I still got it goin on!

Each year as I get older and wider....um...I mean wiser...I wonder if "I still got it goin on". There is one thing that I do each summer to make sure that I am still movin and groovin. I figure if I can still do this one activity, I am OK. Those extra pounds that accumulate each year have not hindered my ability to perform. The second that I am not able to accomplish this task...it is time to re-evaluate and figure out what changes I need to make for the coming year...possibly a fat farm admittance. :) What might this task be that could possibly evaluate my whole year and what is to become of my future? Take a looksie and you'll see something profound and life changing in this video. Make sure you are sitting down to take it all in.

Yeah...I still got it going on. If I can still hoist my body up out of the water being pulled by a boat, and actually enjoy it? It is all good. Hand me another brownie for I have proven myself worthy. It doesn't matter that for a week I literally felt as if I shredded every...single...muscle...in my body. But hey....that's what ibuprofen is for right? Bring...it...on!

Nathan the waterskiing whizz

Watching Nathan learn to water ski this summer brought back memories of when I was his age learning to water ski. Boy oh boy, was it quite the process. Back then, we had training ski's that my dad held the end of the rope in the boat so if I fell down he could let go of the rope so I wouldn't be dragged all over the lake. Well...let's just say that my dad was not the best at remembering to let go of the rope after I fell down. I drank a ton of the American Falls Reservoir while learning to ski, and that water is nasty. *shiver*

The videos downloaded wierd and I can't figure out how to move them around...so Nathan's first try is actually the second video down. He almost got up on his first try! And then it went downhill from there. A week later, we went out again and he gave it another go around. Those are the next videos. Enjoy!

Getting closer.....

7 attempts later...we have a winner! Good job Nathan!

Idaho Boatin...gotta love it!

Me and the boys made our annual trek to Idaho this summer. We had a great time. This post is dedicated to our boating adventures! I absolutely loved boating while we were growing up. Here are a bunch of pictures...My brother Rob wakeboarding

Wipe-out!

Brayden learning how to ski....he's up

and then he's down

My sister in law Sue...ummm...yeah...need I say more?

Aaron showing off in the Air-chair

Aaron wipin out in style

Justin wakeboarding

Rob and Justin and Da boat!

Jonathan "loving" the rocks on his feet

Jordan all decked out for tubing...Aaron along for the ride

Nathan and Aaron...getting ready to hold on for dear life. Nathan ended up with a bloody lip at the end of this ride. Good times.....Goooood times.

I "heart" Garage Sales

I have never been much of a garage saler type of gal. I have seen many "professional" garage salers in my neighborhood. I have always wondered what makes them get up early every Friday morning to go and scrounge the neighborhoods for sales so they can dig through someone's "junk" (the really serious ones check the newspaper beforehand!). Well my friends, I am not quite the "professional" garage saler, but my oponions have changed. My friend Robin has introduced me to this secret world of goodness and delight. There is nothing quite as thrilling as going to a garage sale and finding a kid treasure that is only 25 cents. "You'll sell me the whole bin of hot wheels cars for 5 bucks?" You bet. "Every book is only 50 cents each?" Hook me up! "My goodness...kids clothes for a quarter each?" Back my car up and I'll buy the whole table. Wow...I am no longer blind....for now I see. Garage Sales are a gift from heaven. I hit the jackpot one day last week and now Jonathan's (and part of Nathans) christmas is complete...all for under 20 bucks. I am feeling the garage sale love people. Here is a video of one of my purchases. I've already gotten my money's worth out of it. Five bucks for endless hours of entertainment? Priceless people...absolutely priceless!

Marriage on the horizon

Trent's dad has been dating a gal for a few weeks now, and he informed us last week that they are getting married. pause...shock... Wow...that is so...well...so.....fast. I swear it just feels like we just finished planning Brenda's funeral, and now we are on to a wedding. (it's only been 5 months) Sheesh!. Talk about switching gears. Her name is Debbie, and she is a really nice gal. (her ring is gorgeous!) We got together tonight with 4 of Debbies kids (youngest one just graduated highschool) to have dinner and meet each other. It was really odd/hard for me to be over at Brenda's house and not have her there with us, and to have another woman there. It's just....different. Not necessarily bad....just different. Her kids are a crack up and very nice, we did a lot of laughing. I found myself having to hold back a gush of tears several times throughout the night. It was just hard not having Brenda there, and I am still grieving. Just two days before Chris introduced us to Debbie, Nathan had my family go to Peach Tree, the restaurant that he went with grandma to, two days before she died for their "grandma" day. He ate the same meal, and we laughed and talked about Brenda. It was a special time. He wanted to play Five Crowns tonight like we always did with grandma, and he even asked to spend the night and play games with Gramps, but Chris and Debbie had some things they needed to do. I felt so bad for Nathan. He got in the van and mentioned how that was the first time in a long time (since Brenda died) that he wanted to spend the night and he probably wouldn't be able to for a very long time. (school starts this week)

