Camp Out!

We camped at Crystal Hot Springs last night for Devin's triathlon....read the next post for the exciting play by play....

Shark Attack!

Swim, Bike, Run!!! The Desert Sharks Shark Attack Triathlon was this weekend at Crystal Hot Springs. Devin participated in the kids' tri for the second time. You have be 7 to compete. Devin improved his time by 2 minutes and came in 8th place. He was a little disappointed by his place, but we tried to explain that there were more kids participating this year, and that the only thing that matters is that he beat his time from last year. He seemed to have a good time, and the boys loved camping over night and swimming. We left Noah at home with Grandma Keime, which made the trip A LOT more enjoyable....babies and tents don't mix!! In fact, 30 somethings and tents don't mix!! Mark and I swear we won't go camping again until we have better equipment-i.e. a pimped out trailer...Kidding...we would settle for a couple of air mattresses!!! Anyway, a fun time was had by all, and we would encourage any and all to participate next year! It is usually the end of May or the beginning of June and only costs about $25. The kids get a packet with a t-shirt, various ads, and coupons, and other SWAG, just like the adults! They also get a timing chip put on their ankle. BIG TIME!

Devin improved the most in the swim. this year. In todays race he started out a little fast and got tired about half way. Mark had to jump a barbed wire fence because we thought for sure he was going under...but, once he heard Mark's encouragement on the side of the pool, he relaxed and kept going. It was crazy because this year they didn't let any spectators near the pool. Everyone had to stand outside the fences. They didn't have life guards or anything, just a couple race volunteers. Mark wasn't the only parent who had to come to the rescue of their flailing child. All in all it was a great time!

Firefighter

Ty loves Firefighters. He has a toy fire truck with a little man that sits in the seat and can climb up the ladder. Everytime he sees a firetruck he is sure to tell me, along with the sound effects at a deafening pitch. Well, yesterday *I* felt like a firefighter. I had to walk to the bus stop to pick up Sam, it is only about a block away mind you, but sure enough when Sam got off the bus and realized we had to WALK home, he did his usual routine-threw his backpack down and sat on the sidewalk in a huff. I had walked nearly half way home before he decided to follow me. Luckily the it is a straight shot most of the way and I merely had to look back to make sure he was still wallowing in his self-pity. A little boy from his class volunteered his dad to give Sam a ride home, heaven forbid he should have to exercise his legs at all, but I quickly put an end to that suggestion. Later that day Sam came it the house after playing at a friend's house to report that another friend, Robby, was having a birthday party and that we must have misplaced the invitation. I thought, oh boy, here we go. I had to explain to him that we didn't get an invitation, and that people can't invite everyone they know to their parties. "Did you get to invite ALL your friends to your party?" He didn't see to care about all of that and decided that he was going to march right over to that party, invited or not!! I had to tell him that if he did that, I would have to march over right behind him and kick his behind all the way home, embarrassing him in front of everyone. That got the wheels turning. Then he decided to take it out on me, telling me I was mean and rotten and blah, blah, blah-I hear it all the time. Finally, I thought to remind him that we are going camping on Friday and that lifted his spirits a little...why didn't I think of that earlier????

Just another day in the life of a firefighter!!!

Congratulations Dad!!

That was then....This is now...
1973-2008....No you're not dead, yet. In fact life is just beginning!! Congrats on 35 years of teaching. I don't know how you taught jr. high and high school kids that long and still kept partial sanity:) Love you, Dad!!

Here's a great Congrats Jib Jab for ya! Enjoy!
Warning: There is a mild swear word in this, so if you don't want your kids repeating it, you might want to wait until they aren't around...sorry!

JibJab Sendables "Congratulations" - A Non-Crappy Congrats eCard

Ty-Ty's Tag-A few of his Favorite Things...

Thanks Peyters!!! Ty LOVED looking at your pictures! Here are a few of the exciting things Ty does on a regular basis:

1. "I go to Pesston's (Preston's) house. Bye, Mom."

This is Preston at our house-they always have to give "huggies".



2. Ty loves three things in this photo: His "bankie", his thumb, and standing on any available object.

3. We seriously have Elf memorized! It's a good thing it gets funnier every time.



4. "I wan try!" This is Ty's mantra ALL DAY LONG!! He pulls up the bar stool to the counter and wants to make juice, make dinner, or make a mess....what ever Mom happens to be trying to do.

5. Ty thinks it is loads of laughs to get into Noah's things, ie. swing, bouncer, crib, etc. As you can see from his face, he thinks he's big stuff.


Ty tags See-See. Sorry, Mandy :)

D. Will-Future Friar??

K-so Mark has to comment on D. Will's haircut every time we see him...he says he looks like a Friar, isn't that a priest or something? I don't think they would allow a priest to have the tatts that Williams has. I digress. The reason I am posting is to show the world that I finally got my #8 jersey. Mark bought it for me for Mother's Day. I love it, and I am wearing it every game day until they are eliminated, which I hope isn't too soon!! Cry a tear for me tonight because I don't get to watch the game, thanks to broadcast rights and all that crap!!! I don't understand why the games are on ESPN/ABC sometimes and then only on KJZZ, and then only on TNT...I mean come on!! Do they think everyone has cable or a dish...I guess pretty much everyone does, except us, and our neighbors across the street. Dawn (our neighbor) even suggested breaking into our other neighbor's house to watch the game-they're in Mexico, I won't go off on people who take exotic vacations, too...I guess we can gather around the radio like they did in the olden days....Go Jazz!!!

Happy Mother's Day!!

