A+ for mommy

So Jack had a small bout of the stomach flu this week.  Not good!!!  Anyway,  whenever someone gets sick at our house I always feel like its a challenge on my cleaning skills.   If I can stop the spread of the germs after just one kid,  I have won. 

So last night after scouring bathrooms, sanitizing  anything that would hold still, and washing towels & bedding all day long, Tyson and I had a conversation a little something like this:

T- Wow mom!!!  Who did this to the bathroom?   

M-  Well I did it Tyson.

T-  Man, it is so clean... Mom, you deserve an A+

Geez, I love this kid...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING 

from The Brooks'

Here are just a few of our stats:

Number of days with the family- 5

Number of people- 31

Number of garbage bags filled- 25

Number of homemade pies- 18

Number of pounds of butter used in cooking- 8

Being together with family over the holidays- PRICELESS!!!!

Regan's family only see's each other once a year.  There's alot of people and it's alot of work from everyone, but it is all worth it.  I am so thankful for being part of this great family.     

Bloody Ute fans...

They sneak through the night like pirates.  They spread their wickedness everywhere they go.  OJ barely got out alive.  

They try to brain-wash the young.  Not only their young, but the young innocent minds of children raised in a home that values a school with high moral standards.  

And the lies, ohh the lies...  Even my 6 yr. old can spot a lie.  "Mom, they said Utah is #1 but really they are #12."  

(don't worry, Regan corrected him and told him because they have been so lucky, they are #7 now.)

We know who you are and where you sleep.  But because of who we are and who we support, revenge is not in our vocabulary.  Instead I think we will go pray for you.  May god have mercy on your souls...

Yeah right, you better put the dogs inside tonight if you don't want them to be blue...

New Cabinets!!!

Just wanted to give a quick shout out to COPPER CANYON DESIGN..."can I get a  woo-woo?"

We've been in our house for a little over a year and it's finally starting to "not" look like a new house with bare walls, and no decorations.  Our friend and neighbor is starting up his own cabinet company, and can I just tell you how pleased I am with his work, it is amazing.  Sorry my pics aren't that great...and decorations are still coming! 

If any of you are even thinking about doing any wood work in your home, he's your man!!!

For a good before picture you can go to my May post "not funny" 

The Freaks come out at night!

So we were invited to a Halloween party this past weekend, and were supposed to dress up as villians.  How'd we do?  

Our kids were going non-stop today, and it finally caught up with them.  This is what we came home to.  (I promise we do have beds for them).  

 

 

If this doesn't give the child nightmares I don't know what would.

PHOTO TAG

Well I thought I was done doing tags for a little bit.  But in attempt to show my little sister that I still do love her, I thought I would concede.  And plus it's kinda fun to see.  

So here it is Holly...my fourth picture from my fourth folder on my computer.  :)  

I have my folders set up by the years starting in 2002... I guess we as a family didn't exist before then.  

So this picture was taken February of 2005 while on our cruise to the Western Caribbean.  We went with some of Regan's siblings and friends.  We had a blast.  

Can you find us?  Hint...I am wearing a hat.  

What, Snow ??

We are so not ready for winter yet.  Tyson was not happy with me this morning when I made him wear his coat from last year.  Not that I blame him, that thing could not be comfortable.  

 

I guess I need to come to terms that as much as I would like him to stay small, he's not going to. It's physically impossible.

And for all of you family and friends who haven't seen snow yet this year, and probably won't unless you come visit, please just keep all your comments to yourself!  

Stupid Cat

Now I know some of you may look at our family and think to yourself, "Wow their clothes always look so nice and clean, and smell so fresh."  "I wonder what her laundry secrets are?"   Well today is your lucky day.  It's really quite simple....

So this morning I went down to get something out of the dryer, and surprise my cat has found a new bed.  He looked up at me with this look of  "What the hell do you want?"  Yes,  I have lost all control.

Come to think of it...I think my mother-in-law once killed a cat this way.  Hmmmm... I've got to go do some laundry!

I love the Fall

In attempts to help my color-blind husband see the changing leaves we went for a drive up the canyon.  He thought if he was up closer he could see the different colors, I'm not sure it helped, but I enjoyed it.  It was so beautiful. It made me very grateful for where we live. 

We thought we were just going to do the Alpine Loop, (start from American Fork canyon and end up coming out in Provo) but somehow took a wrong turn along the way and ended up in the back side of Midway.    

