The T-Lers and the Mendels....

I've got crusising on the brain. Hmmmm, wonder why? Maybe I need a vacation It's been 9 years since our last cruise and looking at these pictures got me all pumped up again.

I could have sworn none of us has aged since then, but seriously we all look so young!!
I'm just amazed when I think of all we've done and been through. It's great to have great friends by your side through it all.

(Clearly, I'm thrilled the boys found a foosball table in port)
I'm excited to see what pictures we come back with this time and to see what memories we add to our "colorful" collection.

(We must be old seeing as we can afford to have our own rooms this time!!)


Bring it on, we're ready for more!!

Y2K

Michelle and I were running yesterday and we started to reminisce about past years. This caused me to pull out the old photo boxes to search for a picture I know I have somewhere of a party we had at the Konolds, I still can't find it, but I found this one. This is New Year's Eve 1999, right before Y2K...remember all the hype? We're at Balboa park to celebrate and this is the night the Tylers announce they are pregnant. It definietly seems like a lifetime ago! Notice my pregnant belly. This prompted more picture searching.....

They say Imitation is the highest form of Flattery...

David as Tom Naylor

6 @ 6 (aka my sweet escape)

My little Valentines gift to myself was my first 6 @ 6. That's a six mile run, starting at 6 am. Crazy thought for some, but it was great. There's nothing like the feeling of rolling out of bed, still half asleep, and hitting the pavement. I love the feeling of the cold air hitting deep down in my lungs and the warm blood making it's way down to my still sleeping toes. Today was great because it was still dark out when I left and the streets were all wet from rain last night. I had my ipod on way too loud, it's my second favorite running partner. (You're still #1 Michelle!) I've got my running playlist down to my favorites. I ended with my ode to Mark to start out the day all romatic.

Alice's Crab Shack and Joe in Wonderland

This picture is for Gayle. Welcome to the world of blogging-at least commenting! Abigail's got her eye on you...

Fairplay and I See Eye to Eye on One Thing

Jonny on Parenting:
"It changes you, it changes your head, it makes you crazy. My head is so screwy right now."


I couldn't agree more.....


Don't worry about me, I haven't been duped by Fairplay, but it did remind me of my pre-parenting days. The anticipation of a child is a unique experience.


After the first moment you become a parent you are never the same again. Through the up and downs, the challenges and the joys, there's not a second of it that I would give back for the depth and breadth of this ride.

What a Day!

So much going on today, I don't have the time or energy for a lengthy post, so here's the quick version..
**I'm rallying back from an unfortunate bout with a bug. I won't even go into details, suffice it to say it was quick and I'm on the mend.
**I took some cute pictures at the park today of David and Abby, I'll post later.
**Mitt is out of the running. My husband is depressed, so am I. Maybe there's another chance in four more years?
**Blue and Gold Dinner was tonight. Holy cow, this scouting thing is going to be an interesting experience. (I'm trying to get excited.)
**New Survivor starts tonight!! That's why I have no time to post much. I can't wait, especially since this is the fans and favorites season. I can't wait to hate Johnny Fairplay!

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No Way!

Another milestone in our family! James is now a Cub Scout. Mark went today and bought the outfit since tonight is the first Cub Scout's activity, the Blue and Gold Dinner. I guess I can no longer remain in denial. I will have to figure this Scouting thing out. We're starting Scouts and Baseball all in the same month, that's a lot for a Mom from a family of all girls! Bring it on!

Finding Love for the Despised "Member" of the Family

Today while I was running I was thinking about self-improvement and I returned again to the thought that I really need to work on my hatred and negativity towards a certain family member. It's amazing because this has only been a part of my life for five months, but in that short time, I have developed a toxic realtionship. Ok, I won't keep you wondering any longer. Here it is:



Ok, I am being a bit melodramatic, but seriously, this car has tormented me!! I hate it on so many levels. It conned me into purchasing it in the first place by showing off the fancy automatic doors and ample trunk space. But, pretty much as soon as the ink on the signatures on the title in my name was dry, the problems began.

Let me gave you the details:
1. CUPHOLDERS: What is the point in having cupholders you can't use while the car is in motion? I'm not kidding, it indicates in the owner's manual(which I reviewed after my first Super Big Gulp in the car flew out of the center console cupholder when I hit the gas) that the center console cupholders are not to be used when the car is in motion. Please tell me the point of that!

