Monday Memoirs. . . .

Zoe a.k.a. Zoe Lu Ellen
Born April 2005

Most people have shorter name for a nickname, not Zoe Lu Ellen. I can't remember how she got her nickname, but she did, and it fits her perfectly. We got her when she was 8 weeks old. Ky LOVED to carry her all over the house, until she got too big. She was way cute, still is! Zoe is my little shadow. She sleeps next to me every night but when fisher comes in too (to lick you too death) it sometimes annoys both Zoe and Joel. But... I can't believe how old she is, I mean 6yrs. old, WOW!

**That's funny! After posting the picture, with name and birthday, I left my laptop to take care of some PTA stuff and came back to that cute little paragraph :)

Thanks for the help Ky, I love it....It's perfect!

Blog Book

blog2print.com is fabulous! I got my first book in the mail last week, and I absolutely love it! It allows you to set the dates you want it to print, I'm going to print a year at a time. I bought both the book and the .pdf file of it. That way if my house ever burns to the ground, or if I lose it...I'll always have an online copy. I highly recommend backing up everything online. Joel and I both use dropbox.com.


I'm starting to work on 2009 now. blog2print also allows you to add your own custom pages in the back. I added 88 pages to my first one, a year worth of pictures! Love it, love it!

Ry's 6th Grade Science Fair Project

Title:

THE POWER OF POWERBAIT

Question:

Out of three different colors of PowerBait, Orange, Green, and Pink, which color will
work the best for catching Trout at the R** Pond?

Hypothesis:

My favorite color of PowerBait to use fishing is the orange PowerBait. I will use orange and two other colors. The most popular color and most commonly used PowerBait is green. I will randomly choose another color and test all three colors against each other. I think orange will work the best!

Materials:

•Pink PowerBait • Green PowerBait • Orange PowerBait
• 3 Fishing Poles • 6 Pound Test Line • Sliding Sinkers
• Swivels • Hooks • Utah State Fishing License

Procedure:

With the help of my Grandpa, who has a two pole fishing license, I will fish with three different fishing poles in the Pond at the same time. Each fishing pole will have a different color of PowerBait on each hook. My Grandpa and I will fish for two hours and see which color of PowerBait catches the most Trout.

Research:

Data Table:

Results:

After my experiment I found that both pink and green caught
the most Trout. My favorite color to use,
orange, did not do the best.

Next Time:

Next time I will try my experiment with all three colors of PowerBait again, but I would test on a cloudy/overcast day and again when it is sunny. I wonder if the most successful color of PowerBait is different with the different types of weather.

Science Fair at School

Awarded from at the School

Went on to complete at District Level at Weber State University
Only students who took 1st, 2nd or 3rd place
were invited to the ceremony!

Invitation to the Awards Ceremony!

Awarded at District Level

Then Ry's project moved onto Regional Level
(W. School District and D. School District)
also at Weber State University!

At Regional Ry was awarded this fabulous wooden
plaque. We're not exactly sure why or what
it is for, lol....maybe 4th place? About six kids, in his
category_Zoology, were given paper certificates
(Excellence and Honorable Mention) before he was called.
Then Ry and one other kid was called up and
given this "plaque award"....then they gave out 3rd, 2nd,
and 1st place (wooden plaque with prize money). He was thrilled
with the award and Joel and I are thrilled the
Science Fair is finally over ;) Ry went as high as they
can compete at the Elementary Level.

I am so proud of him. It was totally unexpected that he would
continue to move up with his PowerBait experiment.
I can say that Ry is VERY passionate about
fishing and is a complete charmer ;)

CONGRATULATIONS RY!

Bribery Works!

Last year I let Ky dye a purple stripe in her hair.......she loved it, mom_not so much, but I did get use to it. Within a few months the purple started to fade......to a perfect brown, which I liked, her_not so much. She was CONSTANTLY asking for it to be redone. That's when "I'll make ya a deal" came in handy! We started "I'll make ya a deal" with Ry when he was WAY young......it back fired, I wouldn't recommend starting it ;) However, it did pay off in this circumstance. If Ky did this, that, and the other, I would take her back to Staci to have the same piece of hair colored again, AFTER spring pictures!

Well, she actually stuck to it and the Saturday after spring pictures we went back to Staci's. This time it is more of a bright pink...kind of. It's hard to see the color real good in this picture, we were outside leaving Staci's and the wind was blowing like CrAzY!

The bold color thing has really grown on me_it totally fit's her spunky personality :) Once school gets out she wants to try something a little bolder. I wonder what I can get out of her this time.....hmm, I'm going to have to start thinking about this one!

I just wanted to share. . .

