Utahs' Urmston's

THE 2 WHO ARE LEAVING

2011-07-03T21:50:00.006-06:00

Had to post some of Kaits senior pictures. She was so much fun to take pics of. I could have shot all day and I think she could have lasted all day. I think she might have had more fun than I did.

Ya, she's cool, no, I mean sick. So sick!
If a personality can be described in a few pics, these are they.

She also went to prom. It was kinda fun for all of us. She was excited. Had a really great time. I know I'm the mother, but....she looked beautiful.

And, she graduates. Did an awesome job conducting the commencement exercises. Her speech was funny and witty and smart and darling. Glad to have family and friends there. Thank you.
If javelin was ever exciting, this day was one of them. She will be attending University of Utah on a 4 yr academic scholarship. Coach Kuusela was able to get books for her, so she will be considered a scholarship athlete and all the "perks" that come with.
Kait on the big screen, instructing the class of 2011 to adjust their tassels to the graduated side.

So many pics of the girl and just this one pic of the boy who is leaving TO RUSSIA! He was being funny. He is funny. We love him so much. We love the girl too. They will leave a big hole in our hearts and our home. Please do not call the number above, I should have blurred it. We would never sell him. They are priceless.

The greatest gifts you can give your children
are the roots of responsibility
and the wings of independence.
-Denis Waitly

Been palyin, tooooo much......

2011-07-03T20:59:00.005-06:00

at the ponds, on the swings, with The Wells and Colleen Hayes family all the way from Clayton, NC. Its been 12 years, yet it seemed like yesterday.
at the Manti pageant. Have to say it wasn't really our cup up tea but worth watching especially with good friends.
in Moab with the Benjamin 1st ward young ladies. Matt and Bret where gracious enough to come along as our priesthood leadership. They were the best, and good sports for doin' the jump thing!
hiking to the delicate arch.

Siamese dandelion, lions??
at the Hershey track meet, littler ones running their fastest.

Happy people learn that happiness, like sweat, is a by-product of activity. You can only achieve happiness if you are too busy living your life to notice whether you are happy or not.

~ Frank Pittman III

Just a Few

2011-07-03T20:40:00.003-06:00

spring photo shoots......... thank you spencer and max for trusting me to prom and all your wonderful friends.

....and these fun seniors were absolutely the best. had so much fun! thank you.

...some pictures can simply not be taken, they must be gently borrowed

I am in a LOVE HATE relationship......

2011-04-29T21:32:00.005-06:00

.......with SPRING!!
my tomato plant thinks it's spring.
the little cactus bud thinks it's spring.
tiny purple weeds think it's spring.
roundup killed the weeds that thought it was spring, now they are dead and snow covered.

will someone please inform dear Mother Nature it IS spring, bless her heart.

snow on the fenceposts.
snow on the lilacs.

I LOVE OUR OLD RUSTY MAILBOX.
do not love the snow on it today.

...and I was going to put these muck boots away. guess not.
SNOW on the alfalfa fields, and the princess Timpanogos.
glad I can come back inside to this cozy warm fire that's burning brightly because, obviously, it is NOT SPRING YET.

In the spring I have counted one hundred and thirty-six different kinds of weather inside of four and twenty hours. ~Mark Twain

I'm hating spring, ....but I love it so much. :)

Since December

2011-03-17T13:36:00.011-06:00

.......not a lot has happened, but wanted to blog a few things. Not in any particular order.

This girl finished up a nice basketball seasons with a couple really great games and one not so great but we sure do love watching her. After all the complaining Matt did about having to watch GIRLS play ball, he thinks he might have to support some of junior girls from this year by attending a few games next year :D
Her game day dress. Custom hand painted Vans, customized by the girl herself. She just started track and with some tips from her dear old dad threw jav. 120. Has a two year scholarship offer to Utah State. Would like to get a 4 yr. offer from UofU in track and field. Will be busy planning prom and preparing her graduation speech.
This boy just turned 15 and can now officially drive with an adult, IF, he passes the test which he has failed twice. Will be back next week for a 3rd round. Good Luck Chuck! He eat drinks and sleeps football and can hardly wait for summer to come to start workouts. We think he kinda likes girls too. He is the perfect gentleman.
This boy had a special birthday and just turned 12, went into the Young Mens program and received the aaronic priesthood and he's handsome. He is his mothers volunteer test pic model and does a fantastic job. He's working on being a gentleman but sometimes it hard with a little sister.

Welcome new Baby Texie. Leslie's sis Laurie had her 4th a couple weeks ago and for her b-day she and Addi flew to the big ole' Lone Star State. For the record, she is named Texie after a dear friend of theirs in Oregon, not after Texas, that would be dorky :) Had a fabulous time. Kudos to their ward for immediately makin them family where they had none. The church is a truly marvelous.

What would a blog be without girls and ponies. This is their weekly trip around the block to and from piano. We have also been going to 4-H weekly and the girls are jumpin their little ponies. So much fun. Do we say that every time? Pictured below is Ads n her cousin Camrie. The Coontz fam did party hard with us over the New Year(along with many others we love) and we had so much fun, someone hid their keys so they couldn't leave. Oooooh! Good times.

These handsome young men are the priests in our ward, who will all putting in mission papers very soon. Tyler, in the blue hoodie just received his call to Norway. Awesome. Cooper is filling his papers out now and will turn them in the first of April. He is busy with work,college, and basketball, and happy to say he's been on a few dates :)
Here are some so so really cute little boys. They are cousins. We like how they are all standing in the same order, now as handsome young men, priesthood holders who will all be serving missions very soon. Porter and Mason have already received their calls. Guatemala and Boise. They will report in June and July. Waiting on Zac and Coop. So excited for them. We think it is amazing.

There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, "Thy will be done,"
and those to whom God says, "All right, then, have it your way."

C. S. Lewis

2010-12-21T11:02:00.005-07:00

SNoW dAY!!!

The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite different, and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found? ~J.B. Priestley

A Saturday in Switzerland…

2010-11-28T01:32:00.002-07:00

We took an 18 hr layover to have this Saturday. Matt was in meetings until late fri afternoon. This Saturday is our day together to venture out into the beauty of this country, which it has limitless amounts to offer. We opened our eyes, ( sleepy tired eyes because of the foreign neighbors next to us. unknown language. paper thin walls gave way to the madams high screechy, screaming voice and her male partner who sounded just like Robert from Everybody Loves Raymond only not speaking English and talking very very loudly. oh and I must not forget to mention the smoking that must have osmosised through those same walls into our room many times during the night while he hacked up a lung) to a bright outdoors, fluffy flakes falling, and a snow covered landscape. The plan for this day was to visit a quaint little French city, Ancy, on the other side of the lake. The entire morning was spent in bed eating leftover pizza from last nights dinner, clicking through the 3 somewhat English speaking news channels, a various other things. Still snowing at noon, we decided to only drive into Geneva and eat at the Movenpick. Off on our adventure, still snowing heavy. Programed M into the (what Matt says) outdated tom tom, still snowing. Into G, right straight to our destination, around the block 3 times, more snow no Movenpick. Matt says there is one by the airport. Program that in and off we go, but not very far. Cheap car, some name Leslie doesn’t know, begins to slide as we head up the slight incline in the direction of the airport. Many nice men push us and we go some more until the next hill and stop light. No go. Car up ahead stuck also. Cars passing us. Train passing us. Matt, white knuckles, red sweaty palms. Leslie gets out to push, actually does pretty good for a bit. Runs besides the car and just hopes Matt can make it up the hill. Doesn’t. Leslie trys to push again, several men leave the sidewalk to help, but I think they are saying in their, not nice, unrecognizable words, “stupid Americans driving this dumb little car up this icy steep road!” Go again, until the next incline, decide to turn around, probably illegally. Snowing heavy. Think it is best to just head back to the hotel and hope the journey is level. It is. A few grey hairs later we make it safely back to the hotel, go buy some snackys at the local grocer, Migros, and curl up together to watch a great movie on the fancy high tech gadget Matt owns. Leslie always calls it the wrong thing. Today, this Saturday together in Switzerland, was perfectly wonderful. Really. No, really it was, we are serious!
“I believe in happy endings, starry skies , and dreams come true.” -Neil Diamond

We do too.

other summer stuff

2010-10-18T22:58:00.011-06:00

Peter Urmston Fam came to visit, minus the Peter and then leaving the Porter. We have had great fun with the latter and Coop is glad he is here, so are we. Melanie also stayed a while and Addi was in heaven. Thanks M, come again. That invite is extended to all you other little (or big) cousins out there.

Matt had young mens camp in Moab and we went down after. It was so much fun. Hiked up a beautiful canyon and jumped some cliffs into pools of water.

Had watched Nat geo tv and guys running on water so the kids thought they would give it a try. The tryed really hared but were unsuccessful. As you can see by the photos, Addi was very engrossed in her own activity.

moab

trek

The trek was an unforgetable experience. We went for our ward youth conference. We have incredible young men and women in our ward. They were unbelievable in spirit and in deed.

I love these women I have been priveleged to work with and camp was terrific.

girls camp

Kait is a very funny girl.
We love her dearly.

“A happy family is but an earlier heaven.” -John Bowring

Today........

2010-09-24T13:36:00.004-06:00

....... I miss my babies. I am guessing almost all mothers young or old have heard this said, “Enjoy it while you can, they grow up so fast.” So, today I was busy in my very lonely kitchen (except a little happy music playing in the background) making a yummy potato dish for the ward dutch oven dinner tonight and it was SO quiet and empty.

Not many years ago, I thought I lonnnnged for the quiet when there were babies helping me on the counter top and toddlers running around my feet. Running out to check on the little boy playing in the mud or the tiny girl climbing a great big tree. REALLY!! I swore I would never say it. That older mother( I'm only 42) with all the grown teenage kids telling me to ENJOY it. Not that I would go back. I love where my life is today and all my big kids running around, mostly independent. Drama from the prom queen. Stinky teenage boys and 1 big boy manchild ripping deeeesgusting flatulence during our TV viewing and then laughing hysterically about it.

