The Dream, Realized

This story began many years ago and I'm not sure I can do it justice with my meager writing skills, but this is a story we'll be telling our kids for years. If it wasn't our first date, it was shortly thereafter when Kirt told me about his family's old Scout International truck. It was the truck he drove when he first got his drivers license. The truck met a terrible fate before we ever met, but I was always aware of Kirt's desire to own one again. For about 2 years he's been pretty serious about his pursuit. He's looked at several, driven a few and even had friends check one out for us in Phoenix. (Thanks again Memmotts!)
Well, last Sunday Kirt and I were asked to speak in church. (Which is a whole 'nother story about what a selfless and giving wife I am. When Kirt and I realized that we had prepared the same topic I caved immediately and let him keep his talk while I started from scratch with 2 days to spare.) I hadn't heard/read anything about his talk except the topic so when he got up and started describing his dream car I got a little nervous - not sure where the link was coming. He told everyone (true story) that a few weeks ago he said to me, "I really think a Scout International will make me really happy." (Or something to that affect.) He did tie it in nicely with his topic of gratitude and in closing, while making note of all his blessings, he said, "...and I know that I don't NEED a Scout International to be happy."
Cue the universe, The Secret, or whatever you want to call it. (I have my own theory, noted below.) Tuesday night (48 hours after his talk) he came home from work, "Kady, I think I found the one."
He didn't even have to say what he was talking about. I asked, "Where is it?"
You see, homeboy has found "the one" a few times and we've even priced shipping costs because "the one" was in Pennsylvania or Atlanta. This "one" was in Redlands - less than 2 hour drive. He mentioned it a few more times throughout the week and when Saturday morning rolled around and I asked him what he wanted to do that day he gave 2 options: replant the flower beds or go see the truck in Redlands. We decided to give it a shot, partly because I was feeling a little sick and a nap in the car felt like just what I needed.
The drive was just over an hour and a half, we had some lunch and went to the car lot. As Kirt walked around the truck he made a ridiculously low-ball offer just to see how firm the price was. Before I knew it we were taking this picture at the gas station down the street - on our way home with Kirt's dream car.
(Pardon the camera phone picture. I'm sure Kirt is scheduling a professional photo shoot with his new baby soon.)
After a 2 hour drive home with no radio, Kirt was back out the door within 10 minutes, off to run made-up errands. He is so excited that it's comical. He has a little spring in his step and when people asks about it his face lights up. I told Kirt that I think God needed to hear him say that he didn't NEED the Scout to be happy before he could actually put it in his path. But ultimately, I don't think it's hurt Kirt's quest for happiness! We're looking forward to trips to the beach this summer with the top off.

All about Owen

We have a Super Star on our hands. Owen received a few special awards today in a school-wide assembly. One for "writing neatly" and another for earning a library patch (reading and passing quizzes on about 20 books in the library.)
It's a good thing Kirt and I have been running - we lost track of time and had to SPRINT to the school. I arrived just in time to get a picture of Owen getting his award.

Related?

Like father, like son.
Kirt - age 5
Owen - age 5

Just getting caught up

Just when I think I have something to blog about, I hesitate because I just can't pass up a Thanksgiving/Christmas catch-up post. So here we go...
For the first time in our 10 years of living outside Utah, we went home for Thanksgiving. The kids had an entire week off of school, it was a great opportunity to spend the day reminding ourselves of family traditions complete with bowling with the Petersons on Thanksgiving night. (Which turned into bowling with the Arnolds as well - double bonus for us.)
Libby and I, and our cousin Annie started out Thanksgiving morning with a Turkey Race at Ogden Regional Hospital. It was supposed to be a 5 mile run, ended up being 3.7 miles. While I realize it was a very laid-back event, the distance discrepancy still cracks me up. It was a fun way to start the day and surprisingly, I think the 9 degree temperature that morning was harder for Libby than me. I only got yelled at twice for pushing "my friend" too hard when people saw Lib puking on the side of the road. We have since concluded that Libby shouldn't eat before she runs - and maybe not ever get pregnant. That is one sensitive tummy.

