Star!

We got a new puppy! Our family dog, a boxer named Chloe, was hit and killed while she was on my early morning run with me. Since we live in the fields, I don't run with her on a leash. The sun was just coming up and it blinded the driver. He was very apologetic and drove her back to my house for me. I couldn't even finish my run. I walked the rest of the way home, half blinded by my tears. For the next several mornings I would tear up as I ran past the blood stained spot on the road.

Jeff found these border collie labrador crosses on ksl.com and was determined this was the new family dog for us. I voted that we wait until Christmas, but was clearly overridden. Jeff took all three kids with him to pick out our puppy, hauled them all into WalMart to pick out a collar, puppy food, and treats, and then braved McDonald's all by himself. Needless to say, I was proud of his efforts! Daisy named her Star.

We spent conference weekend on the mountain. The pristine fall beauty provided the perfect backdrop to the messages of hope that we heard at conference.

Even though it was slightly on the cool side, we decided ice cream was the way to go while the men were away at the Priesthood session.

Grandpa and Grandma have been working so hard on their little piece of heaven. It was such an amazingly beautiful drive to go over and see all that they have accomplished.

All the adventures outdoors provided more than enough entertainment for the kids so that the adults could listen to conference uninterrupted for the most part.

The extra handsome guy in this picture is my nephew.

The leaves were stunning. Every time we turned around there was another breathtaking view.

The kids loved Grandpa and Grandma's new four wheeler trailer. We hope to make it to the mountain just one more time before winter sets in. There's just too much fun to be had.

The Pill

This just may be the most uncharacteristic post I've done. But hey, birth control is something most individuals must deal with, either directly or indirectly, at one point or another in their lives. So...I found something that I totally love, and thought I would share (because I love reading about the things you love!)

I have taken birth control pills off and on since I was 13 years old. After the birth of Daisy, I took the 'mini pill' so I could safely nurse. But after I had Levi, I was becoming more and more uncomfortable with pumping all of those artificial hormones into my system. We definately wanted to prevent another immediate pregnancy (and therefore keep me out of the crazy house) in my postpartum state, so we started researching some alternative methods. I came across the Lady Comp fertility monitor online. I did a ton of research, read a zillion reviews, and discussed it with my OB/GYN. We decided to give it a shot.

I have been using the Lady Comp for four years now and we have LOVED it! It is the easiest, safest, most reliable birth control ever invented. It is about the diameter of a CD. It sits on my nightstand like an alarm clock. Every morning, it goes off (like an alarm clock) and before I sit up or get out of bed, I slip the attached thermometer under my tongue for 30 seconds. It beeps when it's done taking my temperature, and then indicates a red, yellow, or green light. Red means I could get pregnant, green means we are in the safe zone (and my mom always said a yellow light means proceed with caution...) It's that easy.

Why put artificial, cancer-causing, loaded-with-side-effects hormones (i.e. pills) into my system EVERY SINGLE DAY when I can have birth control naturally? Another very cool thing about Lady Comp is that we can use it to avoid pregnancy, or plan for pregnancy. When we wanted to have another baby, we knew exactly which days we would have the best chance of conceiving...and nine months later we got Isaac.

Initially, the Lady-Comp seemed a little expensive, but then when we considered the cost of birth control every single month until I hit menopause, plus unknown medical costs to deal with the implications of taking birth control for that long, we decided it was a much cheaper, and safer, alternative.

If you have been wishing there were something better than birth control, there is. How's that for unsolicited advice?

Summer Utopia

I don't know if utopic is a word, but if you posed the question, "How was your summer?" some version of utopia would be part of my answer. Since Labor Day is the unofficial End of Summer, and the days are getting shorter and the nights are getting colder, I am trying somehow to memorialize this summer. Maybe in doing so I feel like I don't have to bid it farewell quite yet.

Call me crazy, but I swear it somehow all started with these silly bummer lambs that we got on Mother's Day weekend. I was mixing formula and washing bottles like crazy. The kids and I would throw jackets and rubber boots on over our pajamas and head out to go feed our baby lambs. Soon school ended and summer was officially here.

If we were wealthy, like really in-another-life kind of wealthy, we would spend our summers on a beach in Spain. But the most perfect thing about this summer was that it was all right here. All normal and real and day-to-day. We introduced our baby chicks to the big chicken coop and they started laying eggs. We weaned our lambs from bottles and started staking them out to eat grass. We tilled the dirt, selected the seeds, and planted a garden. We watched the plants sprout, and the weeds sprout, and the bugs come. We tended and took care of it.

We went camping and horseback riding. We cheered Jeff on as he competed with the Riding Club. We went swimming. We moved sprinklers and watched the corn grow. We volunteered, painted nails, and visited at the local care center. We went to the Ute Stampede. We participated in the County Fair. We went to Disneyland!

