city of Monterey, California and raising Brynnie(7 months). Mark was learning Arabic in the Army at the Defense Language Institute. That was the coolest place to live. We had visitors all the time and it gave us a chance to play tourist often.

What were you doing a year ago?
Pretty much the same things I am doing now.Exciting, I know! I planted a vegetable garden with Betsy this time last year. Cool concept, it just wasn't as fun as I envisioned. Zachy didn't like the wind and the kids sure didn't like weeding. We did enjoy some yummy radishes and carrots.

Five snacks you enjoy:
Blue cheese and crackers (mmm)
Fudge
Taffy
Caramel Popcorn
Amy's cinnamon rolls

Five songs you know all the words to:
I am a Child of God
God Bless the USA
Happy Birthday
A Child's Prayer
The song that never ends
(can you tell I am NOT musical)

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:
(Mark says I would waste it all on "crapbook" stuff-the end)
Basically, I would get a new car and give the rest to Mark to invest
Pay for my schooling
Take my ENTIRE family on a trip to Hawaii
Hire a maid
Hire a personal trainer

Five Bad Habits:
Procrastination
Unorganization
Shopping
Not really a habit, but I am always tired
Biting my nails

Five things I like doing:
Yelling at Mark (his first choice)
Shopping
Taking photographs and scrapbooking my kids
Shooting hoops
Tie-Reading and camping
Listening to the news

Five things you would never wear again:
Hammer Pants
Acid Washed Jeans
Stirrup Pants
Giant poofy hair bows
Sky high bangs!

Five favorite toys:
Mark's credit card
Photo Printer
Computer
Adobe Photoshop Elements
My radio and phone

School's OUT!

The kids are shouting "hooray!" today as it was the last day of school. They each had a good year, Kate and Brynn maybe more than Ry, but they were ready for school to end. They each had an activity after school. Ryan's friend Quentin had him over for an end of the year party. They had a jumpy castle and giant water slide rented and they got to swim in their pool and soak in the hot tub. He had a great time. Kate went to a bday party after school for her friend, Riley. They had fun and she brought home a new kite and candy as party favors. These days, party favors can set you back a fortune! Brynn's activity wasn't so fun since hers was an orthodontic appointment. The orhodontist said he is going to keep an eye on her teeth over the next year and we will go from there. I am glad he didn't recoil in horror when he looked at her teeth. I didn't want to make a plan for braces just yet. She is going to have her friend over for a sleepover tonight so she will also get to do something fun. We have been running all day and I am getting tired but it isn't over yet. Mark's good friend Ken is on his way here for a visit, on his motorcycle! He is a great guy. The kids call him "Uncle Ken" even though he isn't technically their uncle but Mark considers him the brother he doesn't have. We wanted to go camping this weekend but it just isn't/warm enough yet to tent with a toddler. Ken is also our all around computer guru so I know I will practically have a new machine when he leaves! YES!

PS My brother graduated yesterday. WHEW!

Random remembrances and a Zane update :)

I am a diehard scrapbooker. Well, more of a scrapbook supply collector! but I love that scrapbooking combines photography and memories. Sometimes when there aren't pictures though, I don't write things down. I think when we are older our kids and grandkids are going to ask us where we were the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. My cousins daughters bday is Sept.11, 1997. Poor thing. I recently wrote down a little bit of my memories on that day and I decided to post them here. I hope you will write down your memories of that tragic day before they disappear.

I need to write about my feelings on 9/11.
Short version is I was up with baby KateLyn and turned on the TV. Usually I wasn't up that time of morning 6:30 ish Pacific time and was horrified to see the towers burning. I remember I was watching NBC. I couldn't comprehend the magnitude of it. Surely there weren't many people there. Shortly after I turned it on the towers fell one by one. I remember looking at it in horrified fascination watching it unfold live on TV. I couldn't wrap my mind around it. I thought that maybe there weren't that many people in there since it was fairly early in the morning. Up until that time, I wasn't sure what the world trade center was. I thought they were some UN type of buildings or something. I remember panicking.I flipped channels and QVC was on and they were still selling things. That seemed strange to me. In a few minutes, they had stopped selling things and had a banner that due to the days events they wouldn't be airing their programs.

Brynn had preschool that day so I took her to school and remember driving by the Puyallup Fairgrounds on my way and the fair was going but there weren't many people there and I can remember the feeling that it all seemed so odd to see fair rides going when the world was upside down. It was eery. I had a gift card from Target so that day I stocked up on food and water in case the world was ending. There were only a few people in Target which was odd since it's usually packed! I remember standing on our deck that night and thinking how strange and quiet it was because they had shut down all air travel. It was a really scary time not knowing what was coming next. I didn't cry about it until about 6 months later when I was watching something sad about it and then it all came out. I felt such sorrow for the senseless loss of life the families of the victims endured. The story I still remember almost 5 years later was of a man from California whose wife was at the WTC on business for just a few days. I remember him pleading to let him know if anyone had any information about her. Like so many others, I don't think he found her. I hope we never forget about the people who lost there lives so senselessly that day and the heroes who saved so many lives on the planes and on the ground.

