YIKES!

I am dedicating all day Thursday and Friday to updating my blog. Where did the month of October go - I have no idea! What a slacker. I vow to do better.

Until tomorrow, I'll leave you with this little tidbit....

The other day Bug walked by with his pants hanging a little low....

"Hey Bug - pull up your pants, you're busting crack."

To which he turned, cocked his head to the side, turned up his mouth with a devilish grin and ever-so smoothly replied, "You like what you see???"

Ummm ICK.

We both laughed pretty hard. He's a quick one.

Newscaster....

A BIG shout-out to Sydney! Wooo Hooo - Congratulations!

Sydney auditioned to be one of the morning announcement commentators. The school holds try-outs for reading the announcements on tv. everyday to the whole school. She said a lot of students tried out, but only 7 made it. Sometimes they read, sometimes they do little skits, etc. She said on Thursday she got to wear a Chef hat - her name was "Chef-rolet."

Now she goes to school early a couple days a week to take her turn. She said it's really fun, and we're super proud of her for being an awesome student.

Go SYD!

Salty & Sweet...

For years now I've had issues. I know you just thought, "DER" to yourself. Don't deny it.

But the one I'm talking about is my Salty & Sweet habit. I've gone through MANY phases of these. I'm sure most people who have been around me can tell you the one I was on at the time.

Today Del took me on a trip down memory lane. He filled a bag with some of my favorites.

It started when I got pregnant with Matthew, and progressed from there.

With Matt I craved HOT pickles. We were living in Mesa at the time, and we'd drive home to the Gila Valley a lot. We'd have to stop at the Chevron in Globe to pick up a pickle. Del would have the windows rolled down, as he couldn't stand the smell of them. We found a gallon jar of them at our local Costco and I ate the entire gallon within 2 days. It cured me. Haven't touched one since.

I usually didn't go through the phases until AFTER I gave birth to the babies.

With Bug it was Whoppers and Sunflower Seeds.

Travis was Fritos and Crispy M&M's.

Sydney was the one that made me REALLY balloon - Ruffles and Circus Peanuts.

Rylee was KitKats and I think just plain old SALT. I would dip my finger in it.

See.... ISSUES.

Rylee's First... AND Second....

Last week after we went to the San Antonio Temple - I helped Rylee pull out her first tooth. She didn't feel a thing.

Last night she lost her 2nd tooth.

She thinks it's pretty cool that she can drink with a straw without opening her mouth. Soooo easily entertained. (mini-me)

New Teeth, New Stadium, Old friend....

Friday night Del and I drove to Dallas.

Eric was going to be there this weekend for the BYU vs. OU Football game in the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium. What a perfect opportunity to get my permanent teeth in that I've been PATIENTLY waiting for for the last 6 months. Wooo Hoooo! No more swallowing temporary teeth, or wearing a hillbilly bob retainer with a tooth attached. Phew! Thanks, Eric!!

He called a few weeks ago and asked if we wanted to go to the game while we were there for the teeth-fixing, since he had a couple extra tickets. We figured what the heck. Can't say we've ever been die-hard BYU fans, but it would be fun to see the new stadium, and if BYU happened to pull off the upset, it would be pretty dang fun to watch.

First thing Saturday, we went to Eric's brother-in-law's dental office to get my shiny new teeth. They're sparkly. :) Yay - I can eat chewy things again.

After the quick dental appointment we went to Lucas where my friend Angie lives. We met when we lived in Virginia, and we've seen each other here and there over the years, but I couldn't wait to see her new house and cute family again - AND her cute little pregnant-with-her-6th-child-self. (She's an over-achiever.) We had a great time touring her adorable farm house and catching up. She inspires me in sooooo many ways. Love her like a sister.

After we left Angie, we went to the Stadium in Arlington. It looks like a spaceship. The red shirts out-numbered the blue by at least 10 to 1. It looked like a home game for Oklahoma. They even drove a sooner with horses across the field as the players were coming out. I bet Jerry Jones was hemorrhaging somewhere.

The massive jumbo tron is 60 yards long. Sooo stinkin' HUGE!

We sat next to my sister-in-law, Tosha, and her sister.

Meet the REAL Alexa Nugent. (Remember - I borrowed her identity for the Camp Pendleton Mud Run.)

Alexa and Tosha cheering on BYU. Cute sisters.

Sadly we had no BYU attire to sport for the game, but at least Del's t-shirt was blue. :)

It was sooooo much fun! I might just become a BYU fan after all. Maybe. I guess if my kids go there or something. A few years ago I went to a Women's Conference at BYU. I saw a poster at a campus eatery that said, "Friends don't let friends have facial hair." It cracked me up. OK fine, I'll work on it.

Happy Thursday!

- Warning - this is gushy, and maybe a little boasting on my part - so read at your own risk. You've been warned.