It's late.....or should I say very early, 1:49am. The kids have been asleep for hours, Joel is downstairs attending his co-workers weekly Modern Warfare party via x-box online, and I am propped up against my headboard blog surfing. I usually start on the same blog every week and then randomly surf from there.

A little while ago I came across a "Mommy Blogger" that, as she called it, was having a "Pity Party". Though she didn't go into detail about the drama in her life, she posted quotes and pictures that she thought would help her get through it. I LOVED this quote she posted and wanted to share, even if it's just to myself to serve as a reminder :)

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.”
- Charles Swindoll

After reading this quote I went and Googled Charles Swindoll, I'd never heard of him before. I found that Charles Swindoll is a Christian Pastor who has written several books, has numerous YouTube videos (I do love YouTube!) and has made quite a name for himself in the Christian Community. I simply love the quote and plan on enlarging it and posting it on my frig......hopefully my kids will read it a few times!

Friday Confessional. . .

1. I confess that I am still morning BYU's loss from last night.......STUPID Florida Gators! I'm sad that there will be no more Jimmer (at least for BYU) and that there is no more March Madness this year! (for me anyway.......STUPID Gators!).

2. I confess that I used to be totally organized...I think it would be nice to go back to being organized, but I'm totally lacking in the motivation department right now. Maybe once summer starts....and I'm totally done with the PTA presidency, totally done working at the school (I'm not going back next year to teach FAME), and cut back working for Brent a little until the end of summer.....I might have time to find a little motivation. . . . . maybe.

(and maybe I'll stop using the word totally......because, after reading through my random thought, I realized that I TOTALLY used the word totally to often, oh well......I totally don't care;)

3. I confess that I'm a little worried about my brother. Brent is attempting to run his first 5k tomorrow morning. Yes, he decided last weekend that it might be fun to give it a try. Not only am I worried about him hurting himself, being able to finish it, and completely embarrassing himself, but I am also worried that he has completely lost his freaking mind! The ONLY good reason to run like that, in my opinion, is if your being chased and your scared for your life! Brent, GOOD LUCK TOMORROW and, just thinking worst case scenario for a moment, if/when you kill yourself tomorrow, will I still have a job on Monday morning? ;)

* UPDATE - Brent did great! He finish in just under 27 minutes! *

March Memories

The Bon Jovi concert was freaking fabulous! Amy invited me to go with her and Courtney, a friend from California, and her sister-in-law, Melissa. All very funny ladies! It just doesn't get any better than a GNO with a side of smok'n hot Bon Jovi ;)

Every few months my Mom invites all of the girls, from the Slater side of the family, over for lunch. Last Saturday, after getting my hair cut and colored (LOVE IT! Thanks Staci), Ky and I headed to Bountiful. Ky only goes with my every other time, or so....
(she'll go again when she forgets how bored she was the last time she went ;)

I love visiting with her on the drive to Bountiful and back. She says the silliest things while trying to prove that she is so much smarter than her old Mom...and, sadly, most days I'm
NOT smarter than a 4th grader, lol!

It was great visiting with those that could make it, and when the conversation left my comfort zone......don't ask (shaking my head ;).......I started taking pictures! Susie was being mean, Ky wouldn't cooperate, and Haylee tried to break my nose.....but at least my hair looked great, lol!

(In attendance: Aunt Shirley, Aunt Nola, Charlotte, Michelle, Cindy, Linda, Susie, Haylee, Mom, Me and Ky)

Then there was Ky's class field trip to the
Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.

hour drive there
+
hour drive around the refuge

+
hour drive home
----------------------------------
BUS SICK!

The entire bus ride home, while Kelly F. and Colleen S. were talking to me, all I could think was...."don't throw up....breath in slowly....breath out slowly".

Ky had a great time with her classmates and they all learned a lot interesting facts about Utah Wild Life....... The best part for me was getting to check it off my bucket list!

Afterward I took Ky and a 3 of her friends and met up with Susie, Bodee and Haylee at IHOP, after all it was FREE PANCAKE DAY! While we were there the girls had their picture taken with
Miss Roy -which they loved-, free pancake day only cost me $15 -which I loved- and on top off all of that, I was the cool Mom for a brief moment! Woo-Hoo!

And another one. . .

It's going on 4 weeks since I left my Mom unattended in
my house. . . .and we're still finding those stupid U's!

Oh, revenge is going to be so sweet!
(and the best part is...it's totally fat free;)

Friday Confessional. . .

Oops. . . . It looks like I clicked "save now" instead of "publish post" last Friday.

