Steve & Jason Mraz...

So about a month ago Steve said to me...
"I guess I better tell you... I am surprising the kids with tickets to see Jason Mraz in concert"

I was equally as excited as I hoped that the kids would be. I love Jason Mraz.
Well the concert was tonight. When the kids got home from school I told them that they could play for a tiny bit and then they had to shower and get ready in nicer jeans and shirts and Dad was taking us somewhere. I got a whole lot of "shower... in the middle of the day" "what... I want to play with my friends" "do I really have to go?" ....oh my gosh and to think that we still do nice things (like surprises) for our kids.

While we were sitting at dinner they were trying to guess where we were going. They all decided that it was to Hollywood Connection to their movie theater to see High School Musical 3 because the boys haven't seen it.

While we were walking over to the "theater" they realized that Jason Mraz was in town... "oh that sounds like so much fun can we go... can we go"... so Steve said "OKAY!!!"

They were like "what... are we really not going to HSM3? The only one at this point SUPER excited was Shawn... he couldn't wait. Finally we "talked" them into being excited. We ended up having so much fun. About four songs into the concert Ashley was so tired that she fell asleep on my lap. I asked her (in her sleep) if she liked the concert and shook her head yes! Well I guess money well spent ... right?

Happy 32nd Birthday to Jarred!!!

Today is Jarred's 32nd birthday.

I love him for a lot of reasons...

1. He picked a great wife and treats her so cute. I am proud of him. He is an awesome guy.
2. He is an really great uncle. Our kids just adore him and always look forward to seeing him.
3. He is fun. He does crazy things and is always up for an adventure.
   
4. He is a super friend and brother not only to me, his big sister, but to Steve. They have a great relationship... he truly is the brother that Steve didn't have growing up.

There really is a lot more reasons... These are just a few!

I love you , Jarred... HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

***Disclamer***

I LOVE to take pictures and usually do a pretty good job... but everyone is commenting on how cute my last ones of the kids are and I didn't take them... Steve did.

Way to go Steve!

Our attempt at fall pictures of the kids...

I am pretty sure that it is MUCH easier to get good pictures of
other peoples kids.

We were quickly loosing light!

We were also quickly loosing patience!

Check out their cute matching outfits (refer to prior post).

Pretend you don't notice that Ashley got out of the house with
her "favorite" shoes on... not the black ones that match.

I also let my cool 7th grader have a little opinion on dressing himself...
NOTE the gray stripes!

Luckily he is a great kid!

All in all my kids were pretty good. We all made it through the experience!

What makes me quirky...

Jenn B. this one is for you...

Definition of quirk:n.1. A peculiarity of behavior; an idiosyncrasy: "Every man had his own quirks and twists" Harriet Beecher Stowe.2. An unpredictable or unaccountable act or event; a vagary: a quirk of fate.

Rules:
Link the Person who Tagged you. Mention rules on your blog. Tell about 6 quirks of yours. Tag 6 fellow bloggers to do the same. Leave a comment to let them know.

I have OCD characteristics so this should be fun.

1. Just like Lisa W. I shower the same everyday. I wash my hair, rinse, then condition... while the conditioner is setting I shave... first my right leg, then left then my right pit, then my left last I shave my bikini line... finally I rinse my hair.

2. I have to put chapstick on every night before bed if I forget I can't sleep until I get up and put it on.

3. I am a big list maker... I love my grocery list especially to look good. When my family writes something down on the list that I need to get... I have to re-write the whole list... It has to be how I like it.

4. I have to shave my legs AT LEAST once a day. I hate even the slightest stubble.

5. I have to have all the chairs pushed in the same at the table. It doesn't matter if it is my table or a table at the furniture store... they have to be the same.

6. I like my cans in the cupboard to all face the same way with the brand facing out and the cereal boxes to all face the same way with the nutrition label facing out... NOT because I read the label but because it looks more uniform.

Bonus quirk... I LOVE it when my whole family dresses in the SAME colors scheme. It makes it easy in the likely chance that I take pictures then I can scrapbook easier and everyone can match the paper.

Are we still friends... I know I am weird!

I tag all of you who are reading this and haven't done it yet. These are fun to read and they make me feel a whole lot more normal when I hear the things that you do. So if you haven't done it... now is the time.

A peek into our crazy schedule...

• Monday

1. Steve started a new job. He is going to be working for a company call Fix it Squad / Redrock Heating & Cooling. Our friend Jeff that owns A-shed, that he has been working for, also owns this Fix it Squad. They do all kinds of different jobs... when they do new construction in heating they will be doing it under Redrock Heating & Cooling. It is fun to see that going in full swing again. It just feels right. Steve is super excited to help it grow. He will be doing sells for both companies. The best part is that he wont be doing the parts that he is not quite as good at which is the bills and secretarial stuff. I am proud of him. He is excited.
   
2. Monday night we went to eat dinner out at Chick-fil-a. We went to support this amazing little boy that I wish we knew. His name is Trent Duval. He is eight. He is loosing his battle with leukemia. You will have to go on his blog and read about him. You will fall in love with him too. I am not a cryer... his story made me sob. He has affected our whole family. Our kids pray for him each night. Read his story... www.trentduval.blogspot.com.

