Part One: Trip to Utah

We started our trip early; We left Houston by five a.m. I thought the kids would sleep, they woke up and stayed awake for quite a while. But they didn't get to loud until much later on in the morning, at which time I look over at Brady to see him stuffing ear plugs in his ears. I was laughing at him. We decided we need to special order our next vehicle and make sure they put a divider window so we can shut out the noise from the kids screaming and arguing over which movie they want to watch etc. etc....

Love the facial expressions!! You'd think he'd never seen a TV or movie.

Aubrey was pretty excited about the TV in the car too.

LOL! Love it Brady!

We stopped by the four corners monument on our way to Blanding. I hadn't been there for since I was a little girl. Now, my kids can say they have been there. Wesley was just anxious to get to Utah.

They will probably remember getting snow cones more than the actual monument.

Aubrey was thrilled about being out of the car. It was a long trip to Blanding. We stopped in Santa Rosa the first night and rested and swam. I think I was more of a whiner than the kids when it came right down to it.

We finally made it to Blanding and stayed the night at Granny Great and Grampas. We went to Grandads that evening and Wesley got to make bullets with some of his cousins. He thought that was pretty cool. A good skill to have, don't you think?

I should have Brady in here. I don't know the process of making bullets. But the grand kids sure think it is neat.

I am not sure which of the twins this is with Wesley??

Here is Davis, Wesley, and unknown twin.

The next morning, we set out for Antimony.................Tune in tomorrow for pics and stories on that adventure.

Home Again, Home Again

We rented a car to get home...........yes our faithful Cutlass is gone....unless grandad can fix 'er up, in which case she is all his.

We have all had the stomach flu at least once, some twice.

But..............

We all had some fun and really enjoyed visiting our extended families. Wesley had a blast playing with his aunts and uncles and cousins. I asked him last night what his favorite part of our trip was, and he said, "gumballs at grandads house." My dad has a big gumball machine in the front room and the grand kids love to sneak quarters out of his bedroom and munch on gumballs. I asked him if he also enjoyed his aunts and uncles and the four wheelers and seeing all of the animals and playing in the mountain. He said yes, but kept going back to the gumballs.

Brady and I went floating down a river on tubes at the Tingey reunion. The first time I had ever gone. It was fun. And then it started to lightning, and for some reason, I was the only one concerned about it? It was fun though. We had a lot of good food and a lot of fun. We enjoyed dancing and I even got Brady out on the floor a few times! He is better than he lets on. Wesley and I enjoyed our traditional dances together, which meant more to me than to him I am sure since it took a bit of coaxing from his dad to get him to go out on the floor with me. But once he started, he had fun. He is a good little dancer. Definitely has some moves I've never seen before. He is so fun! Aubrey danced with us for a little bit, but was so tired. Then she got sick that night. Poor thing was sick a lot on our trip. Flu and car sick is my guess.

I was surprised at the fact that Wesley really didn't care to much for the four wheelers this time. Aubrey loved them and was always asking for rides. I finally got Wesley on with me, just the two of us, and he was so scared??? He has never been like that before. He even freaked out when Aubrey would go on the four wheeler. Anyway, I finally got him to go with me, and after a while he relaxed and then started to have fun. By the end of the ride, he didn't want off. Thank goodness, I was getting worried about him. LOL

Anyway, we had a good trip. And it is good to be home. I will post some pics and tell more as soon as I get batteries for the camera so I can load the pics on the computer.

So, stay tuned......................

More Than Ready to Go!!

Repelling at Arch Canyon in Southern Utah.


For the past 3 days, every time we get in the car to go somewhere, Wesley asks,"Are we going to 'Ewetah' (Utah) now?". I have been busy looking for a portable DVD player (found one at Best Buy.....Dual player with 4 headphone jacks! Attaches to the head rest and everything. Even came with two sets of headphones and a remote and a carrying case! Cool!), and doing other random errands and shopping. I let the kids pick out a couple new movies and books but told them they can not have them until we leave for Utah.
We are now down to packing, and purchasing a cooler that will fit on the floor in between the front and back seats, for all the perishables I am bringing along so we don't have to stop for breakfast and lunch. Dinner is another story.
Wesley is so excited to go so he can watch his new movies and see his cousins and grandparents and uncles and aunts, as are the rest of us. I told my dad, this past week has been dragging on and on! It is worse than waiting for Christmas morning! We are so ecstatic to get to see family and friends that we haven't seen for a while! And to do some camping, 4-wheeling, dancing, bow making, our own 'Tingey Olympics', visiting, and repelling! Hooray!! The last time I went repelling was when Brady and I were engaged! After that, every time we were in Blanding I was either with child, or just had a child.