But seriously!!! I really miss my babies today. Those head pounding, hair pulling, sleepless nights, cry your eyes out crazy days with young children. I'm going to say it, enjoy those little moments . One day, and much sooner than you think, they won't be there. It is so sad, now I'm crying. A wonderful visiting teacher gave me this quote years ago and it still hangs around. Edith Hunter said, “The walks and talks we have with our four-year-olds in mismatched boots have a great deal to do with the values they will cherish as adults.” They will be adults before we know it. Time does fly and they do grow up so fast. Okay, now I feel better. I will go back to my empty quiet lonely and, yes still messy, kitchen looking forward to their speedy return and smiling faces. At that point I will try to find joy in what we call “piranha hour” at our house. Cherish them.

"No gift bestowed upon us is so precious as children.

They are proof that God still loves us. They are the hope of the future."

-- James E. Faust (Ensign, May 1987, p. 80.)

SUMMER LOVIN'

2010-07-23T11:05:00.010-06:00

lovin' the pretty ponies, friends, mountains, riding, ponies...

lovin' kait and her smiling face and her smily face scare that is healing so nicely...

lovin' the bridge and jumping...

lovin' coop and he is really lovin' his job...

lovin' addi andthe pretty updoo cousin candice gave her, darling...

lovin' candice because she came to visit for a bit. she is fun, and pretty, and daring, and adventurous, and brave, and fun. we love candice...

lovin' the snakes...

lovin' the waterfall...

lovin' the hot pots and aunt lenas adorable boys...

lovin' lava hot springs and the mile high platforms...

lovin' the homemade go carts and preston, id......

fishin' at the reservoir...

and our newest affair.... burraston or as we affectionately say, "the swinging pond"

lovin' the swings, happy, happy, happy...

will you come join us soon?

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on
the grass on a summer day
listening to
the murmur of water, or watching the clouds
float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time.
~John Lubbock

gooooooo bronson!!

work and play

2010-06-20T07:48:00.014-06:00

The boy graduated. Yipee! One down four to go. Love this SMUG mug. One day your a kid the next your a grownup. Is that how it works. Nice hanger. I'm sure he thought mom would be mad if he left it behind. What a thoughtful boy/man. Thanks to all the fam and friends who came or sent cards. Much appreciated. You are all awesome and we love you.

Our baby came. Filly, will be a pretty little buckskin like her daddy. Sassafras, Sassy, cause she IS!
Grandma Mary loved this baby so much and the other 2. Oh how you should have heard her complain when we sold them. You would have thought SHE was taking them home with her. :) :)

When mom got back from girls camp she found this little girl ALL tied up in knots, the result of youtube contortionist videos.
...and these little girls got to go on a photo shoot with a good friend of ours from HI. She spent all evening with us giving me some really good photo tips. Thank you, THANK you Shauna, you can find her here.

WORK, the new fence that Matt got for a STEAL of a deal to go around our precious pasture for the pretty ponies.

Lots and lots of PLAY,

..and more
PLAY!!

and more...

Never knew a ditch could be so much fun. Oh, yes i DID.

More work, 83 bales (would have paid $5 a bale/$415), we paid our neighbor $90 to cut and bale.
Total savings=$325

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.” - C. Swindoll

INTRODUCING........

2010-04-25T21:36:00.007-06:00

3 Stooges. If you click on this picture I think it might open up bigger. Oh my gosh! Bronson's expression is crackin' me up. These 3 and I (les) went to my sister Lela's, in ID, to help her move from one ranch house to another. On the way home we took the back dirt roads out in the middle of nowhere at the top of the Great Salt Lake. We stopped all along the way for some really great adventures.

Clive, our newest pretty pony acquisition. Send one down the road get another. He is so cute.

3 new Borgie puppies. Izzie had 4 but one died, we were a little surprised at the sparse numbers considering she had 7 first litter and 9 the second, but we will happily take these 3 little tubbies.

Angel Unaware, James Christensen. This beauty graces our dining room wall. Our newest home decor purchase. This is what the artist had to say:

This unassuming young woman has been endowed with wings and grace with such force that even the invisible has left its shadow on stone. And she's not sure what just happened. She remains modest and humble and is probably unaware of what she has done. Her service and kindness just seemed like the right thing to do. - JCC

Our hope is that she will daily remind us to be about the Lords work.

Kaits senior council propaganda. She made it, congrats, and will interview this week for a position. Of course, she wants to be president and usually, "what Kait wants, Kait gets". In a good way. And just a side note, she asked a cute boy to "sweetheart".

You can't always get what you waaannt, but if ya try sometimes, ya get what ya neeed!

Cooper the graduate. Hard to believe. One of his shots for grad announcements. I realize this is coming from me, his mother, but I think he is so handsome. It is always so fun taking pics of him. He wanted me to make note of the cool new shoes.

One last parting shot. Love them so much. -hold them while I may......

BEFORE & AFTER

2010-04-07T19:41:00.015-06:00

TODAY......was gorgeous and I just couldn't help but snap a couple shots. I should be..staining the fireplace, doing the laundry, making dinner, sorting the rest of the boxes in the garage that Matthew said had to be gone by Christmas (LAST, or they were all going to the DI, bless his big heart he gave me an extention), seeing who gets kicked off AMIDOL, caulking the beams on the kitchen ceiling so insulation doesn't blow through the cracks when the lion winds huff and puff, and on and on and on. What's a girl to do.? Take some shots in the soft evening sunlight.
TODAY, after ............................ this!
. YESTERDAY, before..........unbelievable!!

Here are some other before's.....and some of the reasons at our house that we
LOVE LOVE spring, except for the BEFORE above.
Izzys big belly BEFORE she has puppies next week and
Charlies bigger belly BEFORE she has a foal next month
(we hope it's a beautiful buckskin boy).

our little red hen AFTER she lost her little piggies, and....

THESE

little piggies
we adore.

It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so! ~Mark Twain

LOT #48, MISTY

2010-03-18T09:10:00.004-06:00

Winnemucca, Ranch Rodeo and good times.
Kait, Cache, Macey, Misty, Addi

They had so much fun riding and roping and were inseparable. Truly bosom buddies.

Addi and Misty, with Lee, waiting to go into the sale ring.

Our two most favorite littlest buckaroos ever. Zane and Cache.

The last ride. They both looked beautiful.

She had me caught.

Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are
something to do,
something to love
and
something to hope for.
-Joseph Addison

and then there were two, no........FOUR!

2010-02-11T19:59:00.006-07:00

Miss Addi found a riding buddy.
Double the numbers double the fun.

Ponies lend us the wings we lack.
~Author Unknown

Look at that move. Kait is down to the last couple of games in the season. It has been so much fun watching her play. She is also getting some varsity time, which makes us all happy.

can't keep her..........

2010-01-27T11:16:00.006-07:00

.........off of this pony. Rain, shine, wind, snow, saddled or without, she is always wanting to ride. Love this pony and this girl.

Love this boy. He did a funny. Has been begging his coach to take him to INNOUT after meets. She finally told him if he would swim a 53 in his 100 she would. His best time was 57. After lots of team and parental encouragement and some gels and shot blocks (him talking 100 miles an hour all hyped up) he did it and qualified for state. INNOUT after the meet. Whatever motivates ya!! State swim at BYU 1st weekend in Feb.

" The way you see me today is not going to be the way
you will see me tomorrow
because there is a victory to be won!"
Author Unknown

We're so glad...

2010-01-03T21:36:00.006-07:00

...when grandma comes home.... clap our hands, jump for joy, knitting endlessly. Look what you started. JoAnn's loves to see us coming. Kait has knitted lots of scarves already and now shes moved on to crochetted hats. Even Bronson and Addi have joined us for a spell. Fun. Fun!
Christmas was awsome. This entire vaction has been so much fun and gone by so fast. We have truly enjoyed this holiday season and especially the time spent with family and good friends. Peter Urmston family came and we did some sledding.

Tradition lives because young people come along who catch

its romance and add new glories to it.

Michael Novak

I think they grow too fast....

2009-12-24T13:29:00.006-07:00

Iniki Tauveli, Kait and Coop circa 1995 and 2009. The Tauveli's paid us a visit this week. Iniki will be coming back out to Utah to stay for a little while. He was invited to play with the now famous Highland Rugby club.

ADDI BAPTIZED

2009-12-12T20:36:00.003-07:00

the pre photos. mom never does hair fancy, but....since this was a very special occasion....
.....post photo
coop and addi. she let her big brother baptize her. it was a wonderful evening and we are so grateful to have had family and friend there.

"There are those who travel and those who are going somewhere.
They are different and yet they are the same.
The success has this over his rivals: he knows where he is going."
-- Mark Caine, author

2009-11-28T21:03:00.005-07:00

Our November birthdays. A special year for both the sisters.
Kait is sweet 16 this year. Addi is turning 8 and will be baptized.
Wow! Where did the time go.
One of our all time favorite photos of Kait 'cause she looks so girly and Addi just is. They brighten our lives.
We love them both.

Thanksgiving day. Football in the horse pasture. I wish I had a photo of some of the big ole piles of steaming horse poop. Added a new twist to the game, lots of dodging too. No greenish brownish anything on anyone. We are so thankful for family and for having lots of 'em. Thought of all of you who weren't here and hope yours was great.“

Saturday, bowling with gma gpa Urmston, up from CA. Bowling is always fun.
Lots of competition. Matthew kicked a little booty.