Today I went shopping with my friend for a new couch. She also helped pick out fabric for some curtains in the kitchen. Wooo Hooo! Just doing my part to stimulate the economy.

We met up with Del for lunch since we were in his neighborhood, and as we were leaving he said "Happy Thursday!" I played along and said something like - "yeah, you too."

What I didn't know at the time, was that when Keri and I made a quick trip to the little girls' room before leaving the restaurant, Del had slipped something in my purse as it was sitting next to him on the bench. I had no clue a foreign object was in there - my purse is the black hole.

When I got home and went online to chat with him about how our shopping excursion went, he asked if I wanted to video chat. I said sure.

As soon as he saw me, he said "Happy Thursday!" AGAIN. This is not Del's usual demeanor - he was PERKY. If you know Del at all - I don't think he's ever been accused of being PERKY.

I said back to him, "Happy Thursday, yourself!" He was smiling and said, "Oh, you haven't found it yet."

I'm totally confused. Then the light-bulb went on. Del's doing this new thing. LOVE it! - and I have to say he came up with it totally on his own, which is even better. Every Thursday he's doing something sweet for me. Last week I got a list of "20 Things I Love About You." It was a fun surprise to find in my email. He's a funny man - I love his sense of humor and his huge heart. This might embarrass him, but here's the email -

I just want you to know how much you mean to me. I know we have, had, and will have rough patches, but I honestly believe that they will help us become stronger. One of the quotes I read, I don't think I sent it to you, is that adversity is what makes marriages stronger. You can't grow together if life is always easy.

Kristin, I love you very much, even if you do look like your Mom, see invisible zits, and invent smells that aren't really there.

20 Things I Love About You:

I love the way you play rock em sock em robots to crack your elbows, except when you accidentally (maybe purposefully) smack me in the process.

I love that you're a hot Thatcher babe that married down to a guy from Pima.

I love that you eat Ruffles and Circus Peanuts, or used to, and it makes me grin thinking about cleaning out 3 different grocery stores in the area to get them.

I love that you get all teary-eyed when you think about your kids.

I love that you are a smart ass, that you find humor in most things.

I love that you care what you look like.

I love that you're up for anything once, well I love that you're up for most things once, some things I don't love so much. ;-)

I love that you stick up for Travis.

I love that you tease Matt about girls.

I love that you see me in Bug.

I love that Rylee is you.

I love that Syd has your sense of adventure, not scared of ANYTHING.

I love how you play the piano in your head, except when you're tapping it out on my head in your sleep.

I love how you love the good stuff, not the cheap stuff. Even if it causes me heartburn.

I love that you love the Savior and have a Testimony.

I love that you "get" eternity.

I love that you dance like a wild woman and make your kids laugh.

I love it when you hold me, it makes me feel safe.

I love that you make me want to be more than a farmer in Pima, even if I whine about it all the time.

I love that you love me, through everything, you love me.

See, and 20 was EASY to come up with!

I love you Kristin, thanks for saying I Do.

Del

(No, we don't have anything against PIMA OR FARMERS - don't get offended! We LOVE farmers - I hope my girls marry one - I did!)

So - back to the video chat.

I started looking around the desk for a post-it note or something - opening up all the drawers, etc. He gave me a hint and said he gave it to me at lunch. I picked up my purse and looked inside - a little white box from JARED. (The Galleria of Jewelry - we all know the commercials.)

Del said it represents the journey through eternity, all rolled into one. (What the sales clerk said.)

Here's the definition from Wikipedia:

For someone who's been married for many years, a Journey Pendant can remind your loved one of the times you've had. The life you lived, the bad and good times you've spent together and the many more to come. Again, each of the graduating diamonds show how strong your love for her became and will become in the future.

Anyway - had to share how sweet my husband is. I know I'm spoiled. I know there aren't many husbands out there like mine, and I'm eternally grateful for him. He's an awesome father and husband, and we're soooooo lucky to have him in our life. I love you. I love you. I love you.

Love,

Kris

Round Rock Donuts....

Today I hit my 30 lb. mark in weight loss since I started running in March. Wooo Hooo! It's amazing what a little exercise will do. Watching THE BIGGEST LOSER from my couch didn't pay off as much as I thought it would.

To celebrate, I'm going to Round Rock Donuts to get a bag of donut holes and a Diet Coke. (The latter cancels out the former, so it's like it didn't happen.) :)

Hope you're having a fabulous hump day.

Rylee's Video for Daddy...

I've been trying to clean up my computer to make more space - it's been running really slooooowwwwww.

I came across this video of Rylee talking to Daddy. He was on a business trip to Ireland at the time, and it was his first long trip away from home. He was there for SIX WEEKS. It was terrible - we all missed him badly - but not as badly as he missed US.

You would think traveling all over the world would be glamorous and exciting, but if you don't have a loved one there to share it with, it's not that fun. I had the kids to occupy my time, but he only had books, in an empty hotel room. Not very fun.