While in Utah we had late/early birthday celebrations for Owen and my nephew Lincoln. Once again we gathered the Petersons and Arnolds together and had a blast.

It's not the main tree in the house, but I had to have a picture of Bonnie's Ute tree. Every decoration pays homage to the University of Utah including the Ute Snowman family that sits at the base of the tree. This family bleeds red. Saturday morning as we all bundled up to go to the Utah/BYU game I was dying at all the Ute blankets, red and black coats, gloves, hats, shirts, face tatoos, Bonnie was wearing drum and feather earrings. It was awesome. The game wasn't bad either.

This should probably be a separate post, but I already uploaded the photos, so just deal.
Christmas morning at our house.
This is the kids waiting in the hallway to head out to the tree. It was 8:30 before everyone was up and we headed out to open our presents. I don't know how we got so lucky, but it was wonderful.
We had a great Christmas complete with all of our favorite traditions. After opening presents, we headed out for bagels for breakfast. When we got home we skyped with Grandma and Grandma Peterson while the kids opened their presents from them. Hit a movie with some friends that afternoon and a laid back evening playing with all of our new toys and watching the videos from earlier that day. Although it had only been 10 hours since it all went down, I was a little sad seeing the footage of the kids and their Christmas morning excitement. These kids are growing up and the years are flying by. Before you know it we're going to be dragging them from bed to start Christmas.
We hid the kids presents from Santa behind the couch, to be opened last. Cal had only really asked for one thing - which would have been easily identified, even when wrapped. He surveyed all the gifts and realized that it wasn't there. The disappointment on his face was heart-breaking, he tried so hard to smile and was really grateful for everything else -but he was THRILLED when his favorite gift was pulled out. (Almost as excited as Tess when she opened her socks!)
Ultimately, it was another fabulous holiday for the books. The new year has started off great and we're looking forward to all the fun that 2011 holds. Now lets get to it...

Post Post - sorry, I didn't realize that people wanted to know what Cal's gift was. He got a game for the Wii called Tony Hawk SHRED that came with a kind-of skateboard to play the game with. It hasn't been used in 2 weeks, which is about par for the course with most Christmas gifts, no?

My Virtual Christmas Gift

Disclaimer - This may only be funny to me, a few Grandma's and a random sampling of other close family members, but I felt the need to share.

It's true, I'm sucking over 4 minutes of your life away if you watch both of the videos below. If you're already a Modern Family watcher you can skip the first one, but if you're a true Modern Family watcher you know you'll want to see it again. Pay particular attention to Cameron watching from the sidelines. His delayed reactions in desperation to be part of the group are my favorite.


I have realized why Cameron's reaction was particularly entertaining to me - because I have my very own 3 year-old female version of Cameron at home...or in this case, at the local elementary Christmas (er..Holiday) Program. I was recording for a family at church - their daughter is somewhere in that sea of 2nd graders. But my attention was diverted when the choreography started. At the 39 second mark the cameo begins.
Please forgive the horrible camera skills and close range. Had I realized how many times I would be watching this, believe me, I would have tried a little harder. : )


A little play-by-play: At about the 54 second mark you hear the kids sing "JUMP" and Tessa's reaction follows shortly thereafter. Just after the minute mark I had to stop her from punching the guy in front of us. (Right after that song he moved to a different seat - he found her far less entertaining that I did.) Once she discovers she's being filmed I pan back to the kids for a second, but she ends with her own little finale.

Owen is 5!

