mini vacation

Chris had to be in Evanston, Wy for a couple of days to do an audit, and since Evanston is so close to some of my favorite places, I decided to take the kids out of school for a week and go with him. It worked out perfect because the company he works for was forcing him to use up some of his vacation which he used after the audit.

We left our house on Sunday afternoon and after a six hour drive got to my sister Joni's house. The kids had a blast, Hayden especially loved Gavin's room. They got to play for awhile then we made pizza. They have a little guest house, which is where we slept - in the camping trailer. The boys got scared because the bad guys might break in, and I was told "bad guys are real!". Kenzie got to skip school on Monday- she had other cousins coming for a quick visit too, so we stayed and let the kids spend some more time together. Then we headed to Evanston to the hotel for the night. One of our first stops was to go show Dusty where we lived for six months when he was just 1 year old. Hayden felt left out and said he lived there too when he was a baby. So I told him it is true, he was a tiny spec in my belly when we lived there, growing bigger every day.
One of the kids favorite things about staying in the hotel with dad is swimming in the pool. Hayden was so excited that he tried to get ready all by himself. It looks like he had planned to swim upside-down.
This picture pretty much sums up how Kyrie felt about swimming! Actually she got out of swimming the first night, and she tried to get out of it again the last night, but mom forced her in. This was her first swimming experience, and a little scary!
I finally took her out of her floaty and she felt much more secure, but still overwhelmed by it all.

We stayed Monday night in the hotel and headed to my parents on Tuesday morning to stay a night with them. Sherin brought her kids over to play and they had so much fun that Sara decided not to go to a birthday party so that she could play with Dusty awhile longer. Dusty later told me that when he was at Sara's house they got to wait for her bus to come and Uncle Mark had really cool x-ray glasses and that he could see the bus coming through the trees. Cool! Before we left my parents, I wanted a couple pics of the kids and Hayden was posing by Rylee and asked if they should kiss for the picture. I said "No, .......... wait, did you guys kiss?" Rylee kept saying, "No, no, we didn't!" And Hayden said, "Yes we did, in the sandbox!"And Rylee still insisted that they hadn't. So I said that's okay, just don't do it again. But why not, they kiss their moms, dads, little sisters, grandparents and they like each other too, so what's wrong with a little kiss? So Hayden and I had a little talk on the way back to the hotel!

We were gone for a week didn't stay in one place for more than one night in a row - until we got to Vernal. We were all over the place! After spending Wednesday night in the hotel, we got up and headed home - Chris was trying to fool the boys and tell them we were headed home and then pull up in the driveway of our old house in Vernal. But it didn't work! The boys recognized the neighborhood before we headed down the road to our old house. I didn't know how I'd react to seeing my house, I was afraid I'd start to bawl. But we drove by and took several long looks and it's just a house! I miss being there though, I'd love to go back! I miss almost everything about our lives there. And I have a lot of fond memories living on that corner. I miss the neighborhood and the whole little town. We stayed a couple of nights in Vernal, just two doors down from our once-upon-a-time-home, we stayed with our friends Ian and Heather. We were allowed to stay ONLY IF we took our fun games to play. So we had to suffer through a couple more game nights, Oh we miss those fun times! We got to see several people we know, we went to the shop where Chris worked to say "HI" and I also a few people at the store, and a few old neighbors, who refered us to being back to "the promised land, and Zion". Chris may not feel that way about Vernal, but I agree with the neighbors! And we, or I guess the boys also got to see Ranger.

We had Ranger since he was about 6 weeks old, but decided we couldn't take him to Colorado. He was used to roaming the neighborhood and the mountains and knew he would go crazy being locked up in a tiny backyard. A close by neighbor stopped by one day to show his interest in Ranger, so he now has a new home, just 2 houses north of where he used to live. He loves chasing things so it's perfect that he is now a cow dog! I will be honest and say I even miss Ranger (I don't usually like animals). Ranger had a few things that I loved about him: watching him trying to catch bubbles, chasing the snow as we shoveled it off the deck and the loyal friend he was to Hayden. I was curious to find out how Ranger responded to the boys and Chris said he was so excited! After 6 months he still remembers the boys. Chris said that Bro. Dixon, Ranger's new owner tried to get him when Chris and the boys were leaving and Ranger wanted to stay by the boys. He misses us too!

OLD TIME BEST BUDDIES!