1. I confess that I am, SO VERY GLAD, that (as Ky calls it) "mom goes crazy day" a.k.a. spring picture day is over! Today was spring picture day at school and the last picture day of the year. Picture days stress me out. . . WAY more than it should.

2. I confess that last Tuesday night I burnt a pound of hamburger. . . twice while watching You-Tube videos with Ry. I told him 3 strikes and I'm (going) out ;) However, by the time I started on the third pound of hamburger, Ky and Joel came up to open a few windows and to take over cooking dinner. I told Joel it was my plan all a long, to burn two pound of hamburger, so he would come up and cook dinner for me. . . . that's my story and I'm sticking to it, lol!

3. I confess that I like Glee! I'm not sure why I feel the need to make that a confession, but I do. I shouldn't be embarrassed about it, but I am. What's not to love about a slutty show that randomly breaks into song? It's a great show to watch in the middle of the night while everyone is sleeping. . . It makes me laugh! I've been exhausted lately so my Glee collection is starting to pile up on my DVR, but no worries, I'll get them soon!

I just wanted to say....

Another "U". . .

(Back Basement Window)

Yep. . . .they are still showing up! I just want to make sure my Dad and Mom know that we are keeping track of all of these NOT SO pretty U's (even though Ry is destroying them) and we can't wait to show your show all of your neighbors up on "Ute Hill" that you really bleed blue. Maybe Dad should re-think going back to work so soon. . . . all that traveling might be bad ;)

Ute Hill will soon know that Scott and Deb
are really closet BYU COUGAR fans!!

** Dad, maybe you can teach them how to Jimmer!"

Monday Memoirs. . . .

Our First Home

One day last week, while in Riverdale, Joel and I took a minute to drive by the mobile home that we bought together before we were married. Joel and our black teacup poodle, Sadie, moved in right away and 2 months later I moved in after we were married. The original asking price 15 years ago was $12,000, after putting $4,000 down, we took a loan out for $8,000. Almost exactly one year later, after completely painting the outside and upgrading a lot on the inside, we sold it for $24,500.00. It was a great investment to help with the down payment on the new house we still live in today.

One Friday evening I put a for sale sign in the kitchen window and buy Saturday night. . . .the every next day. . . . we had an offer for the exact price we were asking. Joel and I were shocked that it sold that fast, especially because we didn't have anywhere to go :/ We thought we would put the sign up and have plenty of time to look for a house. . . . .boy, we were wrong! Thankfully my parents were thrilled to have us move in while we looked for a house. So, within two and 1/2 weeks of putting that sign in the kitchen window, we were living in my parents basement and using every waking moment that we weren't working to look for a house.

We originally put money down on a different lot here in Roy and signed to build with Nilson Homes but after watching the same floor plan be built two lots down from ours, we decided that it was going to be too small. . . it only had two bedrooms and one bathroom finished and the one bathroom was EXTREMELY small. So, we backed out while we could, got our money back, and continued to look. Several weeks later we found the house we ended up buying --- with three bedrooms and two huge bathrooms finished, for about the same price and I love my master bathroom! It was due to be finished within a couple of weeks and we were thrilled not to have to go through the entire building process. We ending up closing on the loan on October 17, 1997. . . two weeks before my 21st birthday. The house was plenty big for just the two of us. . . . the "perfect starter house". Three months later we found out I was pregnant with Ry and, as of Sept. 4, 1998, our "perfect starter house" became to small ;)

Grandpa Slater & the Utah State Capitol

~ Utah State Capitol Rotunda ~
(For my Journal)

"The building's second floor, often referred to as the main floor, has retained much of its historic appearance over the years. This floor also serves as the first level of the three-story-tall rotunda and atrium area. The rotunda is directly in the center of the building, under the dome. The interior ceiling of the dome, which reaches 165 feet (50 m) above the floor, includes a large painting by artist William Slater. The mural includes seagulls flying amongst clouds, and was choose because the California gull is Utah's official state bird and represents the Miracle of the gulls from Utah's history."

-- Utah State Capitol Guide Book

"In the spring of 1934, I joined the Painter's Union and went to work for the Floyd Dern Decorating Company. I painted the State Capitol inside the dome where the seagulls show. Two fellows were supposed to help me on the high dome, however, they would not go out on the scaffold after I erected it. So I did all the work and they played cards. It was a t.m. job, so Dern did not care how long it took. I was painting at the capitol for about one month while finishing the dome. I was made foreman for painting the rest of the capitol building. I also painted Success Markets, Z.C.M.I., Federal Reserve Bank, Auerbachs, and other places. . . .