Debbie's family seems to be tickled pink that she is remarrying. She has been divorced for 5 years, so they have had five years to prepare...we have had five months. We are excited for Chris, and we don't want him to be alone, and we are happy that he has found someone so great. He is blissfully happy and can think of nothing else other then spending every waking moment being with her, they are so huggy and kissy. He can not wait to get married. They had to push the wedding back to October 10th so her family can come to town. It has been an interesting experience watching a parent go through the dating process...there are some real "special" women out there...yikes!! I pray that I never have to go through that experience of having to date again. I think I'd rather be alone...at least for a good long while. Trent is so awesome...how would I ever find anyone as awesome as him? :)

*deep breath* Life is truly an emotional rollercoaster isn't it? I am so emotional tonight...thus typing this at 1:00 am. At least I had a good long gut wrenching sobbing session...that is good for the soul every now and then right? :) I am contemplating cleaning my carpets while everyone sleeps...might as well do something useful right?

Just Fortin around

Trent and Jonathan having some "fort" time. This is their version of building forts. Trent would tell Jonathan stories in the fort, and every now and then Jonathan would poke his head out to tell me what they were talking about. It is a very exciting time I tell ya. It is just so cute to watch.

Easter Egg-stravaganza!

Easter time has come and gone...so what does that mean? It is time to blog about it....after the fact. The problem with doing this by "memory" is that I can't remember all that much about it. It was practically TWO months ago. So...since my memory is not that great...I shall post many pictures documenting the day. The above picture is our Easter "baskets". A couple years ago I opted out of the whole basket thing (mainly because I cleaned the garage and threw away the baskets) and instead throwing some piles of fake grass down. Works beautifully.

My Peanut Butter "basket"

Nathan's bundle of nugget/sugar goodness AND a yo-yo, there has been a lot of "Around the worlds" and "Walking the Dog" moves goin on around here

Jonathan's shake and go car...Easter bunny had no idea how loud this thing is...and just how much Jonathan loves to shake it and watch it go...Excedrin anyone?

Trent's basket...nuggets and marshmallow eggs...he is easy to please

The Easter bunny left some hazelnut thingies and marshmallow eggs for Gramps at our house

This little egg opens...what is this I see in here?

Hmmm...something new...something sugary...

I Like it!! Jelly Beans are my new friends

Gramps brought stuff for us that the Easter Bunny left at his house. See's Candy. His Easter Bunny is wealthy. He brought "real" chocolate

Me and Da boyz

8 pictures later, Jonathan finally smiles!

My handsome boys

There ya have it. It looks like it was a good day. It must've been. Good thing I take pictures since I suffer from CRS. (Can't remember......Crap)

Utah or bust

I...am...outta here! Well at least Jonathan and I are. I am heading to Utah for a family reunion. It should be fun since I haven't seen some of these cousins since I was in middle school. They are hilarious. So...you all hold tight for a week or so and I'll catch ya later!

New Family Picture

As you can see, I posted a new family picture on the blog. Well...new if you count it was taken at Christmas. You can see that it is very similar to the year before because Jonathan is smiling up at Trent again. What a funny thing. A year in between, and the picture is basically the same. Too cute. I kept the old one on there too, because it is so precious how Jonathan loves sitting on his dads lap. Priceless.

Tender Moments

Wow...it has been quite the week. I have a lot to tell you all about, but I haven't quite had the time or energy yet to do it. Nathan had a "Grandma Day" with Brenda two days before she passed away. I'll write more about that later, but one of the things they did was play Monopoly. They loved that game. I, on the other hand, can do without that blasted game. WAY too long to play a round of that game. Give me Uno, Give me Sorry, give me any other game than that. Those two however, loved that game. Brenda went into the hospital that night, after a fun "grandma day", and they were never able to finish the game. In fact, after we came home from the hospital after Brenda passed away...there...on the table...was the unfinished Monopoly game. I have to say, that that was much harder for me to see, than seeing Brenda's body after she passed. It literally ripped my heart out to see that.

Anyways, since then, Nathan has been nagging us to play monopoly. Trent started a game with him on Sunday, until family showed up and they were never able to finish. Last night, at Nathan's game, while Nathan was in the dugout with Trent (it was Nathan's turn to sit out that inning, and Trent helps out in the dugout), Nathan became upset and cried, telling Trent something like, "You said you would play a game of monopoly, but we never finished it". yeah...stab us in the heart. This poor kid is grieving his grandma...big time. She has been a HUGE part of his life...his whole life. We even lived with them for 2 1/2 years. She has gone to every game, in every sport, yelling at the top of her lungs for Nathan.