Easter Weekend

I didn't take many pictures of our Easter this year. Saturday we colored Easter eggs. Then on Sunday morning the kids woke up to find a few small treasures from the Easter Bunny. Hayden gave his first talk in Primary about our Savior, and he did a great job! Then we got home and started cooking our Easter dinner: Salmon with yummy butter sauce, rolls, green salad, jello-beans, and baked potatoes. Then we had an easter-egg hunt. Dusty was so funny, he was at the store with me when I bought the candy to stuff the eggs with and he wanted to use his own money to purchase the candy. Then he filled the eggs himself, using his own money to put in them, and he said that whoever got the big purple egg would get a lot of money! And then he wanted to hide the eggs for his own hunt! We had our friend, Larry over and he helped Chris hide the eggs instead. The kids had a successful hunt - and Hayden ended up with the big purple egg!

The kids in their new church clothing. Hayden thought Kyrie looked so pretty. At church he told me that when she gets to be as big as me that they are going to marry each other! Of all the little girls out there, I don't blame him for choosing her - she is such a sweetie!
She can sure pull some funny faces sometimes - this picture shows she is starting to get a little chunk on her - look at that double chin!
I sure love this little one - I still can't get enough of her! I crave to be with her all day. She is so happy and fun to be around.

Chris loving on his little girl.

A glimpse of the 'Suite' life

Chris has had the opportunity several times to get tickets to the Pepsi Center events. He took the boys to a basketball game, and then later took Kyrie and I. It is so fun to go, especially in the suite. The suite has its own little kitchen stocked with assorted beverages, meal items and snacks - ALL FREE!!! Well the other day, one of the other managers at work surprised Chris with 2 tickets to the Harlem Globetrotters game. He had heard Chris talk about Dusty loving basketball, and worked hard on getting these tickets so that Chris could take Dusty! Dusty had a blast! He came home telling us about some of the silly and entertaining things these players do while playing basketball. Some photographers went into the suite and snapped several pictures of Chris and Dusty - of course, hoping that we'll purchase some! There is a link to the photo pass: www.harlemglobetrotters.com/fanphotos from there you click where they played in Denver on April 4th, and their pictures are in Gallery 20, and Gallery 32. Picture #6492 in Gallery 32 is really cute! What fun!

Jewelry, How Cute, and Safety

Dusty got in on the jewelry making and made his sister this beautiful knecklace. He made little charms out of index cards, each charm has a letter, spelling Kyrie Belle Scott. He then made one for everyone in the family. By the time he got to Chris's knecklace he must have either gotten tired of doing it or decided that dads don't wear charms - because his is a full index card with his name and two holes punched in it to hang from the chain.

We have had this little swing set up for the baby several weeks before she arrived. The day we brought her home from the hospital, Dusty begged me to put her in this swing, and I said, "No, I'M going to hold her." I had waited and waited for her to come - I wasn't about to put her in a swing that didn't care whether it had her in it or not - I wanted to hold her all I could. And Dusty said, "Please mom, just for a minute so that I can see how cute she looks in it." So here she is, and she sure looks cute in it too!


My Latest Project - Complete!

I love projects that I can complete in one day, or 5 minutes - even better! This one was easy. We have had some very scary and disturbing events happen in our neighborhood lately and I have felt a little threatened by it all. We had a monitered security system installed just after we moved in, I put wooden dowels in all of the windows, and now our house has its own little eyeball. Now I just need to head off to the store for some mase to accompany me and the children while we are out walking. I have been so scared of these things that have happened might happen to me that I was feeling nervous even while locked up in my own house. I decided to not let them stop me! I have to be strong, careful, and aware of my surroundings, have faith, and we should be okay. Now this little eyeball gives me a feeling of added protection.

Snow Day!

We had a blizzard yesterday! I wouldn't have known how bad it was, but stupid me decided to load the kids up and run to the store for a few groceries since how we have been gone for a week. I don't know if I've ever done anything stupider - it was BAD! I was either cussing at myself or praying the whole way to the store. Sweet Dusty kept reasurring me that maybe I really was doing the right thing by bying food. The only reason I went is because I had heard it would get worse and last several days. We have plenty of food at home, just not things like milk that expire while you're out for a week. Turns out, I was out through the worst of it all! Next time we'll go without the milk. In some spots in our yard we could still see the grass, in other spots there was about three feet of snow, so I don't know how much we ended up with. It warmed up today and the wind stopped so we went out to play. The snow has melted a lot, and it is very wet outside - just what we need to green up our grass. Anyway, because of the blizzard, Chris's work sent everyone home at noon yesterday, and cancelled work for today! Yay for a snow day!

Hayden had so much fun! He usually doesn't last very long in the snow, but today was an exception.


I think that Dusty wiped out every time!

The sun was too bright for me to keep my eyes open for a picture.

