Reunion talk

My family reunion is a wild one for sure. We have visitors come every year that aren't in the family cause it's such a good time! (or they are really bored)

With the news of the week mostly being from Idaho I have considered making a sign for the reunion that says, "My senator tries to pick up men in public restrooms. How about yours?" I think it would be a hit. The best one I did was in 2004. I staked a Bush/Cheney yard sign in front of my staunch Democrat Grandma and Grandpa's trailer. I believe my Grandpa's comment when he saw the sign in the morning was, "Who's the smart a**?" Yep, it should be a lively one.

Chaos and fun

It's a wild day at the Ehnat's. We are getting ready to go to our final family reunion of the summer/fall. It's the most fun too, but also a ton of work to get ready for. We're getting ready for that, and tonight we will go and buy Kate's big bday present. It has two wheels, spokes, etc. I bet you can guess what it is. She will enjoy it for sure! We always celebrate her birthday at our family reunion with a pinata and party hats. It's become a tradition. It's my brother-in-law Nick's birthday! Happy Birthday, Nick! He is Mark's sister Sara's husband and he's a really nice guy.

Yesterday was busy. Amy came down with Don, their kids, and my other sis, Bes. Amy had a Dr. appt. and they did their reunion shopping. It's no wonder Erickson's aren't skinny little birds. We always try to outdo each other with the sheer volume of food we bring and eat at this reunion. Oh, well. It's great to eat among friends. :) After the Ed's went home, Mark and I took the kids to the Riot Zone for Qwest night. It was crazy busy but I hope the kids had fun.

Back to work. Have a fabulous Labor Day weekend!

Need HUGS now!

Ok, I really need the Hershey's variety. Not much of a hugger in real life. Don't know why and this post isn't about my strange psychology. I just need a Hershey's HUGS fix. Have you seen them lately? The last time I saw them was Christmas. Please help if you can. :) Thanks!

Visits and stuff

My in-laws from Washington are here this weekend bringing gifts! We bought Mark's Grandma's Buick Century and some of her furniture and they were nice enough to bring it all out to us! We are loving the Century already. It only has 30,000 miles on it and it is SUCH an improvement from our old red car. Now Mark will have a/c, power windows, a cd player, and leather seats! It's about time we moved into the 21st century! He is going to get kicked out of the old-beater car club at work. Oh, well. :)

We have had a really fun time with the Ehnat's. Sandy always plays tons of board games with the kids and they just soak it up. I think they have played for 2 days straight. It's cute. Mark and Paul brought in all of our furniture and I am so excited about it. It's beautiful. Thanks so much, Grandma! It's been all good. We went to Blacktail reservoir yesterday and that was fun. It's so close to my house and I never even knew it existed until recently. We will definitely be going back! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. My Erickson family reunion is next week along with Kate's birthday. It should be another crazy weekend. :o

We gave a kitten to my friend Holly's nieces today and Brynn was sad but it looks to be in great hands! She loves those cats and this week is going to be hard for her giving some more of them away.

I am so finally going to sleep. Until we meet again......

School and soccer

I embarrassed Brynn by actually having the nerve to take a picture of her "in her class"! The horror!
Ry had some good plays before he nearly collapsed on the side of the field. Thank goodness we took away his video games. Now maybe he'll get in soccer shape!

First day of school!

Ugh. I am usually ready for my kids to go back to school. This summer, however, went too fast! We did a lot of fun things but we didn't camp enough, get to Yellowstone, or go on enough adventures. Oh, well. It was a great summer regardless. I haven't ever cried when dropping off my kids at school but I did tear up today. I don't know why this year is different but for some reason I felt like I was throwing my kids to the wolves this year. They have a great school, wonderful teachers from what I've been told, and good friends but I definitely am a protective mama and have a hard time when I can't be with them. Of course I need my own time and they do too but when I am with them I know who they are talking to and what about etc. I know I need to let them grow up and I am, but it was hard to let go today.