So today, all of us took a "mental" health day and went and bought a monopoly game. While Jonathan napped, Trent, Nathan, and I played monopoly for 2 1/2 hours. Oh...my! It was kindof fun I have to admit, and Nathan is one sneaky fella talking me into things that I thought were good choices, but he was conning me the whole time! It was fun. The game is still on our table until we "officially" finish it.

Tonight as Nathan was going to bed, I walked in his room, and he was on his bed tacking up his crumpled up program from Brenda's memorial service up on his wall, right next to his head where he sleeps. That just about ripped my heart out. I found a new non-crumpled one and he hung that up. (just like the picture up on top) I have to say, that I have held it together pretty well, but after everyone was in bed tonight, I could not hold back the gut wrenching tears. My heart aches for my kids losing a grandma. A grandma that was such a HUGE part of their everyday lives. We all have great memories, and we will keep those alive. It just stinks...ya know? I can't get that picture out of my head, of Nathan lovingly hanging the program by the side of his bed. He has his sports heroes on the wall, he has many posters of his Book of Mormon heroes on the wall, and now he has his most favorite hero of all. His grandma. And because of that, Brenda...you are my hero too.

The Fah-bulous Four Generations

Brenda Kunz, Trent's mother, passed away on March 14, 2009. I'll write more about that after we get all the funeral preparations and things done. The funeral is on Saturday, so I'll fill you in next week. This picture was taken 5 days before she passed away. Trent and Brenda both have March birthdays, so GG (great grandma) came up for all the celebrations. We lived it up, and I am so grateful that we did. I am SO glad that I got them together to take this picture. It is just priceless now.

Ding Dong Doorbell WHAT?

Last night we thought it would be fun to leave a treat at my friends house. She introduced me to a new heavenly treat...Mini Cadberry milk chocolate Eggs. Oh my heavenly goodness! She mentioned how we could buy some and split the bag. I bought the bag a few days ago and continued to eat one every time I passed the bag before I had the chance to give her, her half. Oops...only a few left. So, instead of just giving it to her, we decided to Ding Dong Doorbell Ditch. Nathan was ECSTATIC!! He could hardly contain his excitement at doing such a crazy thing. The poor kid...guess his life is pretty boring. It was great fun as he rang the doorbell, jumped off the rock wall thingie, and into our van as we sped away. Good times. Gooood times.

I have never been very good at those little diddy's like, "What would a woodchuck, chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood" type of things. So in my effort to say Ding Dong Doorbell Ditch in my excited state, I mispoke one of the words.

Let's do a Ding Dong Doorbell B*****. Oops. Big difference between Ditch and B****. :) Dull moments around here? Never!

Cats and Kids

Cats and kids...kids and cats....what does that mean? Hours of entertainment for Jonathan. It was Deee-vine! It is so great to go to Idaho, because Jonathan is in love with their cat Jake. He chased him all over the place. Jake is an outside cat, but this week, he was loving all the inside activity. I bet he is traumatized after the week of being indoors now that he is banished back outside. Sue has 4 boys so Jonathan fits right in. I actually had time to read 3...yes I said, THREE books that week. Lovin that. Jonathan is feeding Jake above, and what am I doing in the background? Laying in front of the window in the sun. I use to do that every Sunday in front of those exact windows growing up. Good times...Gooood times.

My brother Rob playing with Jonathan

Aaron and Jonathan

Justin and Jonathan

I realized I didn't get any pictures with Jonathan and Jordan and Brayden. Oops..too busy reading I guess. The rest are some videos with the cat, and one is with Aaron pulling Jonathan around in the laundry basket, and pushing him on the scooter. Endless hours of free entertainment that I didn't have to provide. It was a beautiful thing. It was "almost" as beautiful as when Sue and I went to Cancun! I KNOW...that was AWESOME! What did we do on our girls only trip? Nothing...absolutely nothing. I was 6 months pregnant with Jonathan. We sat on our lounge chairs on the beach and read books for 7 days...literally...just sat around and read. We got in the water up to our ankles, and we did walk to a store (across the street) to buy souvenirs and get our Mexican vanilla...but that was about the extent of it. It was one of the best vacations I have ever been on....here is a photo...endless virgin strawberry coladas...it's still hard to believe we actually did something like that...

Thank heavens for cats and kids...at least while I am in Idaho that is.

