A Sad Goodbye

The past few weeks have been pretty emotional around our house. We have had to say goodbye to two of our horses. We have been keeping our horses on some property in Elk Ridge for years now, and there were some issues that came up with the land and so we needed to move the horses. We have been looking to buy a house with land but have not really found the right place. So we decided that the best thing to do was to sell the horses until we get a place of our own. So about 1 ago we sold Sierra- I will get a photo of her on here. We have had Sierra since she was old enough to leave her mom. It was heartbreaking- But Colby did it while we were at ball games and so she was just gone one day. But on Saturday it was Smokey's turn to go- we loaded her in the trailer and meet the guy at Cabela's it was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. We got Smokey right after Brett got burned, she was his therapy. He LOVED riding her and would spend hour upon hour with her. It was good for both of them. Brett did 4H with her and did very well. She helped build his confidence back up and he was more of the old Brett.

I was doing alright on the ride up, but when we got her out of the trailer it hit me like a ton of bricks. I started to cry, Brock said that he did not want to sell her and he was crying. The new owner came and they had two boys about the same ages as Brett and Brock, they were so excited to have a new horse, hopefully they will love her and take good care of her.

We are now down to one horse "Joe" that we need to sell and then we will sell the horse trailer.... It is hard to loose a pet - especially when your not ready to say goodbye.

Erika

Summertime Chores.

OK, so I am sure that none of you have this issue....Summertime chores. It seems like I can leave a list of chores for the kids to do and by 9:15 am I am getting calls asking if they can go and do this or this! So I will ask are your chores done and of course the answer is "YES" so I will let them go. Well once I get home I usually tend to get upset because not only is the work not done but the house is usually a disaster. So after one day where things just seemed like I might have to run away and not come back, Colby told the kids that the next day he wanted a DETAILED report of what each kid did throughout the day.......Minute by minute! I was cleaning out my purse and found this and just wanted to remember just how cute it was.

If you notice Brock wrote his name next to each thing because he was wanting to make sure that he got the credit for each thing he did. He wrote the start and finish time and the chore and then the total time of each task. I think one of my favorites is the one near the bottom of this list * Clean kitchen it took him 1 minute. He actually had 2 1/2 pages of things that he had done throughout the day. All the boys actually did a list like this and I do have to say that since Colby had them do this, they seem to make sure that they do better. The joys of summer.
Erika

Cousins

Wow, life has been BUSY! We have been finishing up baseball seasons and trying to finish up the remodel on the kitchen....

This past weekend we got to tend Payton and Cameron Bryce while Bryce and Michelle ran to St. George for the night. It was a lot of fun having the cousins over and letting them get to know each other.

On Saturday Brett got home from a week of scout camp, he was greeted by Cam, Brock and Payton. We decided that we would go down to the farm so that Payton and Cam could ride the horses. Brett decided that he was going to ride Smokey bareback, he was riding around the arena and having a fun time and all of the sudden there be came a problem, I was laughing so hard I asked him if he needed help I thought that he said no so I decided that I would grab a picture of him.

Once I grabbed the photo I again asked him he if needed help- this time he yelled "YES, I told you that the first time you asked" Oops! Sorry, he did a really good job of hopping with the horse as she was walking around the arena.

Once he got off the horse he put the saddle back on her and let Payton and Cameron Bryce have a turn. Payton got on the horse and sat there- then said that she was done. Cameron Bryce on the other hand loved it. He wanted to ride all by himself and not have anyone lead Smokey. I told him next time he could do that.

Once we were done riding the horses Brett brought over a new puppy and asked if he could keep it, being the good mother that I am, I told him of course we could keep it as long as it stayed at Merrill's place - he did not think I was funny! We had a great weekend, and hope Bryce and Michelle had a good anniversary.

Erika

Baseball- It's NOT just a game?!?!

Ok, so I know that Colby will be mad about this one, but it's my blog and I can say what I want on this. So everyone knows how much I love baseball, I love going to all the games and cheering on the boys. We are at the ballpark typically five nights a week. Well last week in the many rain storms that we had, Kaid's team was playing in another town- and the ump SUCKED he did not know the rules and this was getting beyond frustrating, not only for the coach and players but for us fans! We had this same ump do a game the week before and he sucked then as well. Colby questioned him on a call and he said that it was the rule and deal with it. Colby told him that in fact he was wrong and that he needed to check the rule, well the ump did not and continued on with the game.(Which after the game he called Colby and told him that Colby was indeed RIGHT- and he was WRONG) We were up to bat and all of the sudden the ump got on the phone and called up to the score tower and said we missed a point the game is over!?!?! (the rain had started to REALLY come down at this point) Colby once again questioned the ump and all of the sudden the ump LOST it, I mean LOST it. He started swearing and hollering at Colby (yes, in front of both teams, and the parents) So I got up from the bleachers and went over to ask him nicely to not swear. I was waiting patiently by the dug out for his temper tantrum to be over, he turned around and took two steps and I said "Sir" and he shoved me into the fence and said a few choice words and walked off, I was in total shock that a GROWN man would put his hands on me so I just kind of stood there trying to take in what had just happened. Well Colby then lost it and told the guy that it is good that he was leaving because he would beat him up. After the police and days of trying to get a certain city (it is not too far from here and the rec director's name is Corey Meridith) to do the right thing, like NOT allow this guy to ump again. I am here to say that they sided with their ump and he is still getting paid to treat people like crap and to push women!

