Melissa's "Open House" PARTY!!

We got all cleaned up and headed out to Richmond for the Summer's open house party! It was both families so there was quite a crowd. Melissa is a wonderful hostess and we all had a great time. They have a huge driveway and that it where we ate and played.
All the food was inside and it was so yummy there was this salad my sister Melanie made I don't know what it was called but I named it "oriental delight" and Melissa made a yummy peanut butter pudding dessert that was so delicious. We ate hamburgers or hot dogs and salads and fruit etc.

 

After we were done eating...she pulled out this box of sidewalk chalk and bubbles for the kids to play with...needless to say they LOVED it, what a great aunt she is! They also have the perfect driveway for 4 square (the squares are in the cement) so that was fun too!
My boys got a little more creative and decided it would be funner to play in the dirt and rocks. They had such a fun time, some of my nieces were in there too but they got cleaned up before Melissa took the picture. Alex looks like an aborigine and Max looks like a ghost or something. They didn't want to get cleaned up so I told Max he couldn't put 'Batman' on until he was clean...that did it!
I guess Amy was posing people for pictures and here is the result. I am not really sure why this happened but they are cute (aside from the weird pose...seriously Amy)!

 

We had a little photo shoot before we went home...you know its not a party until there is a photo shoot!!
Thanks Melissa and Steve for the great party!! Your house is beautiful and we love you!

Slip N' Slide and Such

We were planning to go to the pool this morning but Mel called and said she just didn't feel like it. Monica and Rich both went on long runs this morning (marathon coming up) and so we decided not to go. The kids were pretty disappointed but then my Mom pulled out a new slip n' slide and then they were pretty excited!!

 

Alex, Brooklyn and Brinlie were with Mel so they came later and I didn't get any pictures of them.

My parents sold "Cresthill Apts" a few weeks ago and so my Dad has been cleaning out 'the office' where my grandpa stored his lawnmowers, pool table, tools, and about anything else you can imagine. He was a pack rat for sure. I don't think anyone counted the shovels and brooms etc. but there were 4 garbage can fulls that we moved to the new storage area.
We did find some 'treasures' too. There was this box of silverware, well just spoons...185 to be exact (I counted) and three boxes of these vintage dishes (my sisters and I divided them up). I guess a long time ago they had this renter that refused to pay his rent so my Dad and Grandpa went in and started moving him out (tried to evict him but he wouldn't leave) and when he came home one day and saw all his stuff boxed up he left and never came back. He used to sell silverware and dishes so my Grandpa put them in his office and forgot about them I guess.
It was not fun helping and I feel really bad for my Dad who did it all by himself Friday (yeah he took a vacation day from his job) and I sent Rich down to help him after lunch. Melissa and Steve and Jason helped alot on Saturday morning and then me, Rich, Monica, Amb and Amy helped with only 1 load. Sorry I wasn't more help Dad!

New Business for Alexa

We arrived in Logan today at lunchtime so some of my sisters met us at Frederico's (that's where Rich always wants to go). We ate and then we decided to make some flower clips and magnets so we went to a few stores to get our supplies. We had a great time!!
As we were sitting there making these wonderful creations Alexa thought it would be a great business opportunity for her. I am having a purse/shoe party in a week and she thought it would be a great idea to sell these there as well. We thought up a name for her business...Daisy Dots, by Alexa. Her cousin Kenzie is going to do the same thing. The flowers are so easy to make and they have tons of fun doing it.

 

Here we are on the floor in my Mom's house. We ran out of flowers really fast and are ready to go get more so we can keep making these cute flowers.

Alexa wanted to model them (you can clip them to hats and headbands too.) They are great magnets too for all the fun magnet boards and also they work great for decorating lockers!! What a great project, very crafty!

 

Bunco

It was my turn to host Bunco this month and since the a/c is still not functioning, we had it in the basement. It worked out really great since we still don't have furniture down there. Rich was worried about spills on the new carpet and only let us have water. For dinner, since I am lazy and didn't want to heat up the house even more with the oven, I ordered pasta from
Pizza Hut, the Creamy Chicken Alfredo is really yummy. I had Rich get yummy Chocolate dipped Macaroon cookies from his work for a treat, I totally forgot to serve dessert which was supposed to be ice cream sundaes in waffle bowls, sorry ladies you can come over again for an ice cream party I guess!

 

Jennifer won the big prize a really cute purple purse/bag that she thought would be the perfect thing to tote Madison around in. The rest of the prizes were different kinds of wallets from Buckle and Forever 21. The door prize was earrings and a re-usable shopping bag from Target (which I love). We had a fun night, glad my turns over!

