Weasel Invasion

On Tuesday morning Dallin went down to get the kitties out of the window well. (They like to sleep down there.) A few minutes later he came upstairs in a real hurry telling me there is an animal in the basement. He was somewhat frantic and saying that there is a ferret or weasel down there that jumped in the window when he opened it and ran past him really quick. I was sure that it must have been one of the kittens, but he assured me that it wasn't. So I went down to check it out and this little thing is up on one of the beams looking down at us. I couldn't believe it. See every time Randy is out of town there is always some animal incident. Unfortunately it is one of our pets dying and I am stuck with taking care of it. So really, it shouldn't have been so surprising that once again I have an animal problem. At first I thought it must be a ferret as I have never seen a weasel, but I was not sure. So I had to look them up online. The kids kept going down to try and find it and they always did. It would come out of hiding and show itself. However, they now have a very big mess to clean up in the basement. Well I thought it would leave and left a door open for a little while that night thinking it would leave, but no it insisted on hiding as long as the door was open. So yesterday it was still running around down there. Then I realized that we store cat food and dog food down there. Of course it's not going to leave when it can eat all of that. I read that they really prefer poultry and maybe the cats food tasted almost as good?! Once again I opened the door and took the food out of the basement; but still it did not leave. Well this morning I was reading e-mails and Ky was sitting on the couch in the living room when she all of a sudden squealed, "it's up here, it's up here." I said what is and she told me the weasel. How the H E double you know what's did it get up here? I'm not sure. I grabbed Ciara and told the kids to get shoes on so it wouldn't be able to bite their toes. It ran back to Ciara's room and we went back there and it was acting like it wanted out of the window but was running back and forth in the window sill. Meantime Ciara is having a grand ole time watching this and finding it very hilarious! She was laughing so hard while this creature ran a muck. Then it took off out of her room into Dallin's. I tried getting his window open and told Ky to get hers open. I was really hoping it would find an opening and leave! It then took off to the dining room hiding from us and ended up in my room. It climbed into my window sill and then went under my bed. By this time Dal came in with some Lacrosse sticks that Kris bought last week for the boys and handed me one so we could try and trap it in one of the nets. I know this looked as funny and chaotic as it sounds. I opened my window and then went to trying to catch it. It would peek out one side of the bed and then run to the other side and peek out. Finally it went back to the window and started peeking out of it. I tried to push it out with the stick but it ran back in and then went back to the window and peeked out of it like it was thinking about jumping so I once again gave it a push and the thing screamed at me as it went out. I am telling you that the sucker flew too! I'm not kidding but what I saw was the weirdest movement I have seen and cannot possibly describe. But it flew and off it went. PHEW!!!! I was so relieved to have it gone. The kids keep talking about how cute it is though. I say only cute from a distance and not in my home! Oh, and I had called the Sheriff's office to get a hold of animal control to see if they would come and get it ... I now know that I hope I never need them for anything that is important because they didn't answer the phone for several tries. And finally when they did they transferred me to the wildlife division which informed me that they don't do anything about raccoons, rabbits, weasels, squirrels, etc. You are totally on your own! At least it left on it's own; well with a little nudge it did! Check out the pics of our frisky, little friend!

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What Do You Do in the Summer Time?

Oh what do you do in the summer time? This is the song that is in my head every time I go outside to do yard work. Only I'm sure that I don't remember all of the right words because I make my own up while I'm pulling weeds, spraying weeds, watering gardens, trees, hedges, flowers, yada, yada, yada! We've been doing so much yard work that Saturday I decided to take the kids swimming! They were so excited. Ky and Dallin love the swimming pools. I had taken Ciara several times last summer and she didn't mind it but she was still so small I wasn't sure how she would react.

She loved it!

She would walk around in this squat position every where she went! I don't think you can tell from the pics but it sure was cute and funny!

After about 2 hours she had enough though. We still stayed for another hour so Ky and Dal could keep playing but time the time it had been 3 hours it was definitely time to go. I couldn't get any pics of Ky and Dal cause they were off playing with other kids the whole time. When we did find them Ciara didn't want to leave her big sis! She was very upset when I took her back over to the kiddie end of the pool.

I was reminded of pet peeves that I have about public pools while we were there. Does it not seem like that is the place that people forget all of their manners. I am sure that is the one place that people are so rude all of the time. We had a guy that cut right in front of us in line when it was our turn to pay and when I said something he just turned and glared at me. Uummm....really? You want to cut in front of a lady with 3 kids to get in faster. We are talking one man no kids; what exactly was his rush?