• Tuesday

1. We went to dinner with a whole bunch of friends. We are so super fortunate to have such great people that surround us and help teach our kids. We went to hang out with Buck & Leigh Ann Taylor while he is still in town. They are two of the most amazing people that I know. Buck in serving our country in Afghanistan. He does it well. His stories are so great. He is on a two week leave. He will go back on Monday for about four more months. Leigh Ann is so courageous. I just watch her. I think that she is an awesome woman to hold everything together while her husband is serving our country for our freedom. I love them. All of our kids were so interested in all of Buck's stories... they just kept asking him questions. I loved watching my kids with my friends. Shawn especially had a good time because he is the age that I hung out with some of them.
   

• Wednesday

1. I was in charge of our Young Women's combined activity. We had a lady, Date Rape Advocate, come and talk to the girls about Date Rape, then we did a service project for them... the South Valley Coalition, that she works with. WOW! is all that I can say. Here are a few of the statistics... realize that most of these statistics are from UTAH.

• 1 in 5 teens who have been in a serious relationship report being hit, slapped or pushed by a partner
• In 1995, 7% of all murder victims were young women killed by there boyfriends
• 1 in 8 Utah Women will raped sometime in their lifetime
• Rape is the only category of violence that Utah EXCEEDS the nations violence

So this information last night was scary to me... you should hear all of these statistics that I have from her... WOW! It makes me nervous to raise kids in these latter days. What an eye opener for me. I looked back on times that this could have easily happened to me or one of my friends. SCARY!

• Thursday

1. NO SCHOOL
2. Alyssa & Ashley had a fall performance. It was so cute. They and all their little friends did such a great job. They are in Guyz N Dollz with Cassie S, Emmy S, & Alyssa and Ella M, Sara W, Maggie S & Ashley... They love it. They all were all so cute.
3. Alyssa had a soccer game. The final score was 10 to 0... we won. We were doing so great that John mixed up all of the positions and let Alyssa play forward instead of defender... She scored a goal... how fun to see her play somewhere else. They have a great team and they really are getting so great together. They are having a fun time.
   
4. Finally we ended the night off with a soccer party at our house. All the girls and their families came over for dessert, soup & rolls. All the parents sat around and talked while the girls played, sang karaoke, and watched a movie. We had a great time.
   

Tomorrow we are taking the kids to Lagoon... I will take pictures...

Couples HaLLoWeEN BoNKo!

Two cute Geishas
~Jason & Nicole~

a suicide bomber
a cute soldier
~Buck & Leigh Ann~

Colonel Sanders and
his Cute Southern Belle
~Ben & Natalie~

Napoleon Dynamite and
a cute pregnant Deb
~Trent & Julie~

Murray Mayor Snarr and
Murray's favorite idol David Archuleta
~Steve & Me~

Hannah Montana and
her sidekick Lola
~Callin and Lisa~

Olympic Gold Medal Winner Michael Phelps
and Gold Winner Womens Beach Volleyball Player
~Eric & Jenn~

a portly Napoleon and
Josephine Bonaparte

(Sorry that the pictures are first...
This was the only way today that I could get them uploaded
- I was having major computer stress - sorry)

Well last night we had our famous Couples Halloween Bonko. It is very anticipated all year long. We start talking about and thinking about costumes a year ahead. This year was amazing.

We always start the night off at Bonsai. The employees there even anticipate it. They take pictures of us and always say they can't wait to see what we come up with the next year.

This year the biggest HIGHLIGHT of the night was when Buck and Leigh Ann came walking in the restaurant. Everyone started clapping and cheering. He has been gone serving our country in Afghanistan. He is on a two week leave. It was so good to have him home safe and to give him a big hug. We have missed you Buck!

We held Bonko at our house this year. It is always such a great reason to clean house. I love how the house looks when it is clean... if we could only keep it this way always.

What a fun fun fun group we have. I love each and everyone of them. They all bring so much happiness to our lives. I love you guys!

My weekend...

Steve, Me , Shawn, Cameron, & Ashley all went to the Sand Dunes in Idaho this past weekend. Alyssa stayed home with Grandma Karen (She had her last Snow White performance). Yay! As cute as the whole thing was it took ENTIRELY TOO MUCH TIME! I was so tired of taking her to practice after practice after practice. I am glad to have my girl back. I missed her.

Here are a few highlights from our weekend.

1. Weekend get a way to Idaho.
   
2. Steve & his boys on a four wheeler ride with Cameron & Shawn riding their own 4-wheelers.
   
3. Talking to Alyssa after everything that her and Grammy did.
   
4. Conference. Because it rained and we stayed in the motor home more we were able to watch all four sessions of conference (minus 1 hour of the last session). I love conference. I really love to hear our leaders talk. I love the talks that you know they are answering a prayer of yours directly. They are amazing men and women.
   
5. Our friends... we have a great group of friends that we go on our motor home trips with. I really love them all.
   
6. Great food... I love camping food... we always grill a salmon and steak... MMMmmm!

Anyway... we had a great weekend. It is always good to be back home.

I am BAD at BLOGGING...

I absolutely love to read all of your blogs, I even get annoyed when you don't update them... then why am I so bad at blogging? I feel SUPER overwhelmed. With my whole lift right now.

• My house... is a HUGE disaster.
  
• My laundry... well it looks as if I do laundry for the whole neighborhood.
  
• My car... smells and looks like some small animal died in it.
  
• My craft room... looks like a kids play house.
  
• My brain... is fried!!!
• I do have a clean theater.
  

I have couples Halloween Bonko at my house on Saturday. I am pretty sure that I will have it cleaned up by then... I hope!

Please keep blogging... it keeps me sane. I would miss you guys if you didn't do it.