Pinetree 3 #22

When I moved into Pinetree 3 #22 my freshman year of college, I never anticipated that I would be making lifelong friends. That's because Michelle and Tiffany were the first roommates I met. Haha. This weekend we held the first ever Roommate Reunion and got together with 4 of my roommates from that first year at Snow. We went to my grandparents cabin in Duck Creek and had such a good time. There were 5 families and 10 kids ages 4 and under. We hadn't seen each other in over 7 years, but it felt like we had lived together just last week. Our husband's had never met each other, but everyone got along great. The kids played together and had a blast jumping on the beds. We laughed and cried. It was just like old times. It's so strange that we are all mom's now and we were all crazy then! Ok, maybe Mindy and I were the only crazy ones. Here's a summary of the weekend:
Best 6 Things That Happened:
1. Paul saved the day with toilet paper.
2. Anthony was the supreme tech support and shared his Wii.
3. Jeff was the ultimate chef.
4. Curtis was the photographer extraordinaire.
5. We got to have old-fashioned girl talk!
6. Jana made the best taco soup ever/Lauren is the cornbread master.

Worst 6 Things That Happened:
1. Natasha ate too much (again).
2. Mindy ate the last piece of cornbread.
3. Christel turned into a model and made us all jealous (hehe).
4. The satellite didn't work so we missed the Jazz game.
5. The girls wouldn't go on a 'man ride' with Jana.
6. Jana tried to steal the name of my next child.
BONUS: Coldstone was voted down as the best ice cream on the planet. Whatever.

Marsing's Ranch

The only thing Jeff asked for for his 30th birthday was for me to do the Marsing's Ranch ride with him this spring. Marsing's Ranch is an old homestead in Emery County (shout out to Jana). It is a beautiful day-long ride that we do every spring. I haven't been for a few years because I have been either pregnant or nursing. Because it is not easy to get to (you can't even get a 4-wheeler in there) it has been fairly well preserved. There are several log buildings, corrals, barns, cellars and a smokehouse. It is amazing to think how hard those people had to work for everything they had. The mom, who had eight children, is buried there.

We sent the kids to Cedar City to be with my parents on Friday, then got up at 5:00 Saturday morning to head out. When we got there we got the horses ready, the saddle bags packed and started out. Soon after we started the horse I was riding (a little white mare who I had never ridden before) jumped and I came down on the back of the saddle right on my tailbone. I pretty much thought I was going to die. I kept going thinking the pain would subside. It hurt every single step. After a little while Jeff and I traded horses because Roxy is a smoother ride and I was fine. The ride was great. We didn't have any problems, it was a beautiful day, and everytime I spend time on the back of a horse it makes me think of how blessed I am.

Monday morning when I woke up I could hardly walk so I decided to go to the doctor. I explained that I came down on the saddle and then rode for eight more hours. He concluded that I displaced my coccyx (tailbone) and likely fractured my sacrum. So pretty much I am hobbling around like a cripple. I can't walk very well and it takes me forever to stand up or sit down. This means Levi knows I can't catch him when it is time to get in the tub or change his bum and he runs from me laughing. Daisy asks me every morning, "Mom, how's your bum?" Truth is it hurts like crazy and it pretty much sucks that it happened at all, but we had a great ride and it could have been a lot worse. By the way, if you ever get a chance to ride Marsing's Ranch, do it.

Can it Please be Spring?

So I'm sick of waking up to snow! Is it not April? My kids don't seem to mind. They are so anxious to play outside that little things like BELOW FREEZING AIR TEMPERATURES don't seem to matter. They ride their bikes around till their hands and ears and numb, and then I'm the Meanie Mommy when I make them come inside to thaw out. I am so ready to do spring things...work in the yard, go to the park, ride horses, picnic up the canyon, shave my legs (oh, you mean you shave in the winter?) Maybe one of these days it will finally be spring.

Potty Mouth

My phone rang at 7:30 am. I knew it was either Jeff or my mom calling that early. I was using the bathroom so I asked Daisy to answer the phone. This is what I could hear from inside the bathroom: "No. This is Daisy. No. She is pooing. No, POOING. Yeah. Ok. I'll tell her to call you back." Yeah, well, I about died when I saw that it was an Alison's Pantry customer. It was even worse when I had to call her back and listen to her say, "I called earlier this morning and your daughter answered..." I'm like - yeah, can we just forget that? So then this afternoon my 9-year-old nephew is at our house. He goes in the bathroom and shuts the door. Daisy knocks.
Me: Daisy, wait until he is done.
Daisy: I will! Trevin, do you want to go outside and ride bikes?
Trevin: Just a minute, Daisy.
Daisy: What are you doing?
Trevin: Using the bathroom.
Daisy: Are you pooing?
Trevin: No.
Daisy: Can I come in?
Trevin: No.
Daisy: Ok. Wash your hands!
Is it time for a FHE lesson on bathroom manners or what?!

