All the Perks

Christmas 2011

2012-01-09T19:58:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning was awesome!!! We got up at our usual Sunday time, everyone got ready in record time, I made a french toast casserole for breakfast (yumm) and we were at church in our seats 25 min early!! We enjoyed a beautiful Christmas musical program and headed home to FINALLY open presents.

I actually enjoyed waiting to open gifts due to church, it kind of made the day last a little longer and I think I was more coherent to actually enjoy it! I love that even though our kids aren't small anymore they still get excited about Christmas and its magic. I love how excited they get about opening their stockings (that was a favorite for me when I was younger too). I love how appreciative they are for the things they receive, they always say thank you and seem to genuinely appreciate what they are given! I love just sitting back, enjoying and soaking it all in.
When we finished gifts we just spent the rest of the afternoon being together, and relaxing.
We went over to Darin and Carey's for a Christmas dinner with Grandma and Grandpa Perkins, and Russ and Jen. Good food and more relaxing. When we got back home we were kind of scrambling to finish packing and getting ready to head to Utah the next morning to join all our Wright cousins and family!! It was a great Christmas filled with many good memories and experiences, We have much to be thankful for.

December 2011

2012-01-09T10:12:00.000-08:00

SOME of the highlights for the month of December include...

My first child (Braydon) got his drivers license (heaven help us!!!)-
Its bitter sweet. I love the fact that they are growing up to be these amazing people but at the same time each little mile stone makes them a little closer to growing up and leaving the nest which I don't want to even think about!!!
Kileys first dance recital at Centennial HS. It was so fun to go watch the girls perform! There was such a fun variety of music, fun costumes, dances and plenty of adorable girls!!! I'm looking forward to many more in the years to come.
We hosted a baby shower for Jenny Perkins (my niece in law). So fun, I always love a good baby shower with all the tiny, adorable baby things!! We can't wait to get our hands on that sweet little baby (only a couple more weeks)!
We welcomed a new niece and cousin (#26). My youngest sister Becki had a beautiful, perfect baby girl, Dempsey. We had to wait almost 2 weeks to get our hands on her but once we finally did we hardly put her down. We had to fight Kiley to get our turns though, grrrr!!!We had our friends the Mcleods over for dinner and games!! Always a good time!!

Malerie went to her first junior high dance and had a great time!!!

A personal favorite for me was my friend Krysta and 2 of her kids coming to visit from Oklahoma for the weekend!! We love their family so much and had a great time with them. We went to the Stake Christmas presentation, church, had a fun Sunday dinner, her and I went on a hike up Thunderbird for old times sake, we went to Bj's for lunch with a friend, we went to see the new Sherlock movie (which was awesome!!!!) and drove over to see the new temple site!!! Not bad for a quick short weekend!!!

The rest of the week was spent in a frenzy finishing up last minute Christmas preparations, you gotta love it!!!

CHRISTMAS EVE
I was determined to be ready and rested for Christmas this year and I think this is closest I have yet to come. Christmas Eve morning Eric and I and the boys went for a hike at Thunderbird. When we were coming down the back side I gave the boys the go ahead that we could run and that's all it took, they both were gone!!! I caught up to Braydon but Keat left us all in the dust!! He isn't familiar with the trails so he just kept going making a second loop. Eric had to chase him down. The kid is a machine!!!
We spent the rest of the afternoon just relaxing (Eric and I were relaxed, the kids were just anxious to get the show on the road!!!) Keeping with tradition we picked up our usual order of mexican food from Mixteca, our 4 bottles of Martinellis (one for each kid) and a few other little things. We set our little spread out downstairs, the kids opened their traditional Christmas pjs and threw them on and we settled in to watch our favorite Christmas Story!! Good times, just how we like it!!!

Beyond behind!!

2012-01-09T10:03:00.000-08:00

I have no idea why I let myself get this far behind!! There have been so many fun changes and things that have happened this past year and a half that I should have been journaling about. I don't know if it is even possible to catch up?
As part of getting excited about a new year I have recommitted myself to try and be better about blogging and taking photos (we shall see!!) I think I will start with December and back track when I feel inspired or can squeeze it in!
As always it seems like the whole month of December just whizzes by. I'm sure in part that is due to the overwhelming number of activities we try and cram in!! I was especially thankful for the couple weeks we had of cold, almost wintery like weather. For me it definitely helps to get in to the holiday spirit!!

OKLAHOMA

2010-07-20T14:56:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the school year one of my dearest friends and her sweet family moved to Oklahoma when her husband was stationed at the Army base in Lawton. I was surprised by my difficulty in losing a friend to the long distance. It was an emotional few weeks when she left. In January I found out she would be coming back to Arizona for her brothers wedding at the end of April and I was of course ecstatic!! We texted back and forth about dates and plans and then it occurred to me that I could really take advantage of the situation. She had planned to drive from Oklahoma to Arizona with her 2 daughters and her husband and boys would fly later. I offered to fly there and drive back to "keep her company" so she wouldn't have to drive/travel alone. Purely selfish on my part, because I knew that would ensure more time visiting and catching up!! I did not book my ticket right away because that is the kind of slacker I am. When I eventually remembered and got around to it the ticket was about $50 less, so who says procrastination doesn't pay!!! Also instead of flying in the day before it was less expensive to go 2 days early, BONUS!!! As it got closer and I worked out arrangements for all kids while I was gone, Malerie was the only one that did not have things going on while I was gone. I contemplated taking her but was leery about spending the extra money. The day before I was flying out another amazing friend hooked us up with a ticket so Mal was able to come for VERY cheap! I did not tell her until that morning, it was an awesome surprise. It was such a fun experience for her first flight to be just her and I. She did amazing on the flight, she didn't seem the least bit nervous and was just soaking it in. At one point she borrowed my camera and was taking all kinds of pictures of clouds, and the wings etc.

After we landed the four of us went and grabbed lunch and drove a little over an hour to Lawton. It was much different then what I had expected. It is a small town but not nearly as small as I pictured. It was so fun surprising Kate and Jill. They were expecting me but not Mal. The next Day the 3 of us ran errands to finish getting ready. It was just fun being together and being able to talk. Mal was a good sport just tagging along. One of our errands was getting the oil changed at the dealership. The salesmen were really sweet to Malerie. They have a pet parrot that lives at the dealership that apparently loooves kids. We went to meet Paco. I have to admit it was very entertaining!! We got him dancing which was hilarious! Malerie helped lift him from his perch back to his cage but the problem is that one she got him on her hand he was quite happy with her and rather going back on his cage he climbed up her arm to her shoulder and was intent on staying there!! He stayed on her shoulder playing with her hair and talking/dancing till we had to go and it took some serious coaxing to get him to leave her.

Friday we finished packing, and loading grabbed the girls and hit the the road for our 18 hour journey. I have to admit, it is NOT a pretty drive from Oklahoma, through Texas and New Mexico. We drove till we were tired and found a hotel for the night! The girls thought this was a great sleep over! Saturday we made it into town around early afternoon. It was good to be home and out of the car. That night a group of girls met up at Cafe Rio (one of our favorite places!!) for dinner and some more catching up. I am so thankful I was able to make this trip and take Malerie along. I have a deep appreciation for priceless friends and the impact they have on our lives.

Our little Fitzgerlad

2010-06-21T14:57:00.000-07:00

Keaton FINALLY got his chance to play football (to his dismay it was flag football) but for their age and it being his first time it was ok. The team was the usual group of buddies (which we love playing with, they are such a good fun group of kids). Chuck and Tony coached the team. They had a great season and learned a lot. It was so fun to see the improvement from the beginning through the end. Keaton is quick. We never get bored watching him and are sometimes perplexed at where he got his talent and competitive drive from. The kid is just plain passionate about playing sports, and football especially! I look forward to watching him play for a long time! At the end of the season he and his best buddy Jake were actually scouted out to play on a competitive team. Man you would have thought they got drafted into the NFL, they were so excited. Unfortunately after a couple practices their dream was crushed due to the fact that there were a lack of teams in their age group to compete against. Im sure it won't be the last opportunity. These boys have talent.

Conference Camping and Easter

2010-06-21T14:37:00.000-07:00

We have been doing the conference camping thing for so long now I feel like I am being repetitive when I journal about. It is sometimes hard to differentiate between trips. This one was a little easier considering it actually fell on Easter weekend.
We did some Easter egg coloring, an Easter egg hunt, rode quads, did some hiking, played games, watched a movie on the big screen around the fire, we had our big group Saturday night dinner (which I think was my favorite so far). Chalee's dad cooked a brisket and it was soooo good. The boys went to Priesthood meeting (mine looking a little questionable but I guess I should be happy they went!!) Of coarse our favorite part is enjoying conference and the messages being shared. Saturdays sessions were my particular favorites. I love looking around the big white tent and seeing so many friends (families) together and listening so intently. The other awesome part is how much the kids love it. They play from early in the morning till late at night and have such a blast together! These are memories I hope they cherish forever.

the kids seemed to really enjoy coloring eggs and a few adults got into not mentioning any names

Just plain silly!!THE GROUP!!

Spring Break + San Diego = one HAPPY family!!

2010-04-13T21:23:00.000-07:00

March 2010

Back in August we were invited to go beach camping at South Carlsbad with a group of other families, having done it once before I jumped on the phone and reserved a spot. We loved it last time and were looking forward to it again!!
Spring break crept up so quickly it seemed kind of surreal. A lot of things had changed between August and March like the fact that some jerk stole our truck!! We didn't have a way to pull the trailer. We were going to tent it, then we were looking for a vehicle to tow the trailer, then back to a tent and then finally a couple weeks before we were leaving we decided to get a hotel close to the beach. It proved to be a great plan!!
After checking into the hotel Saturday afternoon, we grabbed some dinner and then headed down to the beach to say hi to everyone. The Ames, Halls, Crumps, Dorseys, Nilda and her sister, and the Smiths all had camp sites. throughout the week we also had another Smith family, the Moores, Lemoines, and Dutrys also join in the fun. Needless to say there were friends for everyone and the kids had a blast!! After spending some time chatting with everyone we headed back to swim at the hotel and head to bed.
Sunday we took the kids down to La Jolla beach to watch the sea lions and walk around a bit. Then we went to Sea Port Village to walk along the pier and see all the ships in the harbor. The whole time the kids were whining they just wanted to go to the beach, so to the beach we headed. The rest of the afternoon we spent relaxing and socializing with all the friends. It was a good day.
Monday the plan was to spend the entire day at the beach. I really had not planned on the kids getting in the water very much on account of it being cold , boy was I wrong. They loved it!!! Skim boarding, playing frisbee and football, digging in the sand, jumping off the cliff, looking for shells....they were in heaven. We had one somewhat minor incident when Jacie got stung by a sting ray. Not so fun. But it was funny listening to everyone else give there 2 cents on how to treat it. The majority thought we needed t0 pee on it, thank goodness no one did before they figured out that only works for jelly fish stings! We soaked her foot in HOT water for quite a bit and it really seemed to help, poor girl. That night we had a huge group BBQ with lots of food. It was another great day!

Tuesday was the big outing day.Half of the group went to Disneyland for the day and the rest of us headed to Sea World. The last time we went to Sea World Braydon was 5, Kiley 3 and Mal was 1 but we didn't bring her. The Dutries and the Ames joined us. It was a WARM day but we had a blast. We caught most of the shows. All the kids sat in the prime soak section and got totally drenched and loved every second of it!! the other big hit was the Journey to Atlantis ride. They all rode it like a dozen times. Malerie was suffering from a sunburn from the day before and she was kind of miserable so her and I were hanging out for a bit and got our own private dolphin show while the trainers were working with them. It was awesome!! After the park we headed to Sea Port village for dinner, I love that place!! We were all pretty tired but we went swimming back at the hotel again!

Wednesday we were heading home but not before getting in a little beach time! After meeting up with our group at the camp sites it was decided that we were going to head to Oceanside beach for the day. It was suppose to be a little less rocky! We grabbed lunch and made ourselves comfortable. It was an absolutely perfect beach day!! It was so hard thinking about heading home. We ended up staying till evening time and then went back to the camp sites. The adults went to a fun restaurant for dinner to celebrate Carl's birthday and the kids hung at the camp and played games etc. When we got back we finally hit the road to go home. It was going to be a long night of driving but totally worth staying the extra few hours!! It was a fabulous trip in every way and hopefully something we will repeat again soon!!! We are so thankful to have so many good friends to do fun things with.

Just for fun we brought along this guy on our trip! Sure made for some funny entertainment!!
Seaworld-Tuesday
BEACH FUN!!!!

the kids dug at this hill for hours and then spent a couple more hours jumping into it and sliding down it with their skim boards. Cheap entertainment.
poor Jacie being treated for her sting ray sting and no we didn't pee on it!!!
Abby, Taylor, Braydon, Kamrie, Kiley, and Jacie
Taylor, Kamrie and Braydon
Dad getting in on the skim board action!!

Ragnar...finally!

2010-04-11T22:42:00.000-07:00

Team For The Run Of It

February 26-27, 2010

I blogged my excitement about signing up and participating in something like this way back in the summer. I started training lets say August or September-ish and did pretty well staying consistent and making progress for a while. Then I would get busy or distracted by other things and slack off. Then I would kick it into gear and get back with it, then I would slack off. You get the idea. Well then the holidays rolled around and it just seemed like I could never get back in a good routine. All these months of working towards a goal, I went through all these different stages. Excitement, anticipation, motivation, fear, frustration, doubt, the closer I got the more nervous I was that I wasn't prepared enough, I was feeling a little stress and anxiety to just get it over with!
When I got back from my sisters trip I really tried to be consistent with my running schedule because I only had 2 weeks left. I was able to get a little training in but definitely not as much as I would have liked!!

It was FINALLY time!!! I totally had fun getting some things together for our team "For the Run of it". With the help of my good friend we designed a pretty cool looking shirt that everyone seemed to really like! The shirts came in handy for our race because they were easy to spot! We could usually find our runner pretty easily! I made some funky headbands, decked the Tahoe out, bought an air horn, some pom poms, charged all the camera batteries, everyone brought enough snacks to feed a third world country (banana anyone??)!! It was go time!

Van #1 was Jessica, Amanda, Katie, Shannon, Alyson, and Mary. We were Van #2 with myself, Alisa, Rachel, Misty, Laree, and Stephanie. We all met up in Prescott early Friday morning. Van #1 started us off. We didn't have to run for a while but we hung around for a bit to cheer on our team and just get the hang of things since we were all rookies at this! The weather was absolutely perfect and everyone was pumped! The first 2 legs were pretty mild but Katie's #3 leg was a doozy not only was it a longer one it had some whopper hills!
If I am remembering correctly it was about 3pm when it was our vans turn to take over and we were up around Hillside somewhere. While our runner was out we would leap frog and offer them water and yell obnoxiously out the window to cheer them on. Alisa definitely had the killer leg in this round. I was exhausted just looking at the hills she was running!! What a woman! I was starting to get real nervous, just one more runner and it was my turn!!

Getting all garbed up!

Passing the band From Misty to me, ahhh! I was so anxious and focused I didn't even realize I hadn't turned my Ipod on for like the first mile!!
this is my running face apparently!! We had so much fun cheering each other on and making our runners laugh as we drove past them, it was very motivating and entertaining, especially on the very last leg when they come driving by windows rolled down, blaring Bust a Move and totally rockin out!!

