Girlie's Outing

Tuesday, June 24- Thursday, June 26, 2008
St. George, Utah
1 Grandma, 3 Mommies, 7 Daughters = a LOT of GIRLS

We went to Tuacahn Amphitheater and saw Les Miserable and Sound of Music. It was a challenge having 7 children at the shows but the girls all did really well and we had a good time. During the days we spent our time swimming and swimming and swimming at the hotel pool. On our way home we stopped by the St. George Temple to see the visitors center and show the kids the beautiful temple grounds. It was a hot and tiring trip but it was really fun and will be a cherished memory for years to come! (thanks Mom for making this excursion possible!)

FATHER'S DAY

A father is always making his baby into a little woman. And when she is a woman he turns her back again. ~Enid Bagnold


had good intentions to post a Father's Day greeting before the big day, but who cares... our dad's don't read our blogs anyway :)
Either way we'd like to do shout-out to our wonderful fathers! We have been taught well by our dad's and owe so much to them. We love you! You're the best dads and grandpa's we could ever ask for!
Also, Tianna wants to tell her Dadda that he's the best thing in the world and she loves him so much! (if you couldn't tell by these pictures)
He's the best husband in the world too! We love and appreciate you Luke!

Of course we couldn't forget to recognize our Father in Heaven on this Father's Day occasion. He is the giver of life, love, and all of our happiness. We are truly blessed and thank God for all we have.

Now, a bit of an update of our adventures of the past week- It was our last week with Luke home during the days so we played quite a bit.
*14 mi. bike ride
* swimming (when it was probably still too chilly to do so, but we had fun anyway)
*a15.5 mi bike ride
* Mary went on 5 mi YW hike (while YW Secretary)
* Mary got a new calling- young womans Mia Maid adviser
*Cooked tinfoil dinners and roasted marshmallows on our barbecue
*Camped out in the backyard Sat. night because we couldn't go camping Friday. Luke had to work
* Luke's last night at Home Depot
* TIANNA WENT POTTY 3 TIMES in her BIG GIRL POTTY

New Job

I just want to congratulate Luke on his new job. He will start on the 16th and until then he is just finishing up at Home Depot. His new job will be working at a place called Juniper Systems who build rugged hand held computers for landscapers, sheep herders, etc. He's been waiting for a month now to find out whether he got it or not and finally had his final interview and job offer on Wednesday. We are so excited! For one thing... it's a DAY job so he won't have to work until all hours of the night and the best part is that it's in his field so it will be really beneficial for school. At the end of the summer they might hire him has a student engineer and then he can continue working during the school year.

My husband is amazing and works so hard. He truly deserves this job and I am so proud of him.
I will miss having our days together but it will be really nice to have evenings with him again.

Good Bye Home Depot You've been good to us, but it's time to let you go.

A little tired of driving from Logan to Price and back again...

As much as we LOVE our families and love spending time with them... We've had just about enough of that drive...

This weekend was Luke's cousin's wedding up here in LOGAN and it was sooo cool to actually have a family event in our neck of the woods. The only problem was... it happened to be the same weekend that my sister's baby, Harley, was being blessed in PRICE so we couldn't even enjoy not having to travel.
After the wedding and reception on Saturday we headed down there. Luckily Luke is still working at night so we didn't have to come home until Monday. That really helped to ease "really sick of driving" feeling.

Both events were really nice though. The wedding was beautiful and it was so much fun having Luke's mom stay with us Friday night. We just wished that we could have spent more time with her and do more than wave to his dad as we passed each other on the road when he was coming into Logan and we were leaving.

The blessing was awesome and it was a hilarious to see all of the GIRLS everywhere! My family has 9 granddaughters and ZERO grandsons. Plus their ward was having 4 baby blessings so there were children everywhere in that chapel... and yet, I'm pretty sure Tianna was the loudest and rowdiest of all during the blessings. : S She was just too excited being surrounded by all of her cousins I guess...
I do have to say though, she is an awesome traveler and I thank her for it!

But alas............. I think we've decide to opt out of traveling for a little while. Not only are we mentally tired of making that drive but our pockets don't like it either. I mean honestly, $4 a gallon?!

***
a little update on the parakeet ordeal...
We actually got pretty excited about having a pet so when he died after only 6 hours in our care we thought we'd buy one... until we talked to the pet store guy and he said it's like having a 2 year old for about 10 years. (we already have one of those, thank you) Plus, you can't ever leave them for more than a day (and from above message, it's obvious that's a no-go) so... we decided no bird for us. But, the funny thing is... we buried Hermon under a tree in our yard and now Tianna goes to that spot and points at the ground and says, "Bird." It's quite funny...
And the pet store guy told us how easily they can die of silly things... so now I don't feel quite as bad about killing him.

