Time Out For Me!

I spent the weekend in Las Vegas at Time Out for Women with one of my oldest friends in the world, Brandi, and her beautiful friend Melissa. I had always thought Time Out sounded like fun, but if Brandi hadn't called me and started putting it all together way back in April, it would have never materialized. I am so grateful she did!
We were stoked to get these cute totes, but even better were the amazing presenters. President Hinckley's daughter, Virginia Hinckley Pierce was there unannounced and was simply fantastic. Amanda Dickson (author of Wake Up To A Happier Life) was SO funny, Hilary Weeks was incredibly inspiring, and that was just the start.
I only knew a few of Hilary Weeks' songs before I went, but I walked away craving more. More than just astound us with her music, she shared so many inspiring stories and life experiences.
This is us with Due West (check them out at www.duewest.com) lead singer Tim Gates. He has the MOST AMAZING voice! Can't wait for their CD to be released.
We, of course, had to eat at the Cheesecake Factory. I confess it was my first time there and I was pretty much floored by the cheesecake. It was SO yummy. I was so glad to spend this time rejuvenating before I had to start packing and moving! Brandi and Melissa were great. Time Out is coming to St. George next November and all I can say is I'm there. Let me know if you want to join me.

Going, going, gone

Since before Jeff and I got married 6 1/2 years ago we have been talking about him going back to school. He graduated with his associates degree and never went any further, but has always wanted to. It has been a never-ending discussion. We have always talked about what he would major in and where he would go if he did decide to go back. This summer as we continued to talk - and pray - about it, we came to the conclusion that if he really wanted to go back, waiting longer was not going to do us any good. It became clear that if we were serious about this we would need to sell our house.

We built this home together right after we got married. We moved in as we celebrated our first anniversary. We finished the yard together, planted the garden together, and brought our babies home to this house. I love this house. I love the yard and the neighborhood and the ward. I love that it is something we built together.

We knew that selling the home would be nearly impossible in this depressed market, but we decided that if it was the right thing to do, it would all work out. As comfortable and happy as our lives are, we knew that we didn't want to be sitting around at age 60 wishing we would have gone back to school when we could have. As my mom told me, the only regrets are the chances not taken. So we took the leap of faith and put our house up for sale, trusting that it would only sell if it were meant to be. It was on the market for a month and two days when it sold. We now have less than a month before we have to be out.

We have decided that we are going to stay here in town and commute to school for now. We started looking for apartments today. I am feeling so overwhelmed by the whole thing. It is really too much for me to wrap my head around. We have so many decisions that need to be made! At this point I am trying to maintain the same faith we had when we listed the home for sale: if this is the right thing it will all work out, and we will have help along the way. I have to trust that much.

Moonlight Ride

It was the Riding Club's last ride of the season so our whole family went. We started at the top of the canyon and rode about half way down into the Elk Pasture where we had dinner. Daisy rode Sparkles Rope the whole way all by herself. And yes, I am riding a mule. Don't ask.
I can't beleive how cold it is already! I don't think I'm ready for summer to be over yet. The canyon was beautiful, however. The leaves are changing and they were brilliant.
It's called the Moonlight Ride because after we ride in and eat dinner, we ride out by the light of the moon. Only, I took the kids home and put them to bed instead. The men rode out.
Levi rode halfway with Jeff and halfway with our nephew, Trevin. He looks a lot like Trevin and we always tease that they could be brothers instead of cousins. Levi adores him and calls him his 'buddy.'
This is Daisy with her uncle Jason and cousin Ashlyn. It was so fun to be able to go with the whole fam. I didn't start riding until after I met Jeff and now we have so much fun doing it, especially since our kids can go a lot of the time. Even though I think horses are a lot of work - whether it is taking care of them or riding them - I can't really think of a family activity that compares.

Jumpin' Jacks

Saturday was the annual Dansie Family Picnic, which is an extreme shortened version of a family reunion. We all bring a salad, meet up Spanish Fork canyon, eat, and it's done. This year Jeff and his brother went on up the canyon to go for a horse ride so my sister-in-law and I decided to take the kids somewhere fun. We were going to go to the movie, but there was nothing kid-friendly playing, so we decided to give Jumpin' Jacks a try.
It's a big warehouse-type room full of giant inflatables, (which reminded me of my Grad Night Bash...) to jump, play, and slide on. You pay an admission fee and then play as long as you want. At first I thought the kids would get bored fast, but they played for almost 3 hours and would've stayed longer if they hadn't gotten hungry.
Levi cracked us all up because he was right up there with the big kids bouncing all over the place, not scared in the least. The next day he added "jumpin' jacks" to his vocabulary.
I even payed the admission fee and did a little jumping myself. I'm thinking we may have to make a trip back there someday. If you go: take socks, they are a requirement for everyone, even adults just watching. Eat before you go in. There is no food or drink allowed inside. Take your camera - it's lotsa fun!