By the time it was my turn it was getting close to sunset so I had to get all garbed up in 5 pounds of equipment it felt like! I was not loving running with that blasted head lamp cutting into my skull. My run wasn't nearly as bad as I had anticipated. It did get dark about half way through but it wasn't to bad. The worst part was that the entire thing was on a dirt road and all the vehicles are driving past kicking up dust like crazy, it was nasty and I felt so dirty, disgusting when I was done! Our group made pretty good time and finished around 9:30-10 pm. We decided the hotel rooms that one of the girls had booked were just to far of a drive to get there and back in time for our next runs so Misty's in laws graciously agreed to let us shower and crash at their house for a couple hours. We had finished around Wickenberg so it was still a good 30 min drive to their house. By the time we got there and a few of us showered it was late! I think I may have slept 30 min to an hour maybe by the time we got the call that we needed to head out! It's not easy peeling yourself out of bed at 2 in the morning when you just got in it but at least I was clean! It was a mad rush and we were hauling to try and make it to the exchange in time. when we were turning off of Lake Pleasant Pkwy. on to Carefree Highway there were highway patrol and roadblocks set up. We had to pull over and learned from the officer that there was no way to get through to our exchange because a runner had been hit by a car. It was extremely upsetting and unsettling news. After waiting there a while we got word that ALL runners no matter where they were in the race were being routed to exchange 24. So basically we just skipped all 6 of our next runs. The first van was done and headed (the long way) back to the hotel to rest, shower and sleep. Our group headed to the exchange to find out what the new plan was. I can't even imagine what a logistical nightmare that was for them. The school parking lot they had us all meet in was a sea of white 15 passenger vans and tired. dirty runners! The short of it is that they gave everyone the option of calling it quits then or resigning up and starting from that point. We definitely wanted to finish but obviously had to do some major readjusting. We all were now running different legs then what we had planned on.Our new start time wasn't until 7:30 am. So basically we burned over 4 hours not sleeping, not running and really tired! We went to Einsteins got some breakfast and our luckily our second wind!

(I played chauffeur for pretty much the entire weekend, poor girls and Alisa was my copilot!!)

We finished the next 6 legs without incident thank goodness. The last 6 we split up among us and had van 1 meet up with us so Katie could run 1 of them.
The coarse of this race took us from Prescott, down through Wickenberg, up the Carefree Highway into Scottsdale, then Fountain Hills, Mesa and eventually at 4:30 pm finishing at Tempe Market Place. Personally I was so exhausted at that point I cannot even imagine if that horrible, tragic accident hadn't happened we would have still been running till probably 8 or 9pm? Despite the accident and rerouting business and a few other minor details our van had an absolute blast together and cannot wait to do it again!! We laughed our heads off, talked, cheered, danced, rocked out, ran, ran some more, laughed a whole lot more and became really good friends and made some unforgettable memories! I admire these women and their amazing skills and am inspired to work even harder for next time! Seriously one of the funnest (in a very deranged and twisted way)!

Laree!! Love this girl!
Oh the stories, I mean nightmares we could tell about the Ragnar porta potties!!!
I'm not sure why Misty is smiling I was usually a little nauseous coming out of there!!!
Why do I stand next to the tall skinny one???

FINISHED!!!

Sisters ONLY!!

2010-04-11T19:20:00.000-07:00

Like I mentioned before this last minute impromptu trip to Utah with my sisters was maybe a little inconvenient in the timing but the prospect of having my sisters to myself, going on a road trip (which I love!!) and visiting Utah (which I really love!!) was all very appealing and worth the effort!! Aubrey, Carli and Becki left Arizona sometime Friday evening and drove through to Vegas where they got a hotel for the night down the street from where we were staying. Saturday morning about 8 a.m. they swung by to pick me up and we were on our way to Utah. My kids are actually pretty easy and fun to travel with but man it was awesome sitting in the back seat with no responsibilities or kiddos! We chatted and laughed the whole way there. It is only about a 5 hour drive from Vegas but we were sooo excited to surprise Missi that it seemed like it took forever!! To ensure that our surprise was not ruined we told NO ONE that we were coming. When we got to Salem we pulled into Missi's house on the dairy and her car was't there. We were frantically trying to decide what to do to find out where she was and came to the conclusion that we should go ahead and go in the house her kids would be able to tell us where she went and we could go from there. When we walked through the door our nine year old niece was standing there and it took her about 30 seconds to get over the shock of who walked in, she squealed and jumped into our arms lightning fast. The best part was, it turned out Missi was laying down with her youngest daughter down the hall. The 3 of us quietly snuck in her room (she was laying there with her eyes shut and said "you are going to be in big trouble") she thought it was her other kids!! We started singing happy birthday at the top of our lungs, her eyes pop open and she is looking at us with the most stunned, bewildered look on her face and then she was out of the bed jumping up and down hugging us and screaming!! She was so surprised, it was awesome!!!!! After visiting for a bit we talked her husband into letting us kidnap her for the weekend. I thought it was so awesome how he was so supportive and sweet about us surprising her and taking her away with no warning!!!

We made a couple pit stops and headed up the mountain to surprise our parents (our brother Michael who is Missi's twin and his family were staying the weekend at my parents so it was really a 2 for 1!! My mom and dad live up on the mountain in Midway. The roads there are not graded so we have to park in a parking lot and ride a snow mobile in but since they didn't know we were coming we decided to hoof it up the mountain. It was quite hilarious and I'm surprised they didn't hear us coming a mile away from all the screaming and laughing we were doing. I had no jacket on and flip flops walking up the snowy, icy hill in the dark. We were all slipping and sliding all the way, when we got to their door it was open except for the screen so we started singing We Wish You a Merry Christmas. My mom could see us but it was like it didn't register, she just had this blank stare and then said Aubrey is here, my dad is saying NO WAY all the way to the door. They were crying and hugging us in total disbelief it was awesome!!! The element of surprise made the whole trip worth it!! My dad was somehow able to convince our youngest brother Brad (Becki's twin) to change his plans and come up to the cabin. I'm pretty sure he suspected but he was still surprised. He changed all his plans for the weekend and hung out with us. Later we drove around the corner and surprised our Grandma and Grandpa and visited them for a bit. It was an exhausting but perfect day!Sunday was amazing! We all got ready and went to church at our parents ward (which is also my grandparents and aunt and uncles ward). All of my siblings were there except our brother Kory. It was also Fast Sunday so we enjoyed some moving testimonies including my grandpa, and mom. We feasted on a classic Sunday dinner, played games watched movies and just vegged. It was AWESOME!!!

Dad, Mom, Brad, Elisha, Mike,Missi, Carli, Aubrey, Becki

Monday, Brad treated us to a personal tour of Sundance Ski Resort where he works and a round trip ski lift ride. I'm not going to lie I wasn't really excited about the idea at first (I'm not a big fan of the heights!!) but it was sooo awesome. It was a gorgeous (chilly) day and the view was breathtaking. Becki and Carli were so freaked out it kind of took the edge off my own nervousness and we had fun torturing them by making the chair swing!

We then headed into town to have lunch at a fun little Mexican food place and then to the mall to do a little shopping! Part way through our shopping trip Missi and Aubrey left to go pick up Missi's youngest daughter, when they were almost back to the mall they were in a pretty good accident. We got the call and luckily it was close enough to walk to because we now had no car. It was a total blessing that no one in either car was hurt. The Village Inn that was on the corner of where the accident happened was so kind and gracious. They gave us a booth that we could wait in till Missi's husband could come and bring us another car to drive for the time being. They served us pie and hot chocolate and we were able to just relax and talk while we waited. Not exactly what we had on the agenda but thrilled everyone was ok. When we finally made it back up to the cabin we just watched movies till wee hours of the night!Brad, Becki, Me and mom (the others were in a chair behind us)

WHAT, Tuesday already??? Unfortunately time flew but we definitely packed in as much as we possibly could!!! I needed to run a couple quick errands in town so I made a run to one of my most favorite Utah spots, the Provo Bakery!!! YUUMMM! Everyone had chipped in so I think I seriously bought one of everything for us to try. Not exactly on the healthy side but so dang good! It was a pretty low key day. That night we drove down to see Mike and Kelliann's new house and see some of our cousins. We stayed the night at Missi's so we could get an early start home to rescue our husbands. It was so fun to be free for a few days (a week in my case) but we all missed our families dearly! We decided this is something we will definitely do again!!! Great trip, Great memories, I love my sisters!!The Zermot Resort down the street from my parents has the most amazing, breathtaking display of man made ice castles and at night they are illuminated! Simply amazing!!

On the way home we got to St George right at dawn and as we were driving up the hill we had to pullover to take in the view of the gorgeous St George temple!!!

The most wonderful time of the year!!

2010-03-30T17:26:00.000-07:00

Oh ya baby I love the World of Concrete Convention!! It is definitely one of my most favorite times of the year!! While the boys are away the girls get to play!! So on February 3rd Eric and I and Eric & Charlotte Pottle jumped on a plane to Vegas. We got to stay at the new Vdara at the City Center and we loved it!!! Seriously the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in with the most amazing pillows (that by the way you cannot buy anywhere because we actually tried!!!) It is a beautiful, clean hotel with NO casino which equals NO smoke every time you walk through the lobby! Wednesday night we went out for a nice dinner at the Bellagio buffet. YUM! We walked around a bit and had frozen hot chocolates at Serendipity (fun place!!)
Thursday the boys headed over to the convention and Charlotte and I took it easy and then headed to the spa at the Bellagio, which I have officially deemed the happiest place on earth!! Deep Coconut Surrender, there are no words for how heavenly this massage was! We spent some time in the jacuzzi, did a little reading, I sweated off a couple pounds in the steam room and then we headed for an equally as heavenly pedicure! I am thankful for friends who have ruined me by introducing me to the finer things in life. We went to dinner at a reeeally good Brazilian restaurant and of course at way to much. It was a fabulous day!
Friday we had a great breakfast at the Bellagio, the boys went back to the room to work and Charlotte and I went shopping! I'm telling you it was such a torturous trip (wink, wink).
That night we went and saw the newest Cirque Du Soleil show Viva Elvis. We knew it wouldn't be anything like the other ones we have seen but we weren't really sure what to expect, I loved it! The music was fun and it kind of had a little bit of everything and was the perfect finale to this trip!

Our original plan was to fly home Saturday morning but I kind of had a change of plans.
Tuesday before we left my sisters had decided to take a last minute trip to Utah to surprise our sister Missi. Obviously with the short notice I wasn't going to go but it just wasn't sitting well. I felt really strongly that even though the timing was horrible I should really try to go.
It took a little shuffling but we are truly blessed with such good kids and amazing friends, we worked it out! My sister grabbed a few extra things from the my house for me and the 3 of them left Friday evening and stayed in a hotel a couple blocks from ours. They picked me up Saturday morning to drive to Utah. I left poor Eric hanging to fly home with Eric and Charlotte. I hope he knows how much I love and appreciate his support and understanding!! It was a great getaway and we love spending time with the Pottles, great conversation, a lot of laughing and great memories! We are already looking forward to next year!!!

I forgot one.

2010-03-30T17:13:00.000-07:00

The day after Christmas the Perkins clan headed up North to visit G&G Perkins in Pinedale and celebrate Christmas with them. We very much look forward to going up there, relaxing, eating good food, playing games and just relaxing together as a family.With all the Christmas preparation and excitement I did not do a very good job packing or gathering cold weather clothing. I knew it was going to be pretty cold and they had already had quite a bit of snow but I really didn't think the kids would brave the cold very long so I wasn't to worried about it. Boy was I wrong!! They pretty much lived out there! Sledding and played in the snow all day! They would come in soaked, freezing with bright red, rosy cheeks, get warm and do it all again!! Grandma and Grandpa feed us well and put up with all the chaos of kids going in and out and eating them out of house and home and we are so thankful to have such a beautiful place to visit!!

Happy Birthday Keaton

2010-03-30T16:17:00.000-07:00

January 17th
SERIOUSLY!! How can my baby be 7??? I keep telling him I am not letting him get any older but he says he doesn't know how to stop growing!!
This little guy has so many friends it is awesome and I am a sucker for birthdays. This year it was such a last minute thing, it just snuck up so quick. So needless to say I took the not always so cheap but easy and fun way out and had his birthday at Amazing Jakes in Mesa. It is a little boys dream come true. Laser tag, rock climbing, bumper cars, go carts, goofy golf, video games, various other rides and all you can eat!! I think a handful of them had somewhere in the ballpark of 6 ice cream cones each!!! One of the boys said "I know why they call this place Amazing Jakes, it is really amazing!!!!" My friends daughter Carlee made Keaton the most amazing cookie with the cardinals logo on it! The kids loved it!! Thank goodness for my good friends who came and helped me with all these little balls of energy!! As far as party's go it was a huge success! We didn't lose anyone, they had a blast and nobody got sick from all the junk I let them eat!!

Suckers!!

2010-03-30T15:58:00.000-07:00

Back in November our dog Bosco got out of the garage door that was left open by one of the kids. It was hours before we realized he had gotten out and being a beagle he puts his nose to the ground and is oblivious. We looked, asked around, put up posters but we didn't find him.

The kids had been asking for weeks if we could get another dog and we were sticking to our guns on saying NO!! Until Kiley pulled up a picture of a puppy from one of the dog rescue sites. I am such a softy and a sucker for the puppy eyes! I kind of blew it off for a few days and then made the mistake of entertaining it. I told her we could go look. HAHA, what was I thinking, ya right go look! We instantly fell in love. So here we go again with the potty training and obedience training.
So meet DAPHNIE!!
She is part lab and part border collie mix, a total spaz, and a cuddly pup and everyone loves her! We may get this pet thing right yet???

çousins mania

2010-03-30T15:44:00.001-07:00

We all have busy lives and busy families but we have felt very strongly about trying to make a valiant effort to get together as families (both sides Perkins and Wright) as often as we can. Especially for the kids sakes. Some of my best memories as a kid were family get togethers and playing with all our cousins. So we are trying to do our part!

The Friday school got out for Christmas break we hosted a cousin sleepover at our house which also included 2 friends, and 2 adorable little ones we babysit sometimes. So I think we had 18 kids over and 14 stay the night. Obviously I was a little preoccupied and unfortunately didn't get any real good pictures but regardless it was crazy fun!!! We had a dance party, played Wii, pretty much dumped out every toy we own, went in shifts to look at some really spectacular Christmas lights in our neighborhood which is a story in itself. I truly have not laughed that hard in a loooong time, seriously!!!! Saturday morning we made a waffle breakfast and played some more. It was a little exhausting but totally fun!!

Christmas (Finally)

2010-03-30T13:46:00.000-07:00

I am constantly journaling in my head but I haven't quite figured out why I have such a hard time taking the time to actually write it all out. Here it is April in 2 days and I have so much to catch up on. The last few months have literally been a whirlwind of activities!!!

This past Christmas season has been one of my personal favorites. Not for any particular reason. It just seemed that as a family we just had an overall peace and happiness that hadn't been present for a while. We just enjoyed the moment and didn't get as caught up in the commercialism. I was having overwhelming nostalgia, not for the past, but in the present. I felt so strongly that we need to feel that closeness and make lasting memories. Not that we don't already but I just felt more strongly about it.