Even Chris got in on the fun!

Dusty got this 'snowball' halfway from the school to our house.

Spring Break '09

I decided we should go to Utah during Spring Break. We haven't been for 5 months and if not now, then we probably wouldn't make it until the summer. We had plans to leave Friday morning, but on Thursday Chris had a work emergency and had to fly out to North Dakota. So I had a decision to make, and I decided that the kids and I would still go. Dusty woke me up at 5:40 and asked, "So are we going to go to Garland early or NOT?" So early we went! Two little stops, 570 miles, and just over 8 hours later, we reached our destination. Thank goodness my precious cargo travels well since I was on my own. I don't know why, but my kids have always been good travelers - my mom says her kids were AWFUL in the car! Those darn kids! Anyway, Chris was able to join us on Saturday - he flew in to Salt Lake where his dad picked him up and delivered him (and not his bags - AGAIN!) to my parents house. The weather was feeling warm-like and my parents decided that the best thing to do was cook hamburgers on the grill and make homemade ice cream - YUMM! Chris and his dad arrived just in time! When I was little me and my siblings had ice cream duty, but I guess we have been replaced by MANY helpers.

It sure was yummy, thanks mom and dad and little helpers!

One of the things I have been so anxious to do since I had the baby is get her picture taken with her Great Grandma Scott. So here is a picture of Lula Belle Scott and Kyrie Belle Scott. We love you Grandma and it was so good to see you. I had every intention of getting a picture of her with my grandparents too. We did get a visit, but sorry we didn't make it back over for a picture. With both my family and Chris's family to see we have a lot to do when we are up there.
We did get to go over to Gma and Gpa Scotts house for dinner on Sunday, and we got a good visit in with Gma and Gpa Salvesen on Tuesday afternoon. Lots and lots of grandparents, my kids are so lucky!


And it just so happened to be Tina's birthday while we were there. I visit her grave for just a little minute every time I'm up there, usually on our way out. What happened to the warm weather? It was so cold that the kids didn't want to get out of the car.

This picture is old, but I love it! I love the back of her headstone with her boys handprints. And I love the way my boys are so thoughtful about their aunt. She was always so cute with kids, and the kids love her so much! After the cemetary we headed back to the house for some Pizza Plus Pizza and breadsticks (the best there is!), followed by some Happy Birthday cupcakes.

Kyrie looks so big in this picture! Then you look below....

And she is so tiny! Four babies born in '08 and all girls! Avery is 6 months, Joye and Taylor both about 10 months and Kyrie is 3 months old. Give her just a little time though and she'll be caught up with the others. What fun!


Sara and Rylee got to spend the night with the boys on Monday night. They had a blast. Here is Hayden and Rylee - true love! They get along so well. Rylee is the best kind of friend there is. She is so polite and considerate. I heard her say several times things like, "I'll wait for you Hayden" and "You can go first". She is such a sweetie.

Sara came down to see them dancing and said "It looks like they're getting married. But I already have 5 and 5 and 2" (boyfriends). I asked how many she is going to marry and she said "UM, probably 4 - or maybe 2". Funny kids!

So we had a great time! It was so good to go back home. The kids had a blast like always. They rode scooters, had a ride in Grandpa's jeep, saw snake tracks??? and just ran around. There was plenty for them to keep busy. I'm greatful that everyone that could went to my parents house so that we could all be together. I don't think any of the kids will ever forget all of the fun times they share. Thank you mom and dad for all you do. I see how hard you try to play with all of the kids, and all of the cooking and cleaning and work and play that goes into a weekend like this, it's quite a production! It gets chaotic - now 14 grandkids in 6 years! But it's something that will never be forgotten!

So we had some nice weather, the kids even got sunburned on Saturday. Then as we head home, we run into this:

Cold, icy, windy, slushy, snowy weather. For a minute we couldn't even see if we were on the road, but we didn't dare completely stop because someone else might have rear-ended us. Dusty kept telling us to just look at the GPS and that will tell us where to go! If only it was that easy.

We stopped for some Taco Time food in Rock Springs, WY for lunch and Hayden must have had an allergic reaction or something - he started getting covered with green dots! The ride home seemed longer than the ride there - like always. Again, I am greatful for great travelers! This was Kyrie's first road trip and she did well also, but she was sure glad to get out of that carseat when we got home.

Birthday Wishes!

Here's a shout-out to my little sister, Tina! She would be 23 years old today.

HaPpY BirThday to you, HaPpY BiRrthday to you, We love and we miss you, HaPpY BirthDay to you! Hope life in Heaven is treating you well.