Rich's New Job at Noni

Today Rich started a new job at Tahitian Noni. His official title is "Feasibility Analyst." His job is to look at the feasibility of launching new products and purging old products (cost/benefits/savings). In addition, he will be helping with forecasting of sales for new and current products for the company. I don't really get what most of that will require doing on a daily basis but sounds like he will be really busy.
He was approached by his boss a few weeks ago about changing departments and getting a whole new job in the company. He felt like it would be a great opportunity for him so he accepted. He was quite sad to leave his current department (purchasing) because he had made really good friends there and really enjoyed the team he worked with.
Noni has a hiring freeze right now, so there is no pay increase (although Rich says this new job seems like a lot more responsibility and a lot more challenging) so when the freeze is removed hopefully he will get a nice raise. The company didn't even give the annual cost of living raise this year so who knows when to expect it.
He had to move from the 3rd floor to the 2nd and his new boss is going to be out of town alot in the next couple weeks so he will have to try and manage the best he can. It is a smaller dept than his former one and he said its alot quieter.
He is able to still work 4 tens (even though the rest of the team isn't right now). He is excited to learn his new job and I know he will be great at it!!

Baseball Game and Friends

We went to The Owlz game with our friends Cindi and Matt and their twin boys Preston and Garrett. We also took Alex's friend Carson and his brother Hayden. We went to Wendy's for dinner and then to the game. We sat on the grass, the game was packed!! It was pretty hot when we got there and we kept sliding down the hill (it is pretty steep).

 

Max discovered his "batman" costume in his diaper bag and decided to wear it. There was this lady and her teenage daughter sitting close by and I noticed that she was taking a picture of Max with her camera phone...kind of weird. The boys were playing catch and rolling around in the grass for most the game. I looked over at the lady again and saw her daughter with the camera just snapping pictures of Max and the boys playing catch. OK so a pic with the camera phone whatever but taking pictures of strange kids with your camera is just kinda creepy, I mean what the heck do you do with pictures of other people's kids??
After the game there were fireworks and then we stopped by Krispy Kreme for a hot donut (something I can't resist whenever I see the "Hot" light). It was a fun night and Alexa even had fun because a few of her "guy" friends were there and so she hung out with them most the night!

CAUTION...Disturbing Picture Ahead

This is what resulted from my 20 mile training run today...

The pictures don't even look as bad as the real thing either. As you know I am running a marathon Sept 20th so in preparation you are supposed to do a long training run. Rich and I drove up Payson Canyon past (Camp Koholow) and ran 20 miles. It was a beautiful run and the first 15 miles were great. I could feel that my toes were suffering (all the downhill I guess, plus I need new running shoes). But once I hit mile 15 (we planted water bottles on the way up so I would have some water and an idea of where I was mile wise) I was so tired and it was around 11:30am and was already really hot and I was out of the canyon so there was no shade and not much of a downhill to help me out.
Rich was finished in 2 and 1/2 hours. I told him it would probably take me around 4 hours. Well the four hour mark was close and he was getting worried so he started to drive up the route and find me. I was about a mile away when he drove up (I ended up walking about the last three miles) I told him to go get me some more water and I would meet him at the end. I jogged most the way but then with a few blocks to go my body just quit on me (so much for mind over body). I made it to Petetneet our finish line and took off my shoes.
I knew I was probably going to loose my big toenails and the ones next to them were mostly gone from previous runs but I was not prepared for what I saw when I took off my socks. It was so gross and my feet hurt so bad. Rich had gone to Subway to get us sandwiches while I "cooled down" under the tree. When I saw my feet I just started bawling...I couldn't help it. Running 20 miles is hard and my body was not happy with me. I don't really know why I was so emotional but now I know what I'm up against in a few weeks and hopefully I can mentally prepare for it!!!

Update: I had to wear flip flops to church on Sunday with Band-aids on my 3 toes. I drained the blisters and they filled back up again so I drained them again. The second nail on my left foot came off today and it is really sore and raw, the big toenails need to come off but I think they need a few days to dry out...sorry if this is disgusting. Hopefully I will be back in business soon!!

Spanish Fork Jr. High

This is a big change this year having kids in 2 different schools. Alexa had her first day on Tue. with just the 7th graders so today is the "official" first day cause all the grades are there...7th, 8th and 9th.
She has her own locker and 7 classes. She doesn't have too many of her friends in her classes so she will have to make some new ones but that won't be a problem.

She carpools with 2 of her friends and leaves for school around 7:40am. I rarely see her in the morning but she is really good at waking up and getting herself out of the house.
She is a great student and I know she will do well this year and have a great experience in Jr High.

First Day of 3rd Grade

Back to school time is the best...I have kids that are excited to go back so that makes it easy, plus that means fall is coming and that is my most favorite time. I love summer but it is such a relief for me when falls comes around!!
Alex's 3rd grade teacher is Miss. Johnson, she is new to Canyon Elem. this year and I haven't met her yet but he likes her and says she's a really nice teacher.
School starts at 8:30am and he is so good about waking up and getting off to school, he comes in and tells me Good-bye (sometimes I am already up, but not too often).