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation
is not to utter words, but to live by them.” JFK

Kitchen, Dining, and Laundry

2009-11-17T18:59:00.004-07:00

Referbished the old dining table, topped it with barn wood my sis Lauri brought us from Oregon. The rug was my mothers day gift. By the time I got around to ordering it from PBarn, it was discontinued. My dear sweet husband found it on ebay.

We wanted the bar to feel like a separate furniture piece, put on these glassy knobs.

I always put the photos on backwards. Notice the 4th photo down, the 2 kitchen windows, one of my favorite parts of the home is the outside ceiling of the porch. We did them in old wood from the shed out back. Looking forward to our 1st Thanksgiving here in this kitchen. Hoping yours is wonderful.

Dear Sisters, PLEASE!

2009-11-12T11:38:00.002-07:00

Oh My!
Seeking your best memories of your personal experiences
in Young Women's, as a Young Woman.
Ideas from present day experiences and also Personal Progress tips.
Not how it runs, just the best way to run it. Should we have a specialist?
pnytree@gmail.com

Thanks, Les

all the little spoooks

2009-11-01T20:47:00.009-07:00

Addi and the Bradford Boys ready for trunk or treat,

and some oooey gooey yummy carmel apples !

This, That, and The Other

2009-10-29T18:00:00.021-06:00

T hese are the puppies that we love so much. 9, count them, nine from that tiny little mama. We did chop off all their teeny tiny tails, but spared you the gorey details. Puppies are fun too.

This is the boy who went to Masquerade with the girl. Dances are fun too.

That is a whole lot of puffiness the littlest girl got after a nasty wasp stung her very close to her pretty brown eye. Fat eyes are funny looking.

This is the middle child who went to Jr. High School dressed as a nerd

(is that politicly correct?)

He is funny.

Those are the fall leaves that these

children gathered on our Mt. Nebo scenic drive, conference weekend. It was splendid. That kid thought xbox would have been funner.

These are some of the neighbors who got wild and crazy helping us tear down the old house. Maniacs. That was really, really fun.

That is the first snowfall of the year gently settling itself onto the old new porch. This is not funny at all.....but we just fired up the new wood burning stove(toasty) in the new house, getting ready to settle in ourselves for the long winter ahead. It is the most fun to be healthy and happy in our new home .

Whats Happying

2009-09-29T20:54:00.005-06:00

Bronson and Wyatt have been BEGGING Matthew to build a ramp soooo, that was the first unofficial project after we moved in and "they" are having sooo much fun.

Addi comes homes and saddles her pony most days after school. This is here galloping cirlcles around the house. Coop is having a blast in council and was voted 2nd attendant at homecoming. Kait is on yearbook staff among other things. Photos of her on the job.

The Old House is Gone....

2009-09-06T22:44:00.008-06:00

It was fun to watch it go. Leslie and I even got a turn to take a
whack at it. Have plenty more pictures, may post them later if anyone is interested.

Sew What!?!

2009-05-30T09:46:00.009-06:00

The other day I was telling the kids about my skills as a seamstress (or is it seamster? Is this the same as waitress and waiter?) Anyway, they were very interested to learn about when I was in highschool an started makingmy own shorts out of Moms bath towels, temporarily started a new trend and even took a few orders for friends. When I came home from work the next day they had talked Leslie into taking them to the store to buy towels. Cooper 'had' to have a pair for school the next day so we pulled out sewing machine and got started. My skills had deminished. It didn't help that we had no pins or a decent pair scissors. We got the first pair made but Leslie had to take over the mass production. I think we've made 10 pair to date. Here's a sampling. We also have added yet another animal to the Ark. It's lambing season and of course there are always bum lambs. We tried to save a couple but they didn't make it. Third times a charm so now we have Larry the lamb. (Wyatt does such a good job of Animal naming.) We've also added to new chickens at the egg laying plant. Because we need more eggs. They are called Little Jerry and Pez. That's Little Jerry on the left. Someone thought it would be a good idea to get some Easter chicks, then Easter day comes and goes and then What? City people. They should start producing next spring. They sleep on the porch with the dogs every night. Hopefully they will figure out they aren't dogs at some point.

As far as the house goes if this were Extreme Makeover: Home Edition we would be on day 7 quickly wrapping things up before the family gets back from vacation. A couple more weeks and we should be ready for our final inspection. Leo Carillo will be welcomed break.

testing

2009-04-30T00:38:00.002-06:00

My neighbor(this is leslie) called me up a couple days ago and asked if I had time to take senior photos for her son. Yipee! Coop came out this evening with me to run some test shots, thus the funny faces. Turned out kinda fun and I cant wait to take the real things. The weather was beautiful today. Heres hoping for a few more sunnys.

Juniors Junior Prom

2009-04-25T23:56:00.003-06:00

“It wasn't that no one asked me to the prom, it was that no one would tell me where it was”

On with the dance! let joy be unconfined;
No sleep till morn, when Youth and Pleasure meet
To chase the glowing hours with flying feet.
~George Gordon, Lord Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage

The invention of the teenager was a mistake. Once you identify a period of life in which people get to stay out late but don't have to pay taxes - naturally, no one wants to live any other way. ~Judith Martin

She' s a little Sheepish

2009-04-25T23:45:00.004-06:00

Setting up for the judge.

The cutest cowboy there.
Now that's what spandex should look like.

2009-04-22T21:52:00.002-06:00

Our funny Super Cooper, campaign photos. Addi doin' tricks on Gringo and ridin' with the boys at Aunt Lenas in Preston.

2009-04-21T07:56:00.003-06:00

Just wanted to share this.

Senior Councilor Essay

As a member of this wonderful society I have done many a thing. A few of them are as follows.
In the 9th grade I ran for student council, there was not magic there. I once bought M&M’s every day for 2 weeks in the hopes that people would call me M&M, didn’t happen. I have been mistaken for a hobo. I once watched all three Lord of the Rings: Extended Edition in one day, after which, I built swords and shields out of plywood for my brothers and I. I have mimed, in Spanish, the three little pigs. Let me say, after I led those boy into battle against those orcs, they never messed with us again. I try to help ants out whenever I can, except when there in my home. I have eaten food of the floor after my ten second grace period. I believe I have a soupier immune system, but I’m don’t think I’m better than anybody. I buy all of my shoes from Ross. I am an expert at balancing food on a fork and, if I try really hard, I can sometimes put it into my mouth. As a child I thought that the D.I. stood for Donated Items, I was sad to find out it didn’t. When my fried ran for Student Body Officer, I dressed up in a bunny suit and shouted Vote for Garret. He ended up winning. I saved my little brother from death once. I tried out for the Freshman Basketball team. I didn’t make it but bounced back with renewed enthusiasm the next two years. The same thing happened.

I joined the swim team instead. I will be the captain of that swim team next year. Two years ago, on a trip to Cedar City, I smashed a cup on my head for the amusement of my team. In my juvenile(not delinquent) I wanted to see the effect of fire on gasoline and ended up getting my eyebrows singed of. I also through slop into the wind, A small, now crying boy, me, ended up with a face full of slop and got a very long shower. I’m an avid watcher of the office. Brian Regan is one of my top 10 heroes along with, Will Smith, Cosmo Kramer, The Cast of Lord of the Rings and Johnny Depp. Above all of those though is my Father, My Uncle Peter, and my scout leader, Cody Bradford. I was kicked out of a church basket ball game for reasons I am not proud of. I once sniffed pepper up my nose as a dare. I was also dared to eat a leaf on that same trip, I did it. I built a putting green into a swing. It is the best darn swing ever. I have pretty much watched every episode of Seinfeld made. I started doing P90X once. I have wanted to run a marathon. I once wrote a
song for the guitar. I have lived in Hawaii. I once ran for my life from wood nymphs which I thought were attracted to the urine I had just placed behind a tree.

I have done all of these wonderful things, but I have never been on the Spanish Fork Student Council. I feel that most of these experiences in some way have given me the traits I would need to serve this school well. The ones I came up with are:
Determination- I really want this. I feel that my passion for the position itself would be an awesome reason as to why I would do this school well. Every morning when I watch the morning announcements, I think to myself, I am doing that next year. I will be doing that next year and I know it.
Laughter- This may sound like a weird one, but I could care less about embarrassing myself. When I do embarrass my self, I’m usually the first one laughing. I also make people laugh. I have been told various times that I should be a comedian when I grow up. I have also been told, “ If you make me laugh anymore I’m going to have a six pack!” I love to make people Laugh. It is one of my favorite sounds, Number 2. Right under a golf ball going into the hole.
Leadership- This is obviously an important one, but I love to be right up in the action. I don’t necessarily like telling people what to do, but if I have to, I will. Delegation is a tool I use wisely.
Creative- I feel I am very creative. I would come up with plenty of Ideas as to what to do for this school. All I need is time to do it and the tools to do it.
Friendship- I am a loyal friend. When ever any of my friends have asked me to do something, if it’s not outrageous, I do it. I love to help my friends out
So all of these things I fell would help me be a great councilor. The position I am really interested in is the president or the vice pres(or whatever you call that one). I really feel I am going to do a wonderful job this year and hope something happens. Thank you and see you next year!!

Cooper Urmston

Has Spring sprung?

2009-04-17T09:52:00.002-06:00

Look what spring brought us yesterday. What? It's April 15!!

The Goings On

2009-04-13T20:03:00.003-06:00

No new pictures of the house. A date has been set, May 31. We had the opportunity of attending a live session(our 1st ever)at the Manti temple. Dear friends of ours were sealed together along with their two beautiful kids. It was a most wonderful day. The puppies sold like hot cakes, have names of people who would like one from the next litter. Dog sat the neighbors great dane, Dixie, on conferance weekend. And......the kids have been having a blast with a long long red rope, a tree, and some wood.

