Wednesday, May 30, 2007

memorial day weekend

SO, Emily so sweetly reminded me a couple days ago that I have been MIA for about a week and a half now. I return with a mostly picture post and recap of our Memorial Day weekend. Every year Jon's family descends upon the town of Richfield, UT over Memorial Day to remember their loved ones that have passed on. Jon's parents grew up in the area and he has fond memories of time spent in Richfield when he was growing up. We have been married now for almost eight years and have made an appearance in Richfield EVERY year for this weekend except last year. The family all comes in and stays at the same hotel. The days are filled with eating, shopping for the women, golfing for the guys, eating, visiting with each other, swimming at the pool, eating some more, traveling to the various cemeteries to raise flags and lay flowers on grandparents graves, attending family reunions, and eating. Did I mention eating? In fact, there is a pattern that is usually followed with specific restaurants/shops at specific times. This pattern has changed somewhat, but you can always count on a trip to Ideal Dairy and Christensens. Occasionally, the carnival happens to be in town at the park across the street from our hotel, as it was this year. My children enjoy being a part of the ritual of visiting the cemeteries, helping to lay the flowers and water them. I hope someday they will understand the meaning of all that we do on this weekend. It's always great to hear his parents, aunts, and uncles tell stories of their parents and grandparents. I learn so much this way. This year we made a trip to a cemetery we had never been to before, to see the grave of his ancestor who helped rescue the Martin and Willey handcart company. My children are blessed with great heritage on both sides! Anyways, on with the pics.


As a side note, Jon came home with a slip and slide a couple of nights ago. Here are some pictures from our first attempts. There are sure to be more as the summer progresses!

Saturday, May 19, 2007

mike the headless chicken

I realize that I have been AWOL for a couple of weeks. To get back into the swing of things, I just had to post about something that has been on our local news for the past two days.


Apparently there was a real chicken who lived for 18 months after his head was chopped off. This weekend marks the annual celebration in Fruita, CO. Don't ask me how I went my entire life not ever hearing about this until now. I guess it was probably on the news when I was younger, but I will admit that the news only became interesting after I went to college. I have been trying to figure out how this is even possible. All sorts of wierd visuals come to mind. I guess the lesson to take from this strange post is that nothing is impossible!

Saturday, May 5, 2007

victory!

So, I finally feel confident in saying that Abbie is potty trained. She has been semi-trained for a while now, but until several weeks ago, she continued to have accidents during the daytime. Hardly ever at night, JUST during the day and rather frequently, I might add. Yes, I know that it took us four and a half years to accomplish this milestone. Why? Because Abbie has a stubborn streak, a BIG one. Derrick was the same way, although we achieved victory with him by the time he was four. What they both have in common is that they had to decide they wanted to do it. Now, you might ask what finally convinced Abbie to take the final step towards big girl-hood? Grandma H bribed her with a dollar a few weeks ago. My mother then followed suit and now the accidents are few and far between. Thank goodness for grandmas with cash!

Thursday, May 3, 2007

gracie roo roo

Yes I call her this. Gracie roodle rufus is a close second. Where these nicknames came from I have no idea. Probably the same place as Derrick doodle and Abbie sue bird, I guess. Nicknames are funny things.




I love her fist in this picture.



Someday soon I hope to capture a really great smile. I'm just not quick enough at the moment!

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

go cougars!

So, my not so little brother Grant is on the BYU Rugby team, which happens to be in the Final 4 this weekend for the national championship. I wanted to wish them luck. Here is his player profile. He just sent me an email that the game will be televised on CSTV on Friday, May 4th. I don't even know if I get that channel, but I'm not likely to ever see him play in person, so I'm going to try to catch the game. Now, if I only knew something about rugby!