1st Day of School

Well, Monday was the first day of the 08-09 school year! Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were early days - which go by WAY to fast. Today was the first full day of school, it's been fabulous. This morning I was able to get a ton of PTA stuff done at the school, go to lunch with Susie, Bodee (Susie's one year old), and my grandparents at the Olive Garden, and still had time to spare :) Both the kids are really enjoying their new teachers and are excited to go to school every morning. Chance, Ry's friend, comes over at 7 am (since his parents leave for work). He has breakfast with us and hangs out until the kids walk, or ride their bikes, to school together at 8am. It's amazing how fast both of my kids can get ready in the morning knowing Chance will be here soon. On Sundays they wake up around 8am and we don't go to church until 1 pm, and they are NEVER ready on time. Maybe Chance should come to our ward for a while :) Well, it's definitely nice to have my free time back, but I'm not sure I am ready to start all the homework again. We haven't had any yet, and I crossing my fingers it doesn't start for a while....If only teacher's could wait until football season got over :D

My Phoenix Weekend!

First of all, I LOVE TO FLY! We arrived at the airport around 5:30 am, and once we made it through checking our bags and all the security, we had about 40 minutes before boarding - so I took pictures! Lots of pictures - only a few made the final cut.

Once we arrived in Phoenix we went to get our rental car, we rented a Dodge Charger, I was so excited. I love the looks of them and want to buy one - however Joel will NEVER buy another Chrysler car again, we have bought two new ones and they were both crap.

Anyway, once we got in the totally awesome car, we headed into town to find breakfast. It felt like it should be late afternoon since we got up so early, however it was only 8:30 am. After breakfast we checked into our hotel and crashed. I don't do so well waking up at 3:00 am - couldn't sleep and I like my sleep. So, power nap done - we headed out to see some of the sites, Old Town (buy souvenirs for the kids), Cardinals Stadium, and Margaritaville - My Dad is a huge Jimmy Buffet fan. Then it was back to the hotel to get ready for John Edwards!

The show was amazing! Even if you don't believe in what he does, he is very entertaining :) The show lasted about two and a half hours, then we headed for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. I was disappointed to see that they took my favorite item off the menu, but it was still fabulous and the cheesecake is always amazing. We finally arrived back to the hotel around 11:30 phoenix time, 12:30 our time, with plans to sleep in. However, my kids won't let me sleep in even when I am in a differentsame state. Ry called around 7:30 am to tell me he pulled his loose tooth out with pliers, he is such a toad :/ Then it was breakfast, back to the airport and finally, home-sweet-home. I loved every minute of it and can't wait to do it again!

Roy 25 - Kaysville 0

Another win for our boys! Ry got in 3 QB sacks playing on the 1st defensive line today and I missed it :( My plane didn't land until 3:05 and by the time I went to baggage claim and got out to my car - they were home. All I can say is BUMMER for me and I can't wait until next weekend. School starts tomorrow and it will be interesting to see if both school and football practice will finally wear this kid out. GOOD JOB RY! I love ya.

OH MY GOODNESS!

Can life get any crazier? This past weekend my uncle, Bud (my mom's - sister's husband), passed away, then my grandma (my dad's mom) was admitted into the hospital with a severe infection and, because of her dementia, could not be left alone at night. So between me, my mom, my sister-in-law, and many patient nurses she had great around the clock care. I came home early this morning, around 3 am, and crashed. -- UPDATE! She was released to go home with my Grandpa at 9 am this morning, YEAH! :) -- Thanks to my wonderful husband and his fabulous parents for helping with the kids and their busy schedules. Without them I would not have been able to be at the hospital as often as I was needed. Thank you, thank you!

Today I start the PTA side of back to school night, my kids parent teacher meetings, cub scouts and football practice - all tonight! It's going to be crazy. Tomorrow looks pretty much like today - Kids, PTA, Football - plus I have to pack for my trip to AZ with my parents this weekend. We (Dad, Mom, Susie, and I) are flying to Phoenix early Friday morning to see John Edward perform that night, http://www.johnedward.net/ , I am SO excited :) We then will fly back to SLC on Saturday and arrive around 2:00pm, hopefully in time to catch the last inning of Ry's football game! (I'll post more about the trip on Saturday!) So, to say the least....I'm a little stressed out right now and I am looking forward to next week when the kids go back to school and I, hopefully, have nothing to do!