--The Life and Times of William Earl Slater
Written by: William Earl Slater, Complied and Typed by: (Aunt) Lynne Slater Turner

Grandpa & Grandma Slater in 1934

William Earl Slater (1/31/1906 -- 12/13/1986)
Emma Maudella Merritt Slater (? -- 9/10/1972)

~ Grandpa as I remember him ~

Ky's Field Trip. . .

Last month I went with Ky's 4th grade class on a field trip.
After a very long bus ride to Salt Lake, we started at the Utah Pioneer Museum.

Once we completed the worksheet on all four levels of the museum, the class
walked across the street to the Utah State Capitol.
In my group was Ky, Anna, Aubree, Cheyenne, Angelica, and McKayla.
(going from left to right in bottom right hand corner)

At the State Capitol we ate lunch and then began our tour of the building.

Once I walked into Ky's class and saw Payton's mom, Mitzi, was going with us,
the outlook of my day completely changed. With a partner in crime,
maybe the field trip wouldn't be so bad after all.
I'm proud to say that the only ones that kept getting
"the look" during the tour were Mitzi and I. . . Oh well, you live once, right!
Who knew laughing in the state capitol would echo so much. geez. . . ;)
However, the kids did great and, because they have been learning so much about the State of Utah this year, they really seemed to enjoy it.

During the tour Ky got to tell all of her class about her
Great Grandpa William Earl Slater, my Mom's Dad. Grandpa Slater is
the artist that painted the beautiful scenery at the top of the rotunda.

(See Grandpa Slater & the Utah State Capitol)

Ry also told his class all about Grandpa Slater a few years ago
when he went on the same field trip while in Mrs. Heaton's class.
The state capitol tour is a 4th grade tradition.

On the way back to the bus I double dog dared Mitzi to jump up,
climb over the lion, and into his paws. Who knew she would actually do it, lol.
It's very cute and all of the kids got kick out of it. . . even Payton, luckily!
However, I'm not sure Mitzi and I will be allowed to go on field trips
together again. . . .the other teacher with us was not to pleased with our behavior :/

Ry's Flies

Over the last year Ry has gotten pretty
darn good at tying flies for fly fishing!

Girls Night Out!

Let the countdown begin. . . .

15th Wedding Annivesary

On Wednesday evening we spent drove down and

spent our first night in St. George. We felt honored to be able to stay in my
Dad's room while we were there. . . .
Yes, my Dad does go to St. George enough, for work, that he has
his own room at the Comfort Suites in St. George.

Thursday morning, Feb. 24th,
-- on our 15th Wedding Anniversary --
we drove into Las Vegas.

(it was very windy. . . .not good "hair" picture weather, so it's just the sign)

While in Vegas for 3 nights, we stayed at the Mandalay Bay.
We stayed in a mini-suite that was absolutely FABULOUS!

That night we went to see the Lion King!
We had awesome tickets, sat on the second row.
I love, love, loved it . . . .Joel, not so much (good thing he loves me oodles ;)
No, the pictures from the show I did not take myself.
At the Lion King they ask, very nicely, that you don't
take pictures during the show. The costumes were amazing though
so I wanted a picture for blog/journal.

Next day we drove over to THE Pawn Shop!
I don't watch much TV, but I do enjoy watching Pawn Stars. . .
Who doesn't love Chumlee?
We are not sure why, but while we were there the guy helping us
took this picture over to the window, had "the guys" sign it, and gave it to us!
They didn't do it for the other fifty, or so, people in the store :)
Right after we got it, they kicked everybody out of the store so
they could start filming. . . . Chumlee did come out right before we left.

The marker was still drying on picture as we were walking out of the store with it!
We bought Ry a poker chip from the actual pawn shop part
of the store and then bought T-Shirts for both of the kids
in the "Pawn Stars" merchandise part of the store.
I think they make more money selling the crap with their logos, names,
etc., on stuff then they do from the pawn store.

I'll scan the autographed picture and post it soon. This picture was
taken with my iPhone in the car to email to the kids.

That night we went to see Criss Angel. . . it was interesting, that's for sure!
I also didn't take pictures at this show. . . . because they,
basically, threaten to eat your first born child if you do ;)
They take the no camera thing VERY SERIOUSLY and
don't even pretend to be nice about it!

We had terrible tickets, but thanks to the drunk guy, that caused a huge scene,
the ushers moved us up closer! It was a pretty sweet deal :)
After the show got out, around 11pm, we walked to the other end of the strip.
It's people watching at it's best, until you realize how far you walked. . . .that's
when taxi's become very convenient!

