Aruba, Bahama, come on pretty mama...

Last weekend Damon, Rebecca, and I took my parents to the Beach Boys concert for my mom's birthday. We had so much fun! Every year Verrado has a big "Founder's Day" celebration and this year our beloved Beach Boys performed. It was a great concert, totally family friendly and just a lot of fun. The best part was seeing my mom "getting jiggy with it"!

Happy Halloween

Halloween was a lot of fun this year. The boys were so excited for it, Harrison was talking about trick or treating for months. Both boys had Halloween parties at preschool, Thursday night we went to our ward trunk or treat, and Friday night we visited the Grandparents. The boys had such a fun time trick or treating. At the end of the night I let them choose a few pieces of candy and they left the rest out for the "Great Pumpkin". The Great Pumpkin comes at night and takes their candy but leaves them a surprise. I was explaining this to Jackson and he started to cry, he didn't want the Great Pumpkin to eat his candy. But the boys were pretty excited about the whoopie cushions he left them!

Here are some pictures of our Halloween. Harrison was a skunk, Jackson was a monkey, Damon was Jack in the Box (that he made himself) and I was Wendy's.

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas

On the 17th Damon and I took a trip to Las Vegas. We stayed at the Stratosphere for free because we agreed to waste our time listening to a time share deal. It was fun spending time with just Damon.
We drove both cars to my parent's house so we could drive one to Vegas and leave one for my parents and Rebecca to drive my kids around. While getting on the Loop 101 from Camelback I got in a car accident! There was a car in front of me `and we had the right of way driving on the on ramp to the 101. A huge diesel truck was also on the on ramp and totally cut us off, almost hitting the car in front of me. We slammed on our breaks and missed getting in an accident but the car behind me turned the corner to find us stopped and ran right into me! My car was bigger so there wasn't much damage but his was pretty smashed.
We had a good time seeing the sights, eating buffets, and seeing a show. Tickets to the show were supposed to come with our free gifts from the time share thing but for some reason we didn't get them. We asked another couple if they received theirs and they gave their tickets to us! It was a hilarious show called American Superstar. They had people impersonating Elvis, Tim McGraw, Michael Jackson and Celine Dion.

It was a fun weekend although I was very ready to come home. I missed the boys and those casinos are nasty. We did not buy into the time share, I don't want to spend my money on that but also I don't want to go to Vegas again for awhile.

Here are some of the sights in Vegas.

Camping Trip

I took Harrison and Jackson camping with my parents and Dylan and Victoria last week. We all had some days off school so my parents planned the trip. Damon had to stay home and work, we missed him but that didn't stop us from having fun. The boys loved it, especially drinking hot chocolate and roasting marshmellows. Jackson said the other day, "go camping?" I asked if he wanted to camp again. He said, "roast marmellow!"
We played in the creek, went to Montazuma's Well and the fish hatchery and just played. We went at the perfect time because the weather was warm but not hot and at night it got cool enough to sit in front of the fire and drink hot chocolate. The day we left the wind was blowing and it was cold.
We will probably go camping a lot more because the boys love it so much, but next time I go I am bringing an air mattress.

Big Boys in Bunk Beds

When Rebecca moved she gave us Dylan and Victoria's old bunk bed. In between sessions of Saturday's General Conference we set the bunk bed up in Harrison's room and moved Jackson in there also. Harrison is sleeping on the top and Jackson is on the bottom. They are doing really well with it, except for the second day when Harrison got stuck. We put the boys down for a nap and shortly after Harrison started crying. Our first reaction was to ignore him because we thought he just didn't want to nap. Right away his cry got harder and louder. We found him dangling from his new bunk bed from his arm that was stuck in the slats of his foot board. He has been very cautious ever since!

Fire Station

My preschool and Harrison's preschool went on our first field trip to the Fire Station on October 2. The kids enjoyed going and I think the firefighters enjoyed showing off to the kids. They got to see and climb in a fire truck and they came home with hats and coloring books. I got some great pictures of each of my preschool students standing in the fire truck with a fireman and later realized my memory card wasn't in my camera!!! Luckily most of the parents had cameras, but still...
I am loving my preschool. I have six students, including Jackson. I really enjoy my little school and it's nice to have that affirmation and compliments from the parents. It's also exciting when my students repeat something that I taught them weeks before.
Our class today was a lot of fun. We planted carrots in my garden for our farm unit and made icecream to learn about the letter I.