I began each morning began with an early run and a long prayer. I ended each day tucking my children into bed. I enjoyed each Wednesday evening teaching Institute. I competed in my first biathlon! I made fantastic salsa from my garden, and spent Labor Day bottling tomatoes. (If you've never gone to the work of bottling something you worked to produce, you should really do it. It's a huge shot of make-you-feel-awesome.)

A few weeks ago Daisy and Jeff and I all went back to school. I was on my morning run with my dog when a farm truck was blinded by the rising sun and hit and killed her. The bugs have finally gotten to my pumpkins so the plants are dying and they are ripening too quickly. Institute is over. My Utopia is coming to an end.

As Fall fast approaches, invited or not, I know there is much to look forward to. I will enjoy the change in seasons, the holiday celebrations, the winter magic, and the spring thaw. But, while I will enjoy the journey, really I will just be waiting for our next Utopian summer.

Fabulous Fair!

I love the county fair! I have been a director on the fair board for four years now and I just can't get enough. Things were a little crazy this year because the fair opened the day we got home from Disneyland. Yikes! We cowboy'd up and got 'er done.

My job at the fair is to make sure there is something for everyone. So even if you don't grow prize tomatoes or show steers, you can still have fun at the fair. We do several competitions and events to involve as many people as possible. We did Fair Factor, the county fair version of the creepy television show, for teenagers. The Diaper Derby is a crawling race for babies. The Bicycle Barrel race is for kids and tweens. Daisy took first place in her division! (Which made Levi very mad. After she was announced as the winner he stomped over and kicked his bike, yelling that it made him go slow.) This year we added four new events. We had a Ribbon Read for anyone who wanted to come to a read-a-thon at the fair and earn a ribbon. We had a Guitar Hero competition with teen and adult divisions. There was the RC Roundup, a remote control car race for ages 7 and up including adults. For the two and three year-olds we had the Toddler Tractor Pull where they raced around straw bales on their tricycles. So cute.

It was a little crazy at times, but an overall success, especially since so many of the things we did were in their very first year.

Bright and early Saturday morning I got up and rode my bike to the fairgrounds to compete in my very first Biathlon. It was so much fun! Jeff was worried that I would be too exhausted to do all the other things I had to do that day, but it was a blast. I am so glad I did it.

When you are the one in charge, it seems that you aren't the one weilding the camera, at least that's what happened with me. I didn't get ANY shots of my events. After the biathlon on Saturday, Daisy showed her horse and competed in the Walk/Trot. I did get some pictures of that.

The horse competition started at 9:00 in the morning. The boys wanted nachos. Nachos for breakfast? Only at the county fair!

Blue ribbon! It was Daisy's first time showing a horse.

Saturday night, after all of our events were finally over, we went to the White Trash Parade, a.k.a. the Demolition Derby. My boys, yes, both of them, absolutely loved it. Levi has been playing 'dervy' with his little cars ever since. Isaac hadn't been feeling well and I thought I may take him home early, but he was totally into it. Jamie and Rian came with us. They met for the first time at last year's Demolition Derby.

The County Fair brings our whole community together. It helps foster unity, which is something I believe in. I am glad to be part of it. I think it's fantastic that there is something there for everyone in my whole family.

Disneyland Dream!

What does 41 people, 1300 miles, too much money, a great Christmas gift, and one mouse equal? A Disneyland Dream come true! We returned from Disneyland last week and I'm still in the clouds. I simply love Disneyland. For me, it really is the Happiest Place on Earth. I love the smells, the rides, the food, the characters, the shops, the employees, the parades, the shows, the buildings, the history, the movies, the crowds, the cleanliness, the plants, the lines, the music, the magic and the dream. I was so excited to go and take my kids with my mom and dad, my sisters, my grandparents, and aunts, uncles, and cousins. So, in no particular order, here is a smorgasbord of our week at Disneyland.

As we were preparing to leave, Jeff and I debated about whether or not we should invest in a new camera since ours has been on it's death bed for the past little while. Since it would have been an added expense, we decided against it. Bad decision. Our camera died halfway through our only day at the beach. Grrr! Although not captured in photos, we had a fabulous time at the beach. Both Levi and Isaac were total beach bums and could have stayed there for our entire trip. Daisy loved looking for seashells with Grandma. Jeff came away completely sunburned, the effects of which he is still suffering from.
Here we are in line for the Haunted Mansion. A classic. A favorite.

From back to front: Daisy and I, Rian and Jamie, and Levi and Jeff riding Space Mountain. Also a favorite, even made it onto the re-ride list.

All Jeff wanted to do at Disneyland was eat a turkey leg like a savage. Here is a shot of him sharing the love with Isaac.

We decided we were not going to spend our precious Disneyland time waiting in long lines to see characters, so we only got to meet the ones we happened upon. We were lucky enough to meet Captain Hook and Peter Pan!

This is a picture of a Disney dream come true.