Roy 41 - South Ogden 6

Today the Royals started the season off with a great win at home! Ryan got in about 26-28 plays on the offensive line, defensive line and the kicking line. He did awesome :)

YW Camp 2008

Well it's Thursday and I survived YW camp! I had a ball :) Getting to know all 27 girls from our ward was a blast. We met at the church early Monday morning and drove up to North Fork Canyon to Camp Lomondi. After we arrived the girls ran to the cabins to claim the top bunk. Luckily since it was only ward camp, not stake, every girl was able to sleep on the top bunk and put their belongings underneath them.

Monday's activities included the leader skit, secret sister assignments, camp certifications, the obstacle course, family home evening, a movie under the stars, and LOTS of food. That night ended with the girls getting carried away toilet papering the cabins and bedtime fell around 1 am. Tuesdays activities included an early morning hike, pedicures performed by the leaders, Star Academy speakers (mini lessons performed by ward members), lots of free time (the girls loved playing in the river),and later that evening we had actress, Mowava Pryor speak to us. She is an amazing speaker and had all of us laughing and crying.

(See more about Mowava @ http://www.mudhousefilm.com/MOWAVA_PRYOR.html) I will never forget her inspirational story about finding and joining the LDS church. After lots of pranks we fell into bed around 2 am to be woken up again at 5 am with one of the girls throwing up :) Most of you know, I DON'T DO throw up. I was hiding in my sleeping bag with my pillows and another sleeping bag over my head. It wasn't pretty. After getting her sent home, we started breakfast and the day went from there with crafts, skits, awards and ending with a testimony meeting.

Over all we had lots of laughs, lots of tears (twisted ankle, bloody nose's, bee stings, scraped head and knees), lots of food, and made lots of memories. I loved it and can't wait to be camp director again next year, yes it is a two year calling!

Alvey Camping Trip

Last Friday my parents picked up Ky and met up with my brother and his family and , after football practice, we headed up Logan Canyon to Spring Hollow Campground. Because of a previous experience we had with some friends, the Binghams, on the side of a mountain at midnight :) -good times- Joel was not thrilled about pulling our trailer up after dark to somewhere we had never been. With the help of my Brother and his truck headlights I think it turned out okay. Once we got set up and ready to hang out at the fire with everyone, my sister-in-law and brother headed back down to Hastings in Logan for the lastest Stephanie Meyer book that was going on sale at midnight. So with the kids in bed, Joel and I hung out with my parents for a while then called it night.

Saturday Ky, Colt, and B's had fun fishing, playing games, shooting the b.b. guns, and eating everything in site. While Ry spent the entire day fishing...It drove me crazy, but at the same time it was nice to have him entertained and out of my hair. I have a hard time going down to fish for even a few minutes without getting bored and giving up. Ry woke up at 5:30 am and stopped when he caught one around 7:00 that night. I think Joel made him eat lunch, other than that, the kid never gave up. All of us adults spent the day taking walks with my parents dog, Maggie, and being lazy around the fire. Yes, they had a fire going all day - My Dad blames the kids, but we all now that he loves fire. That evening we BBQ'd and sat around the fire making s'mores and kept each other laughing.

Sunday morning we slept in, ate a quick breakfast, then headed home. I was sad to see it end so quickly. See more pictures below.

KSL Lagoon Night

Last night was KSL lagoon night. We had a great time, it was HOT, but fun none the less. Ky brought her friend Tal with us since Ry stayed home with Joel's parents because of football. It was fun meeting all the people that Joel has told me stories about. Everyone was very nice and I could tell that Joel really enjoys working with them. The one guy we spent time with at the BBQ, Glenn and his family, is hilarious! I am not sure how they get any work done all being in the same office together. I heard stories about times they broke out into song and dance and pranks they have played. There was even a few threats made that night. Sounds like they have a good time "working" together. I am glad that his work enviroment has changed dramatically, at his last job that he was at for 10 years there was a lot of micro-managing and lots of stress. It's nice to have my husband come home happy every night :)

Today we are leaving to go camping with the Alvey side of the family, after football of course. It should be a good time, it always is. It's a short two night trip, but it will be nice to get away for a while. I am totally bummed that my sister and partner in crime, Susie, won't be there. Maybe she'll change her mind at the last minute and come up.