Owen had a quite the birthday this week. Kirt and I took donuts to his class for recess and when I picked him up he had these cute balloons tied to his backpack. He was so excited and I thanked his teacher for the balloons, she looked confused, "You didn't bring those in? We were gone for a few minutes and when we came back they were there." With a little detective work we found out that it was our friends the Kleinbergs. These kids come home after school with ours at least once a week to hang out for a few hours.
Just as we got home from school Owen's best kindergarten bud Edson stopped by with a gift and more balloons. That night was Family Night at McDonald's for their school and Owen was more than happy to spend his birthday dinner at McD's with a bunch of friends from school. It was insane - I don't know if I've ever seen that many kids on 1 playground. It was enough to make me claustrophobic just looking at it.
Back at home, after a sanitizing bath (you know those playgrounds are nasty!) we were ready for cake, ice cream and presents. Owen wanted his own little cake with his name in green and blue on top. He declared the day "The best birthday ever!" and we all slept well that night.

Utah @ Notre Dame

Kirt and Cal headed out to South Bend this last weekend to see the Utes take on Notre Dame. Despite a disappointing loss, they had an amazing trip. A few members of the Peterson clan met them out there and from what I hear it was a weekend to remember. Kirt said that everywhere they went they saw Utah fans. The flights to and from LA were full of red and white, an old high school friends found Kirt at the game, and they ran into family friends in a pizza place in Chicago. (Side story: Last week our friends Jono and Anneli had some shirts made and took them up to Utah to sell before the TCU game. They sold about 30 before the fuzz shut them down, but Kirt saw a dude in the same pizza place wearing one of their shirts. They both had a good laugh about it.)
Cal sitting on the glass outlook at Willis Tower (formerly known as Sears Tower.) I heard that Bart was dancing out on the ledge and they couldn't get him to come back in. (Or maybe he just got one foot out there before deciding against it.)
Joni, Jake, Jon and Kirt in front of Touchdown Jesus on the ND campus. Just missing from the clan is Bart and Cal - not a single picture of the whole group.
Word on the street is that Cal and Jake were a couple of partners in crime. Causing trouble and talking smack everywhere they went and staying up all night watching the History Channel while Kirt fell asleep by 8 every night.
When I picked them up from the airport on Sunday night Cal jumped in the car and said, "It sucked that they lost, but that was an awesome experience." He went on and on about the campus and all the fun things that they did.
Cal and Joni - I think they might have matching coats? Thanks everyone for listening to Cal and his non-stop chatter. I know it was a trip that he and Kirt will be talking about for a long time.

Mohawk X2

Today was crazy hair day at school. After last year's smashing success, there was no question about this year's 'do and this time Owen wanted in on the action too. We woke up a little late and with 40 minutes of hair time we were rushed for pics, but the boys were both super excited about their hair. Now Tess has been asking for "rock star hair" all morning!
Cal even had to do the same pose as last year. I think I'll hit the school up today just to see all the kids - I love seeing them all get into stuff like this. Monday was pajama day and when I went in to help Owen's class everyone was so excited to show me their jams. I was just a little sad that I forgot to wear mine.

Best Halloween Ever... so far.

