Finding Petroglyphs

Sunday afternoon we, my little family and my parents, headed down to the park, Capitol Reef National Park. We had a fun little picnic at the Chesnut Picnic Area, named that because it is where my great grandma's home used to be. It was such a nice day, the weather was so perfect.

After we ate our lunch, we climbed a little hill up to some petroglyphs. Poor Matt and my dad had to pack Kendal everywhere with that darn broken leg!

Look at all that popcorn popping on those apricot trees in the orchard below Matt and Kelsey. Spring Spring Spring!

The petroglyphs we hiked up to are on a big panel that covers quite a bit of rock wall. There were amazing sheep and then some other neat looking people carved into the rock. I think they figure these petroglyphs to be from around 600 to 800 AD.

Me and my mom.

My mom and dad, they are so cute!

While we were on the top of that hill, my dad looked across the little valley and remembered some other petroglyphs that he saw once when he was setting a power pole on the other side of the river. We decided to go try and find them. We crossed the road and got to the river. My dad and I were the only ones that wanted wet shoes, so we went across.

My mom, Kendal, and Matt stayed on the right side of the river. I think my mom kept Kendal busy with her cell phone. Kendal loves any buttons to push!

It took us awhile to find them, and we had almost given up when I finally saw some marks in the rock. This is what I saw. You probably can't see it very well, but I saw this person's skirt and its headdress along with about 5 other skirts and different heads/hats etched into the rock wall.

Then I kept moving and saw these petroglyphs that were clearer to see. These are all up on the rock wall about 15 or 20 feet over my head.

Kelsey is such a little rock climber and she loved climbing all day long. She also liked looking for writings on the wall too. This one was her favorite. The circle is about 2 feet in diameter.

Matt, my mom, and Kendal on the right side of the river patiently waiting while my dad and I tromped through the sand, rocks, and brush. They are so nice!

On our way back through the river. My dad is throwing a deer antler Kelsey FOUND (my dad had to place it right in front of her!) over the river so she wouldn't drop it in the river on her piggy back ride back over.

What a super spring day at 'home.' I always love going down there for a weekend or two. Now that we are 'home' in Heber - laundry.

What a Wild Weekend!

What a great weekend! My weekend was so chock full of good times, I cannot put it all in one post, so here is Saturday.


My cousin Amber planned such a super class reunion. If she EVER starts her own catering business, you all would be smart to hire that woman! The food was fabulous, no, better than fabulous. Plus, she had it decorated so cute and just all the extra touches, she is amazing. Her wonderful husband did all the cooking for us too, delicious! Thanks Andy!
Well, here are some of my classmates, smiling for the camera. I cannot describe how much fun I had on Saturday just hanging out with these guys and their spouses. We remembered quite a few fun things together. We were looking at a yearbook from 1992 and gas prices then were $1.10 in good ol' Wayne County. That means they were $1 or lower everywhere else. We sure miss those good ol days!

I always do this, when I get home from a social function like this I reflect on all the stupid things I said. Well, it happened again. Not that I said anything EXTRA stupid to be embarrassed about, but just so much little stupid things. I need to learn to shut my trap sometimes. But I still had such a good time. We made up a trivia page of 'who did what' that we went through and laughed and laughed at some of the crazy things that happened while we were together in school. My dad always tells me that I spend too much time remembering, that is not always a bad thing, especially when it brings tears to your eyes from laughing so hard.

This picture is Amber, Amy, Me, and Holly. Amber was our Studentbody President and fun maker, Amy was our most amazing volleyball, basketball, (okay, I could name every sport here) and piano player, and Holly was the cutest cheerleader, dancer, and smart girl. They are great people and great friends. Thanks for such a good time everyone!

Saturday night Kendal and I went to Richfield with my parents and met Matt and Kelsey there for a dance recital. My niece Paige on the Crane side and my niece Presley on the Chappell side are in the same dance class so we went to watch them dance. So very cute! They did a super job. Matt kept yelling at them "GO PRESLEY" and "GO PAIGE" louder than anyone else in the auditorium! I hope it boosted their ego because all those people looking over our way didn't boost mine!

