Jumping Jacks and Gymnastics! 6/12/2009

St. George Golf Club ~ 6/11/2009

Today I was in shock hole after hole as I caddied Bailia. I have been a NERVOUS wreck knowing I would be there to coach her by myself! Starting out on number ten she hit a good drive, nice second shot and KILLER third shot, chipping it just inches from the hole! She did an AMAZING job shooting 36, which is 9 strokes less than last weeks tournament!
The first two tournaments that Bailia played in they separated the girls 10 and under into separate age divisions. So the 7-8 year old girls would compete against each other and the 9-10 year old girls would compete against each other, like they do with the boys. This week they combined all of the girls 10 and under, and Bailia still tied for 3rd! She was so excited to be the only girl in the 7-8 year old division to place, but SO disappointed that she didn't take first. She is a very competitive little firecracker and she said if only I would have done better on this hole and that one. I said Bailia you shot nine strokes better than last week, and placed playing against the older girls (most-if not all- that placed were ten year old girls)-you should be SO proud of yourself-we sure are! Keep practicing-you are doing wonderful!
Jaden (wannabe Tiger Woods) took first place again this week! He woke up not feeling too well, but he said he could still play. He pulled it together and shot a 27-four strokes better than last week! Keep up all of your hard work Jdog! All of your practice is paying off!
Once again Koda bear came along with Momma and Sis-he gets complimented at every tournament for how well behaved he is! Thanks Matty for being such a good little cheerleader!

Rainbows and Reports! 6/9/2009

Last night Koda came running in saying MOMMA come quick-there is a rainbow outside! He informed me that Unicorns are the only animals that can walk on rainbows-interesting, I will have to keep my eyes open for one! We took some pictures together-in one picture you can see that when you are the one taking pictures of yourself sometimes you forget to zoom back out! OOPS!
The picture of Matt kissing me is my favorite-he said mom will you please take one more picture-ok I said-as the camera got ready to flash he turned quickly to give me that big SMOOCH! Such a lover!
On another note-what is up with my skin? The summer sun is not being very nice to me this year-yuck- I look like I'm fifty!
Koda was SO excited to see the rainbow - if you couldn't tell from his smile! He kept jumping on the trampoline to see if he could touch it, and hoped he could slide to the bottom to find a bucket of gold~or as he informed me, finding a tranformer at the end would be ok too!

So I have taken some BIG steps this summer. I took my kids to the LIBRARY! Now if you know me, you may know that I HATE the library. Why in the world would I want to go into a building to get a book that has been checked out by too many people to count that have done who knows what with that book, when I can walk into Barnes and Noble and buy a brand new book?
Well, I guess it saves a lot of money-especially if you know how many books I buy! Also, if I had to hear my kids ask me one more time why they don't get to go to the library like everyone else-I might scream! So in efforts for them not to be a basket case like me I did it! I will admit, the library is not as bad as I make it sound-it was actually quite clean! And if you tell yourself enough times that the books are perfectly fine, they don't seem as bad either!
Being the mean mom that I am I told them to pick a topic, they were doing a report-my hubby asked me if it was really necessary-well no-but why not?
Bailia chose New York and the Statue of Liberty. Being the go getter that she is she not only did her full page report and picture that was required (yes required LOL) she made a costume to present her report in! Way to go sis you did great!
Jaden-to no surprise-chose to do his report on Egypt. He has loved Egypt for YEARS, and has wanted to go there for as long as I can remember! He is in awe of the pyramids, mummy's, and everything about Egypt! He created a great report, and loved telling us all about it!
Koda chose to do his report on the Desert Tortoise. With Momma's help we learned a lot about the Tortoise! Did you know that they get enough water from the plants, so the only time they drink water is when they run out of plants to eat! Or that their parents abandon them at birth so few tortoises survive, but if they do they live to be more than eighty years old! I especially loved Matt's drawing of a tortoise trying to "eat the flowers on the CAPtus"!

Teaching H-Digity to swim! 6/6/2009

Harley's first swimming lesson was about a year ago, it didn't go well. Adam threw her off the boat when we went to Flaming Gorge last year with my parents! The water was FREEZING cold and she had never been in the water before. Being a WATER dog Adam figured she would just swim. She didn't. After he threw her off the boat he had to rescue her! It was one of the funniest things ever. Until now.
We took her out to Quail Lake today to try and get her used to the water once again. The kids tried to coax her out. Then Adam tried. She wanted NOTHING to do with the water! So, once again Adam figured if I can't coax her I might as well throw her in! Once she got in she loved it. There is just one problem. She doesn't know how to swim like a dog! She swims upright instead of horizontally! Watch the video of her on the last picture of this post-it is hilarious!
It was chilly and windy but the kids had a blast!



Here is the video of our poor dog. She comes from a LONG line of swimmers and champion hunters. Hopefully she will grow out of this and learn how to really swim this summer!

Way to go Boys! 6/4/2009

The counted Loot!