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!! You are the greatest mom ever. Thank you for showing me how to be a good sister, a good wife, a good mother, and a good person.

I have so many good memories from my childhood, and most of them have to do with you. The hikes in Fernwood, the YW backpack trips, the annual trip to the Adam's Family House, even though I spent the whole time reading-I was too "cool" to be playing around :) I remember you making sledding hills in the front yard in the winter and waking us up in the middle of the night to watch a lightning storm in the summer. You helped me appreciate and learn to love nature, and I find myself pointing things out to my boys that you used to show me.

Thank you for encouraging me in piano, dance, cheer, and voice, and for sitting at the kitchen table on countless occasions in an effort to help me understand math. You never gave up on me, even though at the end of the lessons I was in tears. Thank you for allowing me to be who I was and not expecting me to be like anyone else. You always helped me see other points of view, but allowed me to make my own decisions. I appreciate that you only put in your two cents when you felt it was really important.

You are the best mother, mother-in-law, and grandma anyone could ever have. I love you!!

Remember this? Wrestling with Devin, Gavin, and Cooper!! Priceless!!

Tag! Five Things You Don't Know

This may be pointless because as many of you do know, I'm pretty much an open book-a nice way of saying I can't keep my mouth shut-so ya'll may already know all this, but here goes:

1. I LOVE doing laundry! I love hauling it downstairs, separating the colors and whites, smelling the detergent, putting it in the dryer, getting it out of the dryer, folding it and putting it away. It reminds me of how much I really do have and how good the clothes actually smell BEFORE the boys put them on.

2. I have a really good memory, most of the time. I add the disclaimer because I am 35 and the older I get I find the more help I need...but, for the most part I can remember times and dates without having to look at them after I write them on the calendar. I do write them, just in case. But, I can tell you without looking that Devin and Sam have dentist appointments on Monday at 9am, They both have baseball practice tomorrow night, Sam at 6 and Dev at 7-Dev on field 1 and Sam on the grass between field 2 and the park, Mark can register for his LCSW test anytime after May 9...okay that's enough. It's all up in the noggin.

3. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to grocery shop, and shop in general. I absolutely do not take after Jude in this respect. I love planning meals, looking at the ads, making up my list, and going BY MYSELF!!

4. I like things that are small, things that are pretty, and things that smell good-for example: bracelets, lip gloss, earrings, watches, lotions, perfumes, etc. I always smell the shampoo and lotion before I buy. The funny thing is, I rarely wear bracelets, earrings, watches or perfume....go figure.

5. When Mark and I retire we're going to live in a trailer down by the river...sort of. My dream is to own one honkin' RV and travel the US of A without a care in the world. I LOVE road trips and would rather drive then fly any day. I love the feeling of visiting a new place and wondering what it's like to live there and visiting everything there is to visit there. Heck, we may just live in an RV and park in our kids' driveways a couple times a year.

Heaven on Earth

For FHE tonight we went to Temple Square. We actually had to go down to SL anyway, so we decided to go to temple square while we were there. I am so glad we did!! Other than the $12 we had to pay for parking-we have to drive two vehicles, you know-we didn't spend a dime, and we had a wonderful time. I brought a baggie filled with pennies and the boys spent some time making wishes and throwing their pennies into the pond. Ty ran around barefoot on the beautiful, green grass-how come our grass never looks that good-and put his hands in every spot of water he could find. Mark took my favorite picture, it's Sam and Ty, surrounded by Tulips, looking up at the Angel Moroni on top of the temple. I swear Temple Square is a little taste of what heaven must be like. We'll get to run around with no shoes, surrounded by beautiful flowers, friendly missionaries, and not a care in the world. Sign me up!!

Oh, I almost forgot the best part!! When we saw the fountain in this next photo Sam said that the fountain was made out of tongues because "Jesus wants us to have the gift of tongues" and then he stuck out his tongue to show the similarities between his tongue and the fountain. I asked him if he knew what the gift of tongues was, and he didn't, so we had a little teaching moment. Good stuff.

'Master' of the Universe

After the graduation I told Amy I wanted to go for my PhD. When I came to I'm in a head lock and Amy's whispering in my ear,"Your done". Okay, so I guess I'm done.? Anyway, I just wanted to thank everyone for their support and encouragement. Even though my dad would ask me every semester, "now, what's your major in", they have been a great support and would watch the boys almost every Friday so Amy and I could get some alone time. Al and Judy have also been a great support and always encouraged me to stick with it and persevere. Al would always say, "It's all about persevering"; Thank you. I also wanted to say that this degree is as much Amy's as it is mine. She did all of the hard work staying home with our high spirited boys, working, and keeping our house in order. Oh, and she's Hot. Just thought I'd throw that little perk in there. The journey has been long, and I'm sure it will be worth it. Thanks again.

Mark Spalding MSW, LCSW, CFLE, PhD?.

Looks professional huh?

YIPPEE!!!!

The day finally arrived!! The first day of the rest of our lives....Mark graduated with his Masters of Social Work last night at the UofU. It really was awesome. The past two years have flown by. I remember thinking, how are we going to do this??? Three kids, one on the way, graduate school, working full time, plus practicum hours...seriously, it is a miracle from up above!! Mark did awesome, always excelling, even when he didn't think he would. I am so, so, so proud of him!! It is one thing for someone who loves school and has always wanted to go to college, but for someone who never saw himself as a college graduate, to have a masters degree is so dang awesome!! Celebrate good times-oh, yeah!! Here's to the future, onward and upward-as my mom would say. Next is the LCSW exam, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, and then...anyone need a good therapist? :)