We enjoyed our usual traditions which included our Christmas Eve feast and Christmas Story movie marathon. I love that the kids love and look forward to this so much. They opened their Christmas PJs, we pigged out on Mexican food and finger foods, downed a couple bottles of sparkling cider, had a fire going and just enjoyed our night! Christmas this year was scaled back in the number of gifts under the tree but it was perfect and our kids are probably still a "little" on the spoiled side!!! We had so much fun watching them exchange gifts and be silly as we took pictures etc. the rest of the day was so mellow. No matter how hard I try I am still exhausted come Christmas day. I pretty much dosed on and off on the couch while they played with their gifts and relaxed. We had a yummy brunch with everything that is not good for you! That night we had a delicious ham dinner with the Perkins side and Aubrey and her kids. It was so good and again the kids just played together while the adults laid around with the glazed over, I just got ran over by a truck look! I do get so sad every year how fast the season comes and goes but it was a good one so I will try to put on a brave face and get excited for a new year to start and hope that it brings much goodness and happiness!!

This picture of Keaton sums him up! He is our baby and still young enough that you would think he would be all over asking for toys for Christmas, but that was not the case!! All he asked for was football stuff and boy did he make a haul! When he unwrapped his football helmet you would have thought he won the lottery! He kept kissing it and staring at it and was beaming ear to ear!!! Even though we missed out on the fun of buying toys it was priceless watching the excitement over his jerseys and receiver gloves and hats and helmet.Max, Keaton, and Myles sporting their Fitzgerald jerseys!!!
I know I post way to many pics but sometimes it is to hard to choose! I love these guys!!

check it out!!!

2010-03-23T14:53:00.000-07:00

Never mind about the fact that I haven't blogged in almost 3 months, (seriously where has the time gone) I have my priorities and right now it is to win a gorgeous piece of bling!!! On my sisters awesome blog she is featuring a giveaway of one of the most fabulous necklaces ever!!! Check it out www.whippycake.com. You know you want one too!!
My hats off to The Pink Chandelier, you have some mad talent girl!!

The Christmas Spirit

2009-12-19T06:08:00.000-08:00

I saw this yesterday on www.lds.org and we loved it. It's to good not to share!
Click on the title to view
The Christmas Spirit

This is a test, this is only a test!

2009-12-19T05:47:00.000-08:00

This is something I sometimes have to be reminded of hourly. We are here for a purpose, to be tested to see how faithful we will be keeping the commandments, serving, learning (sometimes the same lessons repeatedly because we are to dense to get it the first time, or maybe because we have some sick need to make things harder on ourselves then they really need to be!!!) repenting and just a general test of the most amazing gift, our free agency.
All throughout the scriptures are stories of God testing his people. Especially when they had been prosperous because for some reason that causes us to be prideful, lose site of our priorities and harden our hearts to the teachings and example of our Savior.
We are no exemption and unfortunately I think we as a people have gotten pretty ugly. We will be tested, but we have much to be thankful for. We have an understanding of the plan of salvation and why we are here, not everyone is that fortunate. We are not alone. We have family, friends, church members and best of all a Heavenly Father who LOVES us UNCONDITIONALLY. He is there waiting to lift us up, bring peace to our spirits, if we will only be faithful and ask. Each of us will be challenged and tried in different ways, and it will be difficult. But the beautiful thing is NO MATTER WHAT, we have our families, our knowledge and all the promises from our Heavenly Father. They are ours, regardless of how much money is in our savings account, whether we have a job or not, whether we have lost a loved one or are suffering with a terminal illness. How we deal with and overcome our challenges is completely up to us and how we choose to respond! I am so thankful for this knowledge, for my family, I am thankful for friends and the examples they are to us, I am thankful for the lessons I have learned and continue to learn and most of all for my Savior.

To my sisters and family!

2009-12-12T08:04:00.000-08:00

A little preface to my thoughts!

Being the oldest of 8 sometimes had its perks growing up and sometimes it REALLY didn't. I definitely didn't always appreciate being from such a big family but just like they say as you grow older and mature you learn to appreciate your heritage, realize how much you had to be grateful for and appreciate the lessons that come from sometimes difficult things. When we moved from our small Utah town which I had known my whole life to the huge Phoenix area it was truly a culture shock. I really struggled when I would tell people how many brothers and sisters I had and they would react like I was some kind of freak. We had really never thought anything of being from a big family. So me and my insecurities were sometimes embarrassed of my family. I was the oldest and a girl so with that came MANY responsibilities that most kids didn't have a clue about. I had more of a mother role, rather than a sister role and that somewhat affected my relationship with my younger siblings/sisters. I didn't really facilitate or nurture my relationships with them the way I should have. My four younger sisters were a lot closer in age and grew up pretty close friends and have always been a huge support system for each other. There have been times that I have felt a little jealous of their closeness but really didn't make a strong enough effort to do something about it and felt like I was doing ok on my own. as we have all grown and gotten married, started our families and faced personal challenges we have changed.
I feel so blessed to have grown up in such a diverse family. To have learned so many valuable lessons and even for the trials. The last few years have brought some real emotional challenges for all of us and was quite the process of overcoming those. For each of us it has been a different process but we have each worked through our issues and I feel we have truly come out on top, closer and more appreciative of each other. I am most thankful for family members who overlook my imperfections and quarks and love me just the way I am. I have not always been that way and I have learned more Christ like love from them.

I love my sisters, who are my dearest friends. I love how different we all are but how well we compliment each other. I am in awe of their crazy talents and creativity!!!! I am thankful for their examples and the things they have taught me. I love that our kids adore each other and will grow up to be each others friends and support system as well!! I am thankful that our family of 10 has grown by 4 brothers and 2 sisters and I love them dearly as well!!! I am looking forward to the future and all that it has in store for us and I pray that we can continue to grow stronger and closer. I pray that my kids remain as close and as good of friends as they are now forever and for always!!

Much to be thankful for

2009-12-11T21:13:00.000-08:00

I love, love, love the holiday season and most everything about it. I start getting excited in October and it continues right through the New Year until the post holiday blues kick in! We look forward to traditions, being with family, baking, and everything in between. This year I feel more grateful and at peace then I have in years past. We have been really trying to live in the moment and not take the little things for granted. I am most thankful for my family, our health and all the tender merices our Heavenly Father shows us.
It's been a few years since my side of the family has been together for Thanksgiving and we were really hoping to get all of our Utah peeps down here this year. Life kind of got in the way and none of them were able to make it but the rest of us (our family and my other 4 siblings, spouses and kids) still planned to get together for dinner and games at our house and we were all looking forward to it!
Eric and I and a friend of ours signed up to run a 10 mile Turkey Trot Thanksgiving morning. This was our first real race and neither one of us felt like we were totally prepared but we were committed and going for it and truthfully it was kind of exciting. It was fun having something to work towards. We all did pretty good (of course you always wish you did better) but for our first one we were pleased to have done it and finished!!!
After the race, it was race number two trying to finish getting everything ready before everyone got there. It is so nice having kids that are old enough and willing and able to help out! We are a good team!! It was such a relaxing and mellow Thanksgiving and I enjoyed every minute of it. I love that all of our kids love each other so much and enjoy being together! We played some kickball and had a Turkey Hunt and played games and ate a LOT of really good food! I am so thankful to have such an awesome family. I am thankful for the progress we have made as a family and for the trials we have endured that has helped us grow closer and appreciate each other and our diversities. Unfortunately I was a little to mellow and did a stinky job of taking pictures but I love this one we shot of the kids. Shadows, funny faces and all, I love these kiddos!!! We really missed the ones that weren't here but hopefully after Christmas!!

It's no easy task getting 16 kids all looking and smiling at the same time!!
This is as close as we got!!

Fabulous Friday!!

2009-12-11T20:24:00.000-08:00

This week was awesome! Not for any particular reason but many small reasons. Just feeling overall good about life, happy and helpful kids, productivity, energy, the Christmas spirit in the air just to name a few and tonight was a fabulous finish to the week!
A few weeks ago our good friends the Stubbs asked if we and our two oldest kids would be willing to go to the temple and help do baptisms for some family names they were working on and of course we were happy to oblige. I made some serious goofs in the planning stages but we were able to make it work. So tonight The Stubbs, the Dutry's and their son Riley and the four of us headed to the temple. It was so special being there together and being able to participate in such an important ordinance. It was so cool watching Kiley participate for the first time and having her dad be the one to do the baptizing and seeing Riley and Braydon dressed up in their white shirts looking so handsome and being excited about being there. It was awesome!! Definitely something we hope to do again soon!! We walked around for a minute and looked at the lights and finished off the night by going to Cafe Rio, YUUUUM!!!

For the love of socks!!!

2009-12-09T07:16:00.000-08:00

Keaton is the baby of our family, he is the most easy going and happy go lucky guy around. There are only a few things that really get him worked up. One is not being allowed to go outside and play, or being told it's time to come in, he would live outside if he could!! Being hungry, when he is hungry you had better feed him and he seems to ALWAYS be hungry! But the absolute biggest thing that will push him over the edge is his socks!!He has a thing with his socks. There will be 15 pair in his drawer but he won't wear any of them because he doesn't like how they fit. No one else would be able to tell the slightest difference but if you try and put a pair on him you will see the melt down of all melt downs!! How does this happen? I don't get it but I have learned there is really no point of trying to convince him, it ain't happening!!! The socks he will wear are practically brand new and have huge holes in them already and I have to watch to make sure he doesn't wear the same dirty pair for days in a row!! I really need to stock up on the ones he likes to wear but of course I can't remember where I got them. Hopefully his sock issues will be short lived. We still think he is one of the cutest kids around despite being a little obsessive.

Halloween 2009

2009-12-06T15:01:00.000-08:00

Halloween snuck up on us so fast, it didn't even seem possible that October was almost over! I usually go all out making costumes etc. But this year it just didn't happen and it was ok! We have so many costumes that we can recycle, it worked out great! Keaton was pretty intent on being a Cardinals fan and I think we did a pretty good! We did our annual pot luck chili dinner with friends and went trick or treating. It was pretty low key, but we had a great time!

This Picture ought to be good for some serious blackmail when they get older!!

classic Keaton face!!!

The trading of the candy after trick or treating!!! HOLY pile of JUNK!!!

Still Catching up on posts!!!

2009-12-06T14:41:00.000-08:00

Conference was two months ago, I am just a little behind!!
We went on our Semi annual conference camping trip in October. We have gone to Stoneman Lake the last handful of times, but it is a good spot and it accommodates a large number of people pretty well! The weather was a little more pleasant then it had been in April (no snow this time!) The wind was at a minimum, we didn't even have to put up the huge canvas tent. This trip we were missing some of our usual families which is always sad, but we had some newbies! It is always a good time when new people join in on the madness, and the kids always welcome new friends!! Conference was amazing as always, I always look forward to being spiritually fed and uplifted. It is to bad conference is only twice a year. One of my favorite things about our camping trips is watching all of the kids have a blast together! They play and laugh so hard and are such good friends, it is awesome!! We are so thankful for such good friends and the opportunity to do things like this as a family!!!

I guess they are a little tired from playing so hard!!

We did an taco bar for our group dinner Saturday night. I think it was a hit. GOOD food!!

Action Packed and Sleep Deprived!!

2009-11-13T05:55:00.000-08:00

Kiley is in Project I.D.E.A.L. at school (advanced language and reading program). The Jr High students have the opportunity to participate in a unique field trip and I was lucky enough to be chosen as a chaperon. I LOVE being able to do things like this with my kids and was pretty excited about it!!
Thursday Night
We loaded up on a charter bus and pulled out of the school parking lot at around 10pm to head to San Diego, California. The kids were able to talk, listen to Ipods etc till about midnight then the bus lights were turned out and it was QUIET. I really wish I could say I slept but I'm pretty sure that was an illusion, Kiley curled up in a ball and was out (one benefit to being small and young)! We got to the pier at 4 am, and then loaded a 65ft fishing boat for an oceanography experience. It was dark and cold but the kids were wide eyed and bushy tailed. They cast a special fishing net and then pulled it in to see what they caught and surprisingly there was quite a variety of sea life. The guide taught about each creature (very fascinating) except for the Round Sting Rays. They went back in the ocean to prevent any one from being stung, the rest of the creatures went in feel tanks for the kids to watch and touch. They also caught some plankton (spelling?) and were able to look at it under a microscope! We saw a bunch of sea lions, dolphins, and a variety of birds. It was awesome and nobody puked!! When we got back to the pier we piled back on the bus and headed to Denny's for breakfast. I had my doubts of how successful breakfast would be at a restaurant when 45 people walked through the door at the same time. Thankfully I was pleasantly surprised. They definitely have it down to a science. We all had our orders taken, were served, paid and were out of there in a little over an hour, it was so impressive!!! The next stop was the San Diego Zoo, and it was a beautiful, perfect day for it!! I really wish I had, had a pedometer on. We walked and walked and walked. We covered the whole zoo and some parts twice!! Some of the highlights were the polar bears, panda bears, my personal favorite was the orangutans (especially the baby) and the gorillas. The kids were so well behaved and we all just had a great time hanging out together. After the zoo we went back to the pier for dinner. They had a kid friendly buffet dinner on the pier followed by a bon fire on the beach. We got to make smores and listen to shark tales. I can not say enough positive things about the tour company. They were awesome, fun, organized and very efficient.We also LOVED our bus driver, anyone who can flip a U-ey in a charter bus, on a hill in San Diego is my hero! When we got to the hotel that night the adults were dismissed to go to our rooms and were off duty the rest of the night. They gave the kids their room assignments and explained the rules and off they went. As exhausted as we all were you would think we would have been out in five minutes, but NO!! We stayed up till almost midnight talking and the next morning I find out Kiley's room did the same thing!!

Saturday morning we were up early, got ready and loaded on the bus to head to McDonalds for breakfast. After breakfast our first stop was La Jolla beach to look at the seals and then on to Scripps Aquarium. It was so fascinating watching and reading about all the different fish, sea animals, and sea life. Outside was a beautiful man made tide pool with all kinds of creatures to touch and see. It was a beautiful day!! Following the aquarium we rode the bus to Sea Port Village where we sat on the pier and had lunch and even did some quick shopping!! I love that place, good food too!! Our final stop was the U.S.S. Midway, which is totally fascinating and mind boggling! It is a retired air craft carrier and it is huge and magnificent. We were given headsets and were able to have an audio tour of the whole ship. I think my favorite was the flight deck where they had dozens of different air crafts to see and sit in. I have always been so fascinated by this stuff! The kids all seemed to really enjoy the weekend as well. My only complaint was how fast it went and that we didn't have longer to stay at each place!! I really would have thought that we wore the kids out and they would all be crashed out on the way home. That was NOT the case! We played Ocean Idol on the way home, which was stinking hilarious. The kids were split into groups and had to write a song about something they saw or did over the weekend. They were so good and creative! We stopped in Yuma for dinner, we could choose between Panda Express, In and Out or Del Taco, good stuff! We feel so blessed to have our kids attend a school that has such amazing teachers, programs, and an AWESOME principal!

This bear was hilarious!!

While the parents are away the kids will play!!

2009-11-04T09:12:00.001-08:00

First of all I want to preface this post by saying, that as a parent it makes my heart soooo happy to see our girls love each other and be such good friends! (Don't get me wrong they have their occasional disagreements but mostly they are great friends.) I love to check on them at night and find them snuggled up in the same bed together, or watching Kiley helping her sister with her homework or when they have friends over rather than locking each other out they are all laughing and having a blast together!! I hope they stay this close and can depend on each other forever! That is the true parent payday!!!

