Let's catch up!

It was recently brought to my attention by the one person who probably reads this that I haven't blogged....in a long time. So, I guess I should get to it. Plus, it's like a journal I can look back on anyway so I might as try to keep it up. We were so busy this summer which is why I haven't had the time to update. Trent was playing All Star baseball right up until the beginning of July. I really thought it would never end. The heat was unbearable at times. Then there were other issues that I was sick and tired of hearing about so I was done and couldn't wait for it to be done. In fact, I'd often hope for a loss. Sad right? Yeah, it was that bad at times and I'm not talking about the heat of the sun here.

Anyway, on July 5th I headed to Vegas to meet up with my cousins from back east. I was so excited! We walked the strip a few times and the kids were troopers about it. Well, Kaela was. Trent whined but that's a given. It's usually what he does...still...at age 11! During the day we would spend the time at the MGM where my cousins were staying. They had a lazy river pool which the kids LOVED! They had a blast hanging out there. Kaela made friends with my cousins boyfriend and told me, "This is my horse. His name is Oreo McMuffin." Nice. He'll forever be known as Oreo McMuffin to her now. We were supposed to leave Vegas on July 10th but some friends talked me into staying and going to the NKOTB concert with them (I promise I'm not obsessed). Since I was there, I ended up staying til the 12th and attended the show with them on the 11th. It was a fun girls weekend. We met a couple soap opera celebs and saw the Maveriks basketball team walking around the Palms. The concert was, of course, a blast! We always have so much fun at them. I don't know what it is. I think it's just reminiscing about when we were young and hoped that one of them would be our boyfriend. Just memories of our childhood I guess. I didn't sleep for two days straight that weekend. I was running on pure adrenaline. Insane. I really don't know how I made the drive home on the 12th, but I made it home safely.

After Vegas, we were home for about a week and then left on our 2 week road trip. We went to Glacier National Park and then headed over to Washington and Oregon. I really have no desire to go back to GNP ever again...unless I have someone that's willing to hike with me. Unless you are into hiking, GNP has nothing to really offer except for the scenery you see from your car. You have to hike to all the things that are worth seeing and we just weren't into it at the time. We did see a bear on our way out, so that was pretty exciting. From there we headed over to Washington. We saw the Space Needle and ate at the Crab Pot. We like to watch the show Man vs Food. Whenever we go somewhere, we check out that site to see if he has visited any of the restaurants in the state we are heading to. The Crab Pot was one of them. It was delish! While in WA, we also went to see Mt St. Helens. Very interesting spot. I would recommend visiting if you are ever up that way. From WA we went to Oregon. I honestly don't remember what we did there. Oh, Crater Lake! Wow! That's an amazing lake. Something else that is a must see. It's beautiful up there. Just amazing. I have pics on my Facebook page, so if we're Facebook friends, you can check them out. If not, add me :o)

When we got back from the road trip Kaela and I had to pack up and get ready to leave for Girl Scout camp 2 or 3 days later. I know, I told you we were really busy. We had a blast at GS Camp. I often joke with her that the hike was her favorite but it wasn't anyones favorite. It was 2 hours of walking. A lot of it uphill. I'm surprised the girls made it back and was so proud of all of them for being such troopers. When we got back, all the girls just sat in their tents and rested. We also had our lakefront day that day, so it was good for them to be able to go canoe and swim in the lake to cool off.

Let's see....Trent turned 11 on August 13th. WOW! He's growing.....taller :o) Instead of a party, I took him and a friend to 7 peaks. I figured that was easier and he would have more fun doing that. They loved it and had a blast.

The kids went back to school on the 19th I think. Trent is in the Middle School and thinks it's the coolest thing ever. He LOVES having his own locker. So far, he's doing really well. Thank God! I'm hoping that the rest of the school year will be just like this, but we are only a week into it. Kaela is still at the elementary and has Dalan's aunt as her teacher. Kaela was hoping to get her. Since they combined the two elementary schools into one, they both ride the bus now. It's so strange to me. They leave here at 7:15 and I'm left with about 30 minutes where I don't have to worry about taking the kids to school. The same goes for picking them up. They get dropped off at around 3:15. It's extra time in the day that I can use to clean....or play Farmville on Facebook...whichever.