Next ... if you are going to wear a skimpy bikini make sure it fits. The last several times we have been to the pool there is always at least on person whose "goodies" are falling out of the suit. Seriously if you want to wear them fine, but let's not leave ourselves unattended! Keep it in check, keep them in the suit!!! Do people really forget it is not a topless beach and that there are hundreds of kids running around, not to mention teenage boys and men. Okay, have I ranted enough? Probably!!!

All-in-all we had a really fun time and afterwards stopped at a snow shack place that looks like a Polynesian hut and got really yummy, big, snow cones! The perfect end to a day of swimming!

Fresh From the Garden

I was so excited to go out to the garden last night and find that I all ready have stuff that we can eat. We are big salad eaters in our house and so part of my garden is the salad garden. All of the greens in this salad are from our garden and the radishes are too!!! I don't have tomatoes or cucumbers yet so these are from the store. I really enjoy our garden; especially eating from it! It makes you feel good when you can say "I did this!" I have never grown lettuce before so this is new, but it was soooo yummy and crisp. Fresh garden food beats the produce department hands down anyday!

Kris and the kids just left today, they got here on Friday afternoon! I loved having them around and I think Ky, Dal, and Ciara did too. We had a lot of fun with them here. The boys played almost non-stop. Maddie loves hanging around with Kylie and following her all over. She also is a big helper with Ciara. She picks up everything that Ciara throws down. I think Ciara really likes that too! And it is so cute hearing Ciara trying to say their names. She really is starting to copy words a lot more. We went to IKEA on Monday night and of course had to pick up some stuff; is it possible to walk in there and walk out with nothing?! (I hope not!) I picked up a fun little chair for Ciara to play on for outside. This $12 chair is awesome. She drags it everywhere; it is almost as great as her babies.

She really likes the chair! It is great and bad all at the same time. She has figured out how to carry and drag it do different places to get into cupboards or on top of them to try and get things. Which means that my knife block is now on top of the fridge to keep tiny fingers attached to hands. But it does keep quite entertained so we'll keep it!

So thanks Kris for coming out and staying with us! I really had a great time and you are welcome to come back tomorrow. Oh, and thanks Rich for giving up your family for awhile! You and your thumb are the best!!!

Happy Father's Day!!!

Happy Father's Day Randy!!!

We technically celebrated Father's day before Randy left so he could still have a special day. (Not that he doesn't deserve a special day every day.) So while he is far away on this day we still want to remember how special he is. So here is what the kids love about Randy!

Kylie: He takes us camping!

He is very funny!

He loves us like his own kids!

He is really fun to be around!

Dallin: He taught me how to use guns & my bow safely!

He takes us swimming!

He is a great dad!

Ciara: (If she could tell us it would sound like this.)

He gives me candy, otter pops, candy, chocolate, candy!

He lets me do whatever I want!

He is a funny dancer!

He gives me big hugs!

Randy, you really are awesome! We love you so much and miss you like crazy. I'm very thankful that you are my hubby and such a great father, and that your love is so unconditional. We are lucky to have you!

Love you LOTS!!! XOXOXOXO

This is the Fathers day card that Ciara "made" in Nursery today! I'd like to say that the candy will still be here when you get home ... but I can't promise anything!!! he he he

It reads: Dear Pop,

"Wow" you are such a great Dad! You bring so much "joy" to my life. Even when I fall down and take a "crunch" you are always there for me. You are worth more than a "100 Grand"!!!

Love, Ciarra (sp)

All Our Crazy Doings!!!

It's been a crazy few days, but Hey! When is it not, right?! With Randy gone I have to take Ciara & Dallin with Ky and I to her classes in SL. (We don't stay in the class.) I took Ciara's car seat out of the Suburban and put it in the car (save on gas). She hasn't really had to ride in a car ever and we quickly learned that she doesn't like it so much. Yesterday we were ready to leave and started walking out to the car... well Ciara went straight to her side of the Suburban and I said we are going in the car today. Not too bad, she came over to the car and I put her in her seat. She looked around while I was buckling her in and I thought it was okay. That was until we started moving. Ky was in the front seat and Ciara immediately started trying to reach for her so Ky turned around and put her arm back towards Ciara. Ciara took her finger and started pulling it like she was trying to get out of her seat. When she realized Ky wasn't going to help her it turned into short, high pitched, extremely loud screams. OH YEAH!!! That lasted almost the whole trip up! Oh, and the whole trip home. I kept thinking these are the kind of screams that she will end up with no voice and a sore throat in no time. But I guess not! It never got any quieter. The whole scenario was repeated tonight. I'm glad we are done for the week. We did find out that Ky's pics will be done by Thursday so I will have them up next week sometime! I can't wait to see them.