Just Some Stuff

2009-02-28T08:14:00.007-07:00

First official sleepover in the unofficial house. We don't do sleepoverss but this was necessity. Two off the neighbors kids joined us. We made a large spread of blankets and sleeping bags on the partly finished wood flooring in the dining room. After singing Im Trying to be Like Jesus and saying prayer, we proceeded to tell funny stories, alot of farting, burping, armpit farting, and laughing. Doodle, suggested we sing some Chris le Doux songs (her dad is a REAL cowboy). Blue Eyes and Freckles, Bucskin Lady, He Rides the Wild Horses, Yellow Stud, Night Riders Lament, Continental Cowboy, and the crowd pleaser, Copenhagen. Things soon quieted down and I found myself looking forward to the sun streaming through the beautiful windows onto our resting place in the morning. As we were all drifting off, Bugsy said, "Hey, this doesnt just feel like a house, its a home. Ahhhhhhhhh. I do wish it were finished. It would be nice to actually sleep in the Massters Bedsroom tommorws night ( that dang ss button). We had fun with the painting. I am glazing all the main area walls right now. It is quite a daunting task, but I just pick an area to do each day and keep on truckin'. I pause every now and again to put in a couple chunks of wood flooring. Matt mostly takes care of that when he gets home from work. It is so close to finished I can almost taste it. Other snewss. Izzy had 7 puppiess, 2 died, and she pushed one out, we tryed to bottle feed it but it didnt make it either. Baby puppies are SO cute. In almost every waking moment of their spare time, the fam is becoming the best rock band ever. You should see papa on the drums. Smokin'!!!!!!!! We got a little fancy for v-day and Coop wrapped the bumper of the hot red car around a power pole one icy morning. And for some really great news. Matt got a great job offer from a company, but the company he is working for now did not want to let him go so they made him a better offer and he accepted. Thanks your for your concern, encouragement, love, and prayers, in our behalf. We love you all.

Sledding with Peter's Family

2009-01-05T20:26:00.001-07:00

Marc Urmston Family Christmas Vacation

2008-12-23T20:16:00.003-07:00

Marc, Linda, and family came to visit for a couple days during their week long whirlwind tour of Utah. They came just in time for all the snow. It was fun to have them here. Click here to see some more photo's.

Is it Sunday again?

2008-11-30T14:54:00.005-07:00

I'm not sure where the time goes. Decks are done, garage doors are in, closets are ready, the gas gets turned on this week so we can turn the furnace on and start painting. Hopefully we'll have it done in time to lay the hardwood when we have all the extra helping hands during Christmas. We celebrated two birthdays this month, Addi and Kaitlin, both had great birthday dinners. Pizza and Chicken Curry. Addi wanted purple cows (grape floats) instead of a cake for dessert and Kaitlin had Key Lime and Turtle pie. Thanksgiving was spent over at Lee and Alicia Benders house. Bronson had his final piano recital last week. He finally won the battle of wills and is no longer being forced to endure the torture that is piano lessons. (sounds like someone I know) We're going to have to find something else for him to do. Kaitlin had her first game of the season last week. $5 a piece to get into a pre-season, non-league, sophomore GIRLS, basketball game. Are you kidding me? They have a couple pretty good players on the team and it should be a fun year. Cooper has a few more swim meets before his season is over. He seems to take a few seconds off every event at each meet and really has a good time. Addi may be taking Bronson's place at piano. Everyday she'll sit down and plunk out tunes she knows. Think of me from Phantom of the Opera is her favorite. Wyatt just played a number at the Spanish Fork Middle school talent show. He enjoys it and is really having fun in scouts. (sounds like someone I don't know) Now I need to go take my Sunday afternoon nap.

2008-11-12T21:08:00.008-07:00

A few more house photos. We love the rock.. ...

..and the coupola. Waiting for the weather vein.

for LeGrande

2008-11-12T18:45:00.011-07:00

all

the

pretty

little horses........

we did not skip halloween

2008-11-12T17:32:00.008-07:00

masquerade....girls choise, he was chose, Coop & Kelly.....caveman fun

pumpkins......almost ornately carved Jack-o-Lanterns......ooooo

addi & brons....cute cheerleader pretty princess.....Hot

carmel apples....fresh juicy romes from Josies orchard, sticks from the Yard, gooey Brachs carmels, Angies borrowed chocolate, pecans from the Bag....yummy

crazy hair day....crazy kids......cute

House Update...

2008-10-19T16:49:00.012-06:00

Here's a few recent photo's:

The decking we are using is from an old feed lot in Northern Utah. Hopefully we'll have enough. It took 50 years to get it to look like this.

Drywallers should be done this week. It seems almost weird to see the house with walls.

I give up...

2008-10-16T19:56:00.012-06:00

I swore I wasn't going to post another entry until Elaine updated their site. You win Elaine! It's been a while so here are few highlights.

Quick trip to Bakersfield for Jordan's farewell, it was so worth it!

Leslie and the kids(and the dogs) took a trip with Grandma to San Rafael Swell to look at the pictographs and the petroglyphs, Pretty Cool.

Cooper went on his first date ......

Progress continues on the house... Drywall is up, even got the driveway poured with some help from the neighbors....

Lest we Forget.....

2008-09-11T13:51:00.003-06:00

Every year for the last six years I get a phone call from a good friend of mine on Sept. 11th and we rehash our experience of this day back in 2001. We were in Atlanta at a Microsoft trade show when we started hearing rumors about a plane hitting one of the towers at the World Trade Center in New York. It didn't take long before the show was shut down and thousands of people stood in front of t.v. monitors watching the events unfold. I remember thinking how odd it was as we all just sat there in silence, shock really. Early on I was a little concerned about the fact that I was so far from home and really had no idea what was going on. I called Leslie to see if she was watching the news. She wasn't so I told her to turn it on and call me back. She called and of course had convinced herself that this was the end of the world. I think she had watched Red Dawn one to many times as a kid. The microsoft show was shut down and we were left with nothing to do. A group of us decided to go play golf of all things. I look back now and think what an insensitive thing to do, but it sure got us away from the inescapable onslaught of information pouring from everywhere. Stone Mountain Golf Resort is a great golf course and I'm pretty sure that it would be difficult to go and play that course again and be the only group playing. That was kind of erie in and of itself in light of everything that was going on. That night of course we sat in front of the t.v. as the news footage was played over and over again. I was numb. I kept thinking there must have been 30,000 people in those buildings. The next morning we were told that the show was shut down for good and that the larger vendors had rented busses to get there people home. All flights had been grounded and nobody had any idea when they would be allowed to fly again. There were five of us, two rental cars and a lot of ground between Atlanta, GA. and home. We started driving on wednesday afternoon and didn't stop except for food and gas until we got to the Salt Lake Airport on Thursday night. You really get to know somebody on a road trip and we have been good friends ever since. I'm reminded of how a senseless attack on our fellow Americans brought us all together as a Country. There wasn't a single person who I spoke with that wasn't ready to do whatever was necassary to find who did this and take care of business the best way we knew how. I remember that this was when we all stood together as a nation and said to the World, "You are either with us or you're against us". We havn't called french fries, french fries ever since. The thing that I can't figure out now is how it is that a short 7 years later we are all at each others throats again. That the only thing I hear on the news these days is bickering and finger pointing between to very divided groups of Americans. He said, she said, like two kids on a schoolyard who are fighting over who's turn it is on the swings. I'm not saying we all need to gather together in a circle and hold hands and am not so naive as to think that we are all going to have the same viewpoints an ideaology, but what I'm witnessing in the media today is pathetic and the only alternative I have is turn it off. I heard someone say onetime 'From crisis comes strength' and it almost happened with 9/11, only we couldn't sustain it. I think it's safe to say that we are back to business as usual. The battles have been taken far enough away that even those who were ready to go to ends of the earth to hunt down those responsible have now found a way to point fingers again and somehow place blame because it's taking too long. I think our forefathers would be ashamed of us when you think about the sacrafices they made to keep our country free. I'm glad I get a phone call every year to remind me of the lives that were taken that day and the lives that have been freely given since then to make sure it never happens again. We can only hope.

As a side note: Cooper went on his first date last weekend. Homecoming dance. He's got a great group of friends and it sounded like they all had a good time. Leslie spoke in the Adult Session of stake conference last weekend and, of course, did a great job. She and our ward's YM president were both asked to speak about our YM's camp. They wanted to hear Leslie's perspective as she watched from the sidelines. Pres. Hales and Pres. Shepherd of the Stake Presidency also both spoke about thier experiences on the Mountain. It was a really good meeting. Looking forward to going to Bakersfield this weekend to hear Jordan speak prior to leaving on his mission.

classic...

2008-08-17T19:01:00.017-06:00

JC Penney catalog circa 1977. Say it ain't so. I was only eight. Did people really wear this stuff???

Here's are next dining room set, which is apparently made by adding upholstery to old barrels:

Also, I am totally getting this for our bathroom:

There's plenty more home furnishings where those came from, however I'm not going to bore you with that. Instead, I'm going to bore you with something else. The clothes.

Here's how to get your butt kicked in elementary school:

Just look at that belt. It's like a boob-job for your pants. He probably needed help just to lift it into place. The belt loops have to be three inches long. And way to pull them up to your armpits, grandpa.

Here's how to get your butt kicked in high school:

This kid looks like he's pretending to be David Soul, who is pretending to be a cop who is pretending to be a pimp that everyone knows is really an undercover cop. Who is pretending to be 15.

Here's how to get your butt kicked on the golf course:

This "all purpose jumpsuit" is, according to the description, equally appropriate for playing golf or simply relaxing around the house. Personally, I can't see wearing this unless you happen to be relaxing around your cell in D-block. Even then, the only reason you should put this thing on is because the warden made you, and as a one-piece, it's slightly more effective as a deterrent against prison-rapery.