2. SUSPENSION: I guess that's the problem. The closest ride that I can compare my van to is the shuttle bus that I take to and from the parking garage at work. It's equally loud and bumpy. Nothing smooth or luxurious about this ride.

3. "POWER DOORS": This seemed like such a good idea, but oh it's so flawed. They never operate properly, the kids constantly tug on them thinking them will operate properly and recently, due to a malfuction, Abigail was way too close to being pinned in the door.I had to push on the door with all my might to stop it from squishing her. So much for the safety motion sensors.

4. DEMONIC POSSESSION: I discovered most of these problems within two weeks of owning the car. This prompted me to put the car up for sale. I had one interested party. I turned down their low ball offer. Two days later the transmission completely died. Any guesses on the repair cost on that one? (I figure those of you who have heard me vent about this before stopped reading this post long ago and so for those of you left who don't know the answer to that question-it's 3K-choke, gag). What better time to sell a car than right after you've put a brand new transmission in, right? No worries for the new owner about transmission problems! I listed my Sienna and the Odyssey at the same time, figuring I'd sell which ever one would sell first and crossing my fingers it would be the later. The Sienna sold in 48 hours.

So......I guess I'm stuck with this. Better learn to deal with it, right? Name calling is so juvenile, but I indulge myself frequently when it comes to this:
-"piece of crap"
-"stupid piece of crap"
-"clunker"
-"my nemesis"
-"no good piece of crap"
-"waste of money"
-"axis of evil in my life"
....the list goes on. I hardly flinched when James started calling it a "stupid piece of crap"-that really should go against all I believe in, but I allowed it. I even started driving it to work and parking it in the same area of the garage where one of the doctor's cars was recently stolen. (Apparently, noone wants the van. Brilliant idea nonetheless.) Yesterday, after a particularily ugly battle between myslef and the van that involved the seat belt getting ripped after being caught in the power door, and the ensuing name-calling, kicking and not very adult-like yelling, James consoled me by saying, "It's ok Mom, don't worry, maybe someday Dad can buy you a Nissan!" In my effort to come to terms with this and move to a better place, I have offically decided to name the van, "Lemon". I mean it in the most cynically affectionate way. Kindof like how Jack calls Liz "Lemon" on 30 Rock. I think a little good humor about it will do some good. And some healing.
Seriously, venting is wonderfully theraputic..........

Feeling Lucky?

My awesome studious husband passed his test!
One down, two more exams to go. I'm so proud!!

After passing the test he showed up for James' Nickel City birthday party, which by the way, was a total success. The Muirs were so good to us. Dan kept pulling magic coins out of the kids ears and Sara was doing her tricks to keep the dancing machine going for the girls. I love those two, they are always so nice to our family.

I have a serious fixation on the Deal or No Deal game. I love it, I am drawn to it. David and Brooke were the big winners of the day with 237 and 400 tickets respectively.

Take the Challenge!!

So I was searching around for information on President Hinckley and I found this site about "The Hinckley Challenge". The challenge is to read the Book of Mormon in 97 days in commeration of President Hinckley amazing 97 years of life. I told the senior Primary kids about it today and I invited anyone to join me. I loved it when he challenged us a couple of years back to read the Book before the end of the year. It was an awesome experience. I'm ready to do it again. If any of you out there want to join me, just go to www.hinckleychallenge.com and sign up. It starts tomorrow and goes through May 11.

Tomorrow Mark takes his state insurance licensing exam. Keep your fingers crossed for him! He's studied so hard and we're anxious to see how he does. (If I don't mention this again, just assume the worst...) Just kidding, we're very optimistic that he'll do well-that's all I'm going to say about that!

Through James' Eyes

Every so often, the camera will disappear. We'll wonder where it's gone to and why it's so quiet in the house. This is when James' photographic genius strikes. I've often joked that we should make a coffe table book of his random snapshots, so I thought for his birthday, he'd be thrilled to see a compliation of his work. Notice the different periods he's gone through; there's the self-portrait phase, the taking pictures of people phase(mainly of his brother, so willingly),the random abstract phase, the foot phase, the Lego phase, etc...

A New Era

Mark is thrilled that he gets to train up a snowboard partner. He and James went to Snow Valley on Wednesday and had a blast. Finally the hard work of parenting is paying off, what better than a built-in snow buddy!!