A few weeks ago Eric and I went out for a quick dinner date and left the kids home together as usual. When we came home everything was as it should be. Later that night, Kiley said mom Mal and I took some pictures with your camera will you upload them for us? I didn't think anything of this, they take silly pictures all the time. When I finally got around to looking at the pictures I just about died laughing. I had got the Halloween costume bins down out of the attic and they had a hay day making up outrageous outfits and just being their silly, obnoxious selves!!!

I have really STUNK at the journal keeping latlely!!

2009-11-04T09:09:00.000-08:00

For the run of it!!

2009-08-24T06:10:00.000-07:00

I had been taught the concept of setting goals as a child but never really GOT it until after Eric and I were married. The man is GOAL oriented and most of the time I really love that about him. I love that our kids are learning it and the importance of always having goals and striving to reach them. I get tickled pink to walk in to our daughters room and see pages of goals and reminders tacked up by her bed! At times it has been so easy for me to set a goal and achieve it and other times not so much but I guess as long as we are always trying it still counts for something!!!
With the kids being back in school, camp being over and me finally feeling more like myself it is time to focus again. I have for sometime wanted to train to run a half marathon or something of the like, and as if to read my mind a friend posted a request for runners for a relay team on her face book. After a couple calls and some research I eagerly agreed to be a member of her team and am sooooo excited to have a goal and a purpose to work toward.
We are going to be running the Ragnar Del Sol Relay, which is a 202 mile race running from Prescott to Mesa. We run as a team each girl running 3 separate legs of the race. It is going to be one LOOOONg, sweaty, exhausting running party!! I will probably be posting updates of my/our progress and FEARS as we go along but I am so looking forward to the process.

Back to School 2009

2009-08-23T01:22:00.000-07:00

Wow!! How did this happen? I am pretty sure we just got out of school like last week and it is already time to start the madness all over again!! This year is another HUGE milestone year for our family. Last year our baby started kindergarten and our oldest graduated from 8th grade. This year our oldest starts HIGH SCHOOL (ahhh!) and seminary.
Keaton is in 1st, Malerie is in 5th, and Kiley in 7th. Dang we are getting old! It does come with it's advantages I guess. The freedom we have now from our kids independence it pretty darn good. They all love school, they are excellent about doing their homework and work really hard to get good grades. They wake up and get ready almost always with no problem with little help from us, and they like to make their own lunches. Not so bad!! This year Keaton gets to come home the same time as the girls which works out really well. They all walk to and from together!!
I've had a harder time sending Braydon to high school then I did sending Keaton to kindergarten. I feel like we are feeding him to the wolves. He has had such a shelterd pleasant life up till now and I am afraid reality it gonna come a knockin real soon! We feel so blessed that he had the opportunity at the beginning of summer to meet an awesome group of kids that he will be in seminary/school. They all hit it off right from the beginning and have hung out all summer long. They are such good kids from amazing families and I truly believe that they will all be a great strength to each other over these next few challenging years! We are so thrilled that he is excited about school and seminary and pray that it lasts!!
Thursday before school started we got a call from the P.I. teacher. She said they had been reviewing the AIMS test scores and Kiley had excelled in all the areas. Based on her score they offered her a place in the advanced language and reading class. She was so excited to get the opportunity and we are so proud of her!!
I am thankful for good schools and good teachers and am looking forward to another good year!!!

Braydon somehow thinks now that he is in high school he is exempt from having to do our annual back to school photo shoot. It kind of worked for him considering he had to be at seminary by 6am! But mark my words I am going to get a picture!!

2009 Peoria Stake Girls Camp

2009-08-14T08:17:00.001-07:00

July 10-14th

I'm not sure where to even start with all my different thoughts on this subject? This was my fourth year as Stake Camp Director and it was very different then my first 3 for many reasons. It was a struggle to get motivated about all the work that was ahead and I had to work a little harder for ideas and inspiration. I was really worried how things would turn out with all the MANY changes that have taken place in our Stake etc. and then at the same time totally comforted, I knew I was doing what I was suppose to and Heavenly Father would have my back!! Regardless of the struggles I have always 100% enjoyed working with and for the girls and other YW leaders in our Stake so it is always WORTH IT!! With the Trek and many other activities that were competeing for our time this year it was easier to simplify and just focus on the important stuff and also I finally did a little better with the delegating!! It is amazing for lack of a better word, the personal growth I have experienced over the past 4 years. I am not the same person I was when I first received this calling. I have learned so much from the girls, other women, my mistakes, my successes, overcoming challenges, from going way out of my comfort zone and so on!!! I am so thankful that each year my testimony and love of my savior grew and continues to grow stronger and stronger.
It was Kiley's first year at camp and I was able to share that with her (sort of). I was so busy with who knows what and she was so busy being a little social butterfly, we barely saw each other. It is a little surreal. My personal memories of camp are so clear, as if they were yesterday so it doesn't seem possible that my first daughter is already here! She loved it and I am so proud of her. She had the best attitude and made sure she had fun no matter who she was with or what she was doing.She made many new friends and hopefully her testimony grew as well. I hope she always cherishes these memories, and I won't be the least bit surprised if she ends up being camp director herself someday!!! I really would have thought that by the time camp was over I would just feel this overwhelming feeling of being done. That was so not the case!! I still love it every bit as much as I did the first year probably even more. Unfortunately it was time to pass the torch. I was released a few weeks after we got back. It was a mix of emotions to say the least. I am thankful and looking forward to the opportunity to serve in my own ward again but am going to miss the blessings of serving as camp director. They aren't getting rid of me that easy though. One way or another I will be back and I will admit when I really think about it the idea of being able to just have fun and enjoy it again is very appealing!! I love, love, love the new camp director that was called she will do an AMAZING job, no doubt about it so that eazes the pain a little! I look forward to many more years at camp and eventually being up there with both our girls. Causing trouble and having a blast!!!

Peoria Stake Trek 2009

2009-08-11T13:56:00.000-07:00

I am really behind and now out of order on my blogging but I can't not blog about what an amazing experience the trek was!

First of all I have to say how thankful I am to belong to a church that goes to GREAT efforts to provide enriching activities for it's youth and how THANKFUL I am to be so blessed to participate in these activities! I am thankful for all the money, time, effort, planning, prayer, and hard work that goes into making these activities successful. I am thankful to our pioneer ancestors and for the extraordinary sacrifices that they made on our behalf. I get so emotional thinking about all of the hardships that they endured and cannot fathom how truly difficult it was. But we have TRULY reaped the rewards of their efforts!!

We were so happy that Braydon turned 14 just days before the Trek and was able to go. More importantly we are so proud of him for willingly choosing to go and going with a positive, and excited attitude. There is no doubt he got everything out of it you could by doing so!!

Eric and I had such an AMAZING experience 4 years ago when we were able to go as a Ma & Pa. We were hoping to have the chance to do it again but understand that others also need the opportunity!! We were asked to be on the back up food committee with our good friends, Dave and Lisa Stubbs, Ryan and Kalyn Taylor, and Trent and Sherri Dutry. We were responsible for cooking for all the adults that were there as support, we figured about 100 people give or take 50!!! As daunting as it was we had a blast. We were up cooking at 5 am and went to bed somewhere around 11pm every night! But when your with friends it's more fun then work! The bonus was we got to sleep in our comfy warm trailers, take showers, mostly wear normal clothes, eat as much as we wanted and not have to walk 16 miles pulling a hand cart! Let me tell you, we fed them good. Steaks and baked potatoes, BBQ chicken, pulled pork sandwiches, REALLY good stuff!!

It is also so fun being up there with so many awesome people and getting to know everyone better outside of our usual Sunday environment. We have an outstanding Stake and new Stake Presidency and we are thankful for that too!!

The Trekkers after being dropped off by the buses at the starting point get assigned their Trek Ma & Pa and family, which is a mixture of boys and girls age 14-18 with a big brother and a big sister per each family (usually a young single adult). The Ma and Pa's introduce themselves in some corny, embarrassing way. Then the families play get to know you games. Braydon was in the Crump family which he was thrilled about because they are one of his friends parents! His older cousin Dallas was the big brother. I'm not really sure how the Crump's got so lucky as to have not one but two Perkins!!! The Ma and Pa's get to do a "shake down" looking for any contraband ie. phones, food, deodorant, makeup etc. Then the real fun begins!! Building the handcarts and loading all the "stuff". This is no small feat getting equipment and belongings for 16 people in one tiny handcart. Once everyone is loaded and lined up they are on their way. They walk for roughly 12-14 miles up and down hills and all over. They don't stop to eat till they get to the first camp which was around 1 or 2 in the morning. It's exhausting. At one point the first night they do what is called "a women pull". When the pioneers were making the trek out west, a lot of the men were pulled away from their families to go help with the war. So they simulate something similar. The boy and men get pulled away from there trek families. They are not allowed to talk or help the women pull or push in any way. Just WATCH. It is heart breaking and empowering at the same time to watch these girls struggle and find the strength to pull these heavy hancarts up this huge hill. I cannot keep from crying anytime I think about it. It is a truly humbling experience. Again I just cannot imagine what it was like for these women to continue on without their husbands and sons at their side For MONTHS! They are my heros. Braydon had a good experience and gained a new appreciation for these girls!

The next morning after they were so rudely woken up at 5am by an Indian invasion. They broke camp and finished the next couple miles to the final camp. Saturday was filled with "team building" games and activities, like hair washing and plowing. We snuck over and watched for a while. It was awesome watching these kids dressed up like pioneers, working together, playing together and STRENGTHENING their testimonies TOGETHER!! There was a hoe down and a fireside to end the day. GOOD times! Sunday was absolutely beautiful. There is nothing like having church in the peace and beauty of nature, the spirit is so strong! It was just an amazing day.
Monday morning when the kids had trekked back out to the top where they had started, we had a BIG bbq lunch waiting for them. They were stinky, dirty, tired, hungry, but had an experience they will hopefully never forget. We can all walk away a little more thankful and appreciative of our ancestors. Thankful for our families and the gospel in our lives! We are looking forward to the next one in four years. Hopefully Braydon, Kiley and Malerie will all be there!!

Trent and Eric-DOUBLE trouble!!

Dave and Lisa did an outstanding job organizing this committee

2 of the best looking pioneers I have EVER seen!!

Braydon, Jade, Michelle, Kamrey, Lincoln, Jaci

Riley and Braydon

One good looking Pioneer family!!

The Crump Family

4th of July- one of my favorite days of the year!!

2009-08-10T14:45:00.000-07:00

Saturday July, 4th

Thank you Missi for getting up so early and getting us a good spot for the parade!! We love going to the parade, for the tradition, the patriotism, being together as a family, wearing red white and blue, throwing POPS, ALL of it!! This is the first year in a while we were there together(siblings). We have usually ended up doing our own thing. The cousins were all so darn cute in their festive red, white, and blue!! As always I would get all choked up any time a group of our Country's Veterans would go by. I made sure everyone around us stood and paid them the respect they have earned and deserve. I am so thankful to live in a country where we have the freedoms we so abundantly enjoy. We have really tried to be more aware and have more gratitude in our hearts for even the little things!! Thank you to all the men and women who contine to serve and sacrafice for each of us!!
It was a good time! A few of us walked around the Freedome Festival until we were to hot and hungry to stand it! The kids and I headed back to Uncle Tadds for a little down time and decided it was a good day to go swimming. So all of them and all of us swam for a couple hours. Then it was time to get ready to go to Missi and Cody's for a BBQ and fireworks!! I love being on their farm despite the SMELL and the FLIES!! I'm really not sure why? Maybe my memories of growing up there, or the freedom of being outside in all that "fresh air"!! Our kids really love it to, all the animals. Especially the baby calfs that slobber ALL over you and this time they had a lamb and a goat! Uncle Cody takes them for tractor rides and lifts the bucket as high as it will go and lets them dive off into the cotton seed! It doesn't get more fun then that!! Our dinner was awesome, Mike ordered like a 6ft sub from Sensuous Sandwhich (one of the best sub places ever!!) and we had all the sides, GOOD stuff!! We got a little rain shower just when we were getting started on fireworks but that didn't stop them!! My brothers, brother in laws and Braydon are like kids in a candy store with lighters and things that blow up and make a lot of noise. They were having a blast with all the fireworks. Not all the kids were big fans but they endured!! We just broke out the glow bracelets and they were happy!! It was a good ending to a great day!! The week flew by way to fast but it was a success in every way. It was the first time in a long while I felt like we were on the mend as a family. Relationships are healing and their is hope for us as a family! We had some good talks and really good memories and I guess if I have to leave, we left on a good note. It was kind of emotional for the first couple hours but I was able to pull it together!! We are very much looking forward to our next visit!!

Braydon skipped the parade to hang out with his older cousins!! I guess he is getting a little old to want to wear matching outfits!!

I fell in love with this cow and her big brown eyes!! If I had somewhere to put her I would have brought her home!! I forgot to mention Keaton watched a calf be born!! I think he thought it was pretty cool, or he might have been traumatized not to sure??

Utah Continued...

2009-08-10T12:51:00.000-07:00

Tuesday June, 30th

Today was kind of a free for all day. The girls snuck away again to do some shopping in one of my favorite places, the Park City outlets. We had so much fun just being together, bumming around the shops. The dads and Braydon went to the movies and all the cousins just had fun being together and playing at the cabin!! After we got back to the cabin and made dinner we all just relaxed and played games. The bigh boys had plans to go long boarding down in the canyon and Braydon had VERY much been looking forward to it. When it was almost time to go one of the boys broke the news to him that they were short a board and he was going to have to stay behind. As his mom I was so bummed for him cause he was the one who had kind of set the plan in motion and I knew how much he was looking forward to it, but I was relieved also because I am a mom and I like my kids whole!

The next morning when we met up for breakfast at the blue cabin my dad broke the news, that they had had an accident long boarding. My bother in law PAul had wrecked pretty bad and went face first in to a bolder. He had a couple pretty BIG gashes that required many stitches and shattered hid nose. He had also taken all the skin off a knee almost to the bone. SOOO not good! They had spent the entire night in the ER. That is a real vacaction killer! But again I was thankful Braydon was safe and sound and I think so was he!!

Wednesday July 1st

My parents, sister and I went down to Salem where we grew up to attend the funeral of my great Unlce (who was more like an uncle). I didn't know this before but at the funeral I learned my cousin Mary who is just a year or so younger was the 100th grandchild and got to be named after great grandma Wright!! They were our neighbors growing up and their kids are our ages. He lost his fight to a brain tumor and he will be dearly missed. I was thankful to have been able to be there and see and support them. Following the funeral we all met up at Jumping Jacks and let the kids play for a few hours!! Then we headed over to Mike and Kelliann's for pizza and drove over to check out their new house!! Then back up the canyon to unwind!!

Thursday July, 2nd

We took all the kids to the Kamas Rec center to go swim. I had no idea they would love it so much. We swim all the time at home so I would think it not that much of a novelty. I think we stayed for about 5 hours!!!! It was the perfect activity for the day, about an hour after we got there a huge storm hit and it was pouring outside. We had a picnic lunch on the fllor in the rec center because it was pouring so hard we couldn't go outside!! I absolutely love watching my kids interact with their younger cousins. They adore them and love entertaining, playing and interacting with them. I appreciate what awesome examples they are to all those little kids and get so excited to watch them all grow up together and be such great friends!!!

After the rec cneter we just relaxed at the cabin. At this point everyone is getting a little worn out!! And of course we played more games!!Kiley jumping off the high dive! ( I missed the picture of Keaton jumping off, he totally was doing flips and everything!!)