Anyway, that's what has been going on in the last few months. Nothing too spectacular. We've just been pretty busy. Life is just wonderful out here in Utah.

The end.

(Finally)

Bikinis & Glasses

This blog is about two separate subjects. I am sure you already know that being the smart reader that you are. I will first start out with my post in which I complain about something and will then go on to one that tells you what is new with Trent.



The above picture is from two summers ago. I have obviously slacked when it comes to taking pics of them in their suits during the summer. So, can you tell me what is so wrong about the suit Kaela is wearing in the above picture? She is showing just as much skin as Trent, but her suit is considered immodest. Every year when it comes time for the swimming program the school requires the kids to attend, I get annoyed for reasons that don't even apply to Trent and only apply to Kaela who will not attend the swimming program until she is in 3rd grade, which is next year. On the paper they distribute it states modest attire is required. Last I checked, bathing suits for boys and girls are not the most modest thing in the world, but they go so far as to say that bikinis are not allowed. We moved to California when I was in the 2nd grade. Not long after, I got my first bikini. Oh how I loved it! In fact, I loved it so much that I haven't bought any other type of swimsuit but a bikini since then. Not a one piece, not a tankini. I'm strictly a bikini girl! As for Kaela, she hasn't had a one piece since she was probably one, maybe two. She has owned two tankini's, but no one piece suits. So, why is the bikini so immodest? I would like to know. I have my guess which is one thing influencing another and that one thing really should be kept separate, but I won't go into that. I mean, when wearing a bikini all the parts you don't want the world to see are covered up. Why is it modest for boys to show off their bellies and immodest for girls to show off theirs? How dumb does that sound? I spoke to Dalan about this and he said he would prefer Kaela wear a full body wet suit. Not gonna happen. I asked him how is it okay for boys to show off their bodies but girls have to be covered up? He said, "Because they are boys." Obviously the wrong person to talk to about this because he likes to say things just to get a rise out of me. When I first moved here and was in 8th grade (this event could have possibly taken place in high school)a girl, and I wish I could remember who, said that they can't wear two piece swimsuits because the belly button is what turns a guy on.....HUH? She lost me there. Okay, obviously her parents were giving her some crazy far out excuse as to why she couldn't have one. I can tell you right now it's not my belly button that drives Dalan crazy. I just don't see what the big deal is. Are you considered a slut if you were a bikini or what? Why are boys not required to wear t-shirts? It's just stupid...plain stupid. Besides, like kids that age are going to have impure thoughts about the opposite sex. I mean, come on! So, basically what this means is I'm going to have to fork out an extra $20 for a swimsuit for Kaela just so she has the "appropriate" attire, which is total bs...and that's if I can even find a one piece. I will most likely just get her a tankini. If I don't get her something "appropriate", she will be forced to wear a rental suit. Yeah, over my dead body! That is just disgusting. UGH! If for some reason they force her to wear a rental when the time comes, I will be in the school complaining. That is unsanitary or something. I don't care if they bleach the damn things. She will not wear a rental. She's a good swimmer anyway and doesn't really need the class. They just make it sound like it's required. In SoCal, there weren't many rules as far as dress code. You could wear sandals, but they couldn't be slip ons. They had to be something that wouldn't just come off. No strappy tanks. Tanks could be worn, but the strap had to be at least one inch wide. That's about it. The kids could wear anything they wanted pretty much. I mean, obviously they couldn't wear anything with foul language on it or anything gang related, but that's common sense. Here, there's a lot of rules. I guess as far as clothing is concerned, it doesn't matter much because while they are in school, it's not warm enough for that type of clothing. In Cali, they were in school til mid June, so they were more lenient especially with the temp reaching 90 and up half the year. I'm still annoyed about the swimsuit issue though and will be forever annoyed about it. Anyway, I'm complaining about this about a year too early, but I just can't help that it bugs me now. A year from now, you will read me complaining about it.....again.