If you hate watching, or listening, to people throw up. . . .don't go the 9:30pm shows in Vegas and try to make it back to your room, and be sound asleep, before your drunk neighbors get back! The guys that could hold their liquor were endlessly harassing --very loudly-- the poor guy that couldn't. He started puking in the hall and continued for hours! Ear plugs at the gift shop come in handy if you don't make it back in time. . . . just a F.Y.I. ;0)

The next day we made our required stop at Margaritaville :)
I would be written out of my parent's will, for the final time, if we didn't
make an appearance for a "cheeseburger in paradise". It's just
happens to be really good food, so I don't mind! We also continued to look for
the pink leather, knock off, purse Ky wanted. We finally found it, after hours of
walking up and down the strip, at the outlet mall that afternoon.

I can only take so much Vegas. . . so, that night, we decided to drive off
of the strip to go see a movie. We went to see Hall Pass. . . .VERY FUNNY!

Sunday morning we got up and drove home. Saturday I started missing our kids
and by Sunday I was completely home sick. . . . it was time to be home!
Joel and I had a FABULOUS time and I look forward to when we
can get away for another 4 nights. . . . hopefully it won't
take another 15 years ;)

Friday Confessional. . . .

1. I confess that even though Joel and I have been home from Las Vegas for over two weeks now, we are still finding "U's" (logo for the University of Utah) all over the house. My mom said she thought there were only 10. . . . I disagree, I know we have found many more and she giggles when I tell her were we found another one. I even had a neighbor ask me why we had red U's all over the house when we are BYU fans. I had to explain that my parents though they were pretty clever while they were at my house alone. My parents came to stay at our house with our kids so that Ry and Ky could continue with school, friends, tumbling, choir, etc. Apparently they got bored during the day, while the kids were at school, and had too much time on their hands. Next time I'll leave them more laundry to do ;)

The U's were everywhere! They were in lamps, doors, many windows, top of shelves, mirrors, and, I'm sure, there's more to be found :)

2. I confess that I have always bought what ever laundry softener is on sale or a regular generic one. . . . .laundry softener is laundry softener after all, right? NO! I was terribly wrong --I know your shocked, right?-- During the week I have been taking a load of laundry with me to work, it's the only way I can stay on top of it and luckily my boss is pretty fabulous :) While at Brent's, for our annual superbowl party, he came out with this big reddish/pink bottle of ultra downy fabric softener. He was pretty excited about how great it smelled and was walking around having everyone sniff it. . . . Yes, Brent does do all of the laundry at his house and. . . . yes, we do get excited easily in my family, lol. The first time I did a load of laundry at his house I had to try it out. . . . . I'm hooked! It really does pay to buy the best of the best fabric softener. The clothes come out sooo soft and just all around completely better, who would've thought ;)

3. I confess that I love lazy Friday nights! The kids are downstairs watching a movie together, a good one apparently --- I have yet to hear any name calling, I'm sitting in bed with my laptop blogging, Joel is next to me reading a book and both dogs are sound asleep on the floor next to us. Life is good!

Friday Confessional. . . .

1. I confess that I am writing my first confessional at work :) I just got back from the accountants office, who entered all of the yucky year end general entries for me, and now I have to back everything up. It's going way to slow and basically I'm bored. I should also confess during this confessional that I don't feel a least bit guilty about slacking a little today, lol :) Brent totally threw me under the bus today -asking me to babysit his friends 20 month old little girl while working-- and even though, thanks to Vera, it's not been bad at all --I still have to tease him about it!

(: That being said....I need to go back to work and finish this later :)

MUCH, MUCH LATER. . . .

2. I confess that I think that cruise control was the greatest invention ever made, I use it all of the time. Without it I would constantly be being pulled over and/or would have lost my license by now. My neighbor once asked me if I thought that Dale Earnhardt was my guardian angel, because you should never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly.....YES, YES, I DO ;) I drove more than half of the way home from Las Vegas last weekend (Joel drives WAY too slow) and I'm proud to say that I made it, with two stops, in just over 4 hours....I was ready to be home after 4 nights away from my kids!

3. I confess that, even though it can be really annoying, I think it's cute that Fisher has panic attacks when Ry's not home to go to bed with him. Ry went with the scouts tonight to do their klondike campout......which means they go up into the mountains, into the snow, build some kind of snow hunt thingy, and then sleep in it. Sounds like A LOT of fun. . . . .NOT! (Why anyone would intentionally go and sleep in the snow is beyond me.) Fisher is going completely nuts right now (11:52pm) looking all over, pacing the house, constantly wanting to go outside to look for him, just plain CrAzY!! As soon as I decided that I am done for the night, I will be giving Fisher half of a xanax! Yep, that's the only way anyone around here will be getting any sleep tonight :)