The treasure has been washed and counted. The grand total is...
5 Quarters
31 Nickels
42 Dimes
1067 pennies
for a total of $17.67

Striking gold in Zion 6/3/2009

What a FABULOUS day! It started by taking Jaden to gymnastics. Then the little kidlets and I ran to Albertsons and bought a boatload of groceries for $30.00! Then we picked Dog up from gym. The kids have known since yesterday that they were going to have a surprise today-no clues, no guessing. The anticipation nearly killed them! They LOVED the Dinosaur movie in 3D at the HUGE Zion Theater!
After lunch and the movie we walked down by the river. That was not in the plan (notice the kids are NOT dressed for water) but as we got closer to the river bank Jaden bends down and said cool I found a penny, and another, and a dime, and another. This continued for the next two hours!
The kids loved playing in the river. Although it may look like Koda is getting caught smoking a pipe in this photo-it is actually just a flute from the gift shop!
I am not kidding when I say that animals can sense Koda's tender heart! This little squirrel LOVED Koda-he ate out of the big kids hands but only if they were sitting in their chair at the table. With Koda they came over and ate right from his hand as he knelt down next to them!

This day turned out far better than I had planned (I love when that happens) We spent more than six hours in Zion today. The majority of the time the kids were playing in the water or searching for the THREE Coke cups FILLED with money! We have no idea where this money came from- or why it was along the riverbed-it has been there for quite some time since many of the coins have smoothed out some, but you can still make out the faces on most of them.
Bailia started out in the water with her crops and tank on. Then after Koda took his shirt off she decided that she sould take her britches off, since wet jeans aren't the most comfortable thing! Then about ten minutes later Koda and Sis both had just their undies on! When the ranger walked by checking on everybody Bailia immidiatly shot down into the water trying to hide! I laughed and told her live it up while you can-enjoy doing silly things like swimming in your underwear as a kid, because you sure can't do that when you are an adult!
I honestly can't remember the last time I have had a day where there wasn't fighting, whining, tattling, and such going on for most of the day! Today I didn't hear a singe PEEP! Just awesome kids who got along having fun the ENTIRE day!

Southgate Tournament 6/2/2009

Week two of Jag Tournaments was held at Southgate Golf Course. Both Bailia and Jaden took first place AGAIN! Adam and I are both shocked and SO proud of our kids. We make them practice hard but still tell them to have fun and love the game-and love it they do! Congratulations kidlets!!

Koda has wanted his head shaved "like daddy's" since the last time I took him in to get his hair cut. Monday when he asked for the 4,329 time I said ok. He is cute enough to pull it off, and he loves the feel of it when it has just been buzzed!

Weeds, Bunny, & More Golf! 5/31/2009

We have many building lots that are all for sale-all but this one. This is MY lot. It is a half acre lot that looks into the canyon then up to the golf course with mountains surrounding us in every direction. I can't wait to have a house on it and be able to wake up every morning sit on my deck and watch the sunrise over the beautiful mountains. At first slowly peeking over the mountain top, then touching everything in its path lighting up the beautiful colors of the earth. Bright blue sky, red rock mountains and canyon, purple Pine Valley, green golf course, and the colors of the beautiful sunrise-does it get any better? Yes, it actually does! There will never be a home behind us to block this beauty!
So, until we can get out of the home we are in I will continue to be grateful to actually have a home but still daydream of the lot just a block away. It is amazing how this house is SURROUNDED by homes making me feel so claustrophobic, doesn't have a view whatsoever, and ZERO yard but just one block away there is a peaceful, unobstructed view lot that will have a huge yard just waiting for me to put a beautiful home on it to enjoy the beauty it offers!
After pulling weeds we went to visit Grandpa Milne. The kids love seeing the wild bunnies, playing on the swing, or just walking in his huge backyard seeing what treasures they can find! Koda hollered at me to come over to him and said watch this. "Here bunny bunny" he said patting his legs. The little bunny came running up to him and let him pet her! Animals must be able to sense his tender heart!
I decided to take the kids back to Red Hills on Friday to golf with each other. We all walked 9 holes and loved every second of it! I sound like a broken record, but is there any question why I think this is one of the most beautiful places in southern Utah? Our wedding pictures were even taken here (*gasp* almost TEN years ago) and I never get sick of being there!

Red Hills Tournament 5/27/2009

JAG season is here again-it is a VERY stressful time for me. I think my kids stay so calm because I get nervous enough for them all! My stomach is still in knots hours after the tournament!



We (when I say we, I really mean I) did not feel that Bailia would be ready to play in a tournament. I didn't think that it would hold her attention, or that she would stay focused enough to play through the entire tournament. Sometimes I am totally fine being wrong-today was one of those times! Bailia went and played her little heart out-I about fell over when they wrote the scores on the board and announced that she took first place! Way to go Sis!
The few holes that I could see Jaden on I was almost positive that he wouldn't even place, it was a pretty rough game for him today. But once again I was wrong. When Sis and I got to the last hole J and Adam were sitting at the top of the hill watching Sis. When I looked up at Jaden there he stood holding a trophy and one finger up, mouthing that he had taken 1st place!! My kids NEVER cease to amaze me!
Koda was such a trooper today. Walking the entire round of golf in the nice summer sun without a complaint! Drinking an entire bottle of Gatorade within the first two holes had him rushing to the bushes for relief!
Thanks Grandpa Gary for helping me with Sis while A helped Jdog!
We of course had to go out to lunch to celebrate-kids choice- Paula's!