Now, an update on Trent. I took him to the eye doctor yesterday and he needs glasses. He only needs them for reading and doing homework or when he is on the computer. So, that's good. The way the eye doctor explained it is it is like his eye is too small. He is trying to focus past his eye instead of at the back of it. Something like that. He also has astigmatism. It's not too bad right now and nothing to be worried about I guess. While picking out glasses, I realized the selection pretty much sucked! All they had were the rectangle shaped lenses that I guess are very in right now. I really wanted him to be able to try different shapes and styles, but there wasn't much to try. Not one pair looked masculine on him, but we found a good pair that will work and he seemed to like them. I just didn't want him to have something where all you see when you look at him are the glasses. I think the frameless would be good. These have the frame on top and are frameless on the bottom. When we get them, I will take a picture. In a year, when he can get new glasses, I think I will take him up to Provo or Orem. Just somewhere that will have more of a selection.

Anyway, that is my rant for the day. I hope you enjoyed it. I need to go get ready to go out to lunch.

The Dinosaur Museum and Kangaroo Zoo

On Saturday, July 12th, the kids and I went up north with Dalan's family while he was in St. George playing in one of those all night softball tournaments. We went up to the Dinosaur Museum, which was fun until we went to the 3-D movie. Oh, that was the worst 3-D movie I have EVER seen. I was so sick afterwards. Throughout the whole movie, my eyes would not focus. I felt like I was cross-eyed the whole time. So, add a headache to the nausea. Yeah, it wasn't the greatest. The bad thing is that the movie itself was probably somewhat interesting but I couldn't pay attention to it at all. I don't have one memory of what was said during the actual movie.
















Then we went to Kangaroo Zoo. This place was a blast. The kids and adults :oD all had so much fun. There was a game of tag going on until Trent tagged/pushed Kaela and she fell. So, she got me to chase her all over the place trying to find her. We would start out racing to the end of one of the bounces and when I got to the end, she was nowhere to be found. She's a quick one. I think we spent a total of two hours there and the kids are ready to go back. I walked out of there with a few injuries, but I still had a blast.










































All in all, it was a pretty fun day. The kids had a blast and I was beat when I got home. I guess I'm just not as young as I would like to think I am.

What in the world am I doing?

So, I guess I am going to start blogging on here. It's probably a good way to update family members who live out of state and people we knew from high school. I can't seem to get my page to look exactly how I want it, but it will come together in time. My current problem is paragraphs. No matter what I do, it won't save my paragraphs and keeps mashing everything together. UGH! The family picture above is from 2004 when we went to Mexico. It's all I have for now, but I will try to put more on here as I post.

So, hmmm...what should I say? I guess I can start out with Dalan and I have been married for 10 years...been together since we were juniors in high school. Time sure does fly. We are total opposites of eachother, but oddly enough, it works. We have two kids who aren't perfect, but I like to think they are. Their school pictures are above this post. Trent is 9 going on 10 in August. He's a monster of a child and people often think I am his big sister. Cracks me up! He takes after Dalan and he looks like Dalan. As the days go by, I tend to see exactly how much he is like Dalan. He does everything just like him. It's crazy...and annoying at times. He loves sports and is your typical boy. He does pretty well in school as long as he applies himself. He loves Science (Don't know where he gets that...ha! ha!) Our little girl Kaela is 7. Everyone says she looks and acts exactly like me. I honestly could go on forever about her. She ALWAYS makes us laugh. She loves to climb. She is a brownie Girl Scout and loves every second of it. She is also going to pick up dance again. She loves school and always does her best. I honestly can't imagine life without her...without either one of them.

Let's see, we are now back in Delta after living in Colorado and California. It was a dream and a goal of Dalan's to get back here. Why? I don't know. I was perfectly happy in my home in Cali with my pool, but oh well. I guess it's really not all that bad here. And I guess I should be honest with myself, Cali was losing it's appeal as the days went by. The weather was great, but I got sick of the people and the problems that were moving closer to us. Anyway, the kids love it here. We are around family now, so that's good. They really love being able to see my sisters kids all the time. So, I guess moving here isn't all that bad...I guess.

Well, that's about it for now.