The most "PRUNEY" kids ever!!!

Friday July, 3rd

Everyone went to Heritage Park in Salt Lake. This is another one of our favorite places to visit in Utah. I keep thinking my kids will get sick of coming here but thankfully they still LOVE it!! It was a perfect day. The sun was shining, it wasn't to hot and it is a beautiful place!! The kids all did great! No whinning or fighting, everyone stayed together. This is the first time we've been here and everything was open! We rode trains and pony's, made crafts, played on the play gorund and just enjoyed being together! After the park the kids and I headed down to Springville to stay at Uncle Tadds. We can't come to Utah without visiting them. Don't tell the rest of my family but those are their favorite cousins!!(Technically they are my cousins and their second cousins but Porter is just a couple yers older then Braydon). It was late when we got there so we visited for a few and then hit the hay. We had an early morning with the fourth of July the next morning!!Kiley Halley and Malerie A whole lot of cousis!!!

I love this picture with the Salt Lake Valley in the background.
This was one of my favorites. All the baby kids (goats) and baby lambs. That is my dream to live on a bunch of land have a huge garden, goats, sheep and what ever other animals tickle my fancy!!

More Utah

2009-08-10T11:27:00.000-07:00

WARNING really long post, tons of pictures!!!

Sunday June 28th

After church we decided for tradition we would all drive over to Cascade Springs for the day. We grew up going there. It was beautiful!! All the greenery has come back so much since the fire, it's finally looking like we remembered it. The kids just had fun being there together and it's always a good time trying to keep that many little kids from falling or JUMPING in to the springs by accident!! It was the perfect way to spend the day. We wrapped it up by enjoying a nice Sunday dinner back at the cabin and of coarse playing games!!!

Monday June, 29th

Today Missi (my sister) and my mom planned a day of games for the kids. Probably the funnest day of games ever!!! We laughed so hard and I hope it's a day my kids remember for a looong time!! The first game was a "fear factor" relay there were three teams of 3 kids. The first kid on each team had to stick their face in a pan of RED jello and with only their mouth pull out 10 little marble things, when they had all 10 the next kid could go and they had to do the same thing but they had cholcolate pudding, the last kid had a bucket of COLD water. I really didn't think they would do it but they LOVED it and us parents were laughing hysterically!!! Keaton had the jello and he was an animal, when he was done his entire was was bright red!! Braydon and Kiley versed each other with the chocolate pudding, they were really good and flinging the pudding EVERYWHERE, not so much at finding the stones!! Malerie had the bucket of water and she did awesome!! She was totally soaked when she was done!!

I'm not sure what the next game is called but it involved sugar so it was perfect for this crowd. We had 4 teams of 5 people. Every person was given a brown lunch sack with some sort of food item in it. The first person on each team had to open their bag and completely consume the item in their bag then the next person could go and so on!! I think the items were 5 pieces of bubble gum, 3 packs of pop rocks, 5 pixie stixs, a baby bottle with water (they had to drink it), and 3 or 4 of the big marshmallows!! With this group it could be anybody's game?? I loved Dysons face they dumped all five pixie sticks in at once. My cheeks hurt just think about it!! The adults eneded up with the bottles. The girls bit the top of the nipples off, Steve just squoze the bottle as hard as he could. Good times!!!Looking good Steve your policeman friends would be so proud!!WINNERS!!!WINNERS (Braydon was thrilled-sorry bud!!)

THE BEST GAME EVER !!
CRACKER WACKER!!
Pictures could never do this game justice!!
My mom strung a saltine cracker on a piece of thread and tied one to each persons back side! We had to play it by age or it would have been brutal!!
We made a big square in the grass that you had to stay inside of. Each person got a rolled up newspaper and the idea was to wack everyone elses cracker while trying to keep yours from getting "whacked". The little kids just ran in one big circle chasing each other, laughing their heads off! The bigger girls meant business and I think Malerie was the winner. That girl is fast and she can hit!! Keaton may have won out of the little boys, it's all a blur! The best was playing with my mom and sisters. NO MERCY!!! We were beating the tar out of each other and loved every minute of it! It was hard hitting each other and laughing so hard. Carli got the rest of my cracker and won!! The boys were equally as brutal but they hit even harder!! This ones going down as a new famiy favorite though!! Thanks mom!!
We also played the sawdust dig game, a couple relay games, swang on the rope swing and clothes line swings, and played human knot. To much fun for one day!!

After a great dinner and getting kiddos settled, my sisters, mom, Kiley and I snuck out to see the Proposal. Love that movie a sweet ending to an awesoem day!!

Decisions, Decisions

2009-07-23T03:43:00.000-07:00

A few months back I heard a rumor that my grandparents were going to be having a 60th Wedding Anniversary party the end of June. We really had no intentions of going to Utah for the 4th like we usually have, due to girls camp being so close. In every way it just wasn't practical for us to go at this time. As hard as I was trying to be ok with not going it was killing me to miss out on an opportunity for not only my immediate family to be back together in Utah but also all of our extended family, some I haven't seen in waaay to long!! The closer the date got the harder it was becoming to dismiss. I was really determined to have as many of my camp responsibilities under control on the off chance we could make it happen, and I'm not going to lie I was REALLY due for a distraction. The party/reunion was going to be Saturday June 27th so realistically we needed to leave Friday. I think we finally made a decision on TUESDAY that we were going (just the kids and I). Because Eric had just taken off work to go on our Stakes Pioneer Trek and he was taking off again to come to camp. There was just no way he was going to be able to come, BUUMMER! Needless to say it was a little crazy getting ready to go!!

With that many family members in town I was anxious about where we were going to stay and how that would all work out, and of course when that many of my family-siblings, spouses and kids are together it can be a bit much (UNDERSTATEMENT!!) and making plans and following through with them and everyone getting along, and so on and so forth!! So it was excitement mixed with , stress, anxiety and fear that this was a bad idea but I'm always up for a challenge!

Our kids have always been excellent travelers. Usually my biggest issue is Braydon, and Kiley fighting over the front seat (really guys??? I mean seriously) Luckily this time it was minimal. Malerie and Keaton barely made a peep. I had to keep asking are they awake? We were fortunate to get there quickly and safely. It's hard for me to express the actual physical and emotional changes I feel as I drive into the Utah Valley. It's like my spirit says "YES were home!!" What is even funnnier is the kids have never lived there but they almost experience the same thing.
When we got to town we stopped at Mike and Kelliann's to drop Braydon off and say hi. the boys (my brothers, brother in laws and Braydon were going to some crazy air soft gun course and Braydon was so excited he could hardly stand it. He loves hanging with his older "not always wiser uncles"!!! We gave hugs and kisses to their cute little cousins that we don't see often enough and the rest of us headed up the canyon to Great Grandma's cabin in Midway!!

Saturday I was so giddy in anticiaption of being with all my family again!! I miss the good ol days when we would all gather for Sunday dinners and holidays at grandmas and play games and just have a good time together. The receptin was nice and we got to see a lot of old friends from when we lived here. It was amazing to see how much people have changed and not changed!! The best part was following the reception when it was cousins, aunts, and uncles up the wazoo! Playing games, eating and just catching up!! There is NOTHING better or more important in this world then family!!!
After the party all of my siblings and nieces and nephews went over to the Zermot Resort to watch the play Sound of Music that our dad was playing in. It was so fun sitting on the hillside on blankets with all of our family, under the star in the gorgeous mountains (except it got cold real fast!!) It was a GOOD day!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAL MAL!! (2 weeks ago!!)

2009-07-22T08:50:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Maleries 10th birthday July 6th, I'm just a wee bit behind on my posts, so sorry lovey!! Every year poor Maleries birthday has to contend with either our annual Utah trip or girls camp or sometimes both!!
We want you to know how much we LOVE and ADORE you. You keep the Perkins home full of life and entertained with your dancing, funny faces, jokes and sweet spirit (and sometimes theat spitfire attitude that we love so much). I cannot imagine life without you!! I hope some day Heavenly Father will let me in on his little secret of why I got so lucky to have such awesome kids. I love when we have our little mom and daughter dates and look forward to many, many more!! We are so proud of the young woman you are maturing into and are thankful for your example. Don't ever forget who you are and that you ARE loved, Love you long time!!

Happy Birthday Braydon!!!

2009-06-08T21:58:00.000-07:00

It really seems like you just had a birthday and therefore I am rejecting the reality that we are celebrating yet another!!! In a lot of ways I am so excited for you to grow up and in others it makes me so sad!! You are growing and maturing into an amazing young man and I feel so blessed to be your mom. Hope you have a great birthday and know that we love you!!!

The CUTEST little metal mouth ever!!

2009-06-08T21:22:00.001-07:00

Malerie is an over achiever! She has been going to the Orthodontist for a little over a year in preparation for getting her braces. The Dr had said she would most likely be ready between the age of 11 to 12. She was very obedient about wearing her head gear every night. She lost all of her teeth that she was suppose to loose in record breaking time and on her last check up the Dr. said she was ready to go! You would have thought she won the lottery or something, she was so excited to get her braces on and get on with it!!
On May 26th she had her first appointment to get her top braces on and she is an excellent patient. I was pleasantly surprised that she had no problems adjusting to them. So farshe has been totally compliant with the do's and don'ts of what you can or can't eat with braces, hopefully that will last!
In another month or so she gets the bottom braces and the plan is to be done in 18 months!
We think you are absolutely adorable Mal!! I can't believe how much older it makes you look!!

Happy Birthday P daddy!!

2009-05-31T17:16:00.000-07:00

I'm so sorry to remind you but you are getting old. It may be time for me to start looking for your replacement before you start malfunctioning and breaking down!! JK!
We hope you know how much we love and adore you! I lucked out in the hubby department, I found the best dad ever for our kids and that is not even debatable, you have the patience of a saint, your full of life and wisdom, hard working, goal oriented and I don't think I will ever feel worthy to be your wife! I know how much our kids love and adore you now, but I cannot wait till they are older and fully appreciate what an amazing father they have. The things you have taught them, the time you take teaching, helping with homework, encouraging them to be the best that they can be, and best of all just goofing around. You are truly one of a kind. HAPPY BIRTHDAY.Hugs and kisses from your people, and if your really lucky maybe even a back rub later....
I so bad wanted to put your cruise picture on here (ya, you know the one but I refrained out of love!!!)

I love this picture!!

It's a done deal! (and a bunch of other post action below!)

2009-05-22T12:17:00.000-07:00

Another year bites the dust!! and it was a doozy!! We had awesome teachers this year and though we are sad about moving on and leaving them behind it looks like next year should be another great year with teachers. The last day of school is always a fun one with early release. This year we had a bunch of friends over for pizza, watermelon, and swimming! Braydon was at a friends and had a graduation party in the afternoon. Kiley, Malerie and Keaton had friends stay the night. We swam some more, danced, and just goofed around. We did nachos and Italian sodas for dinner, YUM!! Keaton, Jace and I slipped out for a few to go to basketball practice. It was a fun day and we are very much looking forward to a busy and fun summer! The trek, girls camp, 2 reunions, summer movies, and a ton of swimming are just some of the things we have to look forward to!

Just for giggles!
First day of school- August 2008
Last day- May 2009

He did it!! 1 down 3 to go....

2009-05-22T11:52:00.000-07:00

Our oldest is moving on to high school and we can't believe it!! Their 8th grade graduation was perfect, and again with the bittersweet thing! Braydon started at Oakwood in first grade and had been with almost all the same kids all the way through. There are some extraordinary kids and families, and teachers and administrators at this school and it is sad to say good bye as many are going in different directions.

We are so excited about the future and especially about the opportunity to attend Centennial! I definitely don't feel old enought to have a highschooler, I can still remember my highschool days like they were yesterday! We are so proud of you Braydon and have high hopes that your high school years will be fun, successful and full of awesome memories!Mrs. Whitaker was one of Braydons favorite teachers!!Braydon and Mr. Bower

Graduation, Pancakes & PJs, and Water Day.

2009-05-22T10:26:00.000-07:00

Keaton had a busy few days at school. His graduation was so cute, they sang fun songs, they all had speaking parts, followed by an darling slide show. It's amazing to see how much they have changed over the school year, and the progress they have made! The next morning was pancakes and pajamas. All the kindergartners came to school in PJs and we made a yummy pancake breakfast for them! Tuesday was water day!! There were 80 or so little kids rotating between 6 or 7 different stations. Then we had hot dogs, chips and cookies. They had a blast!! It is so sad to think that this is our last time ever having a kindergartner. It's one of those things having four kids that you never think is actually going to come and before you know it, they have all grown up. No more little babies here!!! I am so proud of Keaton. He was an awesome student and friend and grew and developed into a young man this year. It is truly bitter sweet watching him grow up. I did so good sending him to school this year, I hadn't shed a single tear but over the last week I have continually been choked up and had to fight back the tears. The last day was particualarly difficult. Mrs Guida is a one of a kind, extraordinary teacher. Keaton and I truly adore her and she loves them. It was so hard giving her a hug and leaving. Luckily we will still get to see her on campus and will always keep in touch. Thanks for an awesome year!!! First grade here we come!

Keaton & Laura
We love you Mrs. Guida
and YaiYai
Chris, Joshua, Jake, Quinton, Jacob, and Keaton
Keaton & JillMyles & Keaton
What a good looking Kid!!

Keaton "wheels" Perkins

2009-05-22T09:54:00.000-07:00

Keaton's t-ball team got to play their last game at the Peoria Sports complex last Saturday. He was thrilled to play in the big stadium, and they put each players name up on the jumbo tron! I could watch you play all day, you LOVE it and are 110% in all the time! The best is when you play the pitcher position and Jake plays first, you two are the dynamic duo. You catch or stop the ball and fire it to Jake. If they actually counted the outs, the other teams wouldn't have a prayer. I also love your batting stance! You bat lefty but throw right and it's all business! The coach's are in awe of how fast you run and so are we! It has been fun for you having all your buddies on the same team and we look forward of years of watching you boys play together. Next we are on to basketball!Jace, Luke and Keaton

Mason,Luke, Keaton, Jake, and JaceCoach Chuck and Keaton

Busy doesn't even begin to cover it!!

2009-05-17T23:34:00.000-07:00

I can always be found complaining about how hectic life is. You know the drill 4 kids, a part time job, a busy church calling and everything in between! The last couple weeks have been something else! It's been so crazy that instead of putting everything in to my calendar in my phone like usual, I printed a hard copy calendar to list everything out on so I can keep it straight!. For the most part it has all been the fun end of the year stuff but man I am worn out!!!

Just a quick recap of the recent activities in addition to the below posts.
A bunch of baseball games, usually 2 a week and 2 on Saturday's.
A funeral, that was heart breaking but a beautiful service.
A day trip up to Pine to check out girls camp followed by the Fathers and Sons camp out.
Malerie had a party to go to so it was Kiley and I and 5 of her friends while the boys were gone, what a party!!

SUNDAY
My darling niece's baby blessing, a family lunch and mothers day.
I was suppose to work but got put on call.

MONDAY
Keaton's Buddy picnic at the park, followed by delivering dance invitations to 8th graders
I was suppose to work but got put on call again!!
So I had a nice dinner with my hubby ( with everything else date night has been much neglected!)

TUESDAY
gym
some errands
baseball game
t-ball practice

WEDNESDAY
gym
can't remember what happened in between!!
Camp kick off
Went to a movie with a good friend!

THURSDAY
Kileys dance performance at school
Gym
a nice lunch with my mom
My baby graduated from kindergarten!!