We may have this whole Halloween thing figured out, just remind me of that next year when I'm wishing for it to be over. Between baking for 3 different kid parties, school parade, church party, 2 birthday parties, a pretty sick Owen and getting ready for a little shin-dig at our house on the actual 31st of October, I was ready to be done by Saturday night. Luckily I awoke Sunday with a whole new attitude - I think I could feel that this would be a night to remember.
By Sunday night Owen's body had recuperated, but his poor little voice was still struggling. At one point as he ran from a house I asked him if he had thanked them and in his best whisper/yell said "THANK YOU!" I had forgotten that he had no voice. A moment that made me want to cry and laugh. (Background of this picture: I think Peter Pan was a little nervous about Owen's ninja skills AND college football fever is in full force around here. Kirt requested that I re-plant the flower beds in tribute to his beloved Utah Utes. I'm a sucker.)
Our little frog and her bestie Wendy. We had quite the Peter Pan theme among friends this year!
We started the night with a group of friends and a big pot of taco soup in our driveway which turned into a neighborhood event. The Nielsen's brought a popcorn machine and at one point trick-or-treaters were standing in line waiting for their share. Random trick or treat chaperones were snagging brownies or cookies off of the table and drinks from the cooler. It was hilarious.
Here is a portion of the kids that trick or treated with us at some point in the night. Cal went out with 3 different sets of friends throughout the evening (none of them are pictured). We were also one of the earliest groups out and as we hit the first few houses people freaked out a little bit. (I think it was a combination of scrambling to get the candy bowl filled and the sheer number of plastic pumpkins being shoved in their faces.)
The neighborhood did not disappoint and everyone came home with full bags of treats. I tried something new this year: I let the kids each pick 10 pieces out of their candy that they really wanted. (Those are in a name-labeled baggy.) The rest went into a communal pile. From there I filled our go-to treat bucket that we use for little sugar fixes and sent a heaping bag with Kirt to work. He'll be the most popular guy in the office for a few days.
Speaking of Mr. Popular - homeboy pulled off a serious haunted house in the garage. He spent most of Saturday (in between college football breaks) lining the garage in black plastic sheeting and broke it into 2 rooms. He had a strobe light, spooky sounds in the CD player, ghosts suspended from the ceiling and a spider's nest that contained the candy bucket. When the kids went to get their candy a giant spider on a pulley lurched at them. It was legit. Kirt and Cal are already talking about improvements for next year.
So if I forget and start complaining next October, remind me of how fun this was and that I would stay up baking til 2am any day to make memories like this with my family and friends.

For the Grandmas

Here are some pics from the Halloween parade at school on Friday. We're doing our actual trick-or-treating tonight, so hopefully some better pictures are in store, but I know the Grandmas wanted to see what the kids looked like in their costumes.
Cal is a member of the Aquabats with his friend Nick. Thanks to Nick's family and my newly found sewing skills, the costume turned out pretty cute.
Owen in a ninja (pronounced inja by him). I lucked out this year when I pulled out my Halloween box and O and Tess picked a few of Cal's old costumes to wear. Poor Owen has been pretty sick. I took him to school for the parade and back at the end of the day because I had planned a party for the class. He missed our party at church yesterday and we're home resting up in hopes that he'll be well enough to trick-or-treat tonight.
Tess was so excited to walk in the parade even though she's not a student at the school. The PTA let her lead the group and this little frog could not have been more excited.
This was happening at our house last Sunday. Owen pulled him all the way down the street and back. Then Owen got his turn.
Happy Halloween everyone! Can't wait to see everyone 's fun photos!

Things heard around my house tonight...

1. Cal and Owen fighting over clothes. I thought I had avoided this by a) having kids 6 years apart and b) having boys. Apparently not.
2. Tessa to me: "Mom, I LOOOOVE your ugly jacket."
3. Owen to me: "Mom, Cal hit me so hard I can't even feel my brain."

