our trip

Remember how I said that I was itching for a trip?
We decided around midnight on Friday that we would go to...

We packed our stuff, took a quick power nap, and hit the road at 3:30 am.

On the road we saw 10 of these...(Idaho Falls Temple- so pretty and in such a beautiful location. I love it.)

We drove around Yellowstone Park and walked around the gysers and hot spots. Lots of bubbling mud, steaming water, and aurora of a lovely rotten egg smell. One little boy, in particular, love it...

Make that TWO boys...As we were driving through the park I saw SASQUATCH...aka BIG FOOT. Seriously, I saw him...I am NOT kidding. I even slightly screamed. He was standing in the road in front of my car. IT was as BIG as my car. He was brown and had a hunch back and furry...scary beyond all reason.Ok, so maybe it was a buffalo. BUT- I literally asked Trace, in a very confused voice, "WHAT in the world IS THAT??....BIG FOOT???" I blame my stupidity on the fact that I had been up since 3...with a couple of "in-the-car power naps." Or maybe I'm just naturally that way...you decide.
either way...It was a great trip.

It was such a nice break. We got to see a LOT of trees (alive and dead). We got to see some animals. Play at the Bear Lake beach. Each some good "vacation" food. And spend some quality time as a family! I loved it.

My sweet little Taralee

So the other day I forgot my phone at home. Well when I got back home from work this is what I found on my phone.

My sweet little Taralee thought she would be funny and take about 5 katrillion billion pictures of herself making goofy faces. So I told her I was going to do something funny back. But even when my wife makes a goofy face she is still so adorable. I love you Taralee:)

my little sister

Danica's reply to my previous post:

Flash forward to August 2002 and remember how mean you were to me during my freshman year? Your friends would even say hi to me and you just snubbed me like I have no idea who that is! Guess it toughened me up in the long run!

I think a public apology would help soften her heart...

My Dearest little sister Danica,

Please forgive me for being such a mean older sister in High School. After all...it WAS 7 years ago.

LOVE YOU.

Taralee

school day

Flash back to August something or other in 1999.

I was a soon to be freshman at Show Low High School.
I had done ALL my school clothes shopping with my money that I earned from selling hay in 112 degree heat at a auction on the outskirts of Hel...I mean Holbrook.
The night before school started I picked out my "first day of school" outfit: Silver jeans, a T-shirt of some sort, and Doc Martin sandals. I was styling and lookin dang G-double O-D, good!
Had my 5 star folders, pencils, paper, pens, and backpack all stocked up and ready to go.
Set my alarm to wake up in enough time to try to straighten my hair by running a curling iron through my fluffy hair. (never worked, but at least I tried.)
Also gave myself enough time to make sure that I was ready before BOTH of my older brothers so that I could beat at least one of them to their vehicle....to ensure that I had a ride to school.
I also prepared myself for the pep assembly and the "Cougar Fight Song" challenge...and how they always booed the little freshmen when they didn't PROUDLY yell out all the words.

Back in the day I was prepared and excited for school. The friends, the practices, the games, the trips, and a little learning here and there.

Flash forward a good 10 years.

I still get the "first day of school" jitters. There is still the crisp August morning air. The excitement of new classes and teachers. The chance of making a new friend. HOWEVER...

I am the wife and mother to two special boys.
I work part-time at a lovely electric company.
I do not have a new outfit to wear to school tomorrow.
I have a straightener that conquers my fluffy hair with ease.
I will grab my back pack in the morning and hope that there is a least one pencil in there.
I will drive myself to school via the scooter or the "Rola" AND
I go to school with two desires...
1. To survive
and then
2. Graduate in approximately 8.5 months.

There is no "fight song challenge" to get me pumped up...but the support from my fun-loving husband and husky little boy is enough to rally me through to the end! Here's to a good semester.

stretchy pants

Seriously...who rips out stretchy pants?

I'll tell you who.

