Me, Kai, and Adrian

Last night, we took the kids to Chuck E Cheese along with Kai's best friend, Adrian. I actually had a great time and it was a little less crowded than it was the last time we went for Ashtyn's birthday. Here is a cute pic we took while we were there.

 

First grade jitters.....

Kai started his first day of 1st grade..... I basically cried all my tears last night, so this morning I was good.

Last Friday, we went to meet his new teacher and see his class. Mrs. Stenson is his teacher and she seems very good. His kindergarten teacher was lazy and did not care if the kids learned anything at all. I was NOT her biggest fan. I was worried that she did not prepare the kids for first grade like she should of, but I know if I work with him at home, then he will do great in first grade.



Anyway, Kai has to be at the bus stop by 8:34 A.M....a big change from the half day Kindergarten class that started at 12:50 PM. I walked him this morning and even though Kai rode the bus last year, he didn't ride it in the morning with all the older kids like he does this year, but my worries ceased when we saw Kai's friend/bodyguard, Trevell. He is the cutest kid, he has dark skin with red hair and freckles!! He watches out for Kai on the bus and is a very well-behaved kid. I met a bunch of the moms and they seemed very nice, so their kids must be too, right??

I can't wait to see how Kai's day went. Ashtyn was sad to see Kai go since she REALLY wanted to ride the bus as well. But, all was good when we got home, she is raiding Kai's room as we speak!

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL!!!!

I know I AM!!! Maybe it is a little uncommon for a young lady, like myself, to LOVE football as much as I do. But, I can't help it. I LOVE the excitement!! Fall is my favorite season, so it doesn't hurt that football starts in the fall months. I associate one with the other.

I watched football all the time when I was a kid, my dad would make us dress in the team colors of who we wanted to win and we actually made banners that we would run through when the game started. We would have big Super Bowl parties complete with a huge spread included with a giant cake! I loved it because it was like a big party. There was only one problem, I had NO idea what was going on onscreen. Watching football back then was like trying to read a book without knowing how to read!!

Fast forward to 2004 when I met my husband, Tyson, whom is a HUGE University of Utah fan. He took me to the Utes games at Rice stadium and explained the games to me as they happened. I was (and still am) HOOKED!

Going to a home game at Rice Eccles stadium is the most exciting, fun, crazy, and all around AWESOME experience for me. I love the crazy fans and I love how you can not know anyone around you, but if you are a UTE fan, you have added 100 new friends to your posse.

The whole point of this blog is to say, THERE ARE ONLY 14 MORE DAYS UNTIL UTES FOOTBALL SEASON! And man, am I excited!!!

 

Guilty Pleasures......

I am half-asleep, walking down the insanely crammed aisles of the local super-center. I don’t like shopping at Wal-Mart for two reasons, one is, it is always so crowded with large families wielding their carts in front of them as if it were a shield against some monster that would like to see them mamed. And they use it as such also. I have been attacked by one of those metal contraptions on more occasions than I care to count. The second reason, and the most important, is that I really dislike the company itself. Wal-mart has put so many hard-working small businesses out of business and it makes me mad. Not mad enough to stop shopping there, obviously. Maybe it makes me a hypocrite, but c’mon people, we’re in a recession and I need to get the everyday low prices that Wal-mart guarantees, but I do not condone their shananigans, not one bit.

As I am feeling an anxiety attack coming on because I am surrounded by these stupid, clue-less people that too often stop their damn carts in the middle of an aisle to chit chat with a familiar face, "MOVE WITH THE GROCERY STORE TRAFFIC LADY!!" Of course I don’t say it because that is the last thing I need is a brawl in the middle of grocery shopping. after all, everyone should know and have memorized the flow of grocery store traffic by now!! Needless to say, I am annoyed as hell.

Then I see it. I see my ultimate guilty pleasure in all of its glory sitting there on its throne. In fact, there is a few of them to choose from, they all tell the same stories, but they all have a different variation of the made-up story and they are all equally intriguing to me. Some people choose from them, but not me, I buy EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM. Oh yeah! I am not even the slightest bit embarrassed as the cashier checks me out. Okay, maybe a little bit, I always tell her the same old story, “I buy them for the crossword puzzles.” I tell the same lie that my husband tells me every time I catch him reading one.

