2009 Orchard Days!

So the kids and I went up to Santaquin for Orchard Days this year and instead of only going for the day the kids and I went for an entire week. We spent the first and last part of the week with my mom and the middle of week with Wayne's parents. We spent Tuesday at the new Payson pool. The only way to describe it is it as if you are at the Washington pool, but all of it's outside. The kids had so much fun. Ty played and played and played. I had a terrible time getting him out of the water for any length of time. Because I was with Ty the whole time I wasn't able to get any pictures. I think the next time we go I will have to have Wayne come with us, so that I can get some pictures.

On Wednesday the kids and I drove out to the great "Land of Goshen" and spent some time with Wayne's parents and his sister and her kids. Wayne's dad had plans for me to help organize some of their pictures. I don't know why, but for some reason I wasn't thinking of family photos. I was thinking framed pictures that you buy at the store. After they pulled out 3 boxes I has two thoughts. 1- what have I gotten myself into. 2- this is going to be fun! We decided that the best way to preserve and organize the photos was to scrapbook them. Wayne's mom and I left all the kids in the care of his dad and headed to Walmart to get some supplies. I have to say that shopping with other peoples money is better then shopping with my own (sometimes). We bought tons of stuff and I got started later that night. I would have to say one of the kids favorite parts of going out to Goshen is getting to ride the horses. As Ty and Grandpa were riding down the driveway you could hear Ty yelling "Oh Yeah! WOO HOO!" and then you would hear Wayne's dad laugh. The next few days I spent scrap booking while my kids played with their cousins. It was great! I was also able to go horse back riding with my father- in-law. On Friday we headed up Payson Canyon and had a great 3 hour ride. I haven't been trail riding since Megan was little and it was so nice to have some one on one time with a great man who I admire for many reasons.

Friday the kids and I went back to Santaquin to stay with my parents. We were very excited to find out that Wayne was only 30 min. away (he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to come up). When he got to my parents the kids were so excited to see their dad.

The next morning I was going to be running in my first 5k in two years. I told my nephew Tyler that I would run it with him and secretly was hoping he would call and tell me he wasn't going to run, but he never did and instead of only running with Tyler I was able to run with his brother Austin too.

I was very nervous and right before the race started I decided to take it easy and enjoy the run. I ended up running it in 37.58 which is only 7.58 minutes longer then when I ran it two years ago. I know that if I had pushed myself I would have done a lot better, but I am satisfied and I have committed to running the 10 next year. Hopefully I will be able to get some after race pictures soon.

After the race is the amazing Santaquin parade. They had I believe over 130 floats enter this year. The great thing about this parade is that it is a big "candy" parade. Plus many of the people in it are people I know.
After the parade is the fair. We went down to the park and enjoyed good food and music and fun. The kids got their faces painted (wasn't the best paint jobs, but went towards the scout program). Kaitlyn got a pink kitty face, Ty got a red dinosaur, and Megan got a wingless bumble bee. I also let the kids pick something from the craft booths. Ty got a foam sword, Megan some really cute flower clips for her hair and Kaitlyn a writing note book.

After the fair we went back to my parents house and hung out until it was time for the rodeo. If you ever get a chance to go to the Orchard Days Rodeo go! It has only gotten better with time. It is by far my favorite rodeo and look forward to going to it every year. I believe they had 80 bull riders sign up but they could only take the first 30. I love sitting on the grass hill with all my family. Talking and catching up on life, watching my kids play with their cousins and seeing amazing athletic talent. It just doesn't get any better, except after the rodeo when they gave the fabulous fireworks show. This is a family tradition that Wayne and I will continue for many more years to come.

Independence Day

I am a bit behind on updating my blog, but hey better late then never.

So on the 4th as always we took the kids to the parade. It was good and really really long ( we actually didn't make it to the end). It was really fun seeing the kids get excited when they started hearing the fire truck sirens. It was also fun to see our friends in the parade. The kids love to catch the candy that is thrown out (which is something we need to work on, they are way to timid and usually end up with only a few pieces).


After the parade we went up to Wayne's Aunt Marsha and Uncle Tommy's house to celebrate Wayne's 36th birthday (a day early). The kids, my mom and I gave him some new riding pants and a funny card. I bought him a super yummy birthday cake from Maggie Moo's and Aunt Marsha bbq'd hamburgers and we had corn on the cob, chips and dip. Wayne was able to watch two dirt bike races (which is hard to do at our house, cause we have no tv). The kids always have so much fun at Aunt Marsha's, they get to swim in the hot tub, ride 4-wheelers, jump on the trampoline and play in the sand box.

Uncle Tommy taught Megan how to ride a small 4 wheeler all by herself. She rode around in circles for hours. She was so excited to give her mom and dad rides around the house. I know she was on top of the world that day. I think she felt all grown up. By the end of the day we even let her give Kaitlyn and Ty a ride.