This is Kendal and Lainee. They are about 4 months apart in age and Kendal LOVES Lainee. It is one of the few cousin names she will say, and when she says it her eyes light up and she smiles. Hooray for Lainee! She shared her raisins with Kendal too, so the bond of love just grew stronger!

After the recital we went for ice cream with Presley and the crew. Presley is almost 5 and a good head taller then Kelsey. They used to fight like cats and dogs a few years ago, but they get along great now. My mom was so nervous that she was going to have 2 grandgirls that hated each other, but all is well, thankfully. My mom is SO GLAD they grew out of that stage.

My friend Jen introduced sweet Kendal to soft ice cream last week. Life will never be the same.

It is so fun to just be with my family. I sure love them and I love the person I am when I am with them. I guess ice cream brings out the goodness of everything.

15 YEARS!

I am headed south today for my 15 year class reunion tomorrow. Wow, 15 stinking years! It is hard to believe! I swear I just went to prom last week! My cousin Amber and I have made a fun blog with some of the info we asked our classmates to send us for the reunion. It has been so fun to see what people are up to and to see how cute their kids are. We don't have everyone's email addresses to tell them about our blog, so we only have about 1/2 of our class's information, but feel free to take a look all you Wayne Countians. http://badgersaregettingolder.blogspot.com/

Kelsey is looking out for us!

Kelsey said our family night time prayer last night and part of it went like this:
"...and please let my belly ache be gone when I wake up. And please bless Kendal's leg that it won't hurt anymore, and that she can get off her medication, and that she can say at least one new word tomorrow. Bless daddy at work tomorrow that he won't get bitten by a dog or a cat or any other animal..."

Well, Kendal's new word today was "minute" when I told her "just a minute." She kept saying it whenever I was in a hurry. Kelsey's belly ache is gone and I am not sure if Matt got bitten by anything yet, but I doubt it. Kelsey is taking care of us isn't she?

Block of the Month Has Begun!

We had our first Block of the Month Enrichment activity last night. I found a pattern that has you make 1 block every month for a year and you have a queen sized quilt at the end! How very fun! We have such a fun group of ladies show up and sew, thank goodness someone wants to do some of the crazy ideas I come up with.

We sure seem to have a good time sewing together, sewing and laughing and just chatting away. I think there are around 16 ladies that are doing this fun block of the month project with us.

I am going to make 2 quilts and here are my blocks. The one on the bottom follows the original color pattern and is going to be scrappy. The one on top substitutes brown for yellow and will be the same fabrics throughout the entire quilt. The block on the left is the block all the ladies made last night. The block on the right is the block for May. It has been so fun to see the fabric that all the ladies are picking out! Everyone's quilts are going to be darling and so very different!!

Tuesdays are Soccer Days

Tuesdays are so great and so crazy. Matt has most Tuesdays off, which is great, because that means Mom has a sort of day off too, sort of. Matt is the coach for Kelsey's soccer team and they play on Tuesdays and Saturdays. So we went to today's game and it was great.


Here is Kendal and Jack. Kelsey's team played against our good friends, the Rowsers team and it was fun to watch them play. Notice Jack's legs here. When Kendal got her cast on, Jen said that she was going to have Jack casted too, for sympathy and also to slow him down a little. Well, here is the sympathy. He told his mom his leg was broke today with both of them being in the same pant leg. Jack is so dang cute.

Kelsey has improved alot since last year. It is amazing to see what a year can do. She is pretty aggressive, Matt says she needs to be more aggressive but I think she is playing great. Last year she wanted to cheer rather than play, and only touched the ball a few times per game. This year she is having fun and getting into the action more.

