Where to Start?

There's a character in Alice in Wonderland who says, "Start at the beginning and when you come to the end.....stop." It seems pretty logical, but I'm not entirely sure where the beginning is and I'm positive that the end is nowhere in sight.

However, I must start with a huge thank you to all my friends in Herriman for their help and support during our moving process. I had so many people help with the kids, phone calls, blog comments, and just a lot of support. It was harder to leave than I had originally thought. Here are a few of moments that brought a tear to my eye....

Seeing my first house completely empty. It brought back so many memories of the building process and the endless hours we spent checking in on it while it was being built. It was just very hard seeing it empty again.

A giant moving truck and a sold sign outside of our house. Especially looking down the street where the kids had played for four years.

Saying goodbye to little friends. This is Carter and his best buddy Ethan. We ran into him and his mom at Target before we moved. I was so glad that they got to have a little lunch together before we both moved.

Saying goodbye to bestest friends. These girls have not been easily separated since they were old enough to play. Cali and Madisen were both 11 months old when we moved to Herriman, and Calee was was only two. We have had many tear filled days without them to play with.

Saying goodbye to the best neighbors and friends. Lori and Adrienne were the best neighbors and friends anyone could have. Summer nights won't be the same without these two.

And possibly the worst of all, saying goodbye to a cherished, loved, and adored automobile. I think the picture is traumatizing enough. Christian sold his 1964 Impala just before we moved. It was a hard decision, and I felt a lot worse about it than he did. He nearly gave it away, but the man who bought was a friend of his and will take the best care of it.

I still have many things to post from our first weeks in Wyoming. I'm just getting into the new routine, and with most of the boxes unpacked I hope to resume so normalcy in my life. So, stay tuned for what I hope is more frequent and organized blog updates!!

P.S. Herriman friends (and any other friends who are curious!): Leaving Herriman wouldn't be complete without a run-in with M.W. and the cops the day we were literally trying to get out of our drive way. Stacey, the incident occurred shortly after I picked Carter up from your house that day. It may be the most blog worthy story in the history of Wild Meowzers. However, due to the public nature of my blog, I hesitate to post it. If you would like the details please email me or leave me a comment and I will send you the story via email....It's nuts!

School is Cool

Possibly the coolest thing about Wyoming {well, only second to the wind} is the front door bus service. Cali loves being a "bus rider" and looks forward to going to school everyday!

Wyoming Check List

Our first week in Wyoming went something like this.... {thanks to Carson and Nykelle for the use of their computer....I still don't have Internet, probably Thursday along with a new computer}

Arrive Safely..Check

Play at grandpa Carl's condo..Check

Attend our new ward..Check {Carter didn't like sitting still for singing time}

Contract an eye infection..Check {Cali that is}

Get some medicine from our favorite Utah pediatrician..Check

Contract an ear infection..Check {Cali again}

Spend several hours in the ER with said ear infection..Check

Run a thousand errands..Check {map and phone book in hand}

Get Cali enrolled in school..Check

Unpack 3000 boxes..Check
Check out the White Mountain Mall..Check

Spend tons of time together {including weekends}..Check and Check

Howdy! From the great state of Wyomin'!

Cammie asked me if I would put a quick post on her blog (this is Bethany) As is typical with moving, she doesn't have her internet connected yet. Cammie, Christian, Cali, and Carter all made it safely to Wyoming. They move into their new house tomorrow. They have been staying at a condo that is owned by the company for the last few days. When the kids arrived at the condo they were so excited about their "new house." When Christian took them to their new actual home, they were convinced that Wyoming was the greatest place ever. The kids were most excited about the unfinished basement where they can ride their scooters! Cammie wanted me to let all of you know that they are doing great, and there will more adventures to come soon! For a few more pictures on the farewell party go to my blog. www.homegrownbethandty.blogpsot.com

Enough Said

Start the Weekend Early

On Thursday of last week we went on an adventure to Castle Dale to see my dad's play, Man of LaMancha. It's a favorite of mine. My dad directed and acted in this play fourteen years ago {when I was fourteen} and Christian and I had a chance to see it at the Shakespearean Festival about six years ago. This most recent production was amazing. The high school students did an amazing job, the set was fabulous, and Neal even made an appearance in the play as the Inn Keeper {the same role he played fourteen years ago}. If you ever get a chance to see this play I highly recommend it, or google it and read about it!

Carter is a little too young {wild} to appreciate the theatre, so he stayed with Melissa and Devin and "helped" them with Parker. After the play was over I picked Carter up, he was more than happy to run around the set with the swords and fight anyone in sight. Unfortunately, I was only armed with my cell phone camera since Christian is using our camera in Wyoming right now.

Our little adventure got the weekend started off right. We hung around Castle Dale on Friday and got to visit with Jayna {too bad Mike was at a gun show}. We made our way home with a stop in Springville to visit Tatum, Kelly, and Paiton. It was fun to visit and watch the kids make a complete toy tornado.

We were so excited to see Christian's car in the driveway when we got home. This single parent all week thing has really got me baffled. Only two more 1/2 weeks, then we'll all be together again.

Rock Springs....Here We Come

Last week on my home finding trip to Rock Springs, Christian and I fell in love with this house. Later that week we put in an offer, gave them some money, and pending the sale of our house in Herriman....bought this home. Here are few pictures that Christian snapped last night after work.


This picture is pretty dark, but you can see the outline of the house.


Still too dark, but a little more detail.


Entry way.


Great room.

Kitchen.

Dining Area.

Deck off the dining area.