They came home so excited and told us about their day for about 1.5 hours! :) It was cute to see their enthusiasm. KateLyn loved being at school for the "WHOLE DAY!"She even got to eat school lunch!!! Yum, I think. :o

Zachy did much better than I expected. He just followed me around all day like a little puppy but he was very mellow most of the day. We'll see what happens when I start babysitting my friend's son tomorrow.

Ryan had his first soccer game tonight and it was pretty dang fun to watch. At his age they are getting to be pretty good! He had a couple of great steals and he was sure worn out when he got home.

Here's to more great days at school!

A plethora of Bear Lake pictures

It's all about High School Musical 2

The day finally arrived and my kids were able to see High School Musical 2 2.5 times this weekend! They would have seen it three but we were on our way back from Bear Lake Friday night. I love that a wholesome, family friendly movie has become such a cultural phenomenon. I wish the powers that be would get the message!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20360800/

I don't have much time but I will try to recap the weekend.
1. Went to Bear Lake on Friday- had a fun time with my aunt Ronda and her kids and the kids came home rosy faced

2. Stopped at Amy's on the way back from the lake to watch HSM 2 but we were late so the kids watched Hannah Montana together and we ate Amy's yummy cinnamon rolls. MMM!

3. Got back late Friday night (early Sat morning) Spent Sat. getting the kids school supplies (along with every other parent in the tri-state area) finished up. They are now ready for school! I should know better than to go to Walmart on the Sat. before school starts.

4. Zachy wasn't well on Sunday so we spent the time getting furniture moved around for when Mark's parents come. They are bringing us furniture we are buying from Grandma Dorenbush. It's going to be fun! My back hurts today. Zachy seems happier. He had a nasty little cold yesterday and I think his ears bothered him. I am watching him close but he seems a lot better.

I took a lot of fun pics this weekend that I will post eventually. Hope you had a fun late summer weekend!

Dog days of summer

It has become the frantic last week of summer for the Ehnat's. We are trying to fit in a few more fun things in and finish up a few more projects that we have been working on and frankly, it's exhausting. The kids keep thinking up things they wanted to do this summer and didn't and it's hard to convince them we will have another summer next year. :)

We were going to head to the Ammon pool but it's not looking great weather-wise this afternoon. Maybe tomorrow. Friday we are going to make one last trip to Bear Lake with my pal/aunt Ronda and her girls. The kids are thrilled about that. I would be more thrilled if I had Mark to help me drive. It will be fun to hang out with the Luthi's!

The Ehnat's are being nice enough to bring us our "new" car next weekend and the following is the Erickson reunion! School starts next Wed. and I have been asked to watch the little boy I watched last year so it should get really crazy really soon. What the heck. It already is! :)

Zane!

Picture me saying his name in my most indignant mother hen voice. Apparently Zane is trying to really push his luck before his mission. He and 10 of his buddies (sadly, most of them were involved in the slip and slide incident) went SKY-DIVING on Saturday. Thank heavens I didn't hear about it until it was over. I would have been sick. I guess if you have 10 people you get the group rate of $150 per person. You couldn't pay me to jump out of a plane. I guess it's the whole "I have 4 kids and a husband and don't want to die" side of me speaking. He's a nut. I hope he calms down eventually and I know it could be worse but he needs to quit scaring my poor mom and myself. I think his quote to Amy was "that was the frickin' coolest shizz ever"! WHATEVER.