Idaho

Jonathan and I at the Restaurant after a long day

I recently returned from a week long trip to Idaho for some rest and relaxation. It's the next best thing to laying on a beach drinkin pina coladas, but for 1/4 of the price. You do...whatcha gotta do. I flew into Salt Lake for my sisters baptism (long story). My sister Michelle picked Jonathan and I up, and we drove to Heber for the baptism. Jonathan was getting pretty antsy by then. We started out the day leaving for the airport at 7 am. It was now 3:00. It was the first time in years that all six of us siblings have been together. It was AWESOME! We went to a restaurant afterwards and had a good time. We all laughed. That is one thing my family have always been able to do...is laugh. We have some issues, but we can laugh about them. Or should I say that everyone else had a good time? By then, Jonathan was DONE! I spent most of the time walking around the restaurant entertaining a 20 month old, because it was butt cold outside. You know, the kind where your nose hairs freeze together? Just about that cold.

Scott and Keri, the "babies" of the family

My Mom and Dad, and of course Keri "crashing" the picture

My sister Kyndra and her baby

My sister Michelle and her husband Greg

After the restaurant we went to Kyndras house so Sue and Kyndra could get a quick cut from Keri, the Hair stylist.

Then we had to drive 3 hours up to my brothers house. We were exhausted by the time we pulled into the driveway at 10:00 that night. As I was getting everything situated and ready for bed, Sue played some basketball with Jonathan. Very cute.

Food, Family, and Fun

We had Chris and Brenda over for Sunday dinner (Jan. 11th). Brenda was feeling good enough to venture out of the house and go visiting, so we were ready to party. Here is our first family dinner we have had in a long time at our house. Nathan was gracious enough to show us his food. He is such a sharing type of boy. We had Creamy Italian Crock pot Chicken, one of our favorites. YUM!
What do we do at these family dinners? Well...we eat of course, and play some games. We got a new game for Christmas that you wear headbands and ask other people questions to figure out what is on your own headband. Easy right? Um....not really. I don't know if we are more of the easy Candyland type of game people or what, but it took some concentration on trying to remember what questions you asked, and how people answered. None of us could guess what was on our head. Huh...we pulled out the Chinese Checkers instead. Ahhh....more our style. Nice thought though Arlyn, we got a few good laughs out of our Christmas present.

Some of us sleep

Nathan caught Grandpa sleeping at the table after dinner. The Kunz's amaze me at how they can fall asleep any place, any time and anywhere!

And what does Jonathan do during these times?


Yeah...Jonathan has learned how to open up all of our doors. This particular door is to our closet that I converted into a pantry. Lots of jars of food and packages of things. A Toddlers dream closet.

The Best Day Ever

What was "The best Day Ever" according to Nathan? It was his 9th Birthday. Trents sister Sherida and her family (4 kids! and one on the way) made it into town for Christmas. They came over in the morning and played. We visited Grandma Kunz. We went to Wendy's where he ate 4 orders of chicken nuggets and a Frosty. (We love the $1 menu) Then we went bowling. Sherida's kids had never gone before so it was a real treat. Here is Nathan showing off his bowling moves.


The bowling alley had a cool little ramp thing that the ball went on so Trent could bowl. Trent beat everyone..."humbly" of course. Not! I wonder where Nathan gets his competitiveness from?

Grandpa Kunz gearing up for his turn

Sherida aka "The Pregnant Lady"Ross and ChristianMe and Jonathan. Notice all the wet spots on my shirt? I had just wrestled with Jonathan as he was throwing a ROYAL fit out in the van while I was trying to change a massive poopy diaper. My left hand had his ankles like a calf holding on for dear life as he arched and tried to roll, and poop was flying everywhere. He was hysterical, his cheeks are still red from the fit in this picture, and his head it all sweaty. The wet spots were where I literally had chunks of poop on my sweater. grrrrr! Even though I gave it a thorough washing in the bathroom it still smelled like poop, or maybe it was the poop underneath my FINGERNAILS! Poop and Vomit...story of my life I tell ya.

Eleri crashed on the floor. I wish I could do that

The final scores. Trent won with a score of 91. I had to remind him that he played with the kids so he beat a bunch of kids. Save the victory dance. :)Grandma's house for tacos.Opening presents. Trent always hated getting books for any holiday, so we had him open them first. Nathan was "gracious" and "acted" grateful.
Now this is what we're talkin about. He was much more excited about a Wii gameAnd yet another Wii game! Oh yeah! I found out my brother in law works for EA sports so we got great deals for birthday and christmas. Hallalujah!

Root beer Floats

Trent "showing" off.

Grandpa Kunz and his little hop kick type of bowling.

When I asked Nathan about his birthday, he told me "It was the best day ever". It doesn't get much better than that.