Life is Full of Hard Choices...

Now that I've been sleeping in a giant grown-up bed, I think it's time I invest in some grown-up bedding. Here are just a few of my top favorites. I really like a splash of color here and there, but for some reason my eyes are drawn to gray tones...I think it's because gray is the color of sweats.

Don't Mess {With the Instructor or His Student}

Carter is taking his Tae Kwon Do class very seriously. So seriously in fact, he can almost make it the entire hour without taking a break and running around the gym like a maniac.

He just received his first official uniform which he calls his, "jersey". I may need to sew his name and favorite number on the back.

He has also taken it upon himself to instruct Cali in the ways of martial arts as well. It's very hilarious to watch their "lessons", as you can imagine. Oh wait, you don't have to imagine...Watch the video. Posted below.

Just What You Wanted...More Antelope

I really didn't intend for my blog to turn into an ode to antelope, but I can't help it....They are everywhere I look! It's strange, and also strange that I'm the only one stopping to take pictures...

Anyway, on this particular day I caught these antelope checking out the Virgin Mary.

Valentine's Day Dinner

Since Valentine's Day was on a Monday this year, we decided to stay in and have a family night together. Well, as together as it gets with everyone running in different directions. But, we managed to spend the evening together and I even got creative and made some LOVEly Valentine's related dinner items. Here's what we had {just in case I need some ideas for next year}...

Heart shaped turkey burgers, seasoned and broiled with kissy lips reduced fat Sargento cheese on whole wheat buns.
Baked red potato fries.
Cherry 7up with a squirt of pured strawberries
Strawberry yogurt pie

That was a very heart healthy meal!

And in case you want a very low-fat desert {which does not taste low fat at all} try my yogurt pie recipe:

One reduced fat pre-made graham cracker pie crust
One medium container of frozen strawberries
One Yoplait Red Velvet Cake fat free yogurt
One container of fat free cool whip
Thaw and drain strawberries. Mix drained strawberries with yogurt and 1/2 container of cool whip. Pour into pie crust. Spread remaining cool whip on top. Chill or freeze. It's great frozen or refrigerated! P.s. It works with ANY fruit and ANY yogurt flavor, just remember to drain the fruit, you won't be disappointed

Bowling Birthday

Our sweet little friend Canon celebrated his birthday this weekend. Cali and Carter were so excited that his party was at the bowling alley. I'm not going to lie, I was pretty excited myself! It was a "boy/girl" party and it was interesting to see how much more the boys enjoyed the bowling. In fact, the boy's team bowled 1.5 games before the girls barely finished one. Those boys would still be there bowling if wasn't for hot dogs and nachos.

Carter has been begging me to take him bowling ever since. He does not mess around, he takes his bowling very seriously, and seems to think jumping up and down will make the ball do what he wants it to do. He had four strikes, and is still bragging about it!

Cali did better this time, she was able to roll the ball underhand, instead of under her legs. It's amazing what a little bit of peer pressure will do!

But the best part of the night was THE CAKE.

The very cutest Despicable Me cake complete with, you guessed it, BLUE frosting! We were still scrubbing off the blue Sunday morning!

Happy Valentine's Day to Us

Christian and I have been sleeping on the same mattress/bed frame/box springs that we bought when we were in college. Christian worked at the University Surplus and Salvage (USS) at the University of Utah, and was basically the person who carried the unwanted items out of the university departments. Once he got the items back to the warehouse, they were priced to sell to the public. From this illustrious job we were able to obtain many random yet fairly decent items. One of which was the mattress we've been sleeping on ever since.

The mattress had been left at one of the university apartments, when no one claimed it after a certain waiting period, the USS sold it for $40.00. Oh, did I mention, Christian was also eligible for a 1/2 off discount from the ticketed price. Yes, it cost us $20.00.

Eleven years later, nearly to the date, we decided to make the purchase of our very first bedroom set and new mattress. While we were waiting for the delivery truck, Christian loaded our faithful mattress up and took it downstairs to Cali's room {who feels like a total princess in a giant bed}. We've moved this trusty bed frame at least four times, but never noticed that the price sticker was still on the bottom {pictured above}.