We're glad his traveling days are over, except for the occasional trip to California. I think Brazil is next for him, but hopefully it won't be for six weeks. YUCK.

San Antonio Temple...

Our Primary leaders asked all the families in our ward to visit a Temple in the month of August. So being the dedicated procrastinators that we are, we waited until the last Saturday of the month to take a trip to San Antonio.

Central Texas has been in a drought lately, so the fountain wasn't on, and the grounds weren't as green and plush as they usually are. This Sunday our Stake is fasting for rain.

Lunch at Olive Garden after the Temple.

It was a very quick trip. Felt like we drove to San Antonio to go to the bathroom at the visitor center/distribution center and then drive back home. BUT - we accomplished what we were assigned to do. Woo Hoo!

WICKED

Last night I took Sydney and Rylee to see WICKED. We loved it!

Dad snapped a pic before we left.

We sat next to James and Mhari in the nose-bleed section. Sydney and Rylee took turns sitting on my lap so they could see better. By the time the play was over my legs were tingling. James was also sweet and let Rylee plaster herself up next to him for a better view.

James and Mhari

AND - very exciting news! Rylee discovered she has a loose tooth while at the play. She couldn't keep her fingers out of her mouth wiggling it back and forth the entire time. She was so excited, she had to run down to show Ken and Keri who were sitting at a lower altitude.

Waiting for the fun to begin.

First Day of School 2009

My favorite day of the year has come and gone without any emotional meltdowns. Yay! Last year I was a blubbering idiot because it was the first day with all the kids in school ALL DAY.

This year - I'm proud to say, not a single tear was shed. We now have children in 3 different schools, which means 3 different start times. What a mess.

Matt (high school) has to get up at 5:00 am for early morning seminary - catches a ride at 5:30, but then comes home after that until school starts at 9:00.

The rest of us are up at 6:15. Del then goes to pick up Matt from Seminary by 6:50.

Bug (Middle School) has to catch his bus at 7:10.

The younger 3 (Elementary School) leave the house by 7:20.

Mornings are psycho now.

I was making them laugh. CHEESY!

This is Bug on the 2nd day of school, as he already left to catch his bus before I remembered to take a pic on the FIRST day.

We love school. School is our friend.

Grandma's visit...

This is Grandma Karen. Also the star of the "Scaring Karen" blog that you can find to your right. We love her - she's fun, creative, and likes to help organize things.

Everybody says she and I look alike. We just don't see it.

These were taken during her visit. We miss her already.

Playa del Carmen & Cali....

Del and I went on a trip August 8th - 14th to Playa del Carmen - it's close to Cancun. We spent most of the week walking up and down the beach, or sitting by the pool. No outings, no excursions, just hanging out 24/7 talking. We have no pictures. OK, we have 2. One when we arrived, and then one when we left to come home. They're really not that exciting, so I'm not posting.

Mom came to stay with the kids while we were gone. The kids said they had a great time - she even helped them make their own pillow cases. AND she organized my hair-color stuff, cleaned out my fridge, my bathroom, helped the kids with their rooms, etc. LOVE you, Mom.

Del had to go to California that Monday for a business trip. He came home for lunch to see us before his flight, and asked if I wanted to go with him. YES PLEASE! We coerced Mom into staying a few more days - and she happily agreed. THANKS MOM!

Last Tuesday Del ditched his afternoon meetings, and we played in San Francisco all day. We hadn't been for quite a while together. It was fun playing tourist.

We started at Fisherman's Wharf. Had to buy a jacket - it gets COLD around the bay.

It's tradition - must eat at Bubba Gumps for lunch.

Del - waiting for lunch to arrive.

Wow - we're tan. Del looks Mexican.

Next stop - Alcatraz. We've already done the tour of Alcatraz last time we were there - so this is just a pic in front of it.

Ghirardelli Chocolate Factory. We always go for their Sundaes. YUMMMM.

LOVE this pic. He's practicing his "CHEESE" for the camera.

Del's mad photography skills. Love how I'm blurred, and the cars on the bridge are in focus. Cracks me up.

We decided to walk across the length of the bridge to work off our Sundaes. Took us about an hour and 15 minutes. SUPER WINDY!

Don't JUMP! Del was wondering if this really stopped people.

Video from on top of the bridge. It's really windy, so you can barely hear the talking.

This is the lovely hairdo after our walk across the bridge. SOOOO windy. Whole new meaning to the "wind blown" look.

On Wednesday I took a quick trip to Elk Grove to see my sister Kelsey and all the girlfriends while Del had to work all day.

Met Kenna in the Rite Aid parking lot. She was working and took a break. We hung out in the car talking for about an hour. It was nice.

Lunch at BJ's with Nicole, Suzi, Jill, and Kelsey. Tami and Shelley were stuck in a meeting.