Here's how to get your butt kicked pretty much anywhere:

If you look at that picture quickly, it looks like Mr. Bob "No-pants" Saget has his hand in the other guy's pocket. In this case, he doesn't, although you can tell just by looking at them that it's happened - or if it hasn't happened it will. Oh yes. It will. As soon as he puts down his matching coffee cup.

Here's how to get your butt kicked at the beach:

He looks like he's reaching for a gun, but you know it's probably just a bottle of suntan lotion in a holster.

How to get your butt kicked in a meeting:

If you wear this suit and don't sell used cars for a living, I believe you can be fined and face serious repercussions, up to and including termination. Or imprisonment, in which case you'd be forced to wear that orange jumpsuit.

How to get your butt kicked on every day up to and including St. Patrick's Day:

I don't believe that color exists in nature. There is NO excuse for wearing either of these ensembles unless you're working as a body guard for the Lucky Charms leprechaun.

In this next one, Your Search For VALUE Ends at Penneys. As does your search for chest hair.

And this -- Seriously.

No words.Oh wait, it turns out that there are words after all. Those words are What. The. H*** . I'm guessing the snap front gives you quick access to the chest hair. The little tie must be the pull tab.

Also, judging by the sheer amount of matching his/hers outfits, I'm guessing that in 1977 it was considered pretty stylish for couples to dress alike. These couples look happy, don't they?

I am especially fond of this one, which could be entitled "Cowboy Chachi Loves You Best."

And nothing showcases your everlasting love more than the commitment of matching bathing suits.

Enough I can't take it anymore......

Spanish Fork Young Men's Camp.....

2008-08-10T21:28:00.007-06:00

This weekend we had the first ever Young Men's Camp in our Stake. After hearing all the awesome experiences that were being had at the camps down in California we could only hope that we might have some of those same experiences. We got more than we could hope for. Everybody made it up the mountain, including all three members of our Stake Presidency. I think it was more of a hike than everybody thought it would be, especially for some of the adult leaders. It was amazing to me how throughout the whole planning process nobody really got what we were trying to accomplish. We had quite a bit of opposition, even one ward that just decided not to participate. Funny story there. Leslie got a phone call on the Tuesday before we were leaving from one of the Mom's in this particular ward. She had been at a meeting when we were presenting the idea of this camp to the High Council. She had been waiting all summer for word from her ward leaders when it was going to be. Because she hadn't heard anything she called the house to find out when it was. She wasn't too happy when she found out we were to be leaving the next day. Needless to say we had three young men attend that we hadn't been planning on. It was a great time. We hiked to a spot just below the summit on Thursday. Some made it to that point in about 5 hours. We had one young man and his 'motivational team' (his YM's President and one of the Stake Presidency) take about 12 hours. Three steps at a time, but he was going to make it. It was neat to see all the others rally around him. It was a great experience for all of us. We really had some neat experiences on that mountain that can only be appreciated by those who were there. I will say this, miracles happen still today and prayers are answered. We had 35 young men and 15 leaders who's testimonies are stronger because of the experience. Now we'll have to start planning for next year. .

shingles are up...

2008-07-13T19:20:00.007-06:00

We continue full steam ahead. I've been switching back and forth from plumber to electrician for the last couple weeks. I must say that plumbing is much more enjoyable. You have to drill too many holes when you are running wire. Also the roofers came this week and got the shingles and tin put up. You can't really see it but Leslie wanted a cupola put on the roof over the garage and when she went shopping around for one they ranged from $700 to $1500 dollars so she decided to just make one. It will probably end up costing us $150. It just looks like a black box on the roof right now. I'll take pictures when it's finished. In the mean time here are some photo's of the exterior and the arch we built to divide the kitchen from the living room, note the posts in the arch and the beams on the ceiling. These were the remaining wall for a farm building on a ranch up in Idaho. It's kinda funny when people come and want to walk through the house the different reactions we get to the old wood we are putting in our new house. Some think it's pretty cool lookin' and others just look at it and agree that it's old. We like it and it took as the good part of a morning to get them up, so we aren't taking them down at this point.

Ox in the Mire.....

2008-07-03T11:49:00.007-06:00

OK, so they weren't Oxen but the neighbors cows got out Saturday night and Leslie and Kaitlin went to help round them up after church. For those of you who think we might be transforming into "Utah Mormon's" and are wondering why we wouldn't wait until Monday morning to go round up the cows you can blame it, and everything else for that matter, on the price of fuel. There used to be a time when a local farmer could care less if a few cows got out and spent half a day grazing on his field but with the price per bale what it is today they aren't quite as Farmerly. So it was a bit more pressing that the cows get put back where they belong. Kaitlin snapped a few photo's with her phone, it was quite the round up. I told it probably would have been a good idea to make sure that The one downside of dealing in ponies is that the water always seems a little bit deeper.

Progress on the house continues, I'll post some photo's next week after they get the shingles on. For now most of the progress is taking place inside the house so posting pictures is kinda pointless. The heating and air conditioning guy is done, electrical needs a couple more days, and I'm hoping to have the plumbing done by mid-next week. I keep thinking that things are going too smoothly and that a bump in the road is looming. I know now that I've said it out loud it's bound to happen. It just seems like everything has been working out better than we could hope. I've been able to spend a lot more time on the house than we ever imagined I would over the last couple months. I was put on a long term engagement that I've been able to work on from home. I think I've only been out of town two of the last six weeks. If this keeps up we'll move in sooner than I thought.

Finally....

2008-06-15T15:12:00.015-06:00

After many delays, some legit others questionable, the lid(construction talk for 'the roof') is finally on and the project finally looks like a house. I started working on the plumbing Tuesday last week but had to jump off that and on to electrical. We've got a guy who's a brother-in-law to some friends in the ward who we are paying to help us. He works 4 tens for an electrical contractor and is going to spend Friday and Saturday's with us. This guy is a piece of work. We started at Home Depot on Friday morning at 7am and worked until 9pm. I new I was in trouble when he asked what time it gets light here. We started at 6am on Saturday. He goes a million miles an hour and we can't decide if he's dipping into the "candy" jar, if you know what I mean, or is just Hyperactive. At any rate we are getting a lot done. We hired our the HVAC while we are working on electrical and plumbing the heating and AC will be going in as well. Here's a few photo's. Front view, back view, entry and great room.

Here are a couple more pictures. Never a dull moment around here with all these animals. We irrigated our field this week and flooded out a couple gophers. Chloe's natural instincts (with a bit of prodding) took over and she had some fun with them. She also took a swim in the irrigation ditch, which isn't a very good idea when it's full of water. She kept trying to swim upstream, to no avail, and ended up getting sucked under one of the culverts where one of the boys was able to grab her. No worse for wear and now we won't have to give her a bath.

Moving Along...

2008-06-01T15:18:00.005-06:00

Here's a photo of the latest progress. Note the trusses on the ground. This is one of the reasons why we are doing so much of this ourselves. "We'll get started on Thursday" will always turn into we'll start first of next week. Hopefully we'll get a roof on this week. In the mean time I'll be taking off my framing hat and putting on my plumbers hat and get that going this week.

We made a quick trip up to Northern Utah this weekend to get some of the beams and decking material we are going to use throughout the house. Lots of old weathered lumber off of a ranch that Leslie's sister Lela and family live on. I wasn't so sure about this particular design choice but I think it's going to look great.

We also got a second baby. Berti arrived a couple weeks ago. Our third mare delivered hers also but the baby didn't make it. So we've got Berti and Ender

Pretty good week...

2008-05-17T21:52:00.008-06:00

We got a ton done this week. The pictures don't really tell the whole story. Most of the work was putting up the interior walls, got the second floor down, and started on the upstairs walls. I've got to work in St. Louis this week so Leslie is going to be on her own next week and then I'm back and we should be able to get things ready to put the roof on Friday and Saturday. I have to admit that it will be nice to take a little break. We have been going at from 7:30 until dark 6 days a week for the last 3 weeks and Leslie and I are both worn out. It's been a long time since I've slept this good, except for the night's that the cramps in my hamstrings kick in, those are awesome!.

We also had a new addition this week. We have three mares that are with foal and one of them finally delivered. They are all a couple weeks overdue. Misty, who is our babysitter, had a little bay colt. Just what we were hoping for out of her. The pictures aren't great, we'll try to get some more posted soon. We should have two more babies in the next couple days, hopefully.

In other news. Bronson ran the 200 in the big Hershey track meet and won. He was pretty excited, however, while he was trying to figure out when he was supposed to take his turn in the long jump he missed the start of the 400 he was supposed to run and then while he was trying to figure out how he missed the 400 he missed his turn in the long jump. He was not a happy camper but the when he won the 200 he was back to being happy Bronson. I asked him how close the 2nd place finisher was and he told me that he kind of waited for him to catch up and then took off so it wasn't such a blowout. Also Kaitlin competed in the District track meet and set a new district record in the shot put. Beat the old record by a foot. It's kind of funny because there are these girls who are really into and do the whole psych yourself up and then the whole backwards, hop, hop, through thing and Kaitlin just kind to steps up there and takes one step and chucks it out there, 35 feet. Who would have thought?

Week 3....

2008-05-12T19:18:00.006-06:00

Well we're starting week 3 of framing and we are going to have to pick up the pace. I'm supposed to go out on the road next week and I'd really like to have everything up to the trusses. We think we're going to hire a crew to come in and do that in a day or two because it's complicated and I don't want to die falling from the roof. Here are a few updated pic's. Note the big tall wall that is just under 18 ft. You should have seen Me, Leslie, Cooper, Kaitlin and Lil trying to stand that thing up. I'm certain we would have not gotten that thing up if it weren't for Jeff(the professional) directing traffic. We're pretty much moving on to interior walls downstairs and then the upstairs. Interior walls are going much faster than the exterior.