Busy As Ever

After several days of boo-hooing about how bored I would be once Cinderella was over with, Luke assured me that I will never be bored.
So far, he was right.
A week ago today we were in Castle Dale at Luke's youngest sister's high school graduation. Awwww... CONGRATS COURTNEY!
It was so much fun, but for me, it was short lived. I had to be back for the last two performances on Friday and Saturday, so my mom drove me home to Logan so Luke could stay with his family a little longer and so that she could see the show one more time.
It was great being with her... but I had to conquer one hurdle- being without Tianna over night! It was WEIRD! But... actually a nice little break. My mom and I talked until wee hours of the morning then woke up late, watched a movie, got a shake, then she had to leave. So I had an afternoon to do absolutely nothing. Again... it was weird. But it too was nice and relaxing! Then I headed off for my last and final night as a princess. *tear*
One really neat thing I will miss is getting to feel like Cinderella at Disneyland when the little girls got all dressed up and wanted their picture and/or autograph with Cinderella. It just melted my heart!

Meanwhile Luke and Tianna had a BLAST in Castle Dale. Aden and Tianna got BUSTED for climbing up to the computer. Somehow she even managed to log in!
Then of course, there was tubby-time. Check out dem hairdos! They played with the new baby horses and Laura's bunnies, and Luke found time with his dad to go shooting prairie dogs. I felt bad that he had to leave Saturday but I really did appreciate his presence on closing night.

Memorial Day was fun. Luke's bff, Blake Merrell, came to the last Sat. night and stayed up until Monday evening. He and a friend, Jamie, drove with us to Bear Lake. It was pouring rain all day long but it was still really fun. We randomly decided to see if her old institute teacher was at his cabin and he was so we played there for quite awhile. Then we had lunch and came home.


Since then.... we have been spending every day out in the yard. Work work work.... but it sure looks pretty! We clipped our tulip stubs (aww) and planted summer flowers all around them. Now if only we can keep the neighbor kids away!
Luke changed the location of some of our fence and did other manly chores like tilling the garden. Tonight we planted our vegetables and *crossing fingers* Hopefully we will have some nice goods later this summer!

Each night while Luke was at work (Home Depot) we took him dinner. It's been really busy so he's had to go in before dinner. Every time Tianna heads straight for the pop machines and sticks her hand in the slots, then she heads over to the broom and dustpan. His manager says she's hired!


One last random even of the week. I currently have a dead bird in a container on my kitchen counter. While in the yard today, a blue parakeet flew into our tree. Obviously not a native to the land, we decided to adopt him while advertising for his owners. I went to three stores before I found a suitable cage, bought the food, a toy etc. and got home to find him dead.
I feel HORRIBLE! He had water and apple, and what we thought was enough air.... and yet he is no more. His name was Herman...... and I just can't find it in my heart to dispose of him. Luke will have to when he gets home from work.

"All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother" ~Abraham Lincoln

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

We had a great weekend. Actually, we had two great weekends in a row. On the 3rd and 4th, Luke's family came up to see the show but unfortunately the camera never made it out of it's case. But thank you Peacock's and Grandma Lake for coming all the way up here to see the show and spend some time with us. We loved it and appreciated it!!

Then this weekend my parents came up for Cinderella. Luke's other grandma, Grandma Peacock, and his two aunts and two cousins also came to see the show! It was so nice of them!
On Mom's day we followed my parents down to my brother's house in South Jordan. Their little girl, Vittoria, just had another back surgery on Thursday (number 11) so it was really great to be able to see them. Awesome thing is, you would never know Vittoria had just had surgery! She is such an amazing little trooper! And so are her parents!

I love being a wife and mother............... It's the best and the hardest job ever. I cherish my little daughter. She is the joy of my life and I thank Heavenly Father for entrusting her into my care. I also want to tell my mom that I love her! She is the greatest example of charity and has taught me to be the kind of person I should be. She has always been my greatest fan and supporter and I appreciate her so much. (and my dad of course, but he'll get his on Father's day )Luke's mother is also wonderful!! I couldn't ask for a better mother-in-law. She has welcomed me in and made me a part of their family better than I ever imagined possible. Thank you!! Not to mention, she raised a pretty darn good son and that alone reflects what a great woman she is!

We are so lucky to have these woman in our lives! Happy Mother's Day!

I'm over it

After a few days of bitterness and enough venting, I'm pretty much over the tulip issue... Everyone's comments definitely helped and some gave me a good laugh (Lachelle and Sarah)

Although I think Clisty was the one who came up with the best answer to my problems... not to mention, humbled me by suggesting a Christlike solution. I just might have to purchase some Popsicles now!
Anyway, the rest have bloomed and look great. I was even able to get some cute pictures.




Saturday we went fishing as a family. It was chilly and we didn't even come close to catching anything but we sure had fun together! Tianna's favorite part was quacking at the duck and throwing bread at him.