It's funny, Alexa started 3rd grade when we moved to Spanish Fork and Alex wasn't even in school yet...time sure flies!
I hope you have great year Alex, 3rd grade was my best year in Elementary school (not really sure why, but it was)!

It's What FUN Is...LAGOON

Its our annual tradition to go to Lagoon before school starts and since its so expensive to get in ($40 a person) we always wait until August when there is a 2 for 1 deal. This year was a little different since most of my sisters had to work but Mel and her 4 kids came and so did Mom and Amb. We got there about 12:30pm and it was HOT!! It has been pretty mild weather the last week or two so I was really disappointed as I was watching the weather the night before and they said it was going to be the hottest day of the week!! Melanie was suffering right away, she dosen't deal with the heat well and she said her pulse was like 140 or something outrageous like that, but she suffered through and we had a great time. When Monica took Alex a few weeks ago she didn't take any pictures so I was determined to "capture the memories" this time around.

Our first ride was "The Bat" and everyone but Mel, Brooklyn and Brinlie went on it. We talked my mom into riding it, we told her it is a smooth ride that doesn't go very fast and isn't very high. She didn't love it, but she was a great sport.

 

This is the "JetStarII" and Alexa, Kenzie, Jake and Alex went ont his one (I was in line but they have 3 seats and 2 people have to sit in each seat straddling each other, they don't let single riders for some reason and I wasn't about to straddle a stranger so I just watched!!


Here we are on our "lunch break" we always bring lunch so we don't have to buy 2 meals there. We brought PB and Honey sandwiches and chips and cookies and drinks. It was nice to take a break in the shade but pretty hard to get back up and get going after the nice rest.

 

Alex LOVES Lagoon the best and he LOVES Halloween the best so you would think that he would be excited that lagoon has 2 haunted house rides...wrong. He refused to go on Terror Ride (Monica forced him on Dracula's Castle last time and he hated it!) He sat on the bench and waited for them to come out. This was Mel's favorite ride cause she was sitting down and it was cool inside...she wished it was a longer ride!!


My mom LOVES the "Music Express" and she had a great time with the little girls on this one, they were laughing really hard!!


Here is one of our many bathroom breaks...it was mid afternoon and really really hot. Alex pulled out his tooth (I didn't even know he had a loose one) that was pretty exciting. The big girls were starting to run out of energy!!


Here is the best ride at Lagoon, "WICKED"...Amberly went on it and I was sure she was going to be scared to death but as soon as it stopped she said "Ang, that was fun, let's do that again" she totally loved it. It is a very short ride but really really fun!!


Here is me and Alex on "The White Rollercoaster" he was nervous cause I was taking the picture as we were going up the hill and he didn't think I was going to be able to put my camera away fast enough. This ride is SO OLD. It has been old my whole life I guess but it was really bad today. I don;t know if it just really needed oil or what but it made the worst noise going around the corners (it reminded me the dentist office with all the noisy drills). It was still a good ride and you have to go on the wooden rollercoaster...


Here we are on "The Colassus" I love this ride. It has been a favorite my whole life. The downhill into the 2 loops is awesome no matter how many times you have done it before!! The best part is that there was NO line for this ride all day, we went a few times but it's always best at night!!


Alex and Jake decided to go on a few baby rides...the "Ladybug Drop" is a pretty fun ride, they always love it!


We ate dinner and took in the "Rock you to the Top" show. They have 3 guys and 3 girls that sing and dance, it is a pretty great show and we usually always make time to watch it. Most of us ate giant corndogs for dinner. It cooled off alot at night and that was a huge relief for everyone! We had to hurry and get on as many rides as we could before they close at 10pm.


We all decided to go on the "Tidal Wave" Alex and Kenzie wanted to be on the last row so they had to wait awhile and I couldn't get close enough to get any pictures. Me, Jake and Brooklyn faced Alexa, Brinlie, Amb and Mom. We had a fun ride. It was Brinlie's first time and she really liked it at first but got really scared when we got going higher. We had a really fun time, as you can see!!

 

"The Samurai" was the best ride of the day for most of us. We went during the day and it was really fun so we headed back over after dinner and the line was huge but totally worth the wait. It was a totally different ride at night and was really wild!! I was on the very end and so you get whipped around alot more. It was pretty intense but we all laughed our heads off and would have done it again but the line was still really long!

 

We wanted to get on Wicked one more time but by the time we made it over there they had already closed the line. We went on "Spider and the Fly" and "Colassus" one more time and then the park was closed. We met up with the rest of the group, they were playing the guess game where you pay the guy $2 and he will guess your age, weight or month of birth, if he is wrong you get a prize. My mom wanted everyone to get a prize and I am not sure how much money she ended up spending but all the kids got a souvenier. My Mom had such a blast, she was just loving it all day! I am glad for all the fun memories and we were pretty much the last ones to leave at like 11pm.
Alexa has her first day of Jr High tomorrow so she is going to be really tired cause we didn't get home until midnight but that's OK!!