The End of an Era

2008-05-04T07:26:00.006-06:00

This weekend was truly the end of an era. Ever since Leslie was a little girl she would spend every Saturday with her family at the Utah Livestock Auction in Spanish Fork buying or selling horses. When we moved here to Benjamin we continued the tradition. I think in the last five years we've bought at least 15 horses from them. It's great Saturday entertainment and there is a core group of people that are always there. Due, mostly to urban sprawl and the fact that STUPID PETA have made it illegal to slaughter horses for consumption, after over 50 years the auction has closed it's doors for good. We went over for the last time and visited with all the regulars and had our last Auction Burger, best burger in town, and watched the horses run through for the last time. I'm sure we'll have a few weeks worth of withdrawals on Saturdays, good thing we've got other things to occupy our time for the next 8 months to a year. We also got a ton of work done on the house this week. We were able to get the crawl space framed and the sub-floor on. Lessons learned: Things always take longer than you think, experience is way more valuable than reading a book, fire a few shots with the nail gun before starting a wall(ouch!), mistakes can always be fixed. Here are a few pictures of our progress. These were actually a couple days old I'll post some news ones tomorrow.

Latest Goings on....

2008-04-26T19:43:00.006-06:00

Well it's been a pretty busy couple of weeks. Leslie and the three younger kids made a trip up to Salmon, Montana with Grandma and Grandpa Allred last weekend. They were going up because Leslie's sister Lena had a mule and horse she was selling at a big sale so Leslie thought they'd tag along because there was also a visit planned with one of Leslie cousin's who she has not seen for a long time who lives in Darby, Montana. I opted to stay home with Cooper and Kaitlin for reason which did not become apparant until after they got home and gave us a detailed trip report. Let's just say that things were a little crowded and leave it at that. As you can see from the photo here Addison had lots of fun. Any chance she gets to put her butt in a saddle she has fun. She's become quite the little rider. Even likes it when she gets dumped, which doesn't happen often, becuase it adds to her legitmacy as a cowgirl.

This weekend was the Benjamin Stock show. Kaitlin has a sheep that she showed along with a bunch of other kids. This stock show is kind of the warm up for the Spanish Fork Stock show where all the 4-h kids bring their livestock to show and sale. Kaitlin had a lot of fun as you can see. Her sheep was invited back with about six others for final viewing for Grand Champion. She didn't win it but her friend did and Kait was pretty excited for her. This picture illustrates why Kailey's sheep was the Grand Champion and Kaitlin's was not. With sheep it's all about the butt. The bigger the butt, the more to eat. Yes in 4-h they have these kids raise these animals, make them real pretty to show-off and then they sell them to someone who is going to butcher them and eat them. It's like the anti-PETA organization and I personally think it's great.

Yesterday we ordered the concrete to poor in the crawlspace. We had some really great neighbors volunteer to help. That is hard work. I want to say that I gained a new respect for guys that do concrete work for a living but it's difficult for me to respect someone that does something that hard for as little as they get and not find something else to do. Maybe it get's easier the more you do it. I'm pretty sure I don't want to find out. But we got it done and now we'll get some lumber delivered and get started on the framing.....

Foundation wall....

2008-04-16T16:01:00.009-06:00

The forms were pulled off the foundation wall yesterday. We spent the day today cleaning up. Our neighbor, the contractor, hates a messy work site so we've been very vigilant about keeping the place cleaned up since he drives passed the house several times a day. The kids and the dogs have been having lots of fun playing on the wall and all the piles of dirt that are all over the place. We had to leave a hole in the wall for the plumbing out to the septic tank. Izzy could make it in and out, no problem, Jez and Chloe not so much. Too fat. Next step is to pour the floor in the crawlspace. We'll do that next week and then we'll start framing.

Footing Formed and Poored....

2008-04-11T17:48:00.004-06:00

Foundation guys were here yesterday and got the foundation formed. You'll notice from the picture that the footing sits pretty close to the original grade. We only dug down 4 inches. The footing is 10" so it's 6" above grade. The wall will be 3' 6" so if my math is right the top of the foundation wall will be 4' above grade. Add another 10" for the sub-floor and you might be thinking that our front door will be 4' 10" above the original grade. You be right! We will be bringing in lots of dirt. They poured the footing today and will be back on Monday to form and poor the wall.

As a side note to those of you who may be interested. Leslie's truck is back and it looks brand new. Better than when we loaned to Leslie's sister. They fixed stuff we forgot was broken. One of these days I'll post the before and after, but for now it's still too painful for Leslie to see.

We drove up to salt lake today to pick up a door from an old bungalow some guy remodeled. Leslie wants it for her laundry room door. We have totally become classified add hounds. I check the online classified, two, sometimes three, times a day. We've found some pretty good deals. Of course we had to walk through IKEA on the way home. I can do without that store, there are no windows in that place.

The fun begins....

2008-04-09T18:43:00.005-06:00

We have the permit from the county, only after handing over a large check. Our favorite fee was the $50 we had to pay so we could continue living in our house while we built. As you can see from the photo excavation is done and ready for the footings to be formed. We've already been faced with decisions that we never really thought much about. Like how deep to dig the footing and how tall the foundation wall is going to be. Which apparently is pretty important around here. A family in our ward just moved into thier house in time for the spring runnoff. They've had to dig trenches to keep the water out of their house. Good thing our neighbor is an excavation guy or we might have ended up with the house looking like it was in a hole. We're getting most of our bids back and things are looking pretty positive. Most people we talk to tell us that our timing was perfect. We sold at the right time and are building at the right time. There are warehouses full of lumber and nobody is buying it. Hopefully the trend will continue for just a little while longer.

Summer, the rat

2008-03-24T19:15:00.003-06:00

The other night Bronson discovered a lump in his rats stomach. Leslie and I just figure she would die and that would be it. The next night Bronson came in with a somewhat disgusted look on his face and told us there was now a hole in his rats stomach. Seems that thing had some sort of an absess and it worked its way out, leaving a pretty good view into its belly. She didn't seem sick, Leslie cleaned the hole out with some peroxide and put some neosporane on it. I was still convinced the thing would be dead in the morning. We were crackin' up when Kait googled 'hole in rats stomach' and got a bunch of hits. One guy explained in detail how he had his vet draw a sample from the lump for tests and almost paid to have the lump removed. It was hilarious. He could have bought 15 new rats for what he paid for the tests and the antibiotic his vet gave him. Anyway, we are happy to report that the did not have to attend a rat funeral and the hole has healed up completly.

House Plans

2008-03-19T12:55:00.003-06:00

Well here they are, finally. Now we have to go to work on getting a permit from the county and we can start building. That should take us a couple weeks. Still need a few things before we can submit them. If you have any suggestions as to what we might have done differently, please keep them to yourselves. It's too late. Click on them for a better view.

New Friends

2008-03-16T19:50:00.011-06:00

I finally caved, mostly due to a recent visit to the Ivins home, and agreed to some new pets; Smokey, Buttercup, and Sandra. They've been really fun and despite a poor reputation they are really clean animals. It's the "animals" that are responsible for cleaning their cage that we need to work on. I'm still waiting for one of them to start cooking gourmet meals. Update: I just read Erman and Jessica's blog and am now having second thoughts about having these rat's in the house. They assured me that they were really clean.... I'm not so sure now.

OK we're back!!!

2008-03-07T20:28:00.007-07:00

Seems like we've been so tied up trying to get everything taken care of with the house that I've not done a good job of keeping this blog up to date. So much has happened in the last couple months that I won't even attempt to catch you up, except to say that we have finally agreed on a house plan and are now waiting on an engineers stamp so we can take the plans to the county for a permit. We anticipate a groundbreaking party in three weeks or so(leslie says six, but it's just a game she plays with her brain. She does this to avoid any dissapointment.) Then the fun begins. Leslie already has a fridge, stove, and even some of the doors bought that are stored in the shed behind the house. I thought for a while that at the rate we were going we'd have everything for the inside of the house purchased before we started building. In the meantime we are all still getting along and nobody has killed anyone while we try to live on top of each other. Thanks goodness we change from 9 o'clock meeting time on Sunday to the 11 o'clock time.

Kaitlin finished up with her basketball season and took 3rd in their season ending tournament and I gained an appreciation for girls high school basketball. Cooper lettered in swimming and from what we hear did a pretty good job of keeping everyone on the team in stitches(the funny kind) including the coaches. He has quite the sense of humor. Wyatt and Bronson have had their birthdays this year and I told all the kids that this year I would be buying what 'I' want for their birthdays. Bronson was first and he was not happy when we going to get my present. He couldn't believe I was making him go. I decided that we're all getting new bikes for our birthdays this year so his attitude changed a bit when we got to he bike shop and I told him to pick one out. He and Wyatt have been waiting for the spring weather to get here so they can go ride. the last couple weeks have been really nice and they've had friends ride to the house and off they go. Wyatt of course turned 12 this year and was ordained a deacon. It's been really fun to watch him pass the sacrament, along with 8 other brand new deacons. He and I went together on his first winter camp out and had a blast, except for the sleeping part, or lack thereof. It was really, really cold. Had a blast Saturday sledding down the mountains. Addison is loving school and asks everyday when she gets home from school if she can go ride her horse. She loves it and is going to be quite the little cowgirl.

We just recently made a new addition to the herd. Kaitlin has grown out of the pony sized horses that Leslie moves in and out of here so we've been looking for a bigger horse that she and I can use. ( when I ride the pony sized horses my feet almost drag the ground) We found this guy online and had Leslie's sister go try him out for us because he was up in Idaho. Here he is. He is a great, great, grandson of Secretariat. He hasn't made it down from Idaho yet so we are still looking forward to trying him out.

We look forward to updating the blog more regularly with progress of the house. Stay tuned......

