Call Me Jennifer

A few months ago, I decided that I needed to get all the extra stuff out of my life. I was feeling that no matter what I did, it was never enough. If you've ever seen the movie "Marley and Me," you'll probably understand a little of what I am saying.

That movie starts out with a happy couple, and eventually a dog is added then a child and another child and another child and jobs get more demanding and the wife starts to lose her mind etc. Finally one day the wife (played by Jennifer Aniston) just sort of loses it. Well, just call me Jennifer Aniston because I was totally feeling that part (and because I look so much like her).

So I decided to take a few months off. I was tired of laying down in bed each night and feeling like I was failing everyone. So I re-focused, emptied my life of the unnecessary stuff, and made a real effort to take care of things.

The results? Well, just ask my kids. Are they happier? More satisfied with life? More hopeful for the future? Do they have a better relationship with their mother? Um, no. But hopefully by the end of what I am now calling "The Summer of Rehab" they will.

I did, however, realize one thing for sure these last few months. Blogging, and the connection/friendship it gives me, is a necessity.

And I want to thank all of you who asked where I was. Sometimes, just sometimes, it's nice to be missed.

So what have we been up to? Well people, here you go.

We start this update just where my blog left off. Somewhere in April and still frozen solid. We took the kids on a walk to a playground. No kidding. Ridiculous.
We played tag. Totally ridiculous.

