Girls Get-a-way

Tara, Lori, Kris, Suzy, Me, Allie, Jane

In trying to make up for lost blogging time, I have forgotten all that I was planning to post. I'm sure there are many cute things I should be posting about the kids, but at the moment nothing is rushing onto the screen. Oh well, I'm sure I will think of something.

What I can remember, is the great weekend I had getting away from everything. Yes, this includes work, the house, the husband, and even the boys. (I always love them more when I have been gone!) Last weekend, I can't believe it was only a week ago, I went to Midway and stayed in a cabin and scrapbooked, read, talked religion and politics (what were we thinking!), talked kids, husbands, drank a lot of diet coke, got my own box of sugar cereal, and overall, had a really great time!

Although my weekends away with my cousins, started years ago and started out as scrapbooking only, they have adjusted to meet the many personalities of us girls. Most of us still scrap, and love it. A few of us our venturing out to digital scrapping, Who would of thought. Some come and do nothing, and love every second of it. Some come and complete projects that have nothing to do with pictures, and some of us (me) take the time to read a book. As we have discovered, it doesn't get much better than that. And, after all this time, we have finally discovered some great restaurants in Heber and Midway. YEAH!

Tara, Lori, Jill, Suzy, Me, Allie, Jane

So, it doesn't matter what you plan to do while you are there, no one really cares. All we care about is that you come and enjoy great conversation with the girls, a little crying, a heck of a lot of laughing and if you're lucky, Jane will turn bright red, laugh and cry for you all at once. And of course there is the no children, no husbands, no laundry, no bedtime, no alarm clocks, no kids sneaking into your bed at 2 am, no deadlines, no need to get out of your pj's, no meals to cook and a whine free zone.


The one thing I seem forget about in Midway is how beautiful it is, when we leave the back door open, we can here the small river in the back. Somehow, it is always full. The grass is green and sound of the leaves blowing is like a little bit of heaven. We are so lucky! Love you all.

Swiss Days

Top: Jane, Jen, Mary, Kris, Jill

Bottom: Me, the goat, Suzy, Brittney

Swiss Days is a huge craft fair that takes place every year in Midway, Utah. It falls on the Friday and Saturday of Labor Day weekend. For the last 8 or 9 years, I have gathered with my aunts and cousins to make the trek to Midway. I admit, we are a bit obsessive with the whole thing. We meet at 7am, grab a bagel and the precious diet coke, and then head up the mountain. It used to be we got there in time to beat the crowds. Not so much anymore. It is usually packed by the time we get there. But, it doesn't matter. We just jump in and get going. Whether you are in the slow or the fast group, we make our way through the crowds. The purchasing starts quickly and we then try to drag our purchases through the crowds without trying to cause any major damage to us or anyone else. We get up there early enough that it is still cold, but we manage to leave before it gets to hot. Oh, and just a little advice, strollers and small children will make your shopping very difficult. The booths are small and the crowds are thick. After we have each managed to spend at least a couple of hundred dollars, it is off to Loco Lizard for a great lunch and the much needed diet coke.

Although, I love my purchases, I think the best part of it is spending time with the girls. You know how I love to get away. Even if it is just for the day, and fighting crowds, and getting up at 0530. It's all worth it. Love ya!!!

Busy, Busy, Busy

To say the least, I have been slacking on the blog lately. What's sad is, I actually have a lot I could have posted about. In fact, we have been so busy, I have been a little overwhelmed by the blog. In the back of my mind, "blog" has become a bad word. But, I have decided to move past that thought and share our lives with those who want to read about it. I know, it's not that many, but none the less, I aim to please.

1. August 16th. For the Kimball family reunion, the boys and I headed up to This is the Place Monument to enjoy the sunshine, the animals, the train, and of course the smattering of cousins, aunts, and uncles. We had a great time and the boys especially loved playing with the many cousins. I always love watching my mom and her sisters and brothers. They are so funny when they get together and start chatting about the "old" days.

Picture 1. My cousins, Jodie and I taking picture of our parents. Picture 2. The boys check their maps (probably the only time we'll see them checking for directions). Picture 3. My mom with her sister Mary and her brothers Dave (left) and Richard (right).

2. August 19. Cort starts preschool. Cort is so happy to be going to school. I think he is bored with me and is tired of hanging out all day with mom while Luke is in school and there are no friends to play with. Poor kid, I can't say that I blame him, I'm not that exciting. It is hard to watch him grow up. The day before he started school he had me a little worried when he said "Mom, I not go to school, I not a big boy yet." But, when I drop he and his cousin Zach off, they don't even look back. I guess that's a good thing.Cort's first day. And yes, he has had a haircut since the picture was taken.

3. August 23rd. Another busy day for us. Cort went to Uncle Andrew's to play with Zach. Luke, Lori, Caeden and I headed off to the Hale Theater to see BIG. We met up with my cousins, their kids, and some of our Mom's. It was Luke's first musical. He did great and enjoyed the entire thing. We had lunch at Training Table. I forget how much I love cheese fries. Luke was the only boy at lunch, he didn't seem to mind though. After the play, we raced to pick up Cort and Levi. We had to get to the Southworth's for our first annual "Great Geocaching Treasure Hunt". It was a blast. About 10 families hid their caches over the last week and we had 90 minutes to find as many as we could, we found 9. Not to shabby, but not the big winner. We all gathered to for a BBQ after. We enjoyed the company of our neighbors and the boys had a great time finding treasures and of course, playing with the many friends that were there.