Thanksgiving Point

2007-12-30T20:13:00.000-07:00

This week we had some of Leslie's family to visit. Laurie and Jason and Lena and Boyd and their kids came to spend some time (they didn't all stay here at the house). Grandma Lil took the kids to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point.

All the kids had a really good time checking out all the dinosaur bones. I hadn't ever been before, it really was pretty impressive. The kids really have a good time when any of their cousins come to visit. The three kids with Addison are Laurie and Jason's kids, Macey, Cache, and Laney.

New Jersey

2007-12-19T17:34:00.000-07:00

I just got home from New Jersey today. I flew all the way out there to find out the customer wasn't really ready for me despite his communication on Friday last week that he would be. He wasn't even there. They told me he'd be gone all week for training. Oh well, it's just a 5 hour flight. Wasn't a complete waste though. Erman and Jessica were just 10 minutes down the road so I had lunch with Erman (philly cheese steak of course) and dinner at PF Chang's with the whole Ivans clan. It was pretty funny. I was able to talk Erman into letting me pay some of the bill. It didn't seem right not to expense some of it. He had a gift card but didn't know how much was on it. We told the waitress to apply the gift card and then split the bill. When she brought our receipts back we each owed $4.84. The waitress must have thought we were nuts. We went back to the house for some Guitar Hero and Wii bowling and golf. I'll chalk that up as one of the best nights I've ever spent in New Jersey, even though Landon and Isaac kicked my butt in Golf. Wish they were closer.

Taggage

2007-12-15T20:08:00.000-07:00

Leslie has been tagged by Erman and I was tagged by Kaitlin so here you go...

Six Random Facts - - Leslie Urmston

1. I love it when I successfully make my husband laugh. (because I said something funny, not when he laughs when I'm trying to be serious.)

2. When I was in grade school we spent Saturdays dumpster diving behind the mall in hopes of finding new shoes. Best find: new winter coat.

3. We once received homemade underwear from Mom for Christmas.

4. My Brother Lane and I once smoked a full pack of cigarettes we found in the ranch hands pickup truck.

5. The first guy I ever kissed was my husband. (it was before our wedding day but not on the first date)

6. I have CRS!

Six Random Facts -- Matthew Urmston

1. I have major personal space issues.

2. When I get on a plane the first thing I do is put on my headphones so the person sitting next to me is less likely to speak to me.

3. I really don't like computer's.

4. The first girl I ever kissed was not my wife.

5. I have a brother who once went a whole year without watching T.V.

6. One of my favorite things to do is sit and watch people. I have found the Airport and the Mall prime locations for this activity.

My Worst Nightmare.....

2007-12-06T12:31:00.000-07:00

Well my worst nightmare has been realized. In the world of sports there are few that I don't enjoy. I'll watch just about anything, poker matches, ping pong, billiards, cricket, horse races, I've even found myself enjoying a good lawn bowling match. There are those that I don't enjoy, NASCAR, (I apologise, I know there are thousands of hillbillies and rednecks who love it, I'm sure it's great but I just can't watch), chess tournaments, that gymnastics event where the ladies run around twirling those ribbons, Curling, and GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL. As many of you know, my daughter Kaitlin, made the 9th grade team. When she told me she was going to try out, I encouraged her, she'd never played organized basketball and I figured there was no way she'd make the team. Well she made the team and then I thought I was really in trouble, because I'd have go to all the games to support her while she sat on the bench. I don't think there is enough caffeine in the world to keep me awake. Well Cooper and I headed over to the first game. When we walked into the gym my eyes first when to the bench so I could give the accustomed head nod to Kaitlin to let her know I was there. She wasn't on the bench. Honestly my first thought was "Where is she?" It didn't even cross my mind that she would be on the court. We sat down in the bleachers and much to my surprise Kaitlin was out on the floor. She played to whole game and for the life of me I couldn't figure it out. Turns out that there was a big polynesian girl that nobody else on the team was able or willing to guard the whole game. Coach decided to try Kaitlin and never took her out. They lost the game by 20 points. Kaitlin made 3 out of 4 free throws and each one was waved off because she shot jump shots and crossed the free throw line. After the game I thought "we need to to go over to the church and work on some of this stuff" but we never made (that is one well used building). I just told Kait "you figure out how to make your free throws and every time you get the ball just take it right at them and you'll get fouled every time." Cooper and I headed over to the next game this week and this time Kaitlin was starting. It was like watching a completely different team. Apparently Coach decided that she didn't like losing by 20 and implemented a full court press from the time of tip-off and never called it off until they were up by 30 points. Kaitlin never came out of the game until that time. She didn't make all her free throws but she never crossed the free throw line(she stills shoots a little jump shot, she just scooted back a few inches.) got a bunch of steels and she figure out what it means to 'take it right at 'em'. It's funny because she'll knock some girl down and they call the foul and Kaitlin heads over to apologize whole team played really good. Truth be told Cooper and I both really enjoyed it. I'm glad Cooper is there because I have to have somebody to explain what they 'need' to be doing. Cooper starts city league ball in a couple weeks so we'll have his games to go to as well. Good Times!

Help! Leslie is stuck in this chair and she won't move...

2007-11-11T21:24:00.000-07:00

So now that Leslie has found a spot for everything in the house, except for a few boxes in the kitchen, hallway, laundry/boys room, living room, and bedrooms, she has begun the process of figuring out the floor plan for the new house. She has decided that it's not that easy to just sit down with graph paper and start laying things out so we bought a watered down CAD program that would let her do some design work and that has proved to complicated so now she is trying to find the perfect house plan online. Occasionally she say "Oh this one is perfect!" followed up buy "We'd just have to move the kitchen to the other side of the house, move the master bedroom downstairs, remove the formal dining, and make it two story instead of a single with the bedrooms upstairs." Next. She's having fun and I'm sure she will find the one she's looking for. In the meantime if there are any budding architects out there who think they have the perfect plan send it our way.

Moving Day or Week

2007-10-29T14:52:00.000-06:00

Well there's no turning back now. The transaction is complete. We have moved all our stuff in and if you came to visit you wouldn't be able to tell what color the carpet is because you wouldn't be able to see it. I never really felt like we had a lot of stuff but moving out of the old house into this one proved me to be uninformed. We were just getting started when this picture was taken, hadn't even begun to move in all the boxes. We've had two Sundays in the house and we havn't yet adjusted to a single bathroom. Church starts at 9am and I think Kaitlin was in the shower at 6:30am to make sure she got hot water. I've just decided that showering isn't that important anymore. So here's how things finally shook out. The family that bought our house closed on a Monday, we closed on Tuesday evening an had until Thursday night to get all our stuff out. I figured it would be no problem but if the YM/YW hadn't have shown up Wednesday there is no way we could have pulled it off. They got all the really heavy stuff out of the old and into the new in less than an hour. So that just left a few more loads of boxes and stuff, oh, and three ton's of hay that had to be moved. Can I just say that I hate hauling hay, absolutely the worst activity I've been involved in. Leslie, Kaitlin, and I got up Saturday morning early to try to beat the rain. The wind was blowing about 60 miles and hour and it was all we could do to keep from getting blown off the stack. We got it stacked on the trailer, hauled down to the new place, and the last tarp went on as the rain started to fall. I had to apologies to the ladies. I had to lay on them pretty heavy when they started telling me how tired they were and needed a break. "We don't have time to be tired now!" I'd say and they'd both give a dirty look and I'd point at the impending storm that the 60 mile an hour winds were blowing our way and back to work they'd go. Good times! I think we've just about got things where they need to be now. Cooper, Wyatt, and Bronson are sharing a room, actually it's the laundry room but we managed to fit the bunk bed in, yes they all three sleep on one bunk bed. The bottom bed is a double. Kaitlin and Addison are sharing a queen in one room and Leslie and I took the other. It's going to be a long year while we get this other house built. Here's a shot of what the view out of our back window will be once we finish, so it will be worth it. BTW, I didn't think it would bug me but we've gone down to the house to pick up a few odds and end's and they have completely torn out the tile downstairs. It took me three days to get that stuff laid and a night of sleeping on the floor. They're putting in hardwood throughout the great room, it's gonna look really nice, we should have done that. Here's a shot of the moving vans. This is how you do it in horse country....

26.2:4:37:07

2007-10-07T18:47:00.000-06:00

We did it. Spent the weekend in St. George for the St. George Marathon. This year was so much more fun than last year. We loaded up and headed down to St. George Friday morning and got to the St. George Convention Center about 2:00pm. They have a Health & Fitness Expo that the kids really enjoy going to; it's also where the runners check in. I run in the weight class and figured I'd weigh in around 230 or so. I was surprised when 249 popped up. I think there was something wrong with the scale. After walking around for an hour checking out the booths and getting our share of free samples of Energy Bars and Goo, Leslie and the kids took off and I stuck around to wait for Peter, Nathan and Jill. After they got checked in we went up to Lane and Rhonda's for a big spaghetti dinner. (you've got to carbo load). Nathan and Jill stayed down in town, the rest of us stayed at Lane and Rhonda's house, (thanks you guys it was a good nights sleep) We were all up at 4:15am, including the kids. We had to get down to St. George to meet at the hotel to catch a shuttle to the buses that take you up to the starting line. Leslie and the kids, Lane and Rhonda drove up to Veyo which is at the seven mile mark. We hopped on the bus and started the drive up to the starting line. It's always a little nerve racking driving up there, you just keep going and going and you're thinking to yourself "I have to run all the way back down?" It's quite a site when the bus drops you off with 6500 other runners waiting for the start of the race. I was surprised when Dixon Kumer came walking up, somehow found us in the dark with all those people. After a twenty-five minute wait it was finally time to start running. The run was awesome. It seems like the miles just fly by, nothing like when I'm doing training runs. There are all these people along the way cheering you on, not to mention all the runners. It seemed like at no time at all I was in Veyo passing by Leslie and the kids and feeling pretty good about things and then hit the Veyo hill. Feeling good to not so good. It's pretty tough for me to get up that hill. I felt at the 18 mile mark I was making pretty good time and by the time I was at 24 miles I knew I was going come in at about 4:40 which I was hoping for. Last year those last two miles were mostly walking for me. This year I was still chugging along. It was a good run and can't wait for next year. Having Peter and Nathan there running it too made it even more enjoyable. (even though all I saw of Nathan was his rear end heading off in the dark at the start, he ran it in 3:47, Peter passed me at about the 10 mile mark I think, he ran it in 4:22, not bad for a 40 year old. ;>) Can't wait to do it again next year. I don't think, with all the athletics I've been involved in, I've ever done anything so extremely difficult and so completely satisfying all at the same time. Somehow you have to figure out how to keeping going when every thing inside of you says to stop. Good times.