That night Del and I stopped in to see Ryan and Rebekah and their clan. Georgia and Bear were already in bed. Everybody's getting so big!

It was a nice quick trip. Glad we got to see everybody we did, but missed some others. Hopefully next time.

OR - they could come visit US?! (not holding my breath)

Cataracts....

A couple weeks ago all the kids went in for an eye exam. Time for new glasses for 3 of the hoodlums (Matt, Trav & Syd). The other 2 have MY eyes - 20/20 Thankyouverymuch.

One time when we lived in Mesa, Del wanted me to get tested to see if I needed glasses. He thought I had a depth perception problem, because I couldn't see the car in front of me until I was almost on top of it, and would slam on my brakes. After the exam, I had to break the news to him that I had 20/20 vision, and it was just my driving. He still complains that I need my brakes changed more than anybody else he knows. I come by it naturally - I get it from my MOM. (yeah, you know it, don't deny it.)

As part of the exam all the kids got their pupils dilated. Sooooo funny driving home with a bunch of kids that look like geriatrics with cataracts.

Had to snap a pic. They were not thrilled. Ehhhh - who cares.

(Bug looks like a hit-man, and I think Rylee looks blind - like she doesn't know which direction the camera is.)

Idle hands.....

My dad used to say "Idle hands are the devil's workshop."

I never really understood just how true that is until these last few months. This summer has been less-productive than I had anticipated.

Alas, I am turning over a new leaf. No more idle hands. I have projects planned, menus to prepare, rooms to decorate, and the blog to keep updated on a regular basis.

No more slacking.

Wish me luck.

Barton Springs...

Last Friday my good friend Kenna came to visit me from California. Yay! My first friend-visit. We had lots of fun, hanging out talking most of the time.

Saturday we took her to Zilker Park / Barton Springs to go swimming. It's a natural spring that stays at 68 degrees year-round. The Jacksons came and brought their kids as well to join in the fun. Matt didn't come - he was home sick with a cold. Yucky.

Del and I went off the diving board! We haven't done that in probably over 10 years! Del did a very graceful dive, and I did a back flip, thankful that I didn't hit my head on the board. I can't wait to go back. Swimming was great - after you got used to the water. Sooooo cold!

At Barton Springs it's ok to go topless. Thankfully most of the people there were families, and refrained from showing off their.... - stuff. Del and I only saw one girl that was so bold, but she was in the water and we made sure we stayed on the OTHER end of the pool. Sheesh!

Del - workin' it.

Bug - being shy.

Travis - swims like a fish.

Rylee, Sydney & Kambry - hanging out under the tree.

Kenna - looking oh-so lovely hanging out under the tree.

Kenna and I - trying to catch our breath. Slowly going deeper and deeper.

(Oh yeah, I went blonde on Thursday.)

Keri and Kade.

Ken taking Kacey for a nature hike.

Packing up ready to leave - waiting on the boys in the little boys' room.

Saturday night the adults went out to Chuy's (a local favorite Mexican restaurant) and then to Esther's Follies for some laughs.

Chuy's - YUMMY.

Ken and Keri

At Esther's Follies - waiting for the show to start.

Fun weekend. Thanks for coming to play, Kenna. Can't wait to do it again!

USS Nimitz - Go Navy!

Brother Jared is a Dentist in the Navy. Although... brother Jared just got accepted into Oral Surgery. He starts immediately and will do a residency for the next 4-5 years? Congratulations! Oral surgeon - WHOA.

Anyway - back to the Navy. Jared pulled some strings and got special permission for us to take a tour of the USS Nimitz. It's a working aircraft carrier that was getting ready to deploy for 6 months. It was AWESOME!

Walking up to the ship - getting ready to board.

Every picture we took, we had to get permission first, so we wouldn't get arrested and hauled off to jail. This was taken as we entered the main hall? with all the ship's info i.e. Captain's and officers' info, etc.

Bowling

Last Thursday Del took the day off.

It was sooooo hot that day. Everyday is hot around here. Humidity stinks. BAD!

We decided to have a play-day. Matt was at EFY in San Antonio for the week, and Bug was at Scout Camp. So we took Travis, Sydney and Rylee out for some fun.

First we went to Olive Garden and had lunch. YUM. We all filled up on breadsticks before our lunch even came. Mmmmm. After lunch we went BOWLING. Del and I had our own lane, and the 3 kids had their own. It was really fun, and nice to be out of the heat for awhile.

BTW - got a new phone. It records videos now - it's awesome! I can video EVERYTHING! I'm sorry if you get bombarded by them. They're not very long, I promise!



After bowling we all went swimming at the amenity center that's right by our house. It was a fun day!

That night all the kids were tuckered out from the activities. They got to watch a movie before bedtime, while Del and I went to Ken and Keri's to play a mean game of Rook.