We also had the Freedom Salute for Levi's National Guard Battalion this weekend. It was at Snowbird. We had the chance to stay up there Friday and Saturday night, courtesy of the Army. Levi stayed up there on Saturday and attended some classes while I came down to follow through with plans we had already made with the boys. The boys went to my parents Saturday night and Levi and I made the trip back up the mountain after our long day. To say the least, it was tiring.

4. August 24th. To complete the Freedom Salute, all of the soldiers and their families went to Abravanal Hall to receive their thank yous from the state and the National Guard. Governor Huntsman was also there and gave a great speech thanking the service members and their families for the sacrifice that was made. We enjoyed the speeches that were given. All in all, it was a great weekend spent with our family and friends!

5. August 25th. Today was another busy day for us. After spending my required 2 hours at the gym, I came home to get ready for my crazy day. I spent the day doing laundry, cleaning the house, loading and unloading the dishwasher, homework with Luke, and attempted to keep Cort entertained. Sadly, I have no pictures. But wait, this is a normal day, why I am writing this? I must be losing it. Ok, well just ignore this paragraph. I should wrap this up. Sorry, this was such a long post, but I know you have all been dying to catch up on my life. Again, wouldn't want to let anyone down!

Conversation with Luke

Luke is watching TV this morning and sees a commercial for a new Wii game.

Luke: "Mom, I totally want that game!"

Me: "No Luke, you already have 17 Wii games and you don't play half of them."

Luke: "Fine, I'll just tell dad. He always gets them for me."

Me: "Seriously!!!"

(I can't help but smile, because he's right, the boys have their Dad wrapped around their fingers when it comes to buying toys.)

Luke goes to school

Luke outside his classroom on the first day.

Luke has completed his first 2 weeks of second grade. It is amazing to think he is old enough to be in second grade. Because of boundary changes, Luke started a new school. I was worried. I was nervous. I was crazy obsessed about it. But Luke, didn't skip a beat. Luke went in to his classroom like he owned the world. Luke is taking to 2nd grade like he has done it before. I'm always amazed at his ability to adapt and go with the flow. He makes friends so quickly! He is in a portable classroom, which also made me nervous, but he seems to do well in it. I think we have gotten lucky, and his teacher is excellent. She is organized and seems to be very on top of things. Yeah!!! After the struggle we had last year, I hope this will be a good change.

Ummm........I have no idea what he is doing!

The biggest change for Luke is the fact that he rides his bike to and from school with 3 of his friends. (Good thing he learned how to ride his bike this summer!!!) I was worried. I was nervous. I was crazy obsessed. The plan was to go with him and his friends in the morning and then meet them at the crosswalk after school. Turns out, other than the first day, us mom's were wasting our time, the boys would leave us in the dust. The boys found their way home without any problem. So, now, because mom's continue to be a little crazy, we walk them to school to make sure they get there. The boys make their way home on their own. I love it. No walking a mile there and back in 100 degree weather. I just wait for the sound of the door opening. Luke comes home tired, hot and hungry. Just like a little boy should!

Fast Cars on Race Day

On Friday and Saturday, the boys and I were free from the tyranny of the oppressive Mom of the house and decided to go out to Rocky Mountain Raceway and watch a good friend of mine, Brett Leggett race. Without their Mom (who really was just at work, she's not always oppressive), the boys were already for the gasoline, adrenaline, and smokin' tires. The cars and motorbikes were already roaring and kicking out some serious decibels when we arrived on Friday. Talk about COOOOOOOL! RARRRARRRARRRARR!!!!!! After the boys put on the ear protection we were good to go.

There is almost every kind of racing machine present as we enjoy the races. From Brett's '69 Nova to Funny Cars to Dragsters to Nitro Harleys to Snowmobiles, all racing. Some go down the quarter mile track in 13 seconds and some make it under 6 seconds. Totally awesome!

We even ran into another old friend, Lonnie Woodruff. He races in the motorcycle class, with a nice Kawasaki that the boys liked to watch and sit on. Some of the motorcycles are known as Nitro-Harleys and they throw out some vicious flames as they shoot down the track.

On Saturday, Luke decided that this was too much fun to have without bringing cousin Caeden. So we talked Caeden's folks into letting him join the fun. Luke was right, having one more friend there to feel the thunder of the engines was so much better. One Class of race cars called Funny Cars, used an altered fuel, and when they blasted off from the start line, the roar was so powerful the sound waves practically distorted the vision of all the spectators. It was like breaking into the space time continuum as the air between the cars and the crowd fluctuated and rolled like fabric. S-W-E-E-T!! HORSEPOWER!!!!!!!
However, there is still so much more in the racing community, there is qualifying runs and eliminator runs. Each car races at least 3 times. So there can be a lot of going back and forth from the Pit area to the stands to watch the races. The boys were made honorary Pit Crew members for Brett. So much to do as a pit crew, you get to hang out in the race trailer...And someone has to eat all the gold fish crackers and drink the sodas while Brett enters the racing data into the laptop computer.....
But its not all roses, there is some hard work to be done. When the race is over, the car has to be loaded and secured into the racing trailer. Everyone in the Crew has to pitch in.....

Autism and Alex

My cousin Kris has a son who is autistic. She and her husband Mark are incredible parents and deal with many challenges that I could never imagine. I admire them for what they are able to accomplish. They have put together a video to share with the young women and young men in their area to help those kids know more about Alex. I couldn't help sharing this with all of you. Maybe it can help more of us understand autism just a little bit better. Oh, and you may want to have a Kleenex at hand.

The link is www.thepingrees.blogspot.com .