We were like kids on Christmas waiting for the delivery truck. I must now put in a shameless plug from Action Wood in Midvale, Utah. This is the second major purchase we've made from this store {the first being our dining room table and chairs}. Every single time I go in there I find something I love. It's a great little store with a great staff and the ability to order pretty much anything you want. Up next, end tables for my living room and an entryway table too...

One dresser complete with a mirror {it looked much smaller in the show room!}

A couple night stands, and one giant kind sized bed! We are so thrilled to finally have a grown-up bedroom. Now, as for the bedding...Well, I'm working on that. With a bedroom set that I LOVE, I must also find some bedding that I LOVE. I will not settle for less, let's just hope I find what I'm looking for before 2022!

Nothing Out of the Ordinary

On Wednesday I was driving home from picking Carter up from preschool. We drive down the same road {pictured above} everyday. However, on this day we spotted some antelope. Carter wanted to get out and "chase" them. But, I suggested we stay in the car and just take a couple pictures with the trusty cell phone.

They are a little hard to see in this picture. Talk about blending into their surroundings, plus there's a little bit of a ravine hiding some of them too. Carter started counting as many as he could see. The final count: 32. Yes, 32 antelope in the middle of a neighborhood.

If that's not weird enough, we noticed that we were the ONLY ones pulled over taking pictures and counting...weird.

What DoThe Holocaust and Rabies Have in Common?

I assure you, this is not the start of a very very bad joke. It's actually the topic of two very long talks I had with one very smart 7 {going on 17} year old, and one very curious 5 year old.

Cali was asked to share some of the events from the 1940's with her girl scout troop. Upon Googling "top events of the 1940's" we were provided with a top 10 list which included the Holocaust. As we scrolled through, what historians consider, the top events of that time period...we stumbled upon the Holocaust. Cali wanted to add it to her list, but I suggested that we find more Girl Scout appropriate 1940's events. We found that the first t-shirt was invented in the '40's and that Disney released the movie Bambi around the same time too. However, she kept coming back to the Holocaust. I tried to explain it the best {and most age friendly} as possible. It went something like this....

The Holocaust was a very sad time in history when a very bad man with very bad ideas was put in a position of power over others where he could harm and kill other people {good enough? right?}. Cali was not satisfied with this answer...she wanted to why, and when, and where, and could it happen again, and more why... So I added some more detail like, the man's name was Hitler and he didn't like people who were different from him, especially those people who were Jewish, so he bullied people into following him and killing other people {that should do it, right?} Nope. Cali wanted more.

By the time we were finished with our discussion, I was exhausted and she was horrified.

Not long after this conversation Carter asked me what kind of an animal a Rabbit Dog was. And, if there were rabbit dogs were there also rabbit squirrels and rabbit cats and where did such animals live. I finally put it together that he had watched a movie where a character made reference to a rabid dog. Which, naturally, led to a conversation where I was forced to explain what rabies was.

Once again, I started out small...Rabies is a disease that animals get and they can give it to others by biting them {that should do it. Right?} Nope. He wanted more detail. We ended up talking about rabies shots, foaming at the mouth, and the whole nine-yards. Of course, he immediately went to school and enlightened his teacher on the details of contracting rabies. Thank goodness his teacher is a good friend, but I realized something...someday he is going to have a teacher that I don't know well, then what? How will I ever explain...

Crying {Yelling/Swearing} Over Spilled Milk

In the few seconds it took me to get some turkey burger from the fridge, divide it, and turn around to put the leftover meat in the fridge. Caleb managed this little miracle.

When I picked him up to lock him in his high chair while I cleaned up a full gallon of milk, all he had to say for himself was, "juice...feet...juice...feet".

Good thing he's cute....Really good thing.

How to Stay Warm in Rock Springs

Don't be jealous of our -20 degree {with the wind chill} weather here in R.S. It just takes some layers, some coats, hats, gloves, scarves, and a brave spirit to go outside around here. Actually, things have been a little warmer lately. The other day Carter insisted on taking off his hat and gloves because he was "sweating" in his layers....It was 2 degrees. That's when you know it's bad.

Tip one. Wear a hat under your coat hood. It's the ONLY way to keep the wind out of your ears.
Tip two. Wear a scarf inside your coat too.
Tip three. Gloves...ALWAYS!
Tip four. Pull a wide-eyed look and point in the direction of the freezing weather.

Tip five. Stay away from windows and doors. Although well insulated they can be very very cold. We had some frost develop on the INSIDE of our door by the floor. The wind is ferocious.