The girls against the boys - and we (the girls) spanked them. Del was in denial. Ken was pouting. (We took the video for Brent and Leslie that are gone visiting family. We miss you!)

Date Night....

Last night was a fun date night - just the two of us. We had quite the evening!

I FINALLY convinced Del it's time to get a pedicure. I've been trying to get him to go with me for YEARS. He was convinced it's not MANLY.

I had to document the occasion. He was a good sport, but says he's never going again. We'll see.



You can't hear him, but he said "Are you videoing me?" That's when I laughed.

After the pedicure we went home and watched a movie. We munched on birthday cookies (No NDS required) and popcorn.

Good times.

San Diego or bust!

A few months ago Del and I planned a trip to go to San Diego with the kids for a week after they got out of school. We were going to drive there and meet up with all my siblings and their families. We'd hang out on the beach, and let the kids run wild.

About a month or two before school got out, Del found out he couldn't get off work for the month of June, which totally stunk! We were all bummed. Del said we might as well go anyway, because he'd have a really busy week at work and we wouldn't see him that much anyway. He offered to fly us all there so I wouldn't have to drive for 2 days with 5 kids by MYSELF just to get there, and then again 2 more days home. YUCK! Matthew eagerly offered to take turns with me driving. Ummm - NO. So to prevent any road rage and vehicular homicides, we all flew. A first time with all the kids by myself. It wasn't so bad. We're a walking freak show. Going through security was fun.

I told Del about a year ago that I wanted to get family pictures taken on the beach. Even though he couldn't be there, we still had some taken. We gave them to him for Father's Day. He loved them, but I'm still going to make big poster collage so he can hang them in his office at work.

Alison Beachem is such an awesome photographer. Her blog link is on the bottom right if you want to see more of her work. She's a friend of a friend. OK, but now she's my friend too. We had a lot of fun taking them. We had them taken the day after we got there, and the kids hadn't been to the beach yet. They couldn't wait to get in the water, but it was a Sunday so I wouldn't let them go swimming.

Here are the pics I kept. Alison threw in a few of her favorites too.

Sunday Dinner Blessing...

Today Rylee was feeling sick, so Del stayed home from church to be with her. While he was home he made dinner, so it would be ready when the rest of us got home. Pot roast, mashed potatoes, corn, rolls, etc. Yu-uh-uh-mmy!

Bug had just enough time to come home and eat before his Scout Troop headed off to Scout camp all week. Since he will be gone, Del asked him to say the blessing on the food. After he said the usual things, he asked, "Please help everybody make it through the week without me." Matt will also be gone for EFY in San Antonio this week, so Del made Bug include his name as well.

Thank goodness it was at the end of the blessing, because we all had a hard time holding in our snorts and laughter.

As soon as he said AMEN - we all laughed, including Bug. He cracks himself up. And us.

What game to play?

Today Sydney and Rylee were sitting in the office with me.

Rylee's playing Toon Town on the laptop, I'm on my Mac, and Sydney was sitting at the PC. Sydney starts spinning around in the chair and says, "I don't know what game to play."

My response was, "How about the bedroom pick-up game?"

Syd quickly replied - "Naahhh, I've played that game before, and I never win."

Cracked me up.

My name is Alexa Nugent.

My first 10K.

Our trip to San Diego came about (I think) because of Adam and Eric. Adam was going to be staying at a beach house with all of his in-laws that week, and Eric and Tosha were planning to be there on Saturday the 13th for the annual Mud Run at Camp Pendleton. Tosha's sister, Alexa, and brother-in-law were supposed run it with them, but couldn't make it. Eric asked if I wanted to fill in for her. I said sure, what the heck - I've never done anything like that before. I had started running in March, so I thought it would be a breeze.

On Saturday the 13th of June, I was Alexa Nugent - 35 years old.

But you can call me Alexa.

Eric, Tosha and I before the race.

Camp Pendleton Mud Run.

121 1522 9622 ALEXA NUGENT 35 1:35:52

(I finished 121st in my category - 1522 overall, my tag# was 9622, I was 35 years old (that day) and my time - 1:35:52.)

First of all, I missed the exit from the freeway to get to Camp Pendleton! Ended up driving 30 minutes MORE, which made us late starting the race. We were in last place out of the gate.

First thing they do is hose you down with fire hoses. It was a little nippy that day too!

Eric took off first thing and left Tosha and I in the dust. Rude. Tosha and I ran next to each other for awhile, but when the course started up hill, that was my undoing. She kept going, I walked, ran, walked, ran, huffed and puffed.

It's a giant obstacle course. We had to run through little rivers, climb over walls through the mud, swim through a lake, crawl through tunnels, climb a steep slippery muddy hill with water/mud running down the middle of it, run down VERY STEEP hills, and the last obstacle was army-crawling through the mud to the finish line.

