The No Talent, Talent Show

It was time for the Mountainville Stars Talent show. Kennedie told me she would be doing a dance routine with her friend at 1:00 p.m. Doni and I woke Aniston up from her nap and ran over early to get a good seat. After much trial and tribulation they got the boom box working and the program started at 1:20p.m. The put an overhead projector up on an, uneven wall, so that no one could see it. (Maybe we should have planned this out a before the show started.) It was 3 pages long. To make a long story short we had the same students doing two numbers and each of them were about 5-7 min. long. Hello! If you have 300 students wanting to perform should we limit that everyone can do one thing and it can only be 2 min.? Well needless to say that Kennedie was on the second page and it was 3:00 p.m. and time for school to be over before they got to the second page. She did not get to perform!! I had sat there and refereed Aniston (with half a nap) for two straight hours! At least we got to see Doni and Sarah's kids dance. They were so cute. They did a Hannah Montana Merry Christmas song. When they were done Ally yelled out "Have a Merry Christmas everyone!" I loved it! That, and watching Doni figure out how to swallow her tongue was the highlight of the day.

So after being tortured for two hours we did not want to go home and get Doni's car for her carpool so we just piled BOTH carpools into my car. It was hilarious. By then I had to laugh to keep from crying. I got the giggles and we laughed all the way home with 20 kids in the car yelling, screaming and laughing too.
We warned everyone not to tell their parent's about this or we were sure to get kicked out of our carpooling groups.
The only thing that would have made the day more fun would have been to get pulled over and given a ticket. With my luck I am so surprised that didn't happen!
I can't wait until next year! I think I am sick that day!

The Great Debate

It was time for the Brockbank's most despised time of year again. It seems to come around so fast. Didn't we just have the pinewood derby last week? I grew up thinking you would get kicked out of the church if you didn't do scouts. My brother got his Eagle Scout award when he was 15. I didn't know that was optional. Bart never even went to scouts. So after we got married and had Stockton we have never really agreed on how to handle scouts. So last year was his first pinewood derby. I kept reminding Bart that this was to be a father and son's activity. To make a long story short 15 min. before the derby we are in the garage painting the car. It was a miserable experience. There is nothing like watching your nine year old son stare at his car, fighting back the tears, as it finishes last EVERY SINGLE TIME!
I begged Bart to start early as to not have a repeat of last year. I vowed that if we lost the first race I was going to scoop Stockton up and drive straight to Chucke Cheese. I could not handle it again this year. Bart at least started working on it the day before. So that was an improvement! We won a couple and lost a couple but all in all it was better than last year (although that is not saying much!) I hate the pinewood derby. I think next year we will be out of town.

Bart's mom and grandma came to support Stockton. He was so happy they were there, and grandma Vickie helped cheer on his BYU car! Great grandma Johnson was still a little confused what all the commotion was about. She was a good sport.

Spring Break in St. George

We went to the big bra to swim indoors with the Bullington's. I think Stockton had more fun than Kennedie did playing with Tara and Maddi. Lisa and I were on full alert watching our kids every minute. We do not have good luck together with our kids swimming in St. George. Last year during Spring Break Weston almost drowned and grabbed on to Tara. It was one of the most terrifying moments of our lives.

I am a little late posting this. But better late than never! St. George for Spring Break means something totally different to me now versus when I was in High School. No more dragging Main, and staying up late, sleeping in and laying out all day with friends. Now it means taking care of kids and more taking care of kids. I have to admit I like my life better now than then.

The kids were so brave getting in Grandpa's pool. It was freezing, and they did not even seem to notice. Bec, Josh and Lauren were there with us for the first couple of days. We had so much fun with them. Well except for Josh. He is a pain in the butt. He asked if we were coming down in May. I thought he was asking me because he wanted us to come with them. No, he was asking to make sure we were not coming with them. He is so mean to me but I know deep down he loves me. The kids adore Lauren, almost too much they about sufficate her.

Of course Fiesta Fun is always on the agenda. Bart usually goes without me and takes the kids. I am not sure why but he made me go this time. We went on the bumper water boats. I am pretty sure I will not get the invite again. The whole time all I did was yell at the kids. As I was taking pictures with my camera they kept squirting me in the face. (It is not a water proof camera.) Then they kept squirting Aniston in the face, and she was screaming. I kept thinking to myself, "Stop being a party poop." I couldn't help it I was getting so annoyed. I am NO fun at Fiesta Fun. Aniston enjoyed the jungle play area a lot more than getting sprayed in the face on bumper boats!