Ready for Church

Aubrey is always very willing to get all dolled up to go to church. She loves the dresses and loves to "make her hair pretty". Wesley is another story; We literally have to fight him every week to get dressed. He can't figure out why I won't just let him wear play clothes to church. He really doesn't like long pants, he would much rather wear "little pants" (i.e. shorts). So, last week I bribed him to wear a white shirt and tie. It actually worked this time! (yes, I have attempted bribery before, but he wouldn't go for it!) He usually wears a white polo shirt and slacks, which is just fine. He sometimes wears nice button up shirts and nice jeans; But I think it is so darn cute when little boys are all dressed up in white shirts and ties. So, I told him I'd give him a pack of M&M's AND Oreo cookies if he'd keep his tie on all through church, which he did. Hooray! It was much easier when he was a smaller guy.

So darn cute!!! He is about 15 or 16 months old in this pic; just a little younger than what Aubrey is right now. I have a pic. of him when he was about 5 or 6 months old propped up on the couch, wearing a white shirt and tie! So sweet! I couldn't find that pic. Whew! How quickly time flies!!

I loved this sweater! I found it at a second hand store, brand new, for 3 dollars!! I love a good deal.

Isn't he so handsome?? I love those big, blue eyes! He was about 13 or 14 months old in this pic. All ready for Stake Conference. I remember this day so well. I remember the cool Autumn weather, and walking the 7 or so blocks to the old Tabernacle in Provo. It was such a beautiful fall day! I spent the whole conference outside watching Wesley while he wondered around looking for sticks. Funny, he is still obsessed with finding sticks and using them for guns and swords, or to he tries to chop trees down with them (ever since we read him this book about George Washington chopping down a cherry tree, he has been obsessed with chopping down trees). Anyway, back then, he just liked to find sticks and carry them around and maybe whack at a fence here and there.

It's Off!!!!!!!!!

We woke up this morning excited to get to the doctors office and get the cast off. Wesley smiled the whole way to the office. And then............


The nurse pulled out "the saw". Wesley was a little nervous, as you can tell in the pic, but did really well. I explained what was going to happen and he relaxed and cooperated very well.


He was smiling once the nurse got going, so I kept thinking, "man he is really being brave!" When we got out to the car, I asked him if he thought the saw was cool, and he said no. He said it was scary. You never would have known he was scared in the office.

I think the little saw scared Aubrey more than it did Wesley. She just sat there and watched, wide eyed, not knowing what to think of it all.

Once the nurse finished sawing, she used this nifty tool to open up the cast.

Then she had to use scissors to cut through part of the wrap.

And finally, she began peeling it apart!

Almost there....................

Ahhhh.........And it is finally off. But Wesley wasn't to sure about it. He says it still hurts and is very careful in the way he moves it. The doctor said that it is normal and that he would probably be more sensitive for a couple of days. Wesley told me on our way home that he wanted the cast back on. Ha! Yea right! We shall see how he feels about it in a couple of days.

He had to have one more set of x-rays. Everything looks great and normal, according to the doctor. And Wesley got treats for being a good sport. So, now he just has to be really careful not to fall on that arm again for the next three weeks or so.

Aubrey got a treat also, and boy was she happy about it!

Slap Stix

So, has anybody else out there ever experienced the yumminess of Slap Stix?? I love them! I found some big ones for .86 cents at Michaels today (the ones I would buy as a kid were smaller and only cost .10 cents). I don't know what it is about them.........they are just tasty!

Brady had never had one before we were married and I introduced him to them. I couldn't believe it! Chico Sticks and Slap Stix, Alexander the Grape, Lemon Heads, Red Hots, Fruit Cocktails, Boston Baked Beans...............Ahhhh.......treats from the past. And all for only .10 cents a box. I remember my parents talking about penny candy and how .10cents seemed like so much. Hah! What are my kids gonna remember? I can just hear Wesley in 20 or so years, "I remember when you could buy 3 candy bars for a dollar at Kroger!" when, 20 years from now, they will be selling 3 candy bars for four dollars or something.

Anyway, nothing like a yummy treat of Slap Stix to bring a family together!!

Scruffy

We have a new friend at our house; his name is Scruffy and he is an elephant. Wesley built him a cage out of all our couch cushions tonight.

Aubrey kept "opening the gate and letting Scruffy out!" Wesley was not happy about that. Wesley was pretending to throw food in his cage, and wanted to bring a cup of water upstairs for him to drink when it was time for bed. What a great imagination!!

Now, I know where the elephant part came from. Brady has a computer game (Age of Empires) that he plays that has elephants on it. Wesley really likes it when the elephants show up on the screen. But I can't for the life of me figure out how Wesley came up with the name 'Scruffy' for the elephant. It cracks me up.

When it was bed time, Scruffy had to go upstairs with Wesley. When we had family prayer, Scruffy knelt down with us and Wesley showed him how to fold his arms, close his eyes, and bow his head. Wesley gave me a kiss good night, and then Scruffy had to give me a kiss good night. Then, Wesley let Scruffy get up on his bed to sleep tonight. It is a good thing he has a queen size bed, elephants are not small!