These pictures really don't do the scenery justice.  

Saturdays in the Fall:

I just wanted to quickly share with you how our Saturdays are being spent.  There's no sleeping in, no running errands, no cleaning the house.  Just sports, and more sports.  

Anyone want to play????

Soccer is usually first thing in the morning.  

This is Tyson's first year playing anything.  We were feeling a little guilty just making him watch his siblings play.

 On the other hand he was getting really good at his hand held video games! :)

Check out that form.  I think we got a natural.

Then we have Regan's football, ohh I mean Jack's.  This is his second year playing and Regan's second year of coaching.  I am not sure who really enjoys it more.  

And then we you think you've just about had enough football for the day, I've got this to compete with.  

And that's all I have to say about that.  Don't even get me started.  

I would just like to take this moment to thank Madison's coaches for giving us Saturdays off.  We'll take those those double-headers on Wednesday nights and practices on Mon. & Fri.  anyday.  

So you think you can dance????

Old Marinda- never watched the show, not a fan, and never thought about it twice.  

New Marinda (with a little help from my friends)-  love the show, huge fan, and now wish in my second life, to come back as a hip-hop dancer. 

So you think you can dance came to concert last night.  It was so fun to watch these dancers perform live.  They truly are amazing.  They make it look so easy.  So easy that even a bunch of 30+ year olds think they could possibly do it themselves.  

Anyway...Thanks for the fun night girls.  Regan and I will get practicing on our dance.  

Well in honor of SYTYCD, I have changed my playlist to play some of the music from some of my favorite dances of the season.  Enjoy.  Can you remember the dance that goes with the song?

FACE CANYON

One of the days we decided to just go "exploring"  up one the arms of the lake.  It turned out to be something so amazing.  

Let me give a rundown of the experience.

You get the boat in as far as it goes.  You then try and secure it to?? rocks?, I guess.  

You then start swimming.  You really can't see what's beyond the next bend or how long your swim is going to be, you just go and hope you can make it.  Some of us were smart and grabbed their life jackets, some were not.  Me being not one of the smart ones, was pretty tired at the end of our 30 minute swim.    

The water finally came to an end.  And we started to hike.  Please keep in mind we have no idea what is going to be at the end of this adventure.  

Canyon is still pretty wide at this point.  Not looking too exciting.  We keep hiking, in our swimsuits. 

Canyon walls starting to get taller and more narrow. 

And then just around one last final bend, we are in this:

I loved it.  It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.  

Back to life...

  

Back to the real world.  Back to being mom and dad again.  Back to the kids, house, jobs...  Back to life.  

This is one of the trips we look forward to most all year long.  It is a week long trip to Lake Powell with no kids.  It is heaven.  The biggest decision of the day is whether to do an early morning wake-board session or just lay in bed and wait for the afternoon session.  Maybe even both!

Much thanks to all those who helped make this possible-- My mom, Regan's mom, friends to help chauffeur kids around-  We love you all so much.  

Here are just a few of the pictures that shows what adults do while the kids are away:  

Build sand castles...

Ride the wave runner as fast as we want...  No kids screaming to slow down!

Be irresponsible and jump off cliffs...  (That is Regan up there on top with Peter.  Can you see him?)

Be lazy....

Sing...

Wake-board and then wake-board some more...

Flirt...

And my favorite...

I am going to do another post dedicated to a hiking trip that we did one of the days.  The pictures will blow your mind.  It was so unbelievable.  Watch for it!!!

Tyson's first day!

"I will not cry... I will not cry."    "Where are they going?  Why won't they let parents in the room with them?  What are they doing in there?"  "Don't worry Tyson I will be right here waiting for you."  - thoughts that were going through my head. 

What's going on?  Who am I? Someone please smack me.  I have never been "that mom"  until now. Help!  

Happy Birthday Jack

YIPPEE!  Today is Jack's official birthday.  He is 9 years old.  We celebrated his birthday last Saturday by inviting a few friends over for a little pool party.  He had a blast. 

Here a just a few of my favorite pictures of Jack through the past 9 years. 

4yrs. old- with a pretty decent swing.

This is the closest thing Tyson will ever get to a real hug.

Jack...what can I say, except for I love you for who you are.  You make me smile, and cry, laugh, and sing.  Happy Birthday dude!