We had full intentions on going up to Brian Head to watch the fireworks, but as the day went on we decided to just go to the airport. When we finally left Aunt Marsha's Ty and Kaitlyn were fast asleep. We ended up just going home and promised Megan (who was still holding out hope) that we would go see some awesome fire works for the 24th.

We had a wonderful fourth with family and can't wait until the 24th so we can finally see some fireworks.

Just Amazing!

It's funny, because I am always worried about my kids (well anyone's kids) being comfortable when they are about to take a nap or are going to bed for the night. Well this is what I walk in on today after working on my blog. Who knew that all it took was a single pillow!!!

Lagoon

While we were up in Goshen, Wayne and I took the girls to Lagoon for the first time. We were able to go with my sister Stevie and her family ( who have been living in Japan for the last 4 years). On our way to go and meet Stevie I was watching the girls in the rear view mirror and they didn't even seem the least bit excited. I on the other hand was soo excited that I was bouncing up and down in my seat. I finally had to point out that they were not acting like two little girls who were going to an amusement park for the day, but two girls who were going to be spending the day playing in the back yard.

When we got to Walmart in Springville (where we were meeting Stevie and fam) I decided to go ahead and start shopping for our lunch and snacks to take with us. Stevie and fam showed up and approved of the food items and we headed to the checkout stands where we paid $25.00 for everything (lunch for 7 people).

It was really nice to see Stevie and Jason and their daughter Bryton (who is Kailtyn's age), we caught up on things and Wayne asked a lot of questions about what Japan was like. It was really interesting to hear how clean the country is and how they have every flavor of KitKat you can imagine. And how a job and McDonalds is considered a great job. Plus after you order your food you find a table and they bring you the food instead of you waiting at the counter.

When we finally got to Lagoon and paid for our tickets we headed for the children's area and found the kids size rocket ride. It was so fun to see the excitement on the girls faces while we sat there waiting for the ride to start. It was even more fun to watch their faces when the ride started. This ride would lift you up in the air and then suddenly drop you really quick and then back up again. I tried with no success to get Kaitlyn to raise her hands when it would drop us.



The next ride we went on was some dragon ride ( I can't remember any of the rides names). When it starts it spins around in a circle really really fast. Megan was laughing so hard she couldn't hold on to the support bar and ended up being squished into my side.
After that we headed for some squid ride where you could make it go up or down to avoid getting hit by water. I decided to let Megan be in control and I ended up getting shot right in the head with water. The Bat was next. I think it was one of my favorites. It's not very long, but it is super fun. Jason's (my BIL) brand new phone flew out of his pocket and broke on this ride. I felt really bad for him. Thank goodness they got insurance on their phones.
From there Wayne and I went on the Jet Star while Stevie took the girls on the areo gliders.

I took this picture while we were on the ride note the wild blown hair and then got in trouble for raising my hands when we dropped, but I would say it was well worth it.

The day continued on and we went on a few more rides before heading out to the parking lot to grab a bite for lunch. After lunch we went on Dracula's Castle which I was really surprised scared Kaitlyn and Bryton. We let the girls play in the the water feature and Megan got soaked.

We headed down to the other end of the park where Megan was able to go on her first roller coaster ride with her dad. We hit the Pirate Boat (big and small), puff the magic dragon, the carousel, the log ride, the wild mouse, rock and rollo planes, the little swings, the bumber cars (big and small), the spider, the colausses, and we ended the day with Rattle Snake Rapids where we all go soaked except for Wayne ( the little stinker).

We had so much fun and I am soo glad that we were able to go with Stevie and her family. I can't wait until Ty will be old enough to go. I could just kick myself for not getting a picture with Stevie, but maybe next time.

Cousins + Slip and Slide = FUN

A couple of weeks ago the kids and I headed up to Goshen, so that I could help Wayne's sister Angela with her kids while she was at work and while his parents (with whom they live with) went to Alabama to surprise Wayne's other sister Lori at her baby shower. I had plans to take them swimming at the newly remodeled Payson pool, but that day ended up having a bit of a rain storm in Payson. I decided to go to Walmart and buy a slip and slide and bring it back out to the house so the kids could still have some summer fun.

After I set it up and turned on the water I noticed that the water was not shooting out like it was suppose to. Come to find out the water pressure is not all that great out at Grandpa's, but we made do and the kids had a wonderful time.

Carson being the only older boy was not afraid to get wet in the least.

Courtney and Megan before their first run.

You couldn't get them off after the first time!

I was really surprised to see that Ty loved it. Besides Megan and Courtney, Ty was the next to be on the slip n side the most. I had put him in his swim shorts, but he insisted on just wearing his pull-up.

My sweet Kaitlyn ended up barely going on the slip n slide and spent most of the time running away from the swarm of mosquito's that live in Goshen.

All in all they had fun and used the slip n slid every day after. I think it has been one of the best investments ever!