Lost & Found

It all happened at Wal-Mart, which is already one of my least favorite places on the planet. I stopped just to grab a few necessities: diapers, detergent, the usual. We were in the place for a total of 32 minutes max. I got back to the car and loaded my purchases and my children when I discovered that my keys were MIA. Since I always put my keys in one pocket and my cell phone in the other, it occurred to me that they must have fallen out of my pocket. So after searching around the car I loaded the kids back into the cart and proceeded to retrace our steps through the entire cursed store. Nothing. Surely, I thought, someone has found them and turned them in. So I went to customer service, waited in the line-that-never-ends and asked about my lost keys. Nothing. So we decided to retrace our steps again. Maybe if they fell onto the floor they got kicked under a shelf. There I was, down on my hands and knees, searching under the shelves on each aisle we had walked down. In the midst of this treasure hunt Daisy announces that she needs to use the bathroom. We race to the front of the store and I realize at this point that somehow Levi managed to remove his shoes when we went to the car. He is barefoot. This means I am trying to help Daisy use the bathroom and hold Levi (who DOES NOT want to be held) so that he does not risk his life by walking on the Wal-Mart bathroom floor barefoot. You could say the whole bathroom experience was less than pleasurable. Since we are already close, I decide to stop by customer service once again. The lady was actually extraordinarily sympathetic and announced over the PA that if anyone has found keys to bring them to customer service. I am certain this will be the ticket. The kids and I make ourselves comfortable at the Automated Application Station and wait for the good Samaritan to arrive bearing my keys. Well that lasts like two minutes. It is right smack in the middle of the kids' nap time and they are pretty much sick of being at Wal-Mart. We go buy a snack. As I am paying it dawns on me that my keys likely fell into one of my sacks. Aha! We hurry back out to the car to search again. When I can't find them in any of my sacks I proceed to tear apart the interior of my car, ripping out car seats and throwing CD's. They've got to be somewhere! Again, nothing. We load back up and head to customer service once again. By now the kind soul who found my keys will have returned them. The very nice customer service lady doesn't look so happy to see me again. She suggests I write my name and phone number down and she will call me if my keys are found (you know, 'don't call us, we'll call you.') Now I call Jeff and ask him to come get us. While we are waiting for him to arrive (since he has to drive from Nephi to Payson) the kids and I find one of those dirty benches and make ourselves comfortable. I always wondered why people would come to Wal-Mart to sit on a dirty bench, and here I find myself on one. Turns out the kids weren't so keen on sitting quietly on a dirty bench. They were more interested in trying to kill each other. We kindly remove ourselves from the wretched store to go wait in the car. My phone rings before we reach the parking lot. Hooray! It is customer service calling to say they found my keys! No. It is Jeff calling to say he can't leave work to come get us but he will see if his mom can come instead. I ask myself, Is this really my life? We get to the car and I buckle the kids in their car seats. This way they can't touch each other, or me. We open all the doors in order to avoid dying from heat stroke, but don't worry, we are all still sweating and miserable, not to mention embarrassed as all the people walk by wondering why this lady is sitting in her car with all the doors open while her kids scream at the top of their lungs from their car seats and she has her head on the steering wheel as if she is having a hangover in the middle of the afternoon. It has been two hours since I realized my keys jumped out of my pocket. My phone rings. Jeff's mom is on her way. Praise to my mother-in-law who dropped everything to bring me my spare keys. We finally got home and I was thinking how awful it was for some teenager to find my keys on the floor at Wal-Mart and not turn them in because they thought it was funny. I drove up to my nephew's football game and then later I ran to the grocery store to get some milk. When I got home from the store I set my wallet on top of my car to get Levi out of his car seat. As I set my wallet down I heard the familiar sound of small metal objects touching each other. My keys. On top of my car. Right where I had left them. Yes, they made the trip home on the freeway and everything. And yes, this is my life.