Friday Confessional. . .

I confess that I wish my brother-in-law, Ryan, would start thinking "What would Heidi want??" Yep, I think when he is testing for the various Police Departments...he should stop...and think...what would Heidi want. Would Heidi want to go all way down to AMERICAN FORK to see her sister? NO, she would not...so I better not apply for a job clear down in AMERICAN FORK ;) Geesh, sometimes people only think of themselves...lol. I'm kidding, I know that they need to go where the work is, but it makes me sad to think that they could/would live that far away. My Mom and Dad already moved to Alaska (a.k.a. Bountiful) and now there is a chance that Sister could end up in Antarctica (a.k.a. American Fork). It's just wrong I tell ya!

It's okay Doozer, we will just have to meet in the middle for our weekly lunch dates! How does Kaysville-ish sound to you ;)

I confess that I'm freaking out that we are going to owe on our tax returns this year...it's just NOT RIGHT! (We don't say it isn't fair around here, we say..."it's just not right"...because like I tell my kids, life isn't fair...fair is where you take your pig and win a prize - LOL, they get so mad at me when they try to tell me something isn't fair :) OH...AND ON TOP OF THAT...My sister is getting enough back on her taxes to feed a small country...yes, feed the entire country for at LEAST a year...and she STILL won't buy me tickets to go see the Nickelback, Bush, Seether & My Darkest Days concert!! MEANIE HEAD :P Geesh, See what I have to live with? ;)

I confess that the 18 yr. old kid that tried to blow up the local High School lives in my neighborhood...it's SO sad and kind of creepy at the same time. He's always been a shy kid, a recluse, but I never once thought that he was crazy...and trust me, we've had crazies over here! His Dad and Mom are both amazing people and my heart is breaking for his sister who his a sophomore at the same High School. He was released from jail today on a $100,000.00 bail and since his release there has been various police officers sitting in their cars watching his house.

--AND LAST...but not least--

I confess that something has died in my car! Not only died, but died and fermented. I just know that there is some creature/thing out there that is sad and missing it's loved one.....and I'm sure it's their loved one is what died in my car. I have completely emptied it...the trunk, under the seats, in the glove compartment...everywhere is clean and it STILL STINKS! At this point I am offering a reward to whoever can figure out what the heck that smell is!! There could be some good money in it for the brave soul that can figure it out!

Wordless Wednesday. . .

Zion National Park - Fall 2007

December

Joel and I took Ry and his friend, Dustin, to see a pre-season Jazz game.

Although I remember it was an amazing game...I can't, for the life of me, remember who they played against that night.

Bianca came home from her mission!

She is now headed to BYU Idaho with her cute boyfriend...who she met while he was serving the same mission. He called her Mom to arrange to be in Utah for her homecoming. Once he found out that she applied for BYU Idaho, he did too! So sweet!

I hear wedding bells in their future :)

We froze our bahookies off, TWICE, watching Ky perform with her school choir. Brrr! It gives me chills just thinking about how cold we were that night.

While walking into Target, on the day before Christmas Eve, my sister-in-law, Christi, called me and asked if I knew who was shopping at Riverdale Target...After looking around the parking lot for her, I said "I am". She started laughing and told me to hurry into the woman's department because Julianne Hough and her brother, Derek, were in there shopping. It was totally awesome! They are both extremely beautiful people. The shocker was that NOBODY else recognized them until they were walking out...then another looked at us and said "Is that who I think it is?"...at this point they new they had been discovered and quickly got into a big ugly van. It looked like they were going to redecorate a room for a little girl. Yes, Christi and I went into total stocker mode...it was completely awkward but we totally didn't care!

Christmas Eve is always a crazy day for us. Both sides of our families celebrate on Christmas Eve. We begin with Joel's side of the family and end with my side of the family.

Judd, Joel's brother seen above, has already broken up with the girl he's in the picture with above...but I'm to lazy to redo my collage :) I purposely don't get involved anymore...I got way to attached to a previous girlfriend and it seemed their breakup was harder on me then it was on Judd ;( Now I see why single parents worry about their kids getting attached.

One of my kids favorite traditions is the candy bar game that we play with my family on Christmas Eve. It gets intense!

Christmas Morning Madness!

Ry's favorites -- Snowboard (Boots, Bindings, Helmet...etc),

Shot Gun, and his Android Phone

Ky's favorites -- Kindle Fire, Bike, Rollerblade's, Small Refrigerator (don't ask)

and her Android Phone

On Christmas day we visited with Joel's Grandparents, Parents, Aunts and Uncles and then headed up to the Terrace to see my Grandparents... after-which it was home for NAP TIME! Later that evening we went to the movie..."The Zoo"...with my parents and Susie, Ryan and Bodee. The Zoo is, hands down, one of the best movies I've seen lately...and trust me, We've seen a lot--I love going to the movies! All and all it was a great Christmas :)

Jazz vs Timberwolves

Friday Confessional. . .

