Sweeeeeet

Alright, so first we’ll start out with the boring girly-girl stuff. Alycia, Cissy and I all went and got haircuts and highlights. That took like three and half hours and then we were starving so we went to the girls favorite restaurant and got some good ol’ Mexican cuisine. Then we went to get pedicures and we all had these little Vietnamese dudes doing them. They were totally talking about us in Vietnamese and it was really bothering me. They kept on asking Aly and Cissy questions but they would both just respond, “What?”, because the girls couldn’t understand a thing that they said. So I had to keep on translating and I finally just told them to nod and say okay and shake their heads and then look away because I didn’t feel like translating anymore. It sort-of worked except when the guy told Cissy to stay put for a minute while the polish dried and she dutifully nodded and shook her head and got out of the chair to put her shoes on. He about had an aneurysm and so I had to tell her to sit back down and wait a minute. We then went to blockbuster and rented some chick flicks (Penelope and Nim’s Island) and grabbed some goodies and headed home. Lots of fun and pampering was had by all. Until……….. they got word of the amazing experiences the other group had.




Just as Amy was taking Cicely and Alycia to the hair salon, Tanner and I checked KJ and Kyle out of school and drove to Phoenix for the game. We drove straight to the Marriott adjacent to the stadium and checked in. The room was great and overlooked the stadium. We then had some light dinner and went to the game. I told the kids we had seats in the nose-bleed section, so they were surprised as we entered the lower level and kept descending the stairs until we reached the first row, 45 yard-line just behind the Bronco bench. The kids were extremely excited about our seats and the whole experience. The stadium roof was closed and AC was blaring. As the Broncos jogged to the sideline, we started to call out their names and get some waves and thumbs-up. We had a great time cheering and talking to our favorite players. Most waved at us or gave us some kind of sign. As we cheered the players, the Cardinals fans next to us would sometimes give our guys crap and it was fun to see them react or not. Brandon Marshall kept making fun of the bald guy next to me and did some funny loser signs to them. I asked how many sacks Jarvis Moss would get this year and he shrugged; he then went on the field and sacked Leinart. He came right back, took off his helmet and said he’d get about one sack this year. I was very impressed with the Broncos players. They didn’t listen much to the Cardinal fans yelling but responded all the time to us, their fans. We had little conversations with many of the Broncos and really enjoyed some of Marshall’s and Stokley’s antics. Champ Bailey gave us the nod quite a few times, which made Tanner’s year. Many of you know, Tanner is a huge Bailey fan. He has Champ’s poster on his wall and wears his jersey as often as we’ll let him. KJ is a huge Domonique Foxworth fan and Foxy gave us one thumbs-up right before the game, but got very serious; since he was actually playing all game. We were having the time of our lives and wanted a 6 quarter game. By the time the game ended, I had lost my voice, the Broncos spanked the Cards, we had interacted with our favorite team and we were on cloud nine. The game ended and players jogged to mid-field and we figured that was it. Until, Champ Bailey cooly strolled towards us and we were all a little shocked. He walked right up to Tanner, took off his hat and handed it to Tanner. I was too shocked to remember the camera in my hand. I had just snapped one of Bailey walking towards us and just remembered to take another as he walked away giving Tanner the thumbs-up. As the crowd pressed closer and we made sure Tanner wouldn’t have his prized souvenir stolen, Domonique Foxworth jumped the bench and walked straight to KJ, took off his gloves and handed them to KJ. Dozens of fans were reaching and tearing at KJ to get her souvenir, but her big stud brother was holding off one side and I was holding off the other. By the time we turned around, Kyle barely got a shot of Foxy walking away. We yelled our support of the two DBs and Tanner and KJ were shaking with glee. I was then able to see that Champ had signed the hat he gave to Tanner. It'll be tough to ever top this experience for the kids or for me. When we returned to the hotel room, Tanner said “I got Champs hat, Kjirsten got gloves, and Kyle got to give money to a hobo.”

Quick update

Not much time; Amy is taking Cicy and Aly to get their hair done in about 10 minutes. I'm taking Kyle, KJ, and Tanner to the Broncos game in Phoenix. The kids don't realize that I got 1st row 50 yard-line tix right behind the Bronco's bench. I'm just hoping to get a wave from Champ or whomever. I'm wearing my custom-made Spencer Larsen jersey, Kyle's wearing Brandon Marshall, Tanner's wearing Champ Bailey, and KJ's wearing her favorite Domonique Foxworth. I had to get KJ a custom jersey as well since they don't make Foxworth jerseys in ladies sizes. I'll post pics of the new hair and the game when we return. We're staying in Phoenix overnight since the game will be so late. So, mom and the girls are going to have a sleep-over in my room and watch chick stuff; like the recorded Palin speech from earlier today. Palin for Pres!!! Check out the sweet new pics of Cicy and KJ.