FRIDAY
Pancakes and pajama with the kindergartners, we made probably 80 or more pancakes!
A solar BBQ with the 4th graders, followed by decorating for the 8th grade promotion dance. It turned out so pretty. I ran home dropped both the girls off for parties, took Keaton to a friends and headed back to the school for the slide show presentation. From there Eric and I ran to a Trek planning BBQ/meeting where I was almost falling asleep sitting up!!
SATURDAY
2 ball games-really good ones I might say!!
ran and got some groceries
Headed to a beautiful wedding!
Just four more days of this madness and it is on to some much needed R&R hopefully!

SURPRISE!!

2009-05-17T22:31:00.000-07:00

We haven't done the birthday party thing in a while, so I decided with Kiley turning 12 it would be a good time for a party. She had been asking if she could have one and I told her to make a list of people and ideas and we would discuss it.I have never done a surprise party so I thought I would give it a shot, thankfully she wasn't very persistent. I did up invitations and on a day I knew I was taking her out early I gave them to a friend of hers to pass out. I really had no idea if it could be pulled off, really how well can you trust 20+ 12 year olds to keep a secret and Kiley is WAY to intuitive for her own good!
We had the party at her friend Sophia's who has the perfect back yard for parties. Sophia had asked Kiley if she could come over on that Saturday and hang out for a while and maybe swim. I was trying to make her less suspicious by saying we would have to see, We just got back the night before from Outdoor ED and you may be to tired, it worked like a charm.
Saturday morning we went to the boys games, and I ran and did the last minute stuff to get ready and headed over to help set up and greet the kids. Eric dropped Kiley off at Sophia's and she walked her in to a huge, loud SURPRISE! The look on her face was priceless.

It was a great party! Swimming, playing volleyball, jumping on the tramp and playing games. After most of the kids left a few of them hung out and swam another 2 hours!!
Campbell and Sophia came home with us to stay the night and go to church with us. When we got home I told the girls to shower, I had another surprise! The girls and I went and saw 17 Again. I'm not sure if I was just to over tired or what but I didn't love it all that much and it probably wasn't to appropriate for the girls. They did have fun though and poor Mal crashed out in her seat! What an action packed, fun filled week! Now I need a LOONG nap!

WAITING

Off Again

2009-05-17T21:30:00.000-07:00

We got home from the Grand Canyon late Saturday night. Got up Sunday, went to church, rounded up the kids and by that afternoon we were WHIPED OUT. Needless to say early to bed that night. I had two days to get my act together so I could turn around and leave again with Kiley for 6th Grade Outdoor ED wahooo!
Wednesday morning we loaded charter buses with somewhere around 80 students, maybe 12 chaperon's and the teachers and headed up the hill to Out of Africa in Camp Verde. This is where we were assigned our groups, and I lucked out and got a pretty fun group of 7 girls including Kiley! It was a warm day but we had a great time. Kiley and I hadn't been there before so it was a new experience. I was impressed with the variety of animals. We loved watching the 2 grizzlies running, playing and entertaining everyone and the tiger splash show was awesome! The guys that get in there and play with those tigers have got to have some wicked scars from those big cats! Right before we left we did what they call the predator feed where basically you follow the feed truck around the park while they throw whole turkeys and huge chunks of meat over the fence to all the animals, it was way cool. Around 4pm we loaded up and headed to Prescott to the Prescott Pines Camp. The camp was much better then I had anticipated, the girls had a large dorm and the guys were in another. It was a beautiful and peaceful camp. To say we were WELL fed would be an understatement. In addition to 3 very good meals a day, they provided snacks and drinks 3 times a day. The activities, games, and classes were well organized, fun and VERY entertaining. The first night my group cleaned house. They beat the boys in pictionary, Fear Factor (by a mile),& the dice game. The moms played a violent game of basketball against the kids, not to sure who won though? And later it was Mrs. Aponte, Mrs. Torres, Adam and I against about 12 Kids! The funnest night was the last night, Skit night! It involved, chubby bunny, chubby Chihuahua (I think I tied with Kody on this one, I had maybe 16 peppers in my mouth and Mrs. Slavick made sure they were the biggest ones in tha jar), skits, entertainment by the teachers, & some dancing. After the skits the parents were escorted up to the dinning area where we were given a bunch of pies and told to enjoy ourselvesfor an hour or so, NO PROBLEM.10 adults, over tired with 6 pies, I think it was a whole 10 minutes maybe before I was wearing half a chocolate cream pie (thanks Adam)! We decided it would be funny to hide all the kids snacks and drinks. One of the dads picked a closet lock and we proceeded to drag all the coolers and snacks in there. When the kids were lining up to come up for the nightly snack we hid behind the building so we could see their faces through the window. WE were laughing so hard I thought for sure we would be busted! The nurse was the first one in th room, and the look on her face was priceless. Then a couple more teacers came in and then all the kids! It was so dang funny!
After the kids got their snack it was back to the cabins to get cleaned up, when the girls were finally getting wound down and in bed we heard blood curdling screams coming from their rooms, they said something was knocking and scratching on their windows. I honestly didn't believe them and then I heard it myself. I was alomost positive it was the boys so I took off out a side door to go chase them down and scare them but I couldn't find anybody! A little bit later it happened again, and again I bolted out the door to catch them in the act and guess what I found 5 or 6 of the teachers pinned up against the back of the building with sticks and big spiders! BUSTED!!! The girls didn't even believe us when we told them!

It took a while to get the girls calmed down and back to sleep, and then it was game on. We were running around in the woods till about 1:30 in the morning. We got the boys cabin, the teachers got us once again by hiding under a bridge, they said they waited about 20 minutes for us!! The dads tried to scare us but we caught them first and then all of us got the teachers! It was a good time! The kids, parents and teachers had a great experience and memories that they will never forget! I'm so thankful our kids attend a school that supports these kinds of activities and that we are blessed with such amazing teachers!Kiley and Maddi Kiley and Jaclin

Hike to the Mine
Team Building Games
Skit Night
Chubby Chihuahua, singing the abc's or Star Spanlged Banner with a mouth full of peppers. Very Attractive!!
Shaving Cream Hair dos!
Choloate Pie and Shaving cream!!

Trouble Makers
GOOD TIMES!

Down and Out

2009-05-17T19:26:00.000-07:00

Well, we did it again. On April 24th , Elisha and I along with Darin and Carey, Russell and Jen, Ryan and Kalyn, and Nilda did the annual "down and out in one day" trip to the Grand Canyon. We started out leaving town Friday afternoon, stopping in Flagstaff for a less than appetizing meal from Red Lobster and then continuing on to Tusayan, arriving there about 10:00 at night. A few of the women (and Russell) stayed in a hotel that night while the rest of us braved the outdoors, a couple in a tent (Elisha and I), a couple in a car (Ryan and Kalyn), and one on a matress under the stars (Darin). The night before any adventure (hunt, hike or any other anticipated event) is usually not one filled with sleep. The excitement or anticipation usually keeps me up for most of the night which means the next day is a little exausting. Fully expecting that to be the case this time, I was pleasently surprised when we awoke at five the next morning, having had a restful night sleep. After quickly packing up our gear, we met up with the others at the hotel where we made breakfast, used the bathrooms, and headed for the park. We hit the trail at about seven am, pausing at the top for group photos. We headed down the South Kiabab Trail which took us about three hours. It was a little windy at times, but the weather was cool and overcast. We crossed the bridge and refilled our water bottles and then started to head back up. We came out on the Bright Angle Trail, stopping for lunch about a mile up the trail from the river. Not sure of the name of the place where we ate lunch (I'm going to call it the SWTSHHO, "spot where the squirl huggers hang out"--some people are just idiots.) but we spent about an hour there eating lunch and soaking our feet in the stream. We hit the trail again and headed for Indian Gardens. After resting there for about thirty minutes, we decided it was time to tackle the switch backs and head for the top. My times could be a little messed up, but I believe we climbed out at about three pm and then headed for the showers! We all stayed together and everyone did well (talking about the hike, not the showers, although we had a good time in the showers as well!). After everyone was cleaned up, we finished our adventure by having dinner together at the Yippie Ky Ya Steak House and then headed for home. It was a busy and enjoyable day, having a good time with family and friends. It's time to make preparations to do it again!!

On the shuttle heading to the trail head. I thought it was funny that quite a few of the same people were on with us coming and going.
Ryan & Kalyn, Jen & Russ, Darin & Carey, Elisha & Eric, & Nilda on the top of South Kaibab Trail.
Before
At the Colorado
After: at the top of Bright Angel Trail. The same guy that took our photo going down took our picture coming out.

bye bye duckies!

2009-05-06T08:37:00.000-07:00

The plan with the ducks was to raise them till they were big enough to survive and then turn them loose where there was a pond. Truth be told I couldn't handle the mess and even more the noise. We had made a little pen to keep them in one area of the yard where we could more easily clean up after them etc but those little boogers figured out how to get out constantly then they would come and cry at the back door (they wanted their momma!) Needless to say it was not conducive to sleeping after a long shift! We were able to convince Malerie that it was time to let them go. I took Mal, Kiley and Keaton to the park Saturday before Easter to let them go. It was harder then I thought to leave them there. I wasn't positive that they would be able to get in and out of the water and find enough food and that the bigger ducks would not pick on them. Malerie did surprisingly better then I had thought with it. We hung out and watched them for a while, but when we started walking away they followed chirping so loud after her! It was really sad.
I couldn't stop thinking about them so about a week later I took Keat and Mal back to check on them, not really sure if they would still be there. We started at one end of the park and walked all the way to the other where the water ended and of course we didn't see them. I was giving the kids all kinds of reasons why we didn't find them as we started back to the car I looked over and 2 little boys were sitting on big rocks in the water as they moved I could see the ducks!! The kids flipped, they were so excited. Mal hopped over and grabbed them and I am pretty sure they recogniized her! After playing with them for a bit we put them back in the water and they swam back to their rock. It was comforting to see that they were ok.
We've visited them a few more times and I can't believe how big they are now! They can almost fly and they have free range now. What a relief!

Happy Birthday Kiley!

2009-05-06T07:57:00.000-07:00

UNBELIEVABLE! You are 12! You are a young women and it is really exciting and a lot scary for your parents! There are so many exciting things ahead of you and you are maturing and growing up so dang fast! (Knock it off will you!) You have always been such a level headed, and most of the time easy going girl and we are praying you stay that way. You make friends every where you go and are a good example to everyone around you including me and I so appreciate it! We hope you have a special day and are excited about going into YW! You will be a great addition to the program.We love you tons, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

v Sorry no embarrassing baby pictures! I'll work on that!
P.S. we love your beautiful and contagious smile!

Continuing the Challenge

2009-05-05T07:53:00.000-07:00

Following in the footsteps of my sweet Bro. In Law, I offer the following:

The first 5 people to respond to this post will get something made by me.

I will get it done this year.

I will make it for just you, but offer no guarantees as to the amount of enjoyment you will get out of whatever I make.

I hope you like it anyway.

AND...you have to do the same post on your blog for others. Honor system.

Silver Bracket First place winners!!!

2009-04-27T14:48:00.000-07:00

Kiley had volleyball regionals last Saturday. They played a total of 8 matches (3 sets in a match!)
The girls really played as a team and made good passes and good serves and most of all I think they had a really good time. We left the house about 6:45 am and got home at 5:30 pm so it was a looong day. Malerie and I were more tired then Kiley when it was all over, I think maybe the adrenaline and stress from watching!! It was a great season, but were glad it's over. One less
thing to shuffle off to!

A little celebratory ice cream!!

Ball, Ball and more Ball

2009-04-27T14:23:00.000-07:00

Braydon made the school softball team again this year! Our school has an amazing coach that the boys just love and he has made it a positive experience. The team is a really good, fun group of boys and they all get along great and play well as a team. I love it because practices are right after school, he just jumps the fence when he's done. There is only one game a week and it's early. I love the school support and spirit, it's been a really good experience for him. Not to mention he just looks so good looking in a uniform!

He also wanted to try out and play Majors this year with the league. He made the Cardinals team and again lucked out in the coach department. The last 3 weeks of softball he has had double practices, a few double games and ball everyday of the week! I am exhausted driving and being gone all the time, I can only imagine how tired he is, but he doesn't seem to mind!

The Oakwood Softball team took first place on Wednesday (I think in the District?) and so that's one less thing for us to shuffle! Way to go boys!!

Semi annual Conference camping trip

2009-04-27T13:26:00.000-07:00

We look forward to this trip every Fall/Spring. Its an opportunity for us to take a break from the daily grind, be together as a family with our closest friends in nature and listen to our beloved Prophet and other church leaders feed us and uplift us spiritually. Every trip is a new adventure as far as weather, new friends joining us, locations but the one constant is we always have an awesome time!!

This year we went back to our favorite Stoneman Lake spot. We got there Friday afternoon and it was WINDY and FREEZING!!! After we set up and started getting dinner ready it started snowing, and it was so windy we couldn't have a big fire. So early to bed for everyone, praying for better weather for Saturday.

I love watching all of our kids pal around, being silly and having a great time together. I look forward to them being friends for a long time and sharing MANY fun memories together. Saturday the boys had a great game of stick ("log") ball going it was pretty entertaining. That afternoon after conference we did some serious skeet shooting, I would have given anything for a video camera to record the most talented and graceful throwing talents of Eric!! Sunday Eric took the kids to the big meadow across the road and had almost all of the kids playing a killer game of stick ball. As always the weekend flies by way to fast and its time to clean up and go home, UUGHH! Which means LOADS of laundry, putting everything away and cleaning the trailer but it's still worth it!

We did our usual card games, ate lots of good food including our big group dinner and dessert Saturday night.

I love you long time!!

2009-04-23T09:23:00.000-07:00

A month ago today (March 23rd) we celebrated our 13th anniversary! Lucky thirteen! So I just want to give a shout out to the man I get to spend the rest of my life with. I LOVE YOU long time!! There is no doubt, I definitely got the better end of the deal. A hard worker, EXCEPTIONAL father that has the patience of a saint thank goodness, motivated (not bad looking either) icoud go on and on but I will spare you the public humiliation! I'm looking forward to the years ahead, with you and our family.

Sucker!!

2009-04-23T08:48:00.000-07:00

WAAAY back in March, Malerie had been playing at her friends house who had happened to have just gotten two baby ducklings. Of course these little girls were completely smitten with these cute little babies! After I picked Mal up it's all I heard about along with her begging and pleading for her own ducklings. I yold her absolutely NOT! They are not "pets" they are messy, and so on. She was relentless! Knowing that there was no way on earth Eric would ever say yes to such a ludicrous idea I deferred her to her dad to put an end to it! Later that night MAlerie said in her cutest most innocent voice ever I need to ask you something, she dragged him down to his office made him shut the door so her nosey older siblings couldn't hear and then she typed the question on his phone!! A few minutes later she comes blazing up the stairs, "dad said YES!!!!" He WHAT?? He said yes. Eric comes up the stairs next with a sheepish grin on his face, "why say no, when you can say yes"! Why on earth would you agree to ducks?

It being Spring Break and all the next day I packed 5 kids to the feed store (Kiley, Malerie, Keaton, Sophia and Cambell). It's always an adventure at Pratts. We checked out all the animals and the kids took their time watching all the ducks and picking out which 2 they wanted. Next to the pen of ducks and chicks was bunnies. "Why say no when you can say yes" so we picked us up one of those also!! The kids could not wait to get them home and play with them, and I have to admit they are pretty cute. The best was watching Malerie mother these baby ducks. They followed the kids every where they went as fast as their little webbed feet would take them!