Callao

Ever heard of Callao? Well, me neither until yesterday. Callao (like the name Callie with an O on the end) is a little town in Juab county way out by the Nevada border. Yesterday Jeff had to go do a soil analysis there for work and invited the kids and I to ride along. We drove west about as far as we could go. I knew we had reached the edge of civilization when the road signs were nothing more than a hand-painted scrap of wood staked into the ground. We drove an hour on dirt roads. After driving and driving and more driving into nothing but sagebrush and the occassional antelope, I decided this might be where Osama bin Laden is hiding. I also decided if I ever commit and terrible crime and need to run from the law, this is where I would go. We finally spotted a faded, hand-painted sign indicating that Callao was 12 miles ahead. After 10 miles we still couldn't see anything. And then we spotted it. Two trees. As we got closer we could see several log cabins. When I say log cabin, I don't mean log home. I mean log cabin. Like Abe Lincoln style. No kidding. There was a small white building the size of a shed labeled "Callao School" ...and you thought 'one-room school house' was a thing of the past. Nope. The more modern folk lived in modular homes. Both of them. I started to get scared. I realized these people could do anything to us and no one would ever know. Ever. We could be forced into polygamy against our will and you would never hear from us again. It turns out that as Jeff began to talk to the people there, they were very nice (and normal) and I started to wonder what life was like there. Did they have mail or did they still use the Pony Express? Had they ever used the internet? Do they pay taxes (because I'm sure the government doesn't even know they exist)? Do all the women (all 6 of them) have all their babies naturally at home? Do they harbor terrorists? (just kidding) I thought I had been to some remote places in this state, places far away from everything. Like Castledale. Little did I know. Castledale is a raging metropolis compared to Callao. The trip took FOREVER! We truly could have driven to St. George and back in the time it took us to get there and back. No kidding. The kids actually did great. When we got to civilization again (Delta) we let them play in the McDonald's PlayPlace (pretty much my least favorite place on earth, well besides Callao) for about an hour before roping them back in the car to make the last leg of the trip home. At least by then we were on paved roads. Jeff and I decided we might go back for a romantic getaway soon. Hehe

Easter

My parents got a new camp trailer and so they invited us to go camping with them for Easter. We went to the Coral Pink Sand Dunes by Kanab. We got a little more than we bargained for when our truck broke down half way there. We were on the side of a lonely little state highway for about 3 hours and finally got towed (DON'T buy a Ford!) Despite the runaroud we had so much fun! We hiked the most amazing slot canyon. The kids loved playing outside, riding the four wheelers, flying the kites the Easter Bunny brought them, dying eggs, sitting by the fire, and going on an Easter egg hunt. Mostly it was just fun to do something out of the ordinary. When the sun went down it was FREEZING but other than that it was beautiful there. There are so many gorgeous places in our great state!

From Where I Stand

I don't know that anyone cares about my opinions but myself, but that's what Blogs are for, right? So much is happening in our world! This week Obama tackled the R word. Very impressive. Super tricky subject. Incredibly well handled. You had me singing praises, Barack. So the New York Governor's office obviously doubles as the Albany Whore House after hours. Kick out the Governor for hiring prostitutes, swear in the Lt. Governor, two days later he holds a press conference to confess his sexual history. Yikes! And about Tibet...Dear China: If you are trying to make a good impression with this whole Olympic thing, the best plan might not be to kick all the reporters out of traditionally Tibetan territories while you 'crack down' (read: humanitarian crisis) on protestors. Just a hint. This week marks 5 years since the invasion of Iraq. Hillary says she'll pull out troops within 60 days of her election. That's going to be the least of our worries if she actually gets elected. Great idea Ms. Clinton. And then what? Bush says the 'surge' has reduced violence. True. But now what? All I know is that I am glad I am not being called upon to find a solution for this enormous disaster. And last...Utah is facing a huge wheat shortage. What this means is that virtually everyone has a basement full of wheat that they don't know how to use, but they hear there is going to be a wheat shortage and prices are going to skyrocket so they rush out and buy up all the wheat they can find which causes a wheat shortage and prices to skyrocket. Wadayano. It sounds hauntingly like the Yellow Fever crisis in South America. Last week people in and around Paraguay were so frantic to get vaccinated against the deadly disease that has recently shown up on the radar that they were getting two and even three vaccinnes, which did exactly what deadly diseases do - killed them. All the crazy things in this world make me even more grateful for the only thing that is truly stable: The gospel of Jesus Christ. Happy Easter.