Our friends the Mendenhall's invited us over for a BBQ at their place. We had so much fun. John is a great griller. Thanks for having us!
We met our friends the Ross' for a little tennis and swimming too. Their pool was heated and the kids had a blast trying to poke each other's eyes out with the plastic diving toys.

Tulip Festival?

I have always wanted to go to the Tulip Festival. You might say it has been one of my goals for about 3 years. (I know, lofty!) So finally I get around to it...........and there are NO tulips! It was so sad. It has been such a cold winter that there were no tulips out. I couldn't believe it. I was highly dissapointed to say the least. Oh well, the kids still had fun. We walked around for a while and then ate lunch at the Trelis. The highlight of the day with the delicious Diet Coke! Seriously you know how picky I am. They really have good drinks and great fries.

This was the biggest bunch of tulips we saw the whole day. SAD!!
My cute buddy!

I look like a midget in this picture. Don't get me wrong I am short, but not that much shorter than Misty! A five year old took the picture so the angle was not great. But she didn't cut any of our heads off. Thanks Lexi!

The kids were cracking us up. They would run up ahead of us and get these pamphlets out and cover their faces. After we laughed the first couple of times they kept doing it to get a reaction from us........it worked, we kept laughing.

Go Jazz!

We love the Jazz! We have had so much fun going to the games this year. Thanks Chad and Mindy!! Bart bought these Korver shirts and ever since he has been doing really bad. Bart said he is burning the shirts tonight before the game. Hopefully that will work............
The boys got their faces painted at the Oprah's Big Give celebration. It is supposed to be a spider man's eye but by that night it looked like we had just punched them.
Aniston loves going to the games. She runs around and eats what anyone will feed her. Mostly it is Diet Coke. (No wonder she never falls asleep on the way home from the games.)

GO JAZZ!!

This Is The Place

Stockton informed me that I have never been on a field trip with him before! What! I could have sworn I have been on lots of outings, but for the life of me I could not think of one. I am the worst mom ever. He is in fourth grade for heaven's sake. I am going to continue to think of a field trip I have been on, but for now I am going to remember this one. We went to the "The This Is The Place Monument." It was so much fun and very informative. I am not sure that even though I was born here I have ever been. We go to the zoo every year but I guess we just drive by the monument.

We went inside an old classroom and the lady conducted class like it would have been done in the Pioneer times. It was so cute. She had all of the kids bow and say their names as they walked in the door. She made them stand at attention when they were answering a question. Wow what a difference to how they act in a normal classroom. The children were silent the whole time she was talking. They even got to write on their own personal little chalk boards. Stockton has an adversion to the way chalk feels in his hand but he was a good sport.
They taught them to square dance just like in the olden days. Instead of watching T.V. or playing video games I am going to have Stockton do this. It was very entertaining to watch the boys and girls dance together while trying hard not to touch.
They even got to pull handcarts in the snow just so they could get the full effect.
It was such a fun day. I learned a lot of new things. One of which was just a little insight as to what the pioneers had to go through. It made me so grateful for my life and the thing I take for granted each day. It was a real eye opener. I enjoyed watching Stockton interact with his classmates. He was a good sport holding my hand and letting me kiss him all day. It was so much fun being with him I will not miss another field trip if I can help it.

Girls Weekend Yeah!

Friday afternoon Sarah and I headed to St. George for our annual girls weekend. But before I left I got a ticket in the mail saying that we owed $57.00 for not paying the $1.50 toll road when we were in California last October. Whatever! Bart and I do not remember that so I just put it aside. So after stopping for some snacks we were on our way. We got down by Fillmore and I looked in my rear view mirror to see lights blaring. I was in Bart's truck and I knew I had not been speeding. He said he pulled us over for the windows being too tinted! Sarah asked, "Can you pull us over for that?" He pulled down his glasses half way and as cool as he could said, "We are here aren't we?" What a jerk!!! So another $50.00 ticket.