Sweet little babies

Little Z

I hate to speak these words outloud lest I jinx myself but I think Zachy is chilling out a little. We wanted him so much and he is our miracle baby because we didn't think we were having any more babies so we were so happy to get him here safely in Nov. 2005. He has since then made us work very hard to please him. :) He has always been super busy, somewhat fussy, and not easily entertained. (reminds me of the other Z, my bro Zane who was a VERY similar baby)

We have always had gates everywhere, we rearranged our living room to block him from the computers, until recently the dining room chairs were stacked up until dinner to prevent him from swinging from the light fixtures, etc. The last few weeks I have noticed him being happier with his surroundings. Yesterday he played with his big Lego's for a half hour. He also watched an episode of Bob the Builder. I am not ashamed to say I like him to watch a little tv so I can get some things done. He's so precious and is starting to communicate better so I think that makes him less frustrated. He even did well when my mom watched him a few weeks ago. Yee haw! I don't want him to grow up too fast, I am just glad he seems more content. I am a little nervous what will happen when all three older kids go back to school but we will make it! I sure love that little guy and his "Zachy kisses"! (He puts his head next to your face and wants kisses)

We are going to register the kids for school today. I can't believe all my big kids will be going all day! I will miss them but it's definitely time. Yesterday Mark and I decided they weren't fully taking advantage of the last few weeks of summer so we took away the tv, computer, and all electronic games until further notice so they will just enjoy being kids! They've whined a little (or a lot) but they are playing outside more etc. We told them it isn't a punishment (even though it kind of is for game addiction prone Ryan) but a chance to be kids and use their imaginations more. We'll see how it goes! Kate cried because she will miss her beloved "Full House" family. I think she really wants to be a Tanner. She loves that show more than us I think. As you can see, they need a break!

We may be getting a really nice car for a great deal in our near future. More on that soon. Mark won't know what to do with a car whose windows all roll down! :)

Words to live by....

I received this email from my aunt Heidi and it made me think. I hope you can get something out of it too.


If I Had My Life To Live Over
by Erma Bombeck

The following was written by the late Erma Bombeck after she found out that she had cancer.

If I had my life to live over, I would have talked less and listened more.

I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded.

I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.

I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.

I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television - and more while watching life.

I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.

I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later. Now go get washed up for dinner."

There would have been more "I love you's".. More "I'm sorrys" ...But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute... look at it and really see it ... live it...and never give it back.© Erma Bombeck

How many hummingbirds do you see?

Best of show- go MOM!

Can't beat the County Fair! (if you're an Ehnat kid, that is)

Surprise, surprise, I took off for Star Valley again this week for a few days of fun at the Lincoln County Fair. When I was a kid, this was the ultimate in excitement! Remember, there wasn't much to do in the way of worldly entertainment when I was growing up so we used to obsess about the fair coming to town. Amy and I have a tradition of getting together during the fair and taking our kids to the madness! They weren't disappointed! We went on dollar night so every ride was a dollar instead of $3-4. We bought them tickets and then my dad bought them a bunch of tickets so they rode long into the night! Ryan's neck was sore from all the spinning and zipping around. Don doesn't get sick so he rides all the crazy rides with the kids. You sure see all kinds at the fair, from people you grew up with, to the carnies, to the local politicians, to the local weirdos! It sure is a cross -section of society every night!

Wednesday my mom spoiled us with wheat waffles and dutch honey syrup for breakfast. Then we went and had lunch at the fair (my mom won best of show on the quilt she entered) and then visited my Grandma and Grandpa Erickson. That was a great afternoon. I have the coolest grandparents. They had their family young and now are just in their early 70's. We thought it sweet to have young grandparents when I was growing up! My grandma used to take us swimming in the summer and she would dive off the diving board. We thought she was so cool!

They always make us feel so welcome. My grandma gave the kids ice cream and let them pick peas from her famous pea patch. I think the only reason she has her pea patch is for the kids. My grandpa has a new "toy". It's a Polaris Ranger and he took the kids all on a ride. They thought it was great. Amy and I took a turn driving it after that. I REALLY want one of the those now. We could take all the kids on one! Amy and Don are saving for one.

I went home on Wednesday night, knowing my baby brother Zane's mission call could come the next day but it didn't look too likely. Well, of course it came! He opened it last night. He is going to the...........ARIZONA MESA mission. Way to go, Z! I am so excited for him. He leaves in Oct.

Sat. my mom and sisters are coming down for our annual "sisters party". I don't know what we are doing yet, but I am excited!