Here is Coach Crane, what a good job he did today. The smaller kids, the 4, 5, and 6 year olds, play 3 on 3 so they get alot of action on the field. A cute little girl Sydney wouldn't play without holding her big sister's hand. That is what I got to do last week when I coached the team, hold Sydney's hand and run around the field. Once she got going today, she ditched her big sister and played by herself. These kids are so funny!

Kelsey is so proud of her grass stained knees, she made me take a picture. She also has a few little bruises from our last game. As I type this I realize that those dirty knees did not get cleaned before bed. My mom swears that is what gives everyone nightmares - going to bed dirty.

Kendal wanted a picture of her legs too, actually, I did, she just wanted to sit by her sister. Kendal has a little sore on the top of her foot and her leg is a little raw and chappy on the one side that she scoots around on. I put lotion on it a few times a day so it won't dry out and fall off!

The Woodies

The Princess and the Pea/Sleeping Beauty

My dad made what we fondly call 'the woodies' about 30 years ago. The Woodies are a wood couch and a matching wood rocking chair. My grandma then made some brown cushions for the couch and chair. The Woodies were made with only a table saw and my dad's amazing mind. When Matt and I got married, we got the woodies. The woodies have been to Oregon, Washington, Colorado, and all over Utah. The woodies are special to me for some reason but to most people they are not that impressive.
The Woodies have so many childhood memories for me. We used to wake up early Saturday morning, go to the fridge and get some cheese, crawl UNDER the woody couch and watch The Smurfs. This is only one memory, there are many involving The Woodies. My kids love to play hide and seek under the woody couch, and use it's cushions for making forts, huts, beds, paths through the alligator swamp or hot lava, and buildings for trucks and dolls.

Let's make a potion

I have to tell you the story before you gag while looking at this picture.
I was vacuuming the girls' room this morning and I noticed something just barely under the bed that the vacuum was missing. I bent over and picked it up. It was a nice little nest of hair. I had just vacuumed in their room 2 days ago, so I knew this was fresh. I picked it up and handed it to Kelsey. She immediately got an "I'm so guilty" look on her face. She said to me "I will just go throw this away" as I gave her THE LOOK. I finished vacuuming and asked her what that hair ball was.

She said "Well, it is Kendal's hair." That didn't surprise me. Kendal pulls her hair out quite often, but never puts it into a nice little ball. Then she said "I didn't pull it out all at once, it took awhile last night." My mind raced back to last night when I put the girls to bed. They wouldn't go to sleep and I kept hearing Kendal whine and whimper. I figured her cast on her leg was bothering her, not that she was having her hair pulled out!! So as a mother I can only take it so long. I went in the bedroom last night to find Kendal on the floor chewing on a blanket. Kelsey said to me "Mom, I just can't sleep. Kendal is bothering me and she is so noisy and keeps trying to get in my bed." "Okay sweet innocent daughter of mine, you poor thing, why don't you go get in bed with Dad for a little while and I will get Kendal to go to sleep" was my reply. Something like that anyway.
So Kelsey slept with her dad last night, I tucked Kendal in bed and she slept like an angel.
After I remembered the bedtime encounter last night I said to Kelsey "Why did you pull her hair out?" in a not so nice tone. Get this - "Because I was making a potion." I told Kelsey to go get the scissors because we were going to make a really great potion. She excitedly did and I got ready to cut off one of her little pig tails that I had just put in. She screamed and cried and carried on and told Kendal how sorry she was and cried some more. Me, being the sensitive mom that I am, kept up the cutting-off-the-pigtail-charade until she was truly sobbing. We had a little chat and things were okay.
As we were getting the girls ready for bed I told Matt that we were going to make a pigtail potion after the girls went to bed. Kelsey, hearing this of course, was worried. Just a few minutes ago, at 10:15, I went in to my room where Kelsey was reading books in my bed. She was supposed to be asleep an hour ago. She looked beat and I asked her why she was still reading. She said to me "Are you still going to make a potion tonight after I fall asleep and cut off my hair? I am so tired but I don't dare to go to sleep."
I moved her to her own bed and told her that I would not cut off her hair but she needed to be a nice big sister. An agreement was made.
I always thought Kelsey was the innocent one and that Kendal was the one that made them both squeal and scream. I am finding out how not-so-innocent my little Kelsey really is and that I need to start looking out for tough-kid-Kendal.