The celebrity gossip magazines are like therapy to me. I don’t know what it is. Could it be that I like to see even celebrities have misfortune? Drama? Or is it something truly more diabolical? Who knows. All I know is that it is the one thing I look forward to every Friday as I finish shopping. I get that old fashioned feeling and excitement when I see a new face on the front followed by a crazy headline. This is what my life has come to, at least my Fridays. And I don’t care how bad it sounds! I have no intention of changing my ways or bettering myself to stop looking at them. Long live the gossip!!

A few more.....

Which family pic is the best??

A few more family pics, Tell me your HONEST opinion:)

Weight Loss Goal!

Our family has just recently had our pictures taken by my friend, Kara Hancock with Flash Photography. She did an amazing job and was EXTREMELY patient with the kiddos! I am comparing my weight to last years pics and I am horrified that I have gained so much!!
My goal is to lose 25 pounds within the next 6 months. We just recently bought a treadmill because here in Las Vegas, the blistering heat prohibits us to go outside and exercise as much as we'd like to. I also have a bad habit of eating in the evening. I can go all day without eating hardly at all, then at night, I am always up until at least 2 AM and throughout that time, I make up for the lack of eating in the daytime.
Also, my brother-in-law lost 50 pounds over the course of 6 months or so, doing it the healthy way and won $1,000 at work for their weight loss competition! I was so impressed when I saw him, he looks like a completely different person! It gave me some motivation to really work hard and stick with it to attain my weight loss goal. I would really love to start up some sort of contest with our blogs if anyone is interested. Let me know!!
Also, if any of you need pictures taken, I suggest you use my friend, Kara, she is so good and just has the natural ability to capture the best pics!!

KAI, Oma, Papa & Gwamma & Crampa Grapes

These last few days, we FINALLY made it to Salt Lake City to have a much needed vacation and heavy dose of the UTAH MOUNTAINS!!
We stayed with Tyson's grandma and grandpa, they were so nice and so hospitable, the perfect grandparents. They have all the grandkids call them, "Grandma and Grandpa Great" so we tried to teach this to Ashtyn, and the best she could do was, "Gramma & Crampa Grapes" it was so cute that we didn't want to correct her! She just loves them!!
We also got KAI BACK this week!! WHOO HOO!!! It had been 7 long weeks without him and it was so great to see him and now have him at home. I swear he has grown 12 INCHES since I last saw him! Ashtyn was so happy to see him that she wanted to sleep in the same bed with him, I am sorry about the pics, they are from my phone (I forgot my camera:()

We also spent a lot of time at Oma and Papa Schraders house, our second home. We haven't seen them in so long, and their home has had some awesome upgrades, it felt so good to be in my second home again! We missed you Ron and Val!! And all the rest of the family!!

Here are some pics of our niece, Vala, who climbed up on my knee and cuddled with me, then 1/2 hour later, she climbed up with Tyson and fell asleep on his shoulder! SOOOOO CUTE!!!

We were able to get our family pictures taken as well, my friend from high school, Kara, took them and she was so patient with my kids! Ashtyn was NOT very cooperative at all, she was very defiant and really does not like doing what she is told, (especially from a stranger) but I am desperately hoping she got some good shots because it is hard to get family pics taken with little cranky ones!:) Kara took us to a beautiful spot in Provo to take them alongside some railroad tracks and some old railroad cars. The weather was a beautiful 65 degrees!!
All in all, we had an amazing, fun and family filled vacation and cannot wait to come back to Utah. We are even thinking of making a trip there in September!!!

Family pictures, and a funeral:(

Tyson and I are driving to Salt Lake on Thursday to pick Kai up from his dad, he has been gone now for 7 weeks!!! That is the wonderful and exciting news!!

Now for the bad news.... last night, I was informed that an old friend of mine had passed away.. His girlfriend, Erin, is one of my dearest, best, most wonderful friends I have ever known. Every time we hung out, Garrett was with us, he was always there to hang out with us and always make sure we were safe and taken care of. Garrett had an enormous heart and loved his friends and family dearly. He has an amazing, loving family that my heart and prayers go out to at this sad, sad, time.

The funeral coincedentally is this same day we will be out there to pick up Kai, so I promised my dear Erin that I would be there with her. I hope peace finds his family soon and his friends that all loved him so much.


My dearest Erin & Garrett