Another side note the rec directors boss of this other town is a WOMAN, I seriously don't get it... But that is besides the point.

So I have been pretty heated about the entire situation and so last night Kaid's team has another game in the other town, (oh by the way Payson's rec office told me that I should probably stay away from the ballpark, because there is obviously a conflict with me and the ump! Seriously-) so we are playing the game and we are only in the top of the 2nd inning and the other team had to take an out because they did not have enough players and when Colby said something about it, the PLAYERS and the COACH went crazy, they were swearing and throwing fits again. I was a little nervous about saying anything, but I thought I should not have to listen to all of this, so I said something to them and it calmed them down for a minute. But I guess my question is.....When did city league baseball become SO serious? Are there major league scouts that are here watching for players and coaches and umps? I mean seriously I love the game, but I don't understand people acting like they are two years old...

Does this other city not care that they are teaching their boys that A- it is OK to push women and B- that throwing a fit and swearing will get you what you want out of life?!?

Sorry that was my rant- and I will try to get off of my soap box now. But seriously people it is just a GAME!

Erika

Kelly Clarkson Concert

On Thursday Judi, Brett, Riley and I went out to the Kelly Clarkson concert at UVU. It was an outdoor concert and the weather here has been horrible so we were ready with our rain gear and blankets. We went to dinner first and then headed over to the concert, there were a lot of people already there so we were not sure just how close to the front we would be able to get the boys. But we assured them that we would try to get them as close as possible. So we started making our way to the front, we found a spot and set down our blankets

This is Brett and Riley waiting for everything to start, don't they just look excited to be there?! Once we got settled they decided that they were going to walk around for a little while, once they came back Brett said I saw Kelly Clarkson, I did not really believe him so I asked what she was wearing....He said a greenish tank top and a little vest thingy... He is such a boy.

So Kelly comes out and guess what she is wearing... Yep you guessed it.

So I guess I should believe him more when he says things like this. We were about 8 rows back (it was GA , so if you can call it rows) But I told the boys that we would still try to get them closer. The concert started and she was really good, Brett and I had seen her when she came with Reba in November we both thought she was a good performer so we were excited to see her again. We were surrounded by a very "unique" group of people.....I learned a lot! And by the middle of the concert we had both of the boys on the front row, they were both excited and seemed to have a good time. It only rained for about 30 minutes and it was not the downpour like it had been earlier in the day so we were all OK. We all had a blast and can't wait to go to the next concert! And Happy Birthday JUDI!

Ms. Santaquin Pageant!

You see the title of the post?!? What is wrong with the picture of me having a child in the Ms. Santaquin Pageant?!? Your right I only have boys! Well this year Kaid was in the Ms. Santaquin pageant! So Colby and I being the good parents we are went to watch him compete for the title! We went with Vern and Sue as well they were there for moral support! Kaid did quite well in the talent part, he did not even mess up once! We were so PROUD! Next was the evening gown, he went with a knee length gown, he felt that his calf's should be shown off, rather than anything else. He sailed threw the evening gown competition rather well. Next was the question and answer- he did outstanding! Colby and I were just so proud of him. He looked so good on stage and was such a gentleman to all of the girls. They did the crowning and NO Kaid did not win! But that is alright with us because he was only there as the girls ESCORT!!!!!

Here he is after a very long night, he did a great job and we LOVE giving him a hard time about being in the pageant! It's not everyday that a mother and father of all boys can see their sons name in a pageant program and feel good about it! Can't wait until next year to see what he does!

Baptism

Brock turned eight this year and so he got to be baptised the day after his birthday. He was so excited. It was kind of a sad realization for me to see that my baby is that old. He was baptized and confirmed by Colby. It was a special experience. He was the only one from our ward that was baptized so we were in charge of the entire program. Kaid gave the talk about Baptism, it was very good. You could feel the spirit there, he did a great job! He closed it with his testimony and told Brock just how proud he was of him and that he knew that he was doing what was right. We had Beaver Bill (aka Brandon) do the talk on the Holy Ghost, he also did awesome! He used a couple of cans of Root Beer to demonstrate a person with and without the Holy Ghost.
We had a lot of family and friends show up to support us it was really nice. It really made the day special for Brock to see everyone there that would travel to spend time with him.
I will get pictures up as soon as I get them scanned in. Sorry!

Happy Birthday Brock

WOW, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! It does not seem like 8 years ago that you were born...Time flies. You are such a great kid, we love you so much and your such a joy to have in the family. I remember walking into the OR and Dr. Baxter asking if we were ready to meet you. You have kept us all on our toes, but we would not have it any other way! Happy Birthday Brock!

Love
Mom, Dad, Kaid and Brett