What is it about Roxette's Fading Like a Flower?

My friend Amber and I have been setting up a blog for our 15 year class reunion this year. It has been pretty fun seeing my classmates and remembering high school. It has me thinking of high school music, you know, the good stuff. So I just put some more music on my playlist like Roxette, MC Hammer, Technotronic, Color Me Badd ,and who else? Anyway, you get the picture. I have been in the computer room jamming to Ice Ice Baby and Matt walked in and said "Are you going to ruin your blog and put that song on it?" I said "YUP" and kept dancing. Bad image, I know, me dancing, but there is something about all those songs! Most of those songs remind me of ball trips and Camille, Jared Hallows and school dances, and Brian. So funny. So bear with me and all the music from my era. I did refrain from putting Sir Mix Alot's Baby Got Back on here. Riley Wright and I always joke about singing that for the next ward party.



Senior year in Washington DC - the HUGE bow is me.

For those of you that need more of a trip down memory lane, go to the last week of November 2007 on my blog and live in the 90s! Crank up the music and pretend like you are 17 again! My blog friends and I had a Hooray for High School blog week.

sleep deprived

Kendal had her 4th EEG today. It was just a check up EEG because the neurologist wanted to see what her brain waves are looking like now. Kendal did so well this time around with letting them put all the electrodes on her head. I can't remember how many there are, maybe 35 or so. The Dora book was the lifesaver. She was busy with Dora while the tech put all the electrodes on and wrapped her up. It only took one tech this time. Kendal's first EEG a year ago (her first one was April 11th 2007) took 4 of them plus Matt and I!

Kendal was supposed to fall asleep so they could get some sleeping brainwaves. They left us for about 20 minutes in the complete dark and she was still turning the pages to the Dora book thinking she was still reading. She never did fall asleep and then she got restless and started to rip all the wires out of the top of her head. That is when I, being the very sensitive mother that I am, kindly wrapped her up in a blanket "tight like a taco." That is the nice way of saying I put her in a straight jacket made out of a blanket! The tech was appreciative she didn't have to place all the electrodes again, but that was the end of the EEG. Thank goodness!

She was a pretty good sport considering it all. In order for her to fall asleep during the EEG, I was supposed to 'sleep deprive' her. The instructions they give me tell me to keep her up 2 hours later than normal the night before and get her up 2 hours earlier than normal in the morning. So last night, Kelsey got sent to bed and Kendal and I watched a movie from the library called Middlemarch. It is like the whole Sense and Sensibility thing but not so womanly dramatic. It was good I guess and it was kind of nice to just sit on the couch with Kendal. That NEVER happens. The broken leg helped quite a bit! I put her to bed at 11:30, 3 hours later than normal. Matt headed to Salina right after work to go fix some high dollar cow and calf they just bought. I called him at midnight and he was sitting in the corral with his brother nursing along a new calf. He got home this morning at 6:15. Can you believe that? He normally leaves for work at 6:30 am. I asked him if he got any sleep last night and he said he had to stop in Santaquin and sleep for an hour on his way home at 5:00 am. He had today off gratefully so he could get Kelsey to school while I went to Primary Children's with Kendal. Anyway, I got Kendal up around 7:30, I should have gotten her up earlier but I was so dang tired! Why is it that sewing until midnight never bothers me, but watching a movie because I HAD TO sure got to me? My whole point of this story is to tell you all how easy it is for parents to be sleep deprived and how UNEASY it is for kids to be sleep deprived! Darn them!

It is snowing right now and Kelsey's first soccer game of the season got cancelled so I think we are headed to bed early tonight.