I had the most fun people-watching as I was running/sucking wind. There were lots of teams running. I wish I had a camera on me to take pictures of all the team costumes. There was a Nacho Libre team - in full tights and masks. Another that was wearing whitey-tighties on the outside of their running shorts IF they were wearing running shorts at all. (I really didn't care to look too closely.) They had stuff written across their bums - i.e. "PRIVATE UNDERPANTS" etc.

There were the hard-core runners that were so skeletal they looked like they escaped from a concentration camp. I felt compelled to offer them some M&M's, but I didn't have my secret stash on me. I watched this shameless, vain man hitting on attractive runners as they ran by. Helloooo - like the girls are going to stop running to give him their phone#'s? What a tard. Another girl wore her shoes like slippers, cuz her heels were bleeding - poor thing.

I discovered several things during the 6.2 mile run.

1. Just because I was once an athlete - does not mean I still am.

2. Bring vaseline to prevent chafing.

3. Running in FLAT Texas for a few months does NOT prepare you for running hills.

4. I don't like mud. Smelled like manure. Blechk!

5. iPod Shuffles don't float, even if you have them in plastic sandwich baggies.

6. Grandmas can run faster than me.

7. Running DOWNHILL is much worse than running UP HILL.

8. Wet, muddy clothes cause serious chafing.

9. Don't wear white.

10. I'm fascinated with watching legs and bums as they're running.

After the run we asked some random guy if he'd take a picture and email to us. He was very nice and happily obliged.

We had muddy ICK in all crevices and orifices. (Eric's shirt used to be white.)

My muddy, disgusting shoes. I threw them away. Nowhere to put them for our flight home.

So..... anybody wanna do it next year? I'm totally doing it again if anybody wants to join me. Soooo much fun. Thanks, Alexa, for allowing me to borrow your identity for the day, and Eric and Tosha for inviting me. Next year I'll know what to expect so I can train better.

Happy Mother's Day!

I can't believe it's Mother's Day ALREADY.

I'm sitting at my computer, while my awesome hubby is making Pot Roast with Mashed Potatoes with all the trimmings. He just brought me the mixing bowl that he used to make brownies, so I could lick it clean. He knows me soooooo well, and treats me so good. He rocks. I LOVE Mother's Day.

This morning he made French Toast, Bacon, and OJ for me - my FAVORITES. Instead of breakfast in bed this year, I sat with my family and enjoyed a rare Sunday morning breakfast all together. Del even ate the french toast - a first in 16 years. (He's not a breakfast food fan.) He even sprinkled it with powdered sugar - WHOA.

On Friday I sent Del a questionnaire. That's what I wanted as my gift. He still got me a gift card for a massage though (can't wait!). It was really nice reading all of his responses to my questions. I wanted him to be honest, and respond as if being interviewed by someone else. I told him to think of it as my obituary. He chuckled - asked if I was planning on dying soon. I said NO, but if I was dead, I wouldn't be able to hear it. I want it while I'm alive!

Here are the questions - just in case you want to ask your OWN hubbies. (sorry hubbies.)

1. How did you meet your wife?

2. What was your first impression of her?

3. What was she wearing?

4. Describe her eyes.

5. How much does she weigh?

6. What size pants does she wear?

7. What size shoes does she wear?

8. How tall is she?

9. When she walks in the room, what do you think when you see her?

10. Is she a good kisser?

11. Where did you go on your first date?

12. What characteristics drew you to her?

13. Tell me something special about her that NOBODY else knows.

14. Does she have any birth marks, anything that stands out, physically?

15. When people meet her, what is their general impression?

16. What is she REALLY good at?

17. What does she wish she can change about herself?

18. If she could go anywhere on vacation, where would she go?

19. Fill in the blank - "She loves it when I ________"

20. Name her top 5 pet peeves.

21. What does she like to do in her spare time?

22. What is her greatest accomplishment?

23. What was her biggest failure?

24. Is she a good friend?

25. Tell me how she is as a mother.

26. When she gets mad, what does she do?

27. When you look into her eyes - what do you see?

28. Tell me about her talents. What is she great at?

29. Does she have any bad habits?

30. What color do you think she looks the best in?

31. Do you have a favorite outfit of hers?

32. If you could change one thing about her - what would it be?

33. Is she romantic?

34. Tell me your FAVORITE thing about her.

35. Fill in the blank - "I love it when she____________."

36. Describe your wife in 1 word.

37. When you're old and gray, where will you be?

38. Do any particular songs remind you of her?

39. If her life was made into a movie, what type would it be? Which celebrity would play her?

40. If someone could get inside your head, and see your wife the way you have seen her for the last 17 years, what would they see through your eyes? i.e. - is she challenging? Is she easy to be with?

41. Besides the birth of your children and your wedding day, Describe your top 10 most memorable moments with your wife, and why they're memorable.