I confess that I have missed seeing my husband this week. KSL is partnering with Rentler and they are launching a new product this week in the homes section. Joel has been working 14-16 hour days with the Rentler crew every day this week to try to get it launched. For example, Thursday he worked from 7am until early this morning...he got home around 2:30am...and then after 4 hours of sleep, he went right back to work. It's been a similar situation every day this week. I'm not a good single parent...because I had to pick my battles, both kids got away with a lot this week!

Jason, the C.E.O from StruckAxiom and who's newest project is rentler.com, invited us to a launch party at the Struck office's on Wednesday night...definitely was an interesting event...which allowed me to go shopping for a new outfit and allowed me to see my husband awake for 2 hours that evening, two things that I love! (Being with Joel & Shopping...however, not always in that order...j/k ;) When I get a minute, the launch party...with a live Ninja and all...deserves a post all of it's own!

--AND THE CONFESSION MY ENTIRE FAMILY HAS BEEN WAITING FOR--

I, FINALLY, confess that I totally messed up when I bought tickets for my entire family to see Grease at Tuacahn earlier this year...over $800 worth of tickets! It was, as my nephew Colton called it, an epic fail. When I got to the ticket counter they could not find any reservation under my name or my address...after a little digging they discovered that I had bought tickets for the previous weekend...when, of course, we were not in St. George. It was ugly...I thought I was going to throw-up! The people at Tuacahn were FABULOUS! They found us other seats in the sold out crowd, yep...one here, one there, one over there, one way up there...etc. Ky and Colton were the only ones that got to sit together because Ky was too young to be by herself. It was super nice considering that could have just said,..."Wow, that sucks to be you!".

I was a wreck but luckily my family was great about the mess I had made...at least to my face ;) They just laughed at me, while I was crying, and...of course...fired me from making any future reservations. During intermission one of the sweet ladies that worked there came and found me. They had a few smaller groups not show so they let us move around a little. At least we were able to sit together for the last half of the show..not all together, but no one was sitting alone anymore!

I also messed up by letting the guys talk me out of going to see the little mermaid, our original plan was to see both shows that weekend. I heard that the little mermaid was 10X's better then Grease....oh well, live and learn.

I do have to say though....the reservation print-out was on Brent and Christi's office wall for at least 3 months before we went. They didn't catch it either :P

Holy Smokes...She's 29!

Happy Birthday Doozer!! Olive Garden was GREAT...the food was yummy and the laughs were just what we all needed! I hope you enjoyed your day off...BUT I also hope you gain 35 lbs from eating all of that fancy cake you wouldn't share :P

-- I can't believe my baby sister is 29! Her turning 30 next year will probably be harder on me than when I turned 30 myself...and I cried the entire day, it wasn't pretty! I HATE FEELING OLD!!

True Heroism. . .

Officers Shot While Serving Warrant

Members of the Weber-Morgan Narcotics Strike Force were attempting to serve a warrant about 8:40 p.m. on Jackson Ave, in Ogden, when a gun battle erupted. Six officers and the alleged gunman were shot. Ogden Police Officer, Jared Francom, was killed in the line of duty. The conditions of the five other injured officers range from serious to critical, according to the Ogden Police Department. Those injured were officers Shawn G., Kasey B., Weber County Sheriff's Sgt. Nate H., Michael R. and Agent Jason V.

I'll always remember the night of the shootings. Around 9:30pm I got a phone call from Susie saying, "There's a police shoot out going on in Ogden with the Narcotics Strike Force...That's Nate's group...I hope he's okay." Unfortunately, the next morning we saw on the news that Nate was indeed one of the officers involved in this horrific event.

Nate grew up several house up street from me but when you grow up in the...once a small..town of Uintah, everybody knows everybody is putting it mildly. Uintah is a tight knit group of families that all entertwine someway or another. I have numerous memories of Nate's dad, Dave, sitting on his old beat up motorcycle in our driveway while talking shop with my Dad about the Uintah Fire Department. Nate, Suzanne, or Michelle would eventually be sent down to collect their Dad.

KSL reported that --"Weber County Sheriff's Sgt. Nate H. was shot "several times" as he tried to help his fallen fellow officers..."-- However, I know...from the good ol' Uintah grapevine that is still running strong...that there's a lot more to the heroic events that took place that night. My prayers go out to Nate, and all of those involved, while they try to recover physically and emotionally from this event.

True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the courage to serve others at whatever cost. --Arthur Ashe

Nate, whether you believe it or not...You are the true definition of a hero!

Friday Confessional. . .

I confess that I wish my brother would stay away from plumbing commerical restaurants....either that or lay off one of the journeymen because I'm going to need a BIG raise ;)

I confess that I'm super surprised that the new/young Utah Jazz team are doing as well as they are. It's been a lot fun to watch...however, we totally should have won in OT against LA Wednesday night. I'm looking forward to taking my nephew and Ry to see the Kings (Jimmer) vs. Jazz later this month! Thanks Brent!