As soon as he was leaving I looked down and noticed that we were out of gas. There was not a gas station in sight. Mr. To Cool for School guy, told us that the nearest gas station was about 15 miles away. So after praying in my mind we took off. We coasted in after 8 miles to the gas station. I am not kidding, I mean COASTED in. I filled up and went to start the truck and nothing! It would turn over but that was it. So we asked this nice man next to us and luckily he had a screwdriver and knew just what to do. He primed the tank and we were off again. I was begining to think we were not going to make it!

Our friend Terri built a six million dollar home to sell at the parade of homes that hasn't sold yet, so she invited us to stay there for the weekend. Friday night she took us to the Colbie Caillet concert at the Tuachan. I had no idea who she was, but the concert was great! The opening singer was as good or better than Colbie. So on the way back to the Ledges I was driving about 20mph because traffic was so bad. All of a sudden I see lights behind me. ANOTHER COP!!! Seriously leave me alone. It was April 3rd and Bart's registration expired on the last day of March. Three days past due. Is there no grace period here? He gave me my third ticket for the day! He was even a bigger jerk than the first cop. They really have way too much power!!

We had a lot of fun just laying out, eating ,talking and even a little Christensen's. Terri's house was amazing. I felt like a movie star staying there. We hired some massage therapists that came in and gave us massages in her own salon that she built downstairs.

The upstairs had great big huge windows instead of walls. The view was amazing. It was all a little surreal! So sorry Terri but I hope you don't sell it. I am already looking forward to next year!

So after living it up for just three short days it was time to go home. It was great hanging out with good friends. There is nothing like relaxing and being around your friends to make you appreciate how blessed you are.

I was sure I was going to get a ticket for speeding so I went about 5mph under the speed limit the whole way home. But I am proud to say that I made it home without another ticket. YEAH!!!

Baby Ethan (4 weeks old), Misty, Nan, Shannon, Baby Gavin (4 months old),

Krystal, Cindy, Hillary,

Terri, Sarah, Doni, Mindy

Oprah's Big Give

Oprah is giving each state some money to donate to a needy family. ABC contacted Bart and Sean about being the contractor's on the project for Utah. They found this family with 17 adopted children. Yes 17 !!! Their kitchen is not big enough for them to all eat together at once. Surprising huh!? So what started out to be a kitchen remodel has turned into a house remodel. Bart kept sending me pictures when he was there walking through the home. It is so sad. The baby lives in an utility closet. The Heart to Home foundation is going to repaint and repair all of the walls in the house. They have gotten beds donated and gift cards from Costco along with a lot of other fun things. This family adopts these kids just because they want to. They are so humble grateful for everything that they have. Nothing like a couple of pictures to keep me humble and remind me of how blessed we truly all are.

Because of Bart's diddo comment, Sean and John Adamson are going to be on Good Things Utah on Friday morning, to tell about the house. Stay tuned for more info..............

Palm Springs

Wow it was hard to come home to snow!!! We went to Palm Springs last week and enjoyed 80' weather all week long. It was the perfect trip. I had a specific routine that I followed everyday. *Sleep in
*Tennis Lessons
*Diet Coke run (Thanks to the "L" sisters) Diet Coke or a gas is not easy to find it took some looking but our hard work paid off.
*Lunch
*Laying out
*Getting ready (Kind of, pony tail no make-up)
*Shopping
* Dinner
*Rotation between hot tub and movie
*Bed

I only had my camera once or twice with me so these pictures are a little cheesy. We stayed at this huge Marriott. It about took a map to find anything. It had a little lake with boats in the middle of it.
We had so much fun playing tennis. I still need a lot of work but my game is improving. It goes to show I am not too old to learn new things. The guys were so patient with my 300 serve game that lasted an hour.

We played tennis on these grass courts, just like Wimbleton. We needed to practice up for our training. It was so different than cement. We also played on clay courts like the French open just to mix it up a little. It was a blast.

This is Sean's cool grandpa car. All the babes were trying to pick up on him. I think he is going to trade in his mustang for the Grand Marque he liked it so much. It was even baby blue! Sweet!!
Seriously look at the form........
I think I gained 10lbs in one week. That has to be a record. Of course In and Out Burger at 11:00 p.m. probably didn't help my cause at all, but it was worth it. (The one in St. George is opening in one week.) Well just looking at the pictures and writing about it while I look out my window and it is snowing is making me depressed. It was a great week with Bart. It is nice to get away and spend some time together.

Happy Easter

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