42. What's the hardest part about being married to her?

43. What does she struggle with?

44. How does she treat you?

45. Do you have a nickname for her? A Pet name?

46. What does she call you, and why?

47. Does anything else have special meaning to just the two of you?

48. Does she do anything quirky?

49. What is something you've always wanted to do for your wife but couldn't?

50. What do you think she is incapable of?

On Friday I got online to chat with Del. I asked him what he was doing - he said he was working on his "Kristin Thesis." Made me laugh, but I was impressed he had it done by end of business on Friday, when he barely got it Friday morning. He said he was stressing out that he'd get some of them wrong. There really are no wrong answers though. It was a fun read, and I love that I can go back and read it whenever I want to.

Shout out to all you Moms out there. You're doing an awesome job! Doesn't matter if you don't keep an immaculate house, or cook the best, most wholesome, well-balanced meals every stinkin' meal. And it certainly doesn't matter if your kids have to go diving for socks in the giant pile of clean laundry that you just can't bring yourself to fold and put away. Forget about the time you were so stinking busy on Saturday painting your closet, that you forgot to feed your six year old, and by the time dinner rolled around at 9p.m., she ate THREE corndogs (one of those healthy well-balanced meals) because she was so hungry. You're still doing a fabulous job!! Some days just SHOWING UP is quite the accomplishment.

I love YOU, Mom. For everything. For keeping my secrets, giving advice, and for your great example. For just putting up with us - 8 kids who like to torment and tease you. You rock. You da bomb. I heart you.

Girl's Weekend Trip....

Every year a bunch of girlfriends take a trip to San Francisco. I think this is our 5th year doing it, so we decided to change it up a little. Instead of San Fran, we decided to go to Monterey, Carmel, and Capitola. All of them are touristy beach towns with lots of fun little shops.

It's basically 8 moms having a slumber party for the weekend without kids. Woo Hoo!

It was a lot of fun. Shopping, shopping and more shopping. Pedicures, Movies, Walking on the beach, and hanging out, giggling till all hours of the night. Good times!

Here are a few pics of the trip. We tend to take lots of pictures when we're eating, for some reason. That's mostly when we're all in one place, I guess.

Kelsey and I running on the beach in Monterey at the crack of dawn. Whoa, we look scary!

Eating breakfast on the wharf after our super long, exhausting run.

Shazia showing us how to properly wrap one's head. She's our token Muslim friend. We're a joke without a punch-line - "7 Mormons and a Muslim go on a trip...."

Hanging out in Capitola.

Suzi and I in Capitola

Kelsey asking if she had anything in her teeth. (Sorry, Kelsey - this one makes me laugh!)

Eating breakfast at the Hotel in Monterey.

Capitola Beach

Tami, Shazia, and Shelley - Monterey Beach

Dinner at California Pizza Kitchen - Monterey

Shelley, Jill and I - Monterey Beach.

Sister - Kelsey and I - Monterey Beach.

Pedicures in Carmel

All the girls - Suzi, Kelsey, Nicole, Shazia, Tami, Shelley, Jill, and I - Monterey Beach.

After the girls' weekend, I stayed for a few more days and hung out with Kelsey. I called the other sister Kim to tell her I'd be there, so she got a ticket from Seattle to come play with us. Yay! Love hanging out with the sisters. Ruthy couldn't come cause she was about to pop out a baby. Next time, Foof!

Me, Kelsey and Kim at B.J.'s for lunch.

I'm almost winning! It really helps when you cross your eyes and grit your teeth.

What a joke - she can kick my bum every time. Has since we were LITTLE!

Kelsey thinks she's tougher/stronger than I am. I showed her!

Look at that OVER-THE-TOP move. Keep working on it Kelsey - someday you'll have guns like me.

Rendezvous with Rebekah in Stockton before I left.

Kim and I waiting at the airport together for our flights home.

Super fun trip - can't wait to do it again next year.

Getting our Groove On...

Saturday night we went dancing. Yeah - that's right DANCING! Wooo Hooo! It was so much fun. Del didn't complain ONCE. He danced every time the rhythm got me, and got down with his bad-self. It was fun watching our friends Ken and Keri - they're really good at the country dancing. Del said he'd even take lessons to learn how to do that. He said he likes it much better than the ol' shakin' yer booty thang. We'll see how coordinated we are TOGETHER. scary.

We went to a place that has different rooms for different genres. The country genre seemed to be the most popular - Texas - go figure.

Brent and Leslie. (Leslie had to drag Brent there by the hair. Which is why he's now bald.)


Ken and Keri - doing what they do so well.

Del and me. Next time - I'm wearing my hair slicked back in a pony-tail with bangs in a barrett! It was stinkin' HOT and sweaty, nasty.

Ken and Keri - the happy dancing couple.

The girls - all in black - we had a theme going on.

Fun times.

Bug Gets BRACES!