Overdue

We've done some celebrating at our house as of late. Cal turned 11 in September. It's hard to believe that he's just 2 years away from being a teenager. He had a great birthday weekend with Grandma Peterson in town.
He had specific requests for all of his celebrations. This was his mint chocolate chip ice cream cake on his actual birthday. I didn't get pics, but he requested glazed and chocolate donuts for his class party at school. I guess it's the last year for taking treats to school as he'll be in middle school next year. (Holy crap!)
He had a party with a bunch of friends. The rental company made a mistake on the bounce house. I was so bugged that I took a picture to school, pulled Cal out of class for a minute and showed it to him to make sure it was okay before I let them leave it at the house. I thought it looked little kiddish, Cal couldn't have cared less. He made sure that it had the slide and a bounce house and he was fine. (And maybe looked at me like I was crazy.) Luckily the mistakes didn't stop there and the company forgot to pick up the bounce house until 10:30pm. Those kids played on that thing while having a NERF war all night long.
Red Velvet cupcakes with red U's were the requested dessert for this party. We did a late-night party on a Friday and I have to say, it may have been the best idea ever. We're not crazy about sleep overs, so we had the kids over from 5:30 (some of the kids just came home from school with Cal at 2:30) and had parents come pick them up at 10:30. I didn't have to worry about getting kids to bed, drama in the night or breakfast in the morning. I think it was successful.
Kirt had a birthday too. We had his favorite homemade breakfast before he worked a long day. It ended with dinner with the fam, cake, ice cream and a few gifts that night. We also went to dinner with a few friends a few days later. Kirt picked the craziest BBQ place I've ever experienced. The tag line on the menu was "For a dern tootin' good time." The restaurant had cartoon pigs painted on the walls and sketched all over the menu. Luckily the food was pretty dern good and Kirt got his wish for some adults-only bowling after dinner.
These boys asked for it...literally. Who knows why boys like the things they like. They taped their own mouths and requested help for the rest of their bodies. It was not safe. They lost their balance a few times and fell over a couple of times before I made them undo their legs. Goofballs.
We went to an assembly at the boys' school this morning. Owen was so excited, "Guess who's the person of the day? ME!" Everyday he tells me that he thinks he'll be the person of the day tomorrow - yesterday he was right. This is his best bud. They draw each other pictures constantly and talk on the phone several times a week. It's hilarious.
The reason we attended the assembly was Cal received a Super Star award for outstanding citizenship. So proud of him. His friend X since 1st grade also got an award. These two have always bonded over college sports. I wonder what it will be like when their teams are in the same conference next year!
Cal's other best friend Nick, another super star! These two have coordinating Halloween costumes that they're pretty excited about. I can't believe Halloween is just over a week away. Yikes!

It's all about the LOVE.

Tess has recently cut the word "like" out of her vocabulary. It appears that she's far too passionate a girl to settle for lukewarm feelings...for anything:
Yesterday I offered her a sandwich. "But moooom, I don't LOOOOVE sandwiches."
Getting in the car. "But moooom, I don't LOOVE getting buckled."
Altercation with a brother. "Mom, I don't LOVE Owen." -This one stings a little. I have tried to reason with her and discuss that, of course we love Owen, but right now we're a little mad. But she just keeps saying "I don't LOVE him." I am likely the first mom ever to ask my child to say that she doesn't LIKE her brother. Hearing the former just breaks my heart in two.
It's one of those quirks that I hope she holds onto for a while. Hearing her talk about the things that she LOOOOVES makes my day. As the baby in the family, (don't mention that to her, hearing her called a baby fires her right up.) I am having a hard time letting go of certain things. Namely, mispronounced words. The other day she said 'zipper' correctly and I mis-corrected her and reminded her that it was 'zlipper'. I couldn't stop myself, my favorite part of the day is when she asks me to zlip her jacket or jeans. She tells Kirt not to getfor (forget) his computer for work and jumps out from behind doors yelling "Guprise!"
Man, this little girl has a hold on us. Every day Kirt stops and says, "Just look at her! She is so cute!" I think we'll keep her.
Post Edit - I can't believe I forgot to record 2 other favorite mispronunciations: Remimote - remote and the day after today is tomorroriow. An extra i in any word is just adorable.