PLEASE vote!!

2009-04-22T08:54:00.000-07:00

Officer Bill Weigt is a good friend of mine from high school. Back in 2005 he was shot when responding to a robbery call and is now paralyzed from the waist down. Bill now works as a detective for Peoria in the robbery department I believe? He was nominated for the Americas Most Wanted All Star award!! Please go to www.AMW.com and vote for him! You can vote every day until May 4th and it is really easy (you don't have to register or anything!). It would be so cool to see him win. Im sure all the officers that have been nominated are equally as deserving but we have to support our home town heroes!!

Let it Rain, Let it Pour!

2009-04-11T09:44:00.000-07:00

I thoroughly enjoy watching my kids play sports. Today was going to be a busy game filled day, but thanks to the pouring rain we get to enjoy a chill, kick back day at home together which is alright with me!! Comfy clothes, comfort food, coloring some Easter eggs and watching movies! It doesn't get better than that and bonus we get some MUCH needed rain!!

Happy Easter

The Life of a Volleyball Player

2009-04-01T06:28:00.000-07:00

Kiley has had the opportunity to play Club Volleyball this year and it has been quite an experience. All good of course! MY favorite part has been seeing her tiny little heiney in her loose xxs spandex. She is a little vertically challenged but she makes up for it in spirit. Kiley has had a great time learning the game, making new friends,being a part of a team (the kids got spirit). It has been great as a parent to watch her cheer her team mates on and offer words of encouragement and just have over all good sportmanship! They don't forwarn you of the daunting task of being a volleyball mom. Double practices a week, ALL DAY tournaments all over creation leaving before the crack of dawn, food patrol for the tournaments and thelist goes on, BUT surprisingly I have enjoyed it as mmuch as she has!I am one of those parents who is a big believer in the idea that at this age and this level sports should be fun, and a learning experience (It is NOT the Olympics for Pete's Sake) but I would be lying if I denied getting a little intense watching their matches. I'm sure my blood pressure totally goes up a few points!! A little competition is healthy right, and I have yet to be thrown out for being disorderly! jk
I am thankful she has had this experience and has enjoyed it so much and look forward to many more years of watching my kiddos play sports!

Vegas Baby!!

2009-04-01T03:26:00.001-07:00

February 4th 2009

Eric and I have not been to Vegas since I was VERY pregnant with Kiley, so when we were invited to go with our good friends I got pretty excited! A weekend away with my man and NO kids, sign me up!! The Pottles booked us a couple of rooms at The Venetian (very nice),
after checking in we met up with them and headed to a Brazilian restaurant down the strip. It was fantastic and we ate way to much but it's all good cause Im pretty sure we walked it off! Personally not a huge fan of the strip itself, something about drunk, crazy people everywhere just doesn't do anything for me! The next morning the guys headed out early for the WORLD OF CONCRETE. Charlotte and I were sooo disappointed to miss it but unfortunately we had appointments at the Spa that we could not get out of. I can honestly say that I have been ruined for life, there is no going back after being pampered like that. (THANKS a lot Charlotte!!) We had hot rock massages and I was thinking for a while somehow I died and went to heaven at some point laying on that massage table. It was 80 minutes of pure bliss.

Then we had a little bite to eat and it. Charlotte had another service scheduled so I headed in to enjoy the steam room, spa etc and just RELAX! Then we met up again for pedicures. It was tough leaving but we were really getting hungry so in our sexy little foam flip flops, and no make up we walked around the shops at the Venetian found some really yummy food and just enjoyed talking in a state of total relaxation and BLISS. Later on that evening after cleaning up the four of us went to Maggianos and stuffed our faces. The food was so stinking good we didn't even care how many obscene calories we consumed. Then it was off to see Cirque Du Solei's KA. Front row seats, talk about royal treatment. The show was amazing, I don't know what else to even say about it. The acrobatics, the special effects, the costumes and makeup, the music was unlike anything we (Eric and I) had seen. It was an AWESOME day.

Friday after a nice breakfast together, the guys headed back to the World of Concrete for a few hours while Charlotte and I hit the shops. It was so nice to be able to just hang out and talk with no distractions, quality girl talk! That evening we grabbed some dinner and headed over to the Bellagio for another show. After the first Cirque du Solei show, we were even more excited to see O and we were NOT disappointed.
It is definitely my favorite and I cannot wait to bring the kids back to see it, they will flip!! The water effects were phenomenol!The four of us got some Gellato and had a good time chatting and laughing before we headed back to crash. It was such a fun filled weekend and we were so thankful for the opportunity to go with good friends.

Survival Mode

2009-04-01T03:14:00.000-07:00

To say it's been a while since I blogged may be a wee bit of an understatement! I have truly been in survival mode for months now, tired, unmotivated and unexcited about life. Thankfully I have FINALLY decided enough is enough. I am to feisty and stubborn to be held down for long, so I am back and it feels pretty darn good!! The crappy part is I have a lot of catching up to do on the blog, it's been a BUSY couple of months and promises only to get more busy in the next couple.

WARNING: An obscene amount of make up blogging to follow!!!

Happy Birthday to our baby!!

2009-01-16T21:32:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Teat!!

You CAN"T be 6 already? Where has the time gone? Yesterday you were a chubby, happy baby and now you are an independent, fun loving big guy! I hope that you know how much you are loved. I have enjoyed being your mom more than anything else I have or ever could do in my life. You have the most pure and loyal heart (I'm glad you got that from your dad among other things!) and are loved by all who are blessed to know you!
At 6 you are a great little student, you soak up everything you are taught. You make friends everywhere you go and they love you because you are kind and patient, and most of the time a peacemaker! I love your passion for sports and your healthy competitiveness!! I can never get enough of watching you and dad wrestle every night ( no one will ever call you a wimp!) You are a Wii junky, as well as Lego Star Wars and Indiana Jones. We love your imagination and how observant you are (nothing gets past you). You have a sensitive side and the ladies love it!! I have no doubt you are destined for amazing stuff.. We will have fun celebrating you today. Happy Birthday and remember.....
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living my baby you'll be!

Random thoughts, feelings and mumblings.

2009-01-12T07:26:00.000-08:00

I am one of those really fortunate people who after four pregnancies never experienced postpartum depression. I have always considered myself really lucky for this fact. On the flip side I get the post Christmas Season blues something awful. Some years I can push forward and not feel it to bad others not so much. This year was awful!! I don't know why it has to go so fast. It seemed like a blink of an eye Christmas was over, then New Years and baaam, the kids are back to school, Eric's back at work and I'm lonely and sad! It seems like each year there is less and less time to enjoy all the good parts of the holiday season. I know somehow I need to learn to relish it whiles it's here and then move on but it's a struggle. I HATE taking down the decorations, the nativity and lights it only adds to the sadness! I haven't even blogged because every time I get on the Christmas music starts to play and I am sad all over again. How did I get this way? and why? I just love being with my family. We can be laying around in our pjs playing games, watching a movie or out doing some fun activity it honestly doesn't matter. We love being together. The season just adds something special.
Monday was brutal, somehow I managed to pull it together and be somewhat productive. I was scheduled to work Tuesday and Wednesday and actually got to work. I really enjoyed my shifts, and the girls I work with and it was a good distraction. Thursday when I woke up they called and asked me to be on call and in a moment of sleep deprivation I said yes! I spent a couple hours with the kids, made dinner and ran out the door to a meeting. When I got home the kids were in bed, I kissed all their cute faces good night and went to spend a some much needed cuddle time with my sweet and supportive husband. We have literally just high fived each other the last 3 days. By 10:30 I was out only to be woken up at 1:30am (we are in holds can you come in?)
I don't know where the energy came from but I popped out of bed got ready and headed in! It was a weird feeling to start the shift when it was more than half way over. We had a good night again. At 7 they asked if I would go help cover the ER till we had open beds, being the sucker that I am I said Yes again!!! I got home from work around 10:30am. I didn't feel tired and felt a little like I missed out on life this week so Stacey and I went and got a pedi, then I ran to the school to do folders. Still going strong... I picked up Keaton and Jill at 2, did some chores around the house till the other kids got home
I really wanted to do something fun with the kids so we went to a movie as a family, Bedtime Stories was so funny and I even stayed awake!! 9:30 pm bedtime at last!!! What a week!!

Chirstmas in Pinedale

2009-01-02T07:22:00.000-08:00

December 26, 2008
Friday morning we loaded up everything but the kitchen sink practically and headed up the big hill to go to Grandma and Grandpa Perkins. We have all been very much looking forward to going and they were kind enough to get a few inches of snow for us to play in. We were fortunate to have a good drive and good weather getting up there. When we got up on the rim it was unbelievable how white everything was. In some places the snow was above the fence. It is mesmerizing and beautiful and it makes me miss Utah! When we got to grandmas the kids stuck around long enough to unload the truck and then they were off in the snow! Shortly after we got there Darin, Carey and their family arrived! Yea, cousins to play with!! They brought a nice little snow storm with them! The kind with big, fat flakes. Friday night Darin and Russell cooked us a Christmas Paella (I think thats how its spelled?) It was very entertaining and everyone wanted in on the cooking action. I think it had something to do with the MONDO huge pan it was being cooked in, whatever it was it was much anticipated and very exciting!!! Between the 16 of us we didn't even make a dent in the Paella, oh well if their is one thing those Perkins boys love it's leftovers!! The rest of the weekend was spent sledding, playing games, playing wii fit, playing more games, more sledding, movies and we even snuck a sacrament meeting in there!! The cousins had a great time together as usual and thanks to Grandpa for the extra sleds, they got their fill of sledding. Even Grandma got in on the action! I was cracking up so hard at Keaton, Malerie, and Kamryn they would get on those sleds and they are like a speeding bullet shooting down the hill. It was a memorable and fun weekend with family and we were spoiled with good food, company and entertainment and we look forward to doing it again real soon. (Russ, I want a rematch on Settlers!!)

Merry Christmas

2008-12-30T13:00:00.000-08:00

We were up and ready to open gifts at 6 am! Not to bad I was actually the first one out of bed (not really sure why?I think I have grow accustomed to the sleep deprived, zombie feeling!) Malerie was awake in her bed and Braydon was just getting up, we woke Keaton and Kiley up and had to drag dad out of bed! It is so fun watching the kids come downstairs and see all the gifts under the tree and see what Santa brought them. I love the magic and excitement of kids on Christmas morning. The kids draw names and exchange gifts every year so we let them do that first and then they checked out the stocking action. The girls scored bikes from Santa, and are looking rather sporty on them especially in their cute jammies!! Santa hooked Braydon up with an Ipod touch and Keaton a Nintendo DS and Indiana Jones game! We also hooked the family up with the Wii fit which is one of the funnest games ever. Can you say SPOILED!!!! It was such a relaxing, fun morning. We spent the rest of the morning playing with their new loot and putting things together etc! I made some yummy, homemade waffles with all the fixings which we practically had to force feed to the kids because they were to busy playing to be bothered to eat!

Later in the day we got cleaned up and made our way over to Aubrey's to visit the Wright side of the family and see Missi and her kids and G&G Wright who came down from Utah for the Holidays! We don't see them very often so this was a special treat! Aubrey's house was toys and game central. They scored a wii fit also so everyone had a turn trying to beat the high scores!
Aster spending a few hours with them we headed to Uncle Darins house to have some dessert and see the Perkins Cousins.
What a full day and it truly couldn't have been nicer! Most people are relieved when it's over but I am one of those weirdo's that gets sad. I love the Christmas season, all of the traditions, the special feeling we have in our hearts, the magic, family, everything about it! It comes and goes way to fast, but I guess there's always next year to look forward to!

Christmas Eve

2008-12-30T07:59:00.000-08:00

We have been looking forward to our Christmas eve for weeks now. We have discussed and planned our menu. The kids are excited to open their Christmas PJs and watch The Christmas Story like we have for the past few years. I'm not really sure how exactly this became a tradition but everyone (especially Eric who's a big fan!) really looks forward to it! We kind of had a mellow day at home, did some baking and just hung out with each other. After making some last minute deliveries we came home the kids unwrapped their pjs and we got our food assortment ready! This year we had our mini chimis, taquitos, rice, beans, chips and salsa, crackers, meat and cheeses, chips and dip, fresh veggies, and sparkling cider! The kids wanted to go to bed at 8 pm after the movie was over and we said no way. We didn't want them up at 3!!! I think by 9:30 we were all pretty tired and anxious to get to sleep so Santa could make his deliveries!! It was a fun night and it makes me so happy that the whole family values and loves our traditions so much!

Wright Family Dinner

2008-12-30T07:33:00.000-08:00

Sunday, December 21

We have been trying to do better to get together for family dinners at least once a month! This month Kory and Leslie hosted at their house. We decided to go ahead and do a nice ham Christmas dinner. It was delicious followed up with pie and ice cream. The best part about our get togethers is watching all the cousins play and goof around. The little boys (Jace, Kyler, Keaton, Garret, and Grant) were having a pretty wicked wrestling/boxing match. It was good entertainment. We also did our gift exchange with the siblings that were here. (We missed our Utah siblings, sorry you couldn't be here!) We played some games which for protection purposes shall not be named but it turns out I'm not to bad of a player!! Becki was able to get this darling shot of all the boy cousins, we are just missing Dyson. That is one good looking group of future missionaries!

Parent of the year award??

2008-12-30T06:57:00.000-08:00

Friday, December 19th

Eric and I are hoping to be contenders for the parent of the year award and after this weekend we should have it in the bag!!! Just kidding but we definitely deserve some kind of prize!
One of Kiley's really good friends is moving to Washington and Kiley really wanted to throw her a going away party. Somehow she was able to talk us into it and even convince us to let them invite boys from their class as well. Kiley was very helpful in getting ready and honestly I wasn't sure that very many kids would come with it being the holidays and everything. The party I would say was quite a success judging by the noise level and chaos!!! We had like 24 6th graders at our house for about 3 hours and we were very entertained watching them. Eric had fun teasing the kids, singing, dancing and embarrassing himself and Kiley. The kids seemed to have had a good time but I can't say that we will be doing it again real soon!!!

The day Eric's parents have waited a LONG time for!!

2008-12-08T22:33:00.000-08:00

Saturday, November 29th
Russ and Jen are tying the knot today, forever and ever!

The sealing was awesome of course. Jen was a beautiful bride and Russ couldn't have looked happier! I absolutely love being together with family and friends in the temple, there aren't many things better than that. We are so happy for them and the knew life they are starting together.

I stayed after to help Jen G. take their wedding pictures. It was rejuvenating to see 2 people so in love and happy, it's contagious!! The reception was a good time. It was like the worlds biggest family reunion. It was unbelievable how many people were there and how many of them we knew. It is a small, small world. The kids really got a kick out of the Italian Soda bar. I think they went back like 10 times each (sorry!). We had fun dancing, socializing, and catching up with family we don't see often enough! Thanks Russ and Jen for sharing your special day with us and making the holiday weekend so memorable!! Welcome to the family Jen!!
Again I was so distracted that I didn't shoot enough pictures luckily Jen got some good ones that hopefully I can get from her!