Tonight the Ky & Dal are having a good time making pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. I am so impressed how well they are getting along. Nothing like food to bring them together! I enjoy these FEW, precious, quiet moments!!!

We are in the process of finishing everything up for the craft fair this weekend. I am excited and nervous and wondering if I am anywhere near being ready for this! I think it will be fun though. Kristine shipped her stuff out to me so I could finish stuff up here. Everything looks so great! She has made some really pretty, minky baby blankets. They are so soft! I knew I would have to keep them away from Ciara, but while I was putting the tags on them Ciara came over and had to touch. They are so incredibly soft, and she was petting them and kept saying soft, soft, soft! It was really cute, but then she went to take one of them and I said they were not hers...oh boy! That was not what she wanted to hear. Every once in awhile she will still go by them and point and say soft! It is cute! She knows what she likes. You can see in the picture slide show some of the stuff we will have there. I have a few things to finish getting together for the booth, but other than that I think we are ready. Well at least until we get there and figure out we aren't ready!!! LOL

Randy got into Taiwan safely Monday morning at 7:30 our time or 9:30 pm Taiwan time. Talk about jet lag! He says he just needs to catch up on sleep because he couldn't fall asleep on the plane. I tried telling him to take some sleeping pills I have, but he said "I can sleep anywhere." GUESS NOT! I know I was surprised by that too! His first words about Taiwan...HOT! It was dark and after going without sleep for over 24 hours, nothing else stood out to him yet. They are 14 hours ahead of us there so we are pretty much on opposite schedules now. It is a good thing he decided to start liking Asian food a couple years ago, cause that's all he is eating now! I do miss him and can't wait for 21 more days to go by! SHOOT; I guess I might have to read those dang Edward books again to keep me occupied!!!

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Hooray for Nursery!

With Randy gone I will have to try and keep this updated a little more so he can see what is going on at home too! Last week I decided to take Ciara to Nursery. I figured I was going to have to stay with her to help her get use to it until she is 18 months. When I walked in they seemed to be expecting us and told me just to leave her and that she was fine. I asked if I should stay and they said no, just go. I left knowing that it would be 5-10 minutes until they would come and get me. She has never been left with anybody but Ky so I knew she wouldn't want to stay. 10 minutes into RS and I can hear her screaming from the RS room. I thought any minute they will come and get me. Time passed and they never came to get me so I went to check on her. She was still crying and came running as soon as she saw me. I sat with her until she calmed down and played for a few minutes and then they started putting toys away to have their activity and snack time. At that point they took her and pretty much told me to leave. When I picked her up after Sunday School I could tell that she had been crying but not as much. And she was very happy to leave. Later when we went for a walk with Randy I asked her if she liked nursery and she shook her head "NO", then I asked if it was fun and she shook her head "NO", then I asked if she would be good at nursery next week and she shouted "NO!" Too funny! So we walked in to nursery yesterday and they hurried and took her from me and turned away so I could leave. I heard her crying in there for about 15 minutes and by the time RS was over and I peeked in before Sunday School, she was doing okay. Ky picked her up from nursery and brought her to Sacrament and she had one of the dolls from the Nursery room. Apparently she wouldn't let it go the entire time! So they let her take it home. Not to keep of course, but I figured while it is here I am going to give it a good cleaning because it is so dirty! Needless to say she is in the washer now, cause we don't want no stinking babies!!!

I do have to say that I'm glad they are taking her in Nursery now, cause for the first time in countless months I actually get to listen to the lessons!

Trying New Things

What a day! I dropped Randy off at the airport this morning and already it feels like it has been several days. I hate the airport when I am dropping him off. I always get butterflies in my tummy as I pull off of I-80 to the road leading up to the terminals. It is never fun dropping somebody off there. So here we start the countdown... almost 1 down and 23 to go! AGH




Kristine and I have decided to try the Craft Fair in Springville this coming weekend. We will also be joined by Ruth (who is in my ward) and she makes soaps. Some super yummy soaps. Kris and I will have our hair clips there, but also memory boards, wreaths, tiles, baby blankets, flower pots, and clip holders. I am really excited and even more nervous because I really don't know what to expect. This is our first one as a vendor and not a customer. I think I rather enjoy being the customer. So if anyone wants to come see us...please do! If anyone has advice...please give it!!! We would like to try others fairs and shows if this works. So this is our practice one.

**Kristina if you are visiting family this weekend stop and say HI!

Here is to trying something new! CHEERS!