A VERY busy and chubby 2 year old boy that can't hold still for 2 minutes.

That's who.

our new ride

Can I just tell you how much I HEART this... [-------------------------------THIS MUCH------------------------------] x 3 million times.

And I look pretty darn cool driving it.

I couldn't resist

Just some more pictures of my little cowboy.
I can't get enough of him...
so I figure maybe YOU can't get enough of him either. This is Charlie...his horse. Cause every cowboy needs a horse.

playing & enjoying it

I'm 1/2 way through my "summer break". Here are a few things that I've done:

1. Went to the park at least once a day with Brody.
2. I taught him how to climb the little rock wall & walk across the balance beam. AND when I set him on the swing he automatically says "OUT and IN" as he tries to pump his little legs.
3. Brodster and I chased each other around with flashlights in the dark basement. He LOVED it.
4. Rode stick horses up and down the stairs, around the table, and around and around the couch.
5. Made cookies. He broke the eggs ever so gently by squeezing them with both hands. I got most of the shells out. He also loved to destroy my neatly packed cup of brown sugar with his small pointer finger. He helped himself to a handful of chocolate chips.
6. Cleaned out all the junk from 3 closets, 2 bathrooms, and a couple of drawers. (I'm taking baby steps people.)
7. Vacuumed the blinds. Brody hates the vacuum so he sat in the LovSac and pouted while I cleaned.
8. We went up the canyon, built a fire, had tin foil dinners, smores, and some good laughs. Brody tried to tackle a rock...the rock won. He tried to slide down a hill on his back...and got a diaper full of dirt. He tried to dive through some thick brush and came out with only 1 large scratch across his forehead. We also saw a doe, a deer.
9. Brody and I took a little bike ride around the neighborhood. I tried to go up a mountain but died about 1/3 the way up. That kid is heavy + I am out of shape. Maybe next week we'll make it up the WHOLE way....maybe.
10. Worked a bunch of extra hours at work. Hooray for a BIG(ger) paycheck. BOO for extra hours at the job.
11. Got my foot x-rayed and I can "legally" not wear my boot. It is about 80% better and already feels a million times better.
12. Watched the Notebook late at night and cuddled with Trace.
13. Paid some bills and got slightly stressed out.
14. Cleaned my house to relieve the stress.
15. Read a stack of books to Brody...daily. He loves books with animals. Any animal. He loves to find where the mouse is hiding in the "Goodnight Moon" book.
16. Love not having the stress of school duties and the freedom of having nothing to do when Brody goes to bed. LOVE it.

So my "vacation" week is coming to an end. Hopefully I can find a few more things to keep me and my family entertained. I have a HUGE itch for a trip.

Seriously...a cowboy

We take this cowboy stuff seriously.

summer break

We just finished our FINALS.
Exercise Physiology kicked my hind end. Why does a PE teacher need to know HOW the body works? All I care about is the outcome. I don't care about fuel sources, or ADP & ATP, or the KREBS cycle, or the Sliding Filament theory. I can honestly say that I will never (most likely) ever teach that in my Physical Education classroom when I am teaching how to through a ball or dance or dunk (because I can dunk).
Trace also got his world rocked by the GEOLOGY class. He as well does not care how volcanoes form, or the cause of earthquakes, or what % of water covers the earth. I mean honestly, is he EVER going to use that when he is climbing poles to fix an outage? Most likely not.
My point= schools require too many dumb "general" classes to get a degree in what you really want to do. Seriously-cut the crap.
On that wonderful note, I have 22 credits in the Fall and then I do my student teaching in the Spring. So that means I'll be graduated in approx. 8 months.

Ok, and that brings me to my second point. We have a week off (from school, not work.) WHAT SHOULD WE DO?

1. Yellowstone.
2. Lagoon.
3. Camping.
4. Hike to the Timp. cave.
5. YOUR IDEAS?
6. California would be awesome.
7. Arizona would be even more awesome.