If you haven't, write down your thoughts on this historic, horrible day.


Now for a Zane update. Apparently, Zane's prinicipal had a change of heart and is letting the boys do 8 hours of community service in order to walk at graduation night. (Oh man, now I might have to go to it) The parents are supervising them. The thought of that cracked me up! They also have to tow the line perfectly from now until then and if anyone disrupts the ceremony they will be escorted out. I doubt they will raise a peep now. I think they have been humbled. :)

I really want these cool dishes from Pampered Chef. They are cheery and bright!
http://pamperedchef.com/our_products/catalog/product.jsp?productId=11010&categoryCode=SIMADD

and
http://pamperedchef.com/our_products/catalog/product.jsp?productId=10997&categoryCode=SIMADD

Me animated

I obviously had too much time on my hands tonight but it was fun creating me. It was also cool that they didn't have a "chubby" option. ;)

BUSTED!

Zane and his cronies are busted! They get to graduate but don't get to walk at graduation or participate in the festivities and parties. I have mixed feelings. They did a stupid prank, but they are all good kids that don't drink, do drugs, or usually cause trouble. It's too bad that they decided to do this prank at this point in their high school careers.

The kids continued their field trips today. Kate went to Yellowstone Bear World today and she loved seeing the bears, the pig at the petting zoo, the elk, and the foxes! Brynn went to Pocatello today to the Fort Hall replica and to an Indian museum. She bought a new portable CD player last night and she was excited to take it on the long bus ride. The fun for her continues as tomorrow they go swimming at the local aquatic center and to an art museum.

I did this digi page tonight. Ryan sure loves having a brother. Last night he held Zachy for over an hour as they both watched Wiggles. Zachy loves his "Wiggies"!

Zachy's funny and my dopey bro

This morning I was observing Zachy from around the corner. He slyly opened the utensil drawer, took out the ice cream scoop, licked it thoroughly, and then put it back in the drawer and shut it. I wonder how many other utensils have little Zachy germs on them. :)

Speaking of silly boys that start with Z.... my little brother Zane has pulled the dorkiest stunt I have heard of in a long time. Three days before graduation he and ten of his best buddies got the brilliant idea to create a slip and slide in the high school hallway. Yeah, they are freaking geniuses! Apparently they got a slip and slide, covered it with dish soap, poured 35 gallons of water onto it and proceeded to have a good time "slipping and sliding". The principal, of course, was furious and we think she wants to make an example out of these brainy seniors. As we speak, there is an emergency school board meeting occurring to see if these boys will be able to walk on graduation night. Thankfully, no one was hurt and there apparently wasn't any permanent damage, but what a bunch of dopes! Stay tuned with updates....will Zane the brain graduate? was Aunt Julie secretly laughing as she was telling them to clean it up?...will my parents be thankful to be empty nesters soon? Stay tuned! I wish I was as smart as I was when I was a senior. You just know everything then!

Random thoughts at 10:30

Let's see. It's late and my thoughts are all jumbled. Things we have been up to etc.
1. Had a fun Close to my Heart party yesterday. We had a decent turnout and I enjoyed visiting with old and new friends and making a cool layout. Brynn made one for her cats, of course. :)
2. My cousin Lynelle and I (and Zachy) had a fun dinner at Garcia's last night. Somehow, we always bring up the drama of when we worked at Village Inn in Jackson when we were in high school. Funny times.
3. I subbed in the church Nursery today. Wowzers! I have done that job before but never with 25 kids in one nursery. Those leaders deserve a ticket straight to Heaven!
4. Kate is an up and coming basketball star. She just keeps at it and now her hoop count in well over 100!
5. We had a fun game of H-O-R-S-E tonight. Mark smoked us all. I was WAY OFF tonight. I think he rigged it. ;)
6. Mark the barber cut his and Zachy's hair tonight. Now they both have nice summer do's.
7. I discovered my friend Becky's blog. Check it out at muirmadness.blogspot.com.
8. Today Ryan and his friend Quentin watched Harry Potter 2 at the same time, while on the phone, each at their respective houses. Ryan's friend Quentin gets Ryan!
9. Mark made a delicious Sunday dinner tonight and Zachy fed himself a whole bunch of it!
10. I felt like a drive in the country tonight so Zachy and I took a drive to the outskirts of town. Sometimes, I just have to get out of the "city". Once a Star Valley girl..........

Something new...am I a wannabe?

I really want a real blog. The question is...why? I am not sure. I love to read other people's blogs and glean inspiration. I love to read about my friend's latest happenings, the latest in the scrapbooking world, and I really enjoying reading about everyone's favorites, fun stories, and what makes them tick. The thing is, (and I am NOT having a pity party) my life ain't (do you put an apostrophe in a fake word) that exciting. It's busy, but not what the world would consider fascinating. So I guess I have decided that my blog is for me. I like to write about things that I enjoy, brag about my kids, and share random thoughts. I hope that while I am sharing, occasionally you can get something out of it. If not, sorry. I am having fun. :)