After the reception we scooted home and tucked in some really tired little people and one big person and I went out for some for some more girl time. Jen was having a girls night and they invited me along. It's funny because they have all been friends for a long time, they were in young womens together and have stayed close through the years. A couple of them I met through Jen years ago but others I have met through other channels and have become good friends with (again it's a small, small world!) We did some serious laughing and really had a good time I think I called it quits around 2:30am it had already been a sleep deprived weekend and church was going to come way to early! But it was a good ending to a great weekend!

Black Friday Addict

2008-12-08T22:08:00.001-08:00

Yes I have a problem, yes I can admit it , and No I have absolutely no intentions of seeking help!!!
I really can't explain what the attraction is for me. It is definitely NOT the crowds, or rarely the "GREAT" deals, or standing in ridiculous lines. It makes no sense whatsoever, but I do love Black Friday shopping. I think for me it is just the tradition of it and I HATE breaking tradition.

This year was a little different with so many stores opening at midnight. So after getting home from the movies Thursday night, I tucked Eric and the kids in and headed up to Toys R Us to get in line (around 11pm). There wasn't a single thing in any of the ads I had to have this year and I vowed to myself not to buy anything that wasn't on my list (No buying something because it was a great deal or because I got up at the crack of dawn so I might as well to make it worth the trouble!) I got in line and waited for Stacey and Rachelle to show up. We worked some team work and charm magic and made it out in 40 minutes which was a miracle considering they had a whopping TWO checkers for a couple hundred customers!!! What the heck were they thinking seriously are times so tough they couldn't afford more then TWO checkers!!
After that we headed to the mall to Aeropostale but got lucky when we found that their were quite a few stores already open. We wandered for a bit till Rachelle and Sydney decided they were to tired to go any further. Stacey ran them home while I hung with Jessica and Janey at B&b works. When Stacey got back we headed to Denny's for a gourmet breakfast. By the time we were done it was about 3:30 am. My original intentions were to be gone for a couple hours but surprisingly I wasn't all that tired yet! We all headed for home but at the last minute I decided to swing by Super Walmart by my house, another group of friends were meeting up there at 4:15 am. Why not? It was really surprisingly quiet, I found a couple things on my list pad for them and put them in my car about the time Jen and her crew go there. I will forever have the image of Jen being buried in a pile of psycho people physically fighting over Xbox systems burned in to my brain. I really didn't know whether to laugh or call 911 because I didn't think she was getting up!! After Walmart we all headed to Target and about half way through that store I finally lost steam and called it quits. I was a little sad not to finish it out but I did pretty good! I climbed in to bed about 8:30 am for a power nap.

I slept for a few hours then got up to get ready to go to dinner at Russ's house. Cecil, Linda and the four brothers and spouses (future spouse) and Jens parents and siblings enjoyed one of the best Mexican food dinners I have ever had! It was fun getting to know Jen's family, Russ won't have any problem feeling at home with them. It was like the two families were cut from the same mold and it made it even better that they knew each other from the past!

Thanksgiving Festivities

2008-12-08T21:41:00.000-08:00

(I really stink at this journal keeping business, always a day late and dollar short!)

As an adult you would think I would have better coping mechanisms and realistic expectations but alas I don't. I still really cling to child like ideals of what I "think" or "wish" the holidays were still like. I haven't figured out how to not let life's challenges and struggles cloud my enjoyment of them. They come and go so fast I feel like we don't get the full value out of the time and energy we put in to trying to make them special. I hope before the kids are out of the house I will have figured this little challenge out and just learn to enjoy the moment and just take each year as it comes! and know that it will never be perfect.

With that being said this year was special with wedding excitement. It kind of helped to draw out the holiday magic a little longer. Thanksgiving morning we spent at home peacefully getting ready and puttering around the house. We headed over to have dinner at Uncle Tom and Lorna"s house early afternoonish. Most of the Arizona Thacker clan was there along with the Perkins portion! One of my favorite parts of the holidays is having lots of family around. I really enjoy watching all the cousins having fun together.The boys (Dallas, Dylan, Matt, Mason, Braydon & Eric played basketball) The girls (Kiley, Kelsey, Malerie, Megan, & Kamryn) jumped on the tramp and ran around doing what girls do?? Keaton, Max and Miles just tagged. It was nice to see cousins from out of town. We enjoyed a fabulous feast that could have fed a small army, and some of us ate waaay to much (it wasn't me!) Right before we were ready to eat we got a huge rain storm, followed by some wicked hale. After dinner when we were all to fat to move we just lounged around and visited for a while. It was a nice afternoon with family. Thanks to Tom and Lorna for hosting, it's always more enjoyable when the mess isn't at your house!

Later on that evening Eric and I, along with Darin, Carey, Russ, and Jen snuck out to see 4 Christmas's, it was a good laugh. Every year I vow to be better about taking pictures on Thanksgiving and every year I drop the ball. It seems I'm to distracted to remember!

Twilight fever

2008-11-24T18:19:00.000-08:00

Yes we have the fever along with way to many other people. Kiley and I and Stacey and her daughter Sydney went to the midnight premier of Twilight. Not really sure if I was more excited about doing something fun with Kiley or seeing this much anticipated movie ?? Probably a tie? I usually don't have a problem staying up late but for some reason I was exceptionally tired on Thursday, Kiley of course being our energizer bunny did just fine! We got pretty good seats and since we were there a couple hours early the girls had time to make themselves comfy! We had some snacks and enjoyed a good movie. I really wasn't sure what to expect and wouldn't let my hopes up for fear it would disappoint. Kiley loved it I thought it was good but of course a movie NEVER does the book justice!! We both want to see it again (me so I will be more awake and be able to pay better attention!!) Thanks friends for going with us!Love the shirt Sydney!

Not really sleeping!

Soccer Junky

2008-11-24T18:03:00.000-08:00

Keaton just played his last soccer game on Saturday. The season wasn't very long but it flew by!! None of our kids have enjoyed playing sports as much as this little guy! He really thinks he is a pro player already or he is trying to learn as fast as possible to be one!! Every game he would entertain us with some knew move he was trying out, side tackles were my favorite!! He was on the ground almost as much as he wasn't. And boy can that kid run, he loves to run!! He had a great coach (Malerie's teacher and her husband) and a bunch of really good kids on his team. To make it even more fun, quite a few of his friends from school were on opposing teams. They would get so excited when they were playing each other. At this age level it is refreshing that the kids just play for the enjoyment of it, there is a little competition but it is a healthy dose. I was thankful for coaches that shared the philosophy that it is about having fun and playing together, not just winning! Normally I am excited for it to be over but in this case I am sad it was a good time!!
I look forward to many more years watching him perfect his skills and ENJOY playing sports!

More thankful

2008-11-24T15:34:00.000-08:00

11/24- Being together just being ourselves, goofy, crabby and all!
11/23- Playing Games love, love,love it and can never get enough!!!
11/22- Watching our kids play sports and enjoy it!
11/21- Victoria Secret Catalog (Eric)
11/20- Holidays (Keaton)
11/19- My teacher (Malerie)
11/18- Good food (Kiley)
11/17- Baseball (Braydon)

Thankful ...

2008-11-17T08:48:00.000-08:00

Thursday 11/13
GOOD FRIENDS-
We are EXCEPTIONALLY blessed with good friends. I get choked up when I think about it. To know that you have people that you love and you can count on NO MATTER WHAT is the best kind of feeling in the world. I am thankful that my kids have good friends that come from good families and that they are learning how to be good, dependable friends themselves!! It is so important to us.

Friday 11/14
PROJECTS-
I know this may seem silly but we are all happier when we have things going on and are being productive. They are different things for each of us. I am thankful for the different talents each of us possess that makes being productive possible.

Saturday 11/15
TEMPLE COVENANTS-
Today was my future sister in laws bridal shower. You can't help but reflect and reminisce. I am so happy they found each other and made the commitment to marry in the temple and that we get to witness it. It is a good refresher for us to remember our special day and how blessed we are to have made those covenants and the blessings we receive by keeping them!!

Sunday 11/16
GOOD BOOKS
Sunday's are the perfect day to cuddle up with a good book. After church, slipping into to warm, comfy clothes and diving in to a good book. This week is The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck
(you can never go wrong with Glenn). I love to read and so does Kiley. I love that she is such an advanced reader with a good comprehension and we can share books now!! Eric's even catching the fever a little.

Thankful 11/12

2008-11-12T18:46:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful for

*continuous Christmas music on KEZ
*cooler weather (crisp mornings and cold nights = cozy pjs, warm blankets and hoodies my favorite!!)
* Holiday traditions, just thinking about them and reminiscing of past years makes me so happy!!

I am thankful count down

2008-11-12T00:20:00.000-08:00

I have been slacking on my OGT's (one good thing) and my I feel lucky list so why not start another one? In the spirit of giving thanks were going to do a daily I am thankful list to count down to Thanks Giving which sadly is not very far away!
Today (11/11)
We are so thankful for the Veterans, past and present! Words cannot express the deep gratitude we feel for the sacrafices that have been made for the freedom we so abundantly enjoy. I get so emotional and choked up anytime I think about it. Monday the kids had an assembly at school that they were so excited about. All four of them expressed how great it was to be a part of, and I am thankful that they realize how important the men and women that fight for our Country are. It was a funny coincidence that Monday night one of my patient's dad is serving in Iraq right now. I told him that every night our family prays for his dads safety and for blessings for their family! I told his mom to please pass on to her husband our thanks and best wishes for a speedy and safe return!

Spirit week

2008-11-06T15:17:00.000-08:00

I'm not always a fan of Spirit Week, personally I think most of the themes are pretty lame but we always have fun with crazy hair day. It was a little more challenging with the girls this year because they both have shorter hair right now!Braydon wasn't into this year which was fine with me, one less to worry about!! Keaton is for sure a challenge because he barely has hair! I really tried to talk him into wearing a head band with a bow like babied wear but he wanted no part of it! Later that night (the night before) he said can you just shave my head like dads? Sadly, I actually considered it. I thought it would be pretty funny and I knew it would grow back fast any way! Eric said no way though. Oh well, another time maybe? He settled on this goofy headband, it was the best I could come up with on short notice!! It's always fun going against the grain.

We probably put about 15 or so pony's with a different ribbon in each one in Mal's hair!

Halloween Happenings

2008-11-06T14:45:00.000-08:00

First of all can I just say where the heck did the month go?? Halloween came and went so fast my head is still spinning!!! With my orientation falling on the week of Halloween it made for a crazy week. Wednesday we had the ward trunk or treat which was a great turn out! We had a good chili dinner, games to play and of course trunk or treating. It was a good time with lots of friends!

Halloween day was different this year. Keaton was the only one with a class party and it was kind of nice not to have to party hop! They had the annual costume parade for Kindergarten thru 2nd grade and it was blazing hot out!! We had our annual Halloween dinner at the park and trick or treating. It was a good turn out and the kids had a great time. We managed not to lose anyone and ended up with way more candy then necessary! We missed Braydon this year, he hadn't been to Joe's in a couple weeks and opted to go over there for a visit! Kiley had a group of friends over after trick or treating and her friends stayed he night.

Kiley our slumber party girl

Mal the midnight fairy

Mal and Megan

Our "TOOTHLESS" vampire

Our little Entrepreneur

2008-11-03T18:27:00.000-08:00

(she has this little ring with a bunch of lanyards she is working on at one time!!)

Last week I received a call from the schools, assistant principal. She left me a message saying she needed to talk to me about Malerie. Malerie really? My brain was in overdrive thinking what she could have done? She can have a temper so maybe someone just pushed her over the edge? Any way after playing phone tag for a couple hours and my anxiety level climbing I finally just went in to the office to talk to her. After sitting down the Asst. Principal tells me Malerie is not in trouble but there was an incident with her and a group of friends that they just needed to make us aware of. Apparently her and this group of friends have been taking custom orders, and making lanyards and selling them at recess. She explained that they had a whole system going. The girls had actual LINES of kids that would place an order for what colors, and length they wanted. There was an order sheet with a price list etc. These little lanyards were quite in demand!! The school wasn't to keen on them selling/taking money from other kids so they just explained to them that this wasn't allowed, but they were not in trouble. The Asst. Principal said all of the girls were in tears and border line hysterics thinking they were in big trouble. It took some serious convincing to calm down!! I talked to her teacher the next day and she was a little disappointed that there little business got the ax, she said she didn't know they were selling them but since they had all gotten involved making the lanyards she hadn't had any problems at recess or with kids not getting along!! Both the teacher and the Asst. Principal offered the suggestion the the girls could maybe have a booth at the schools Candy Cane Lane, where they would be perfectly appropriate to sell. What a good learning experience and very clever girls!

2 for 2!!!

2008-10-30T19:51:00.000-07:00

Braydon got his Buck!!

A few thoughts from this past weekend: (this was written by the Dad)

Being the horrible journal keeper that I am, at the very least, I have started writing down thoughts and experiences from hunting trips that I have been on. This past weekend was full of "experiences" for me and more importantly, positive memories for all who were there.

Starting with a fresh elk steak breakfast burrito and ending with a questionable Arby's sandwich (Did anyone else have "problems" on Sunday or was it just me and Braydon?) there was a lot of fun and excitement in between. It is fun to watch all of the kids (I should say young men and women) get excited about tromping through thorns, stickers, dusty, bug infested terrain just for the small chance of possibly being able to see a deer and then maybe have a chance of getting to shoot one. There aren't very many kids that want or even get a chance at having those experiences. They are spoiled and I'm happy for it! I enjoy watching the kids interact with each other and watching the friendships form which I am positive will last a lifetime. Having gone hunting a time or two in recent years, I am sure the boys would agree with me that it was a lot of fun hanging our with the girls this time. Besides the obvious "good looking factor" that they provide, it was fun to talk with and get to know them more and hear what is going on in their lives. I would hunt with them anytime! It was refreshing (we had plenty of non-fresh times on the drive home right Brent? "Guttin-a-deer!"). Brent can explain that one. Having spent the previous weekend with Kiley and Taylor, we (Braydon and myself) quickly learned that there is a time to be serious and a time just to kick back and have fun.
We did have fun! It was educational as well. I never knew I had a "wenis", and then I found out I have two. Who knew! Each time I hear the song "She'll be coming around the mountain...", I will picture myself on that hillside with Mitch, Brent, and Michael, packing Michael's deer our. Thanks Makenna!! Other things I learned; Brent still snores, always carry a rifle (that was a BIG deer Senaka!), watch out for guys in a red truck, it is easier for one guy to drag a deer 150 yds downhill in the dark knowing that the guy in the red truck will be there any minute than it is for two guys for drag one uphill 20 yds in the daytime, Senaka and Kinzie need socks for Christmas (Senaka only has short ones and Kinzie only has one pair which are knee highs!), good luck waking up Conner from a dead sleep, Braydon is camera shy, Michael likes candy before bed, Riahana and 50 Cent are good hunting music, Chalee would consider moving to Nogales, Mitch now has a better knife than me, and the list goes on.

Shooting a deer or not, it was a lot of fun. I had to keep reminding myself that I had a tag as well. Normally I would want to do anything possible to fill that tag but it didn't seem to matter on this trip. When I look at the photos that we took, I can't help but smile. These were truly "good times"!! I can only speak for myself but I am sure the others would agree. I am very pleased with the friends my children are choosing to keep and the relationships that are forming. They have a lot of positive examples to follow which is encouraging. To top it all off, Sunday morning we had one of the best primary programs I have heard in a long time and we ended the weekend with an awesome fireside at our Bishop's house with all the young men, committing them to all serve missions. It was a great weekend.
Eric