I think I can.......

It's time for a start-of-school update. Let's go youngest to oldest.

Tanner is being home schooled by Amy and is enjoying all the time
spent with his foxy teacher. He's taking all the normal classes for a
4th grader. He's also taking French; as are all the kids. He works
in the library on his own PC and desk.

Aly is also being taught by Amy. She's using the K12 system, which
you can read up on at k12.com. She is learning a lot and starting to
become more self-motivated. This is a necessity since Amy spends most
of the school day with Tanner. Aly uses the home PC, with a 26"
screen (spoiled), and her own desk area also. I'm happy to report
that my girls still get all dolled up like they were going to school each
day.

Cissy has really taken an academic and maturity leap this year. She
works through her curriculum with very little help or teacher
motivation. She works with the other kids in the library on a table
with Amy's laptop. We have another PC, but Cissy likes the pink
laptop.

KJ is attending Cienega HS. She's on the JV cheer team and working on
her student counsel run; more news on this when I get some. She is
taking all Honors classes except English, which the school filled
before KJ re-enrolled. We'll get her in the Honors class, but we need
to fight a little more and a little harder. We just got KJ's cheer
pics and they're way too cute,crap. KJ has lots of homework, but she gets
it done in near perfect state each day (night). She is still a great beehive president and really enjoys Cissy being in her class with her.

Kyle is now a sophomore at Cienega. He plays WR and C for the JV
team. He also has a crazy schedule with football, school, mission
work, teacher quorum president duties, eagle scout work, etc. He has all
Honors classes as well as AP Biology, and AP European History. Of
course, he's doing well with school and juggling his duties. He
drives to Seminary each morning and is becoming a decent driver. I'm
really not scared to have him drive on his own later this year.

Also, my kids' foxy teacher will probably be a grandma in 6ish
years……….think about it.

You can't improve perfection?

When I was Kjirsten's age, my parents gave me a Valentines card that read "You can't improve perfection". Well, we're trying now that the 4 oldest are all in braces.

We decided to use our trailer and go camping at Hawley Lake in the White Mountain Apache Reservation. Our trailer is stored just outside the reservation, so we had a nice drive with nothing to pull. We had no problem grabbing the trailer and heading to the camp site. Unfortunately, we were running a little late which meant it was dark and the camp office was closed when we got there. The Indians who run the place were still there, but our reservation was taken. So, they put us in the last spot. I loved the spot because it looked down on the lake and had plenty of room for a fire pit, and it was transverse to the other trailers. The spot was sloped a little more than slightly. Still, we backed in, unhitched and started to plug in. The electric plugged in fine and that was a blessing. The water was spilling out the bottom, on the downhill side. Kyle and I searched for the leak and found that our water heater had burst over the winter. Turns out the winterizing drain doesn’t drain the heater; you have to drain that separately. So, no hot water all weekend. I enjoyed the freezing mountain showers, but only Amy and I showered. BTW, Kyle didn’t smell. I disconnected the water and started leveling the trailer with the leveling jacks while Amy put together the inside. As KJ, Kyle and I jacked the downhill side and Amy was getting stuff out of the car; the jack slipped, the tongue fell and the trailer tipped toward the extended pop-out. My first reaction was to throw my shoulder into the falling trailer. Amy jumped toward us to hold it up too. The trailer is about 9,000 lbs. But, we weren’t thinking, just reacting. Tanner and the dogs were inside the trailer and had a good lurch. Chihuahuas are so skittish. Something to remember when training for weapons use. Of course, the trailer settled on its axels and didn’t fall. But I peed a little in my pants (threw them away later). We got the trailer as set as we were going to get that night and left the rest for the morning. We all slept at a fun angle that night. Next morning, we removed the heater and fixed 2 other leaks. We stabilized the tongue with an alter of rocks and reset it. We pulled the trailer through after moving a boat and pulled it onto some rocks to level. After the repairs, and positioning, we were in great shape and pulled out the awning. Our front door looked right down at the lake.

We then started to have less adventurous fun including fishing, crawdading, cow tipping, mallow roasting, hotdog roasting, puzzle making, movie watching, rowing, etc. We also went into town and had a great red-meat meal at one of our favorite steak places.

The trip was a great adventure and we learned that when things don’t go perfectly, the kids are more than willing to pitch in and have some fun while we’re at it.