Good times

It has been two months since I have posted on the blog, and I'm not sure where to start. It has been a busy past 2 months. I have started my new job at Verizon Wireless, and I love it, but there is so much to learn. Mom had her gall bladder removed, and is currently recovering(sorry no pictures). But on a more fun side we had a blast at the Utah State Fair. Munchkin went on a ton of rides, and loved every minute. She sure loves rides! She also entered a stinky shoe contest and didn't win, but got a lot of free stuff:-)



Munchkin started 1st Grade this month. She was so excited there is three recesses.

Munchkin was a flower girl for my sister's wedding. She loved every minute, and was a little sad that it had to end. She sure loves weddings!


Buddy Boy and Munchkin love going to the park. Whenever I have a day off from work Munchkin will ask me if she can go to the park. Buddy Boy has been making progress with saying more letters, numbers, and more words. He can say almost the entire alphabet, and 1-9.

Our "Vacation"

Well, we decided to go up to Bear Lake on Saturday, August 8. We couldn't go up for the family reunion because Dad was scheduled to work, so we just went up the Saturday before to visit with my grandpa. The plan was to visit with him, go up the canyon and maybe hike up to Bloomington Lake, and then spend a couple of hours at the beach.

Unfortunately, it was cold...way too cold to do any lakes or beaches. But we had a fantastic visit with Grandpa (I know no one knows this one...what did the acorn say to it's mom when it grew up?). Munchkin, Buddy Boy and Dad explored around the farm, climbed into the tractor, played on the swing, etc while I visited. We picked a bunch of "bush" cherries to take home and make jam with. I think I want to grow bush cherries, if only I knew what they really were!

After visiting Grandpa, we went to a playground we'd seen in Paris. It was playground deluxe, and the kids had a blast! By this time it was getting pretty cold, so we decided to head home.



On the way home, we had the fun adventure of the car we were BORROWING breaking down in the canyon! I flagged someone down and we called a tow truck, and we got towed back to Logan where we were then stuck. So we decided to make it a full-blown vacation and stay in a hotel! The kids loved it, and certainly didn't complain! We ate squeaky cheese, jerky and bread for dinner and took advantage of the cable ha!

Anyway, Sunday morning Granny came up and got us and brought us home. I went back up this last Saturday to pick up the car, and bought a bunch of fresh peaches, corn and raspberries from the fruit stands in Willard. Such good stuff! And I went to Cox honey and got 4 pints of honey (SOOO good!) which Buddy Boy decided to steal and spill today:-) Lucky for him, he only spilled about 2/3 of one pint. Didn't know the kid could reach the counters already....

(Answer to the above question for those holding your breath: He said "Gee, I'm a Tree! (Geometry))

July's Life

So, July was the month of zero stress in our house...NOT!!!

Oh my, where to begin? How about on July 1st? Here are some of the "fun" things we dealt with:

July 1st - Dad was informed that his company was taking away his position and with it, $1.50 an hour of pay, oh and they were going to cut his bonuses in half. Which would result in $500 less a month NET.

July 1st, 2nd - Dad applies EVERYWHERE he can think of for a better job. One that is not small, family owned, and one with benefits that don't cost more than $500 monthly as well.

June-July - Mom begins having terrible stomach pains, enough to take her breath away and to prompt her to go to the doctor, even though now we REALLY can't afford it.

July 15th-ish - Buddy Boy decides he will NOT eat anything except for grapes, fries and chocolate chips...oh and his soy milk. Seriously, he eats NOTHING else, except at church where he eats bread.

July 17th - Mom has an ultrasound and is told she'll get results that night. Except they don't come...the doctor refuses to return phone calls, messages, etc for two weeks. Oh yeah, Munchkin cries all day because it turns out Mom is NOT pregnant:-)

July 24th - Dad goes to his company "party" to get his last bonus check, only they decide they're not going to give them out yet. They're gonna dangle it for him a little longer.

July 28th - Mom finally gets results. Gallstones, most likely gonna need surgery. Unfortunately, didn't get results before Dad was "in-between" jobs, so can't schedule a thing until we're insured again.

July 28th - The computer is fried after the power goes out and short circuits the entire thing.

July 29th - The appraiser guy who was supposed to call weeks ago doesn't until now, and so the refinance dude doesn't check employment until today, Dad's ONLY day of being unemployed. Doesn't look good to them!

July 30th - The digital camera decides if the computer goes, it's going too. I don't blame it...I want out too!:-)

There was a lot of blood, sweat and tears. However, we tried to make the best of it and still have some fun.

Family Home Evening Talent Show:


Mom and Munchkin belting out some show tunes.


Didn't know he could boogie, did ya? He's got some smooth moves.


Dad and Munchkin showing off some of their amazing acrobat talents.

Day in the Mountains:




Hanging with family:





Going to the park a lot!




Thank heavens for family,free fun and food storage, eh? I don't know how we would have survived without each other. And here's the good news...it's AUGUST!!! Yay!:-)

You know you're getting old when....

Kiddyland at Lagoon makes you sick. Me and Munchkin went to Lagoon on Friday. I was able to sneak her on the roller coaster(she was only 1/4 inch to short), and then to the Tidal Wave, and then all the kiddy rides. After two hours of rides I couldn't do another one or else I was going to throw-up.




Then when we came home she was the family's entertainment. ~Dad

Savoring Sunday

I wasn't feeling so hot yesterday, so I stayed home from church with a sleeping Buddy Boy. The kid is so cute. He'll just curl up anywhere and sleep, without any warning at times!

Anywho, after church, we went to have dinner with Dad's family. Stayed there awhile (the kids both behaved beautifully), and decided on the way home we needed to do something fun as a family.


What better place than the overpass on 4700 south? I'm such a wimp...the thought "what if an earthquake happened at this very instant?" got me in a hurry to get down, but I did manage to take 2 pictures.

On the other side of the overpass is a school, which means a playground. The kids had a blast on it, and Dad actively took pictures while I actively played monster.




We played for about an hour and came home. I discovered that when I'm not feeling hot, playing monster is NOT a way to make myself feel better. But other than that, it was a great day! Dad and I decided we're the funnest parents ever. Well, okay, that's what we told Munchkin, and we're hoping she believes us, so mum's the word!

Last Week

Our last cat (Smokey) ran away about 2 years ago and Munchkin was devastated. So this week we gave in, and went to get her a kitten. Somehow we ended up getting a puppy (Allie), and a kitten (Honey). From what we hear pets are great for kids with Autism, because the Autistic kids are able to relate to animals better than people.



On Thursday we went to the Taylorsville carnival. Munchkin loved it. Buddy Boy was happy just watching Munchkin enjoy the rides. He was not to happy when the ride stopped. I was tempted to put him in a ride, but I was too worried about half way into the ride him having an anxiety attack. So maybe next year.



Saturday morning we went to the parade. I haven't been to the parade in years, and me and Buddy Boy were not impressed. A half hour into it we left, and an hour into it Mom and Munchkin left. But at least we got to see the Taylorsville football team!! Munchkin enjoyed taking most of the pictures.





Saturday night we stayed up and watched the fireworks from our front yard. There is one spot where we can get a pretty good view. Buddy Boy loved every minute of the firework show. I was worried that he wouldn't like the noise, but he didn't seem to mind it at all. ~Dad