Lake Powell

Damon and I went on an adults only trip to Lake Powell in September. We had a great time visiting with friends, swimming, water skiing, fishing and exploring the lake. My favorite part was when we would go on a boat ride and find inlets in the rocks and take our boat as far into them as we could. We would turn the motor off and move the boat further in by guiding it with our hands on the rock wall. If our boat was "stuck" but the inlet went further we would get out and swim until it ended. There was one time when it felt like we were swimming in a cave it was so dark because the rock walls were so high and so close around us. We came to a part were the mountain seperated and we could see a patch of the sky. It was beautiful looking up from the water at these red rocks that spiraled up with the bright blue sky in the center. If only I had a water proof camera! Here are some of the pictures I did take.

Happy Birthday Jacksy-boy

My Jackson turned the big 2 on Monday!!! I love that boy. Jackson is very special to me, I feel like he "saved" me. I was not ready to get pregnant with him when I did. Harrison was only 9 months old when I got pregnant and I was struggling to keep my sanity. But Jackson changed my way of thinking. I realized I could do things I didn't think I could. I must say Jackson can be a handful (like when he cried for almost 2 hours because he wanted juice) but he is such a happy, sweet boy. I love that kid, my Jacksy.

Creating WALL-E

First the body.

Then the feet.

Add a head.

Finally the arms and hands.

Another poop story.....

Harrison has been "potty trained" for over a year but is just starting to do everything himself. The other day he went to the bathroom, I went to check on him and he had locked the door. He asked me to leave and give him his privacy. I went to check on him again just as he was coming out of the bathroom. I noticed that his shorts were soaking wet. I asked why his shorts were wet. He was very proud to say that he washed them. I was a little nervous to ask if he washed them in the toilet. No, he washed them in the bathtub. He took me in the bathroom to show me where he washed his shorts and I was able to piece everything together. Harrison was in pull ups ready to take a nap when he needed to use the bathroom. He didn't make it to the toilet so he took off his clothes by himself, dumped the poop out of his pull up into the toilet, threw the pull up in the garbage then cleaned his shorts in the bathtub. He was so proud of himself for cleaning everything up. I guess he didn't notice the mess he made on the bathmat or the toilet!

Camping

We went camping! We had a great time, especially Harrison and Jackson. We went to Sedona on our ward campout. It rained the first night but that didn't stop the boys from having fun. They loved everything about it, even setting up and taking down the tent. They had fun catching frogs, throwing rocks in the creek and hiking. We learned that Harrison is quite the rock climber. The boys got totally muddy climbing up a hill then sliding down on their butts! It was a fun camping trip.

New Name

Here is your dose of humour...

We will now be known as Chucklejuice! What's your new name?
Damon- Sleezy Chucklejuice
Kendra- Sloppy Chucklejuice
Harrison- Dorfus Chucklejuice
Jackson- Goober Chucklejuice

Follow the instructions to find your new Name.

And don't go all adult - a senior manager is now known far & wide as Dorky Gizzardsniffer! The following is excerpted from a children's book, Captain Underpants And the Perilous Plot Professor Poopypants, by Dave Pilkey, in which the evil Professor forces everyone to assume new names... So:

- 1. Use the third letter of your first name to determine your New first name:
a = snickle
b = doombah
c = goober
d = cheesey
e = crusty
f = greasy
g = dumbo
h = farcus
i = dorky
j = doofus
k = funky
l = boobie
m = sleezy
n = sloppy
o = fluffy
p = stinky
q = slimy
r = dorfus
s = snooty
t = tootsie
u = dipsy
v = sneezy
w = liver
x = skippy
y = dink y
z = zippy

2. Use the second letter of your last name to determine the first half of your new last name:
a = dippin
b = feather
c = batty
d = burger
e = chicken
f = barffy
g = lizard
h = waffle
i = farkle
j = monkey
k = flippin
l = fricken
m = bubble
n = rhino
o = potty
p = hamster
q = buckle
r = gizzard
s = lickin
t = snickle
u = chuckle
v = pickle
w = hubble
x = dingle
y = gorilla
z = girdl e

3. Use the third letter of your last name to determine the second half of your new last name:
a = butt
b = boob
c = face
d = nose
e = hump
f = breath
g = pants
h = shorts
i = lips
j = honker
k = head
l = tush
m = chunks
n = dunkin
o = brains
p = biscuits
q = toes
r = doodle
s = fanny
t = sniffer
u = sprinkles
v = frack
w = squirt
x = humperdinck
y = hiney
z = juice

Thus, for example, George W. Bush's new name is: Fluffy Chucklefanny.

Football Game and Preschool

Last night Damon took Harrison to the Cardinals football game. Harrison loved it. He said his favorite part was the "bird". But the mascot left before Harrison could find him to give him a hug and that made him sad. Jackson was also very sad that Dada and Boy left without him. When I put Jackson to bed I helped him say prayers and he said on his own, "Dada home. Boy home". I think he was praying that they would come home safely.
Last night was also my preschool openhouse. Yes, I am starting a preschool! It starts on Tuesday and I am so excited. My kids and their families came to meet me and see the school. It went really well. My kids were so excited to be here and the parents seem happy with what I'm doing.
While I was setting up my preschool I gave Jackson some cereal and he stuck a piece up his nose! That was very interesting trying to teach him to blow his nose so he could blow it out! Gross!!