Tip six. Don't go outside at all. Just stay home and stand on the heater vent. It works for us!

A Fun Place to Play

All of my children have had a fascination with stairs, maybe it's safe to say all children do. Cali spent several years of her life mastering the stairs in our house in Herriman. Carter was a pro at going down head first {in complete control} on his tummy. Caleb likes to test the boundaries of gravity by holding on to the ledge until his feet don't touch the stairs anymore.

So, I am not horribly surprised that these boys LOVE to play at the bottom of the stairs. I find them there all the time. It's nice, they're out from under my feet, but not down in the basement causing damage to themselves and other things. On this day, I found them playing Cars.

Don't Be So Dramatic...or Do!

You think I'm dramatic? I come by it very very very honestly...

This is my dad, or Neal as he is known by most {he answers to both}...

He has many many talents...

If you know him, you know I'm not kidding....many many talents this man!


He's a great story teller and writer. All of his original humorous monologues have won state titles {we've been begging him to get published for years}...

He's hilarious with great comedic timing. I loved being the kid with the really really funny dad...


He's a great performer...

He can work a crowd...

You would be lucky to have a dad this cool!

These photos were taken by Larry W. Davis at the Emery High student/faculty talent show where Neal performed one of his original humorous entitled,"The Confession...I was High School Wrestler".

If You Need Us...

We'll most likely be at the rec center. This past month the kids participated in ZumbAtomic, which is a Zumba program developed for kids {less pelvic thrusting more focus on fitness, rhythm, and fun}. Carter had swimming lessons and started Tae Kwon Do. Cali started her new, advanced, and long gymnastics class.

Factor in daily workouts and teaching night classes, and we pretty much live at the rec center. It's not a bad place to live, there's vending machines and Foosball. In fact, here's a picture of Cali eating her dinner at the rec center.

Here's what Caleb usually does at the rec center...sit in his stroller and eat fruit snacks. He is very hard to contain especially in large gyms and multi-level buildings. The stroller is much safer for everyone.


Carter is very excited to be learning Tae Kwon Do {aka Kung Fo class}. His instructor {a fourth degree black belt} described him as "pop corn". Which I took as a compliment. He is learning a lot, and most importantly...loving it! He even practices some of his moves on his sister...We're working on that.



That's Carter on the end in the black shirt by his instructor. They have to line up in order of rank, so you can see where he is currently. Well, you gotta start somewhere!

Some Cali-ness

Cali's achievements have just been piling up around here. Here are just a few of the many Cali accolades. We may have to buy another fridge just for her stuff if she doesn't slow down!

She was chosen to have Pizza with the Principal of her school. Apparently this only happens to very very very good students who show respect for others. The teacher gets to choose four students a month, and you have to have a ticket {pictured above} to attend. Very exclusive. She was beyond thrilled. They also get their picture taken with the principal.

Now {here's a small interjection}, I am totally in support of promoting good behavior among students, especially elementary students. I love that she was so excited to eat with the principal, whatever keeps the kids happy, I am in favor of. However, since when is it cool to hang with your principal? Really. She's a pretty cool lady, but still. Maybe we were just more punk-rock in the late 80's early 90's? I don't know, but these kids don't have the stick-it-to-the-man attitude we grew up with!

Cali's spelling is also doing quite well, as well. I chose to post this test because I think that dropping the Y and adding IE is a little tricky, and I was very proud that she nailed it in 2nd grade and not 5th-ish grade like one of her parents...you decide which one!

Quite possibly the greatest day in a young girl's life. Her advancement from beginning gymnastics to the intermediate pre-team class. She was over the moon excited, and to be quite honest, so was I. I debated about whether or not I should sign her up again, she's been on the beginning level since we moved here. But, sure enough! She did it!

Finally, Cali was also chosen to participate in a fitness program at school which requires her to wear a pedometer for several days. She has to wear it everywhere except bed and bath. Yesterday she walked up and down the stairs at least 20 times trying to "add more steps" I explained that they didn't have to be actual "steps" walking on flat ground would count just fine. So, she walked around the dinner table 30+ times.

They made her take it off at gymnastics because they were doing bar work, but she put it back on right after and walked around the track at the rec center 10 times. This is one busy girl who we couldn't live without!