Sequoia National Park

Did you know that Yellowstone was the first National Park established by the United States? We covered that one in August so it was time to hit the second established National Park in September. We made the 3 hour drive from LA to Visalia the Friday before school started and after a 30 minute drive, covered as much of the park as we could on Saturday.
I've heard about the giant Sequoia trees and Kirt had been pushing for us to get up there for a few years. Nothing could have prepared us for these incredible giants. Below, Kirt and the kids had a great time with a few family friendly hikes to some beautiful view points.
Same area as above, but different angle - looking west toward the Central Valley of California.
Another one of Kirt's crazy poses. The kids were more than happy to go through his little tunnel.
This was an upshot of The General Sherman. The largest, oldest tree in the park. I guess because there's nothing to give perspective to the size the picture doesn't do much justice, but it's a little overwhelming. This was a little long for Tess to hike, but she made the mile hike in and out all by herself. She and I were behind the boys by quite a bit because I am just as stubborn as she is and I was determined to not pick her up and carry her out.
Just for a little perspective on the trees. Did I mention that they were big?
The three little monkeys about to embark on the mile hike out of General Sherman. They handled it as well as most of the tourists. We were just about back to the car (maybe 1/10 of a mile to go) I heard a girl (mid 20's) whine to her husband, "We're going to have to walk ALL the way back too." I hope she survived.
We've really been talking about this trip since our friends Rod and Hil moved to Visalia. As soon as we finalized our plans Rod's employer asked him to head to Utah for a few months. We'll be making this trip again and hopefully they get to show us the charm of the Central Valley first hand.

August 2010

We made our annual pilgrimage to Utah this summer and had 2 weeks full of great activities planned. Our first week was occupied by a benefit concert for a dear family friend. It was an amazing experience that I will always treasure being a part of. Natalie died just 7 days after the concert and we were all grateful that we were able to show her how much she meant to everyone.
As quickly as the concert was over, we packed up and headed out with the Petersons to Island Park, Yellowstone and Jackson Hole. Kirt has been dreaming of putting this vacation together for years. I think everyone had as great of a time as we did. We started out by stopping to see Kirt's aunt Jaime in Idaho (not a picture? what's my problem?) and then on to Island Park.
Owen and Tess got to try their hand at fishing. We didn't catch anything, but the kids had a blast. In Island Park we stayed in my uncle's cabin. It was amazing with room for over 20 people - he rents it out if you're looking.
Then on to Yellowstone National Park. A place I have visited plenty of times, but it's a place that I appreciate more as I get older and as I get to share it with my kids. I don't know what Kirt is doing in this picture. He's weird...and I like him.
Cal and Owen at Old Faithful, which wouldn't be complete without the giant ice cream waffle cones. The kids had about 6 bites and I probably finished them all off.
I don't ever remember hiking around at Old Faithful or realized that there were a ton more geysers and hot pots right there. I'm sure my family took me there when I was younger, I was probably too busy complaining about the walking to notice.
Pictures are completely out of order, because that's how I roll. I think the below pic is at breakfast by the river in Jackson Hole. This little chica is a sucker for Grandpa Peterson. I think he might be a sucker for her too.
Back in Yellowstone at the Upper Falls - I think. I don't think Bonnie or Bart got anywhere near the fence and I'm pretty sure Owen and Tess got a little too close to the edge. On the hike back up I got my first look at a deer inside the park, eating just off the side of the trail.
Who let this kid do this? (My favorite part might be Bart's face in the truck.) We were just heading through a herd of Buffalo, some of which were just inches from the car. It's a little weird now to think after our 2nd day in the park, we were cruising past the buffalo in search of something 'interesting'. They were incredible creatures.
The whole group from the first half of the trip. A few more joined us a few days later.
Tessa Jane and Reddy Bear with Grandpa P.
The fam in Yellowstone. I can't believe how much I took this place for granted when I was younger. I never remember seeing beauty in 'a bunch of trees' and I'm in awe just looking at the pictures.
After leaving Yellowstone, we headed to Jackson Hole where Bart's wife Andria joined us and Kirt's brother Jake and his wife Lisa arranged a huge raft for us to all float down the Snake River. With such a big raft, the rapids were fairly manageable and we even took Tessa on the 2nd run, she had a blast. Uncle Jake likes to yell at the other rafters as we pass them. My kids are still quoting him, "Are you ready to go back to work?!?" I don't quite know what was so funny, but it makes me smile to think about it. Thanks Petersons for such a great trip. We had a great time and I think we even still liked each other at the end of 6 days together.