I confess that I think fuzzy cozy socks are the best invention EVER! I hate having cold feet. Once my feet get cold I can't seem to warm up. Sadly, I confess, I don't own a pair my own fuzzy cozy socks. Thank goodness my daughter loves them too because people...a.k.a. GRANDMA (Yes, my mother)...keeps buying them for her and NOT for me. At least she has plenty to share...OR to steal from ;)

I confess that my husband is being a MEANIE HEAD! He doesn't like my style of blogging...I don't care...still...I still don't care :P Right now he is leaning over my shoulder saying mean and negative things, lol. I think he should only say NICE POSITIVE things to his super fabulous wife!

-- Blah, Blah, Blah, he's still here saying MEAN things,lol...He should go play his XBOX and leave me and my blog alone :P OH, shucks...now he's moved on to poor Zoe and she can't even defend herself! He needs...(sigh)another...hobby. Oh good...after reading over my shoulder, he left to go be Martha Stewart and start his latest and greatest sewing project...I'm not going laugh (Okay, I am) but at least he's no longer bugging me ;)

-- OH...LAST ONE --

I confess that my husband is much more craftier than I am. Sewing, crochet, painting, drawing...Yes, that man I love is multi-talented! With everything he does Joel is a perfectionist and can take FOREVER to do something/anything.

EXAMPLE...It took him almost 3 hours to put Christmas lights up in our front room window. For a minute there I thought that he was going to break out the ruler and make sure each light was so many centimeters apart. It was funny. He's super cute and love watching him...and, of course, making fun of him too ;) Love you Bud! (*shaking head*...and people wonder why we don't put Christmas lights on our house.)

Wordless Wednesday...

A Day That Will Be Remembered....

Ogden Police Officer Jared Francom

Funeral services for slain Ogden Police Officer Jared Francom were held on Wednesday at the Ogden's Dee Events Center. Francom was killed in a gunfight during a Wednesday night drug raid at 3268 Jackson Ave. Five other officers were wounded, with two that remain in critical condition at an Ogden hospital and two in fair condition. Jared Francom, a seven-year veteran of the agency and a father with a wife and two young children.

Remembering him as a man who was devoted to his family, his job and the Dallas Cowboys, friends, family members and hundreds of law enforcement officers from across Utah and the U.S. said goodbye Wednesday to Ogden police officer Jared Francom.

An estimated 4,000 people attended the funeral at the Dee Events Center for Francom, who was killed in the line of duty. He was shot while serving a search warrant with the Weber-Morgan Narcotics Strike Force on Jan. 4 and died early the next morning.

A funeral procession traveled from the Dee Events Center to the Ogden City Cemetery where the interment took place. Francom's casket was carried on the back of an Ogden City Fire Department engine, which was draped in black. Francom was buried with full honors including a 21-gun salute, an aircraft flyover, and "final 10-42" call over the police radio signifying an end of watch.

An estimated 400 to 500 police vehicles, including dozens of motorcycle officers, were part of the procession. Thousands of U.S. flags lined the procession route. Residents also placed blue ribbons around the city in honor of Francom.

I went with Susie and her family to watch the funeral procession. It really was an amazing sight to see. There were thousands of people, young and old, there in attendance waving their American Flag to pay tribute to Officer Francom. I've never seen anything like it. We got to our spot on Harrison Blvd. about 12:30 and waited until around 2pm to see the procession headed our way. The motorcycle officers lead the way for the fire truck carrying Officer Francom followed by his family and then police cars from every city and county near and far...including several from out of state. Around 3pm, an hour after the procession had begun, the police cars could still be seen coming from miles and miles up the road.

Wordless Wednesday...

Christmas Eve PJ's ~ 2011

A Difficult Day

Tamara Sue (Turner) Slock, born September 28, 1962 in Yerington Nevada to Paul and Erlene (Lynne) Turner, passed away peacefully at home on December 29, 2011 with her family around her. Tami fought a valiant 14 year battle against ovarian cancer and never gave in to the many trials it threw her way, always living life to the fullest.

Tami worked for Eastern Airlines for three years and Continental Airlines for nineteen years in various jobs and loved the many opportunities it provided to see the world. She married Thomas Scott Hardy in 1979 and they had a son named Tory Skylar Hardy. They were later divorced. In 1995 she married her sweetheart, Fredrick Hendrick Slock, shortly before she was diagnosed with cancer and they traveled the world together. She also has a grandson, Tyrrell Hardy, who she loved dearly and took on some of her adventures.

Tami always had a smile for everyone and was known for her kindness, always going the extra mile. She never complained about her situation, was incredibly courageous and a hero to many. She will be deeply missed by all who loved her.

Tami is survived by her husband Fred, son Tory, grandson Tyrrell Hardy, sisters Linda Turner Vincent and Cindy Peterson (Brad) and her nieces and nephews. She will also be missed by her friends and a close and loving family of aunts, uncles, and cousins as well as Rudy and Lucy, her two Cairn terriers.

She is preceded in death by her mother and father.

Funeral Services and interment will be held at Leavitt's Mortuary located on 836 36th Street in Ogden on Tuesday, January 3rd 2011 at 11:00 am. Friends may visit Monday, January 2nd from 5 to 7 pm or one hour prior to the services on Tuesday.