AMA Super Cross Finals Part 2

Well tomorrow has become a couple weeks later LOL. The AMA Super Cross finals were a blast. As I said in Part 1 we got to meet some of the riders and got their autographs and such. When the show finally started the opening ceremonies where cool. Each rider came out on their bikes as they were introduced. It was funny to see just how popular or unpopular a rider was by the cheers and boos of the crowd. I happen to like them all.

We were able to watch most of the race from where we sat. They did end up going outside the arena at one point, which only made it more exciting to see who would have the lead when they came back in.

I loved watching Wayne watch the race. It was like watching a kid in a candy store. What was even better was that at one point we got hit by the dirt that was spit out from behind the dirt bikes.
I can't remember who won in the lights class, but in the big bikes the race started off with James Stewart in the lead with Ryan Villipoto in second and Chad Reed in third. After a few laps Ryan Villipoto over took Stewart. Wayne and I couldn't understand why Stewart wasn't fighting to get the lead back. It was almost frustrating to watch. Several laps later Chad Reed over took Stewart and Stewart was now in third and showed no signs of fighting back. He was taking it real easy. When the race was almost over we found out that Stewart only needed to place in the top three to still will the entire season. So Villipoto finished 1st, Reed 2nd, and Stewart 3rd and Windham 4th. It was more fun then Wayne and I had ever imagined. After the closing ceremonies we all ended up at IHOP. We finally hit our condo at 1:00 a.m. and went to bed.


I was a perfect day! Wayne and I plan on making this an every year event.

AMA Super Cross Finals Part 1

So this past weekend Wayne and I went down to Las Vegas with his sister and brother in-law to see the AMA Super Cross Finals. Wayne and I bought our tickets back in December, so needless to say we were very excited. As most of you know Wayne loves everything about dirt bikes. He loves to ride them, race them ,and watch them. We have been watching Super Cross for 5 years and know all the top riders.

When we got down to Vegas Audra (Wayne's sister) and I went shopping at Towne Square. We hit a couple of stores, H&M and Victoria's Secret before it was time for dinner. I found some dang cute shirts and accessories, but was unable to buy them because H&M's credit machine was down. I was totally bummed, but figured it was a good excuse to go again. We had dinner at Brio an Italian restaurant. It was amazing! After dinner we headed back to the condo we were staying at and decided to try our luck with the penny and nickle slots. Linn (brother-in-law) was the big winner with a $40.00 jack pot. Wayne won $8.00 which I then lost. I was fun. We then headed for a good night of watching tv in bed until sleep over came us.

The next day we ended up waking up at 6:30 Utah time ( go figure right) and watched some tv for an hour before we decided to get dressed. We went and had breakfast and headed over to Sam Boyd Stadium for the meet and greet with the riders. When we got there, there was a line that was wrapped half way around the stadium. We waited in line for the doors to open. As soon and we got in we walked out in to the stadium and watched some of the riders doing their qualifying times. After a few minutes of that we headed out to the pits where we could go and meet the riders. We weren't sure exactly how it worked so we decided to pick the one person we wanted to meet the most and go with that. We decided that James Stewart was the man and we got in line. The sign said that the autographs would start at 2:00 and it was about 1:00. Audra and I decided we would stay in line and Wayne and Linn should go and find where the other riders trailers were. While standing in line we learned that first 100 people would get to meet James Stewart. Then the man him self walked out of his personal trailer and into the Yamaha trailer only to come back out a few moments later in his riding gear. It was surreal... I have been watching this guy on tv for 5 years and now he was 5-10 feet away from me. I was so bummed that Wayne wasn't there to see him kick start his bike and ride off to go and do his qualifying times. After that Wayne and Linn stayed in line with us. At 2:30 we finally got to meet him. He was really nice. Both Wayne and I got and autographed poster and a picture taken next to him.

Our plan after we met James Stewart was to go met Kevin Windham, because he will probably be the next to retire. He is also one of our favorite riders. We headed down to where he was signing autographs and I was able to get a few picture of him and the lights class rider Trey Canard (also a favorite). Wayne and I signed up and got in line when a man stopped us and said they weren't letting any more people in. We were so close!! We decided that Kevin will be our first pick next year.

We then headed over to Chad Reeds trailer, but it was slammed full of people and we didn't want to wait. So as we headed over to the Monster trailer where Ryan Villipoto was we ran in to Erin one of the SPEED tv announcers and she was sweet enough to take a picture with Wayne.

We finally made it to the Monster trailer and got to meet Nick Wey. Ryan Villipoto wasn't signing any more, but we were still in awe with the other guys we met. They were all very nice especially Bobby Kiniry who talked with Wayne and I.

Wayne and I took all our signed posters to the van and on the way saw Cowboy Kenny Bartram. He is a free style rider (they do all the cool tricks) riding past us. We hurried over to see if we could met him, but he was doing a show so all was able to do was take pictures.

Soon after that we finally made it out to the parking lot and put our posters away and found Audra and Linn. We all found our seats got a couple sodas and food and waited for the show to start. I will do another post all about the race tomorrow.