Doing dishes

Our Boys

We have 2 awesome and very energetic boys. Damon's mom is an amazing photographer and recently took these pictures. Here are some of my favorites.

The Trek

I have finally decided to start my own family blog. So hello world!
We had a very adventerous week. Harrison and Jackson spent the week with Nonna and Papa (Donna and Danny) and Damon and I went up to Heber for our stake's pioneer trek. Damon was part of the back up camp and I went as a big sister. It was an amazing experience. I don't have any pictures because we weren't allowed to bring our cameras, or deoderant or toothpast, etc. But they did have a camera crew that I lovingly called "the Paparazzi". We started early Wednesday morning, the kids had to meet at the church to ride buses to Heber at 3:30 am. Lucky for me I went up Tuesday afternoon and stayed in our motor home and had a good night's sleep. After everyone ate breakfast, which was really our only meal of the day, we were put into families and then we had to pack our handcarts and get to know each other. When our handcarts were packed we lined them up then sat in front of the replica of the Navoo Temple. After hearing a talk we were startled by gunshots. The "mob" came and drove us out. It was kind of funny because I knew most of the mob, including Damon. But it also made it sad to think that there were pioneers who were disowned by their families. And then the trek began. We started pulling our handcarts and didn't stop until late that night. After walking for several hours we stopped for a water break and then our Stake President asked us to take a code of silence. As we started again we could see that we were going to be going uphill. Just as we were ascending our Pa stopped us and told us that our Big Brother "died" and was no longer allowed to pull the handcart or help in anyway. That was really challenging to me because I recently lost my big brother. Our family readjusted and started up the hill again when our Pa stopped us and again pulled away another brother. He did this untill none of the boys were able to help and it was left to the women to pull the handcart uphill and through switchbacks. It was really hard, physically and emotionally. After going quite awhile we were to the point where we could only go a few steps at a time before having to stop and rest. We were given oranges for lunch but I hadn't eaten mine yet. At one point we were all fatigued, including our Ma who was allowed to help. So I shared my orange but even with that we still struggled. Finally we looked up and saw men riding down on horses. They said Brigham Young sent them but they had to keep going to assess the sitution and they gave us candy saying it was all they had. Shortly after that a group of men came down saying Brigham Young sent them and they were here to help. One man stopped to help our handcart. At first he was a huge help but the switchbacks were so challenging even with his help we weren't going very far. With a lot of stopping, a horse pulling us out of a rut, and finally some more men coming to help we made it through the women's pull. We were given a chance to rest and to process what happened with our families before starting again. Right before we started it began to rain, shortly after that it got dark. And it rained for about 5 hours! That was scary. We could barely walk without slipping. Our shoes and socks were soaking wet and it was dark and hard to see. We finally got to a small hill that stopped us. It took so long and so many extra hands just to get one cart to the top of the hill our Stake President finally said that's enough. We turned around and went a mile to a big open field where we were hoping to sleep. But when we got there the field was buried in water. This is where the second rescue took place. Pres. Hayes told us to leave our carts and start walking. The men in the back up camp who had helped us through the women's pull came with trucks and trailers and took us to back up camp. Then they had to go back again to bring us our handcarts. Thankfully by the time everyone got to back up camp it had stopped raining and they had big fires and hot broth and rolls for us to eat. By the time we got our handcarts and made our beds for the night it was about 1 am. It was a long, hard day. But it's awesome to look back and say, "I can't believe we did that!" It was also really neat comparing our experience to the pioneers. We kept asking, "what did they do when it rained like this?" And, "how did they do this day after day for months?" We also tried to imagine if it were snow instead of rain.
The next morning we only had a short walk to base camp. But before we left we found our flour sack baby had died. We had to bury our baby Matilda who we carried all through the women's pull and the rain. (During the women's pull I finally tied her up in my apron so I could use two hands to help push the handcart.) That was another emotional experience.
After reaching base camp we stayed until Saturday. And then we had fun. We played Pioneer games, had hillarious firesides, we even had a "hodown".
This was my third trek and it was the best. I had an amazing family. I am so gratefull to have made new friends with my Ma and Pa and big brother. The kids in my family were so strong. They were spiritual and just strong! Our family had fun together. One night all the kids went to bed and us adults stayed up and talked. We were quite entertained because the boys kept giggling and laughing, it sounded like we were at girl's camp.
The best word I can think of to describe this trek is "powerful." I feel strong for what I went through physically and how I grew spiritually.