Monday the kids had the day off for Easter.

A perfect day for Bug to get his braces. He's thrilled. The Orthodontist said he'll probably have them for 3 years. BLECHK! Plus, he has to get a baby tooth pulled. Oh joy.

But just imagine how awesome his smile will be! - LOL.

And so it begins. I'm sure the rest of them will need them as well. Except Matt - he was blessed with his father's teeth. The rest of them aren't so lucky.

Pat Green Concert....

Saturday night we went to the Nutty Brown Cafe' for the Pat Green Concert. He's from Austin - local boy makin' it big. He has some really good songs - check them out.

The Cafe' has an outdoor amphitheater in the back. Very small concert, so you can get right up to the stage (if you don't mind losing your hearing for a few hours.) Our ears were ringing for a while afterward, but it was lots of fun.

I have Del convinced he should take me dancing this weekend for our hot date. Wooo Hooo! He said he's prepared to dance every single song - WHOA! We haven't been dancing in so many years, I can't REMEMBER the last time.

One time when we lived in Mesa, we (I mean I - Del went kicking and screaming) wanted to go dancing, but we didn't want to go to a bar. I think we had 2 kids at the time. So Del and I decided to go to a Stake Singles dance. HOLY MOLY!

We walked in, looked around, danced once, but then I had to go to the bathroom, so I told Del as we were walking off the dance floor. He was holding my hand, and wouldn't let go, panicked and said "NO WAY! - You're not leaving me alone in here!!" I was laughing hard! I had to pry my fingers out of his! We didn't stay long, but it was fun to see what our options would be, should anything happen to either of us. We both came to the conclusion that we would remain single for the rest of our lives. YIKES!

These pics are terrible - we all forgot to bring a good camera. These were taken with my phone - blurry, and we look like crap, etc. But whatever - we had fun!!

Ken and Keri


Brent & Leslie

Highlights.....

Del said my blog is boring - I need to update it. Nothing exciting has happened lately though. Who wants to read about the mundane routine of everyday mom-of-five life?

I'll just give you the highlights from the last couple weeks.

Went to Rodeo Austin again - this time with Rylee's 1st grade class. We didn't do the rides at the carnival or watch bull-riding, we did the educational - How-To-Milk-a-Cow kind of thing. Rylee was on the front row and squealed with delight/disgust as the dairy farmer demonstrated with a squirt of the tit/teet (whatever) into the audience of primary schoolers. She thought it was sooooo disgusting that the milk she loves to drink comes out of THAT. "Ewwwwwww!"

As we were walking out of the dairy demo, I told her I used to live next door to a family that had a cow, and my brothers used to share the milking chore, so we could get our milk for free. I told her I've even milked a cow before by hand - not that fancy machine. She looks at me a little funny and says, "Mom, did you used to live in the olden days?" I laughed, and said - "Yep - I think SO!"

We also watched some pig races. It was GREAT fun. "Our" pig won 3/4 times, so our group received pig noses as a prize. So cute and funny!



Waiting for the pig races to start! Yeeee Hawwww!

OK, next highlight - We went to this comedy place the other night with 2 other couples - it's called Esther's Follies. It was pretty fun. First we ate at the Iron Cactus - YUMMY. Really good spinach artichoke dip - I'm always trying to find one that equals Corbin's Grill in Layton, Utah. Sadly, none have measured up yet, but this one came pretty close.

Keri, Ken, Leslie, Brent, Me and Del. Good times, Good times.

Next highlight -

Del built a fence for Sarah, so she'd stop tearing up the yard, and chewing through the hose every time we water the trees, and knocking all the little kids over when she'd jump up on them to lick them to death. She is HUGE, and is a menace. Can't wait for the puppy stage to be over soon - I heard it'll take another YEAR. Good grief. This is the beast that used to be the cute little puppy!

I also planted some flowers in the front yard to beautify it a little. MY first flowers planted in my ENTIRE life. Uh huh - who knew I could be so domestic? LOL.

Sunday was General Conference. We played Conference Bingo - always a favorite with the kids. After conference, we had a Mexican pot-luck with 3 other families. Sadly, I didn't get any pics of the rest of them - too busy eating and playing. I did get a couple of Brent and Ken playing the piano. AKA - Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb. They have some serious man-love going on. They can sit at the piano and play ANYTHING together. It's really fun/funny to watch.

Going through all my sheet music. They're both VERY talented!

So - I think I'm caught up till now!

Tornado warning!

Texas weather is CRAZY!

It has been overcast for a few days now, but today the sky opened up and poured down the wrath of Hades. Hail the size of golf balls came crashing down in some places - broke some windshields even.

This is what our front yard looked like after it hit us.

Sarah was running around like mad, barking and pooping on the porch. Oh the joys of having an excited ding-bat puppy.

The kids and I stood in the garage and watched it pour down.

Good times.