What I learned this year:

Sodium Pills work really well for keeping the cramps to a minimum

That Goo stuff can really make a difference

Buy a shoe one size bigger next year(fortunately I only lost one toenail)

Compression shorts do a great job of limiting chaffing

Visit to the Dentist

2007-10-01T16:55:00.000-06:00

If you've ever wondered what it might look like when a horse has to go to the dentists, wonder no longer. Joe was losing weight and was obviously not feeling good. Leslie finally took him to the vet to see if he could figure out what was wrong. He determined that he needed to have his teeth floated (filed down to smooth) A horses teeth will develop sharp edges and start to rub the inside of there cheeks and tounge raw. Then they don't want to chew so they pretty much inhale whatever food they can get down whole so they get no nutritional value out of it. Here are a few more photo's .... Leslie was there to observe so she can do it herself next time.

This last photo I know looks like a trick that George the Giant performs but those are actually drain tubes. While he was there Joe also had to have a little growth removed from his chest. Pretty cool stuff I should have been a vet. Would have been fun and would have saved us some money on this particular day.

Latest

2007-09-28T11:07:00.000-06:00

The buyers came by on Tuesday with an inspector and a hardwood floor guy to take measurements(apparently they don't like our tile selection). The wife kept apologizing to Leslie because she knew we had built the house and felt bad that they would be making all these changes to it. I think you can call that a pretty good sign that the sale is going to go through. It better because at this point, in my mind, I've already moved out. We had a guy in the ward who is a general contractor come check out the old house and he confirmed what I thought the first time we looked at it. That would be the time I laughed and told Leslie she was crazy. He determined that there were only two major problems with the house, the roof, which has some pretty serious fire damage in the attic, (but the fire took place over 30 years ago so we shouldn't worry about it), and the foundation which is sinking causing the floors in the house to warp. So just the roof and the foundation, everything else in between seems to be OK except for what you would expect from a house built in the 1920's. Like the fact that in some places you can see into the crawl space, and most of the windows are stuck, another sign of a sinking foundation along with doors not wanting to close, the electrical hasn't been updated since the 70's and most of it is spliced together, we'll make sure to go heavy on the heat and smoke detectors, it kinda smells like mice and mold, but we can still get high speed Internet and dishtv. The dishwasher works and the toilet flushes. Hopefully the septic tank was designed to support a family of 7 or we're really going to be in trouble. The good news is that it is only going to be temporary. We've decided that it would be more cost effective to live in it while we build a new house and then bulldoze the thing. Somebody send a video to Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. I'll start working on the sob story.

Here's an idea

2007-09-24T14:06:00.000-06:00

Amy just generated an epiphany. Who's in charge of the family reunion next summer. I think it would be a great idea to converge on Benjamin, Utah. I've got an excellent service project. I hear that the family that works together.......... It could be fun.

The Move

2007-09-24T10:23:00.001-06:00

OK. It's looking more and more like we really might be moving so I'll give out a bit more information. We have a buyer for our home, which I thought would never happen, and we had an inspector out to the house we are looking at on Saturday. Leslie has been watching this house for a year now and when the guy put it up for sale she said we should buy it and I laughed and told her she was crazy. See photo. The home was built in 1920, has two bedrooms, kitchen, living, ONE bath and is approximately 1100 sq. ft. Never one to deny anybody of a dream I told Leslie sure let's put our home up for sale and see what happens. We made an offer on the house contingent on ours selling. Let me reiterate that I never thought that at what we were asking and the way the market has been that we would find a buyer for our home. I was even told just recently that homes in our price range have been staying on the market for 18 months on average. Well we put our home on the market and 3 days later we had an offer for what we were asking. What!?! I was in Georgia when Leslie called to tell me she had sold the house. Fortunately by this time I had been up to the new(old) house and was able to catch the vision. I've always enjoyed watching episodes of this old house, now we'll get to find out if I enjoy living it. Hey any excuse to buy new tools sounds like a good time to me. The real interesting part will be the seven of use moving from 5 bedrooms and 4 baths to two bedrooms and 1 bath. It's a good thing we all like each other. It's not a done deal yet but we are getting pretty close. We're supposed to close on both properties on the 15th of October. It should be fun. Now I'll really have something to write about.

St. George

2007-09-19T19:02:00.000-06:00

Leslie and I went down to St. George Thursday - Sat last week. I played in a golf tournament and Leslie just had a few, well deserved, relaxing days away from all that she does. The weather was perfect for three days of golf and the team I was playing on won, so I had a good time. Leslie did some shopping and spent some time with Lane and Rhonda. It was a really nice couple of days. Here's some pretty interesting news. Leslie has found a house she wants to buy and remodel. We made an offer contingent on our house selling. It's been on the market for three days and we already have two serious offers. I'll keep you posted on any news on that matter.

Def Leppard Concert

2007-09-08T13:08:00.000-06:00

So yesterday was the big day. Cooper had asked for concert tickets for his birthday. I thought 'Oh man, who am I going to have to go listen to?" When he told me he wanted to go see Foreigner, Styx (he pronounced it Stykes), and Def Leppard, I thought "is this his birthday present or mine." "Of course we can go see Def Leppard!" The concert was really good, if there hadn't have been people there it would have been even better. Of course the majority of the people that were there were in their mid-thirties to early fourties reliving their high school days. From the looks of it many of them hadn't stopped living their high school days. Reminded me of the parties I attended with friends in High School except I couldn't give 8 thousand people a ride home, good times. I'll just say this, if High School Musical is any reflection of what the high schoools are like today they have made some great improvements dince I was in school. Maybe it's just the high schools in Utah. My kids don't ever come home with new dance moves or anything though....... Check out Coopers blog for a more detailed description of the concert.

The Long Weekend

2007-09-04T14:41:00.000-06:00

I finished up early in Long Island last week and made it home Thursday instead of Friday. With Monday being labor day it made for a really nice weekend. On Friday Leslie and I went up to the Mt. Timpanogas temple; Cory and Lindsay were having Samari sealed to them. Saturday they had a little luncheon/baby blessing. We were really glad to have been there. Uncle Rick and Aunt Kathy were there and it was nice to visit with them. Peeled back another layer of the onion that is Uncle Rick. We got to talking about horses and he told me that when he was a kid he and Willie Shoemaker worked together at training facility for race horses. Shoemaker was a trainer and he was a groomer. He told me that when he got back from Korea he read a headline in the local paper 'Talk of the Turf' it was a story about Shoemaker. That was the first he'd heard that his old friend 'Shadow' as they called him had become a famous jockey. We also heard stories of him delivering beer out of his uncles bar in Chicago. I wonder what else that guy has done. Kept us entertained the whole time. Carrie and the girls came down for dinner on Sunday and we had the traditional Waffle-rama on Monday morning. Pretty good weekend.

Back to School....

2007-08-19T15:56:00.000-06:00

The kids have all headed back to school, including Addison. She was so excited to become a kindergartner. Summer seems to have gone by way too fast. Thought I'd include a post that covered some of the stuff we did this summer.

Cooper and Bronson were the only two that decided they wanted to swim for Spanish Fork this summer. They had a blast. Both improved on their times every meet and qualified for the County meet in several events.

Kaitlin really got into 4-H this summer. She and Leslie were riding at least 3 days a week and Kaitlin was showing just about every Saturday. She and Misty(the horse) won more blue ribbons then they knew what to do with and they ended up winning the Pleasure Class at the County event. Grandma Lil was pretty excited about that.

Wyatt's big event this summer was the fishing trip with Grandma and Grandpa Allred. He thought that was pretty cool.
He also spent quite a bit of time helping Leslie get some horses ready to sell.

Addison spent most of the summer crying as one horse after another would show up and then leave. We've had to explain that we're just making them better horses for some other little girl. She's starting to get it. She's really become quite the rider and has to be right in the middle of it when Leslie and Kaitlin get working.

Leslie has probably been the busiest of all this summer. On top of raising a family and managing the Primary she's been buying and selling horses all summer. She's finally found the stud (horse, that is) she's been looking for. She drove all over the country trying to find one to breed to some of her mares only to find one at the Saturday sale around the corner. So with the help of Mister Jones, we'll have a few babies in the spring. He's quite the pony, a grandson of Slight of Hand (click here to check Grandad out), and we've already had a few requests for breeds next spring.

I've just enjoyed being a spectator to all of it......

Everybody else was doing it......

2007-08-16T14:12:00.000-06:00

OK, We're in. Have we not tried this type of thing before and it lasts for a couple months and then everybody stops posting? Kinda like all the journals I've ever started keeping. I suppose I'll be the one doing all the posting on our blog. Leslie, my wife, is anti-technology. She will get on the computer to look for horses but that's about it. Cooper and Kaitlin have become pretty computer savvy, but if I turn this over to them who know's what might show up here. So at least this way I'll be able to control the content.

I read this today and really liked it,
Father Jonathan to Bill Maher, you might too. The site of that guy makes my skin crawl. He's creepy.