My super sister, Chelsea, was our car companion and lovely assistant throughout our trip. In fact, I don't think we could have made it without her. She was the babysitter, the extra person we needed for the rides, the take-me-to-the-bathroom girl, the sit in the back with the kids in the car person, the marital counselor, and the house humorist. I was not only grateful to have her, I enjoyed spending the time with her.

Don't ever let Jeff tell you he doesn't like Disneyland. It would be a lie.

Chelsea, Daisy, Jamie, and Levi on the teacups. I sat this one out on purpose. Can't handle the spinning ones.

A not-so-favorite part of this vacation was the shuttle ride. We got a great rate on rooms that were a little further away from Disneyland, so we rode a bus to and from the park every day. Our vote: Spend a little more and stay at a Maingate hotel.

Levi turned 4 on our first day at Disneyland! He was so excited to have his birthday there. To celebrate, we had dinner at Goofy's Kitchen. Here's the rundown: Goofy's kitchen was way out of our budget. It was super expensive, but worth it, and we would do it again. We saw great characters and got personal time with each one. We bought our tickets from Get Away Today in advance for a less expensive rate. It is a buffet style restaurant, so if you are looking for a sit down relaxing meal after a long day of walking around, you won't get it here. The food was outstanding. The adults were completely satisfied with the fare, and the kids thought they had died and gone to heaven with things like hot dogs, mac & cheese, and even pb&j pizza. Wow! Goofy's Kitchen is located in the Disneyland Hotel, which is not inside or even next to Disneyland. It was more out-of-the-way than we had expected. If we were to do it again, we might enjoy a meal at Goofy's Kitchen on the day we arrived in California instead of a day that we actually used our Disneyland tickets. You can enjoy everything in Downtown Disney (including Goofy's Kitchen) without admission to the park, and going there would make a good appetizer for the next day if you went the night you pulled into town.

Levi is in the blue Finding Nemo hat dancing with Goofy. Lovin' it.

We got to meet Aurora. Levi was so excited to tell her that we have her movie.

Cinderella was also there. Not that you care, but my favorite princesses are Aurora, Cinderella, and Belle. Two out of three is not bad!

And Minnie! Who doesn't want to meet Minnie?

Here's some of the crew. Chelsea, Me, Isaac, Jeff, Pluto, Levi, Daisy, Grandma, Grandpa, Jamie & Rian.

Loved the parade. Ok, I loved the parade. Two of my three kids slept through it.

Yes. Walt Disney is on my heroes list. The more I learn about the man, the more amazed and inspired I am by him.

The only thing Daisy talked about was seeing Princess Tiana. I didn't know if we would be able to pull it off, when (with a little Disney magic) she walked right by us when we were eating lunch. Daisy got to talk to her and, since Tiana has her own jazz band, she invited Daisy to dance with her.

This is us after we got off of Splash Mountain. Yes, I look as though I jumped in a pond. I was that wet. And that uncomfortable. Worth it? Yes.

Rian, Levi, me, Daisy and Jamie waiting to go inside the Enchanted Tiki Hut. Love it! (Tip: This is a great, sit down, shaded, not-too-long-of-a-wait, relax-in-the-afternoon attraction.)

Here is about half of our crew right inside Maingate. Oh, and my mom in the far left hand corner is yelling at the lady in the foreground of the left hand corner who is walking through our picture.

Here's a shot of our carload at the essential and beloved In 'N Out Burger on our trip there.

Still riding in the car. Three monkey's in the back. Chelsea and the cooler in the middle, and Jeff and I as pilot and co pilot.

This is how we ended most days. Totally happy, sweaty, and exhausted.

Daisy, in case you didn't know, is the best big sister in the whole world. Between the stroller, the cooler, the diaper bag, and the kids, we couldn't have successfully boarded the shuttle each day without her help.

Since Isaac was a little too short for some of the rides, he spent some time hanging out on the benches with his great-grandparents. (Tip: If you have a child that is too small to ride, Disney has the Parent Pass, or Rider Switch, where they give you a special ticket that allows one parent to stay off with the child, then switch places on the ride so no one has to miss out. I love Disneyland.)

Bug's Land rocks. The kids can do all the rides. Everything from the benches to the lightposts to the bathrooms makes you smile and feel like a bug, and it's rarely crowded.

We got to meet Koda! Issac LOVED the characters. He wanted them to hold him and he cried when we took him away from them. He couldn't get enough.

Hello Radiator Springs! Levi was hoping for a little more interaction from Mater and Lightning McQueen, but meeting them in person was pretty good stuff.

We ate lunch while we watched Billy Hill and The Hillbillies in Frontierland. We fit right in.

Now that it's all said and done, I'm still not ready to be back to real life. I kind of like the whole fairytale lifestyle. We loved the World of Color water and light show. It was breathtaking, magical, totally Disney. Not to be missed. Being at Disneyland with my whole family was completely satisfying. Watching the wonder in the eyes of my children was priceless.

It has been five years since we were last at the wonderful place, and it might be that long before we make it back. For now, we're living on the memories.