What a Day Wii are Having

Despite the unseasonably warm and beautiful weather we are having, today has been one of those days! During a short phone call to my sister in law Carter took the liberty of shoving {at least} two bobby pins into the disk drive on the Wii. When asked why he did this, he answered ,"just push the honk {controller} and the bobby pins will come out of the maybe {Wii}"

Carter calls the Wii the "Maybe" because every time he asks if he can play it, I tell him maybe.

When we returned from a warm and wonderful walk to school, Carter hid himself behind the couch and peed everywhere! Good Grief!

I Immediately Regret This Decision

Carter had never had a friend party until this fateful year. In my attempt and misguided effort to keep all things "even" between my children, I decided to throw Carter a friend birthday party since I had throw one for Cali when she turned three.

I did not anticipate the craziness of three year old boys. I had several games planned and "helpers" {Cali and some neighbor kids} to help administer the games. Well, the "helpers" turned out to be just as wild as the boys. Bethany told me that I, "brought this on myself" which is true, but the whole thing just went so much more smoothly in my head.


Carter ate a few cupcakes befor the party even started...this sugar fueled kid had a very hard time with the concept of sharing and letting everyone play the games. I guess he thought that because it was HIS birthday HE didn't have to obey any of the rules to the games.


These are pretty much the only pictures I was able to take of the mass chaos. I made some cute dinosaur cupcakes and Dorey let me borrow a very cute dinosaur birthday banner, you'll have to take my word for it.....


I would never have survived without all the help of the mother's in attendance. Thank you again!


Bethany showed up just in time to see the party at it's height of craziness, and to deliver this darling Wonder Pet!

Carter's Birthday Wrap Up

Carter kept telling everyone that he was six. I couldn't figure out why, until I realized that he'd had enough birthday celebrations to send him into his sixth year. Here are some of the pictures from Carter's the 3rd-6th birthday parties!


It started off with a fantastical dinosaur cake. Designed and built by the great birthday cake creator....Gwen Peacock!


We all loved the bright green frosting.


Presents from the Peacock's. Thank you!

No visit to Castle Dale would be complete without a trip to the high school. This is a picture of my dad's latest creation. It is the set {designed by him and built by student slave labor} for his play, Man of LaMancha this weekend.

We can't go to Castle Dale without going to the park to climb trees and play on the playground. There were also several uninterrupted hours of Frankie the Goat, but somehow I forgot to take some pictures of my youngest sibling.

On to the Pollastro's for more cake!

More presents, this was Carter's favorite, Hungry Hungry Hippos from Cali.

More presents....

And Parker!

Delicious Cuisine

Yesterday Bethany and I rode to Rock Springs to meet Christian and look for potential real estate. It was so nice and fun to have Bethany to ride with, even though she was technically "sick". Christian's mom Vicki and his sister Melissa came to tend the kids and they had a fun day too. Oddly enough, there seemed to be a strange food theme to the day. It went like this:

1. Bethany and I ate at the Village Inn in Rock Springs {We immediately regretted this decision} there was one employee working. The guy who sat us at our table was the same guy who took our order, {and every other order in the place} and was the same guy who was bussing all the tables, and was the same guy who was ringing up the customers at the cash register. After 45 minutes of waiting, we finally got our food. By this time we had to scarf it down {we immediately regretted this decision as well} so that we weren't late for our meeting with the realtor. When I was paying {remember same guy who waited on us} I asked him if he was the cook too. I don't think he thought I was all that funny.

2. Later that night we ate at a fantastic Chinese place called Bonsai. It was the most amazing Chinese food I've ever had. And by amazing, I don't mean amazing like the Rice Garden inside of the Smiths on 9th and 9th. It was great. This food makes moving to Rock Springs even better.

3. Today I was talking to Cali and she told me that grandma made her some Chicken Noodle soup "the other day" {which meant yesterday}. I asked her if it was good and she said, "yes, it was so good that I even drank all the moth." I asked her if she meant "broth", she said, "yeah, whatever the soup juice is called." I laughed so hard.

4. Also today while I was sitting on the couch with Carter he told me that he wanted to pretend that he was Parker {we play this game all the time}. He said, "Parker is hungry" I asked him what he wanted to eat and he told me that I would have to feed him like Melissa feeds Parker with the milk that comes out of her tummy.

Happy Birthday Carter

We can hardly believe that he's three years old! He was born on November 10th, 2005 at 3:37 p.m., right in the middle of an episode of Dr. Phil. We've been celebrating his sweet little life all weekend. Party with the Peacocks on Friday. Party with the Pollastro's on Sunday. Party with friends today, and we'll probably have another one when daddy gets home on Friday! Pictures to come....

A Theme?

Halloween 2006


Halloween 2007


Halloween 2008

Will Disney run out of princess before Cali grows out of this "phase"? Only time will tell.....

Halloween Festivities

First there was the ward Halloween party. Cali really got after the eat-a-donut-on-a-string-with-no-hands game.

Then there were homemade cookies, courtesy of Bethany.

Let's not forget the endless hours working on the perfect princess face.

She takes her duties as a princess very seriously.

Next, there was a school Halloween parade.

Carter did his best to patiently await the Halloween parade.

Bethany's cookies were so good, they called for another batch!

We then readied ourselves for Trick or Treating.

Carter didn't have much to do to get ready, since he's been wearing his costume for 10 consecutive days.

Belle and Little Red Riding Hood were the prettiest Trick or Treaters in the neighborhood.

I cannot even tell you how many times I was "poured" throughout the night.