I made cinnamon rolls. Well, I guess I should say I forgot that I was making cinnamon rolls.
I bought Vinny some new cuff lengths. Um, no. They are not staples. Sheesh.
I found some LDS ghetto graffiti. (FTP= Follow The Prophet) Ahhh ha ha ha!
I got my "new" gardening shoes ready. I love me some Duct tape!
I witnessed a ferocious battle.
It will go down in history as the "Battle of Ice cream buckets, pot lids and swimming noodles."
I saw little P steal my aforementioned gardening shoes. Grrrr... thief.
The boys dusted off their "red neck" and went to a Monster Truck show.
We played "Matching, matching brothers." Strong they are with the force.
We weight lifted chubby little P.
And bowled (P beat us all, no joke).
Little K danced her heart out. She was fantastic! This is after her recital (and just as a side note, there was an adult clogging group that night as well, and one of them lost their pants. For reals, and we have it on video. Ahhhh ha ha ha! Good memories.)
We bought a squirrel feeder. It works. Too well. They know we are in here, and they know we have food....
Oh, and did I mention they are NOT afraid? Yikes!
We took little K to a dance competition in Utah. My sister Leigh-Anne and her husband Joe came to watch. So sweet!
My freshman year at BYU, I took a stained glass class as an elective. I haven't done much with it since, but little K had a school project this year. So we decided to dust off my glass cutting skills and make a mosaic, stained glass picture of two monarchs and Syringa flowers (the state insect and flower). Little K did so much of the work, and we loved doing it together. As for me, I seem to have resurrected a hobby.
We discovered that Vinny's brother (who works for Marriott) gets incredible deals on hotel rooms for siblings. So we have been taking advantage of that...over and over and over. Thank you CJ!
We crossed off yet another of those things we've been wanting to do for the 8+ years we've been traveling back and forth from Idaho to Utah. Everyone loved the Hill Air Force Base Museum.
We watched little K square dance her way through her school program.
We welcomed our new nephew Luke and watched little P try to poke out his eyes. Awe, sweet.
My sister Britta also had her second child, Genevieve, just a few days after Luke was born, but I somehow erased the picture I had uploaded onto this post and I can't figure out how to put it back on and if I do it again, it will come up as the last picture. Grrr...... so go to Britta's blog and see my adorable niece!
We watched little B graduate in the rain.
And ate about 400 pounds of smores.
We helped save a baby mink. Adorable!
We took my brother Joe (AKA: The liar who says I ran him over twice) to camp. Little P loved holding down Joe's wheelchair.
We watched little P share pizza with cousin Jack.
And cousin Jack share pizza with little P.
We saw little P make himself even more delicious than usual...
Over...
And over.
We fed ducks with my sister and her kids.
We took little P to another Primary Children's check-up for Rockwell. (Update: Since Rockwell is still regressing, they are putting off surgery for another 9 months. Woo hoo!!! Keep hoping he'll go away on his own. Bon Voyage Rockwell."
We sat in horror as P threw his worst fit ever at the Hogal Zoo.
It lasted a long time...
A really long time....
So embarassing.
We killed and ate a rhino.
We finally, finally, FINALLY took K to get her picture outside of East High. Oh, Zach. *sigh*
We watched my younger brother Julian graduate from high school! Isn't this the best picture!? We are so proud of him.
We picked up my brother Joe (AKA: The liar who says I ran him over twice) from camp.
I made these two mosaic pots for two wonderful ladies!
We watched little T beat the socks off some poor team.
Hubba Hubba!
And speaking of good looking... Here we are!
I almost pushed them in.... but decided on a picture instead.
Don't you love these pictures? Seemingly happy children, loving their mother. But really they are only smiling because their mother just described, in great detail, how awful she would make their summer vacation if they did not at least attempt to look happy.... Oh, memories.
We found the grave sites of some of Vinny's relatives on our way to Craters of the Moon.
Little P showed us all his new picture pose. Adorable!
Brothers! Oh, and matchy, matchy again.
I LOVE these guys! *sigh*
Vinny and I dusted off our lungs and decided to hike this volcano thing to the top. It was so fantastic! Oh, and neither of us died or even stroked. Yeah!
What a gorgeous view! Oh, and the scenery too. Ahhh ha ha ha! Get it? Get it.... *crickets chirping*
Another good looking view. Oh, and great scenery too. No? Still don't get it??? Sheesh.
I love this baby, I love this man, I love this place, and I really love that hat!
They don't show it, but this was taken in a pitch black cave at Craters of the Moon. My children followed me down, under threat of grounding and cleaning toilets, just so I could take a picture that would blind them for the next 20 minutes. But just look at how close they all are? Sure, sure, they're only close because they were so afraid of bats nibbling on their ears, but whatever it takes, right?
Little B planned his wedding in this picture. He said he wanted to get married in the Salt Lake Temple, but only if he could still wear his Iron Man shirt. I said I'd think about it. And I will.
Such cuties!
I made this mosaic for my mom. I think it's my favorite so far.
We visited the Oquirrh Mountain Temple, just down the street from my sister's house.
We also had a very quick trip to Boise (so all you Boise people who read my blog don't hate me PLEASE). We had to drive all over one day to get little P to sleep, so we drove out to Vinny and my first house in Nampa. I sat there looking at it and cried! Vinny built the house before we met. We planted those trees and they even still had my planter crate in the front box. I have so many wonderful memories of that house. Ugh! It's so hard to move on!
Vinny had training in Boise over little K's birthday, so we let her bring a friend. We'll call her A. A is wonderful and she gets along so good with everyone! We walked at the MK Nature Center... in 107 degrees. Ugh!
Oh, and little P threw yet another awful fit...
Very awful...
He has somehow perfected the art of pouting. He's publishing a book on the subject next month.
So I guess we should really just call this fit "research."
We went to the zoo at the crack of dawn one morning (gates opened at 9, we were there at 8). Guess who was first in line?
We fed a giraffe! Did you know their spit is sticky, not wet like ours? So odd, but awesome!
When K was in kindergarten thru second grade in Boise they raised money to bring giraffes to the zoo, so this was so wonderful for her to see. She just kept saying, "I did this! I helped bring these here!"
Um, and P's contribution to society? Nothing yet, but he does love to squirt himself in the face. So, maybe someday...
Every time we have gone to a hotel lately little P has to have this one rolling bag and he always rolls it everywhere. This time, he looked especially cool with his sucker as well.
We took K to Tucano's for dinner on her b-day. She made us promise not to have them sing, so we did and then we broke that promise. This is her when she figured it out...
Then after it was over, she was being really odd and I said, "You're going to cry aren't you?" And she did.
A lot. She's not a fan of being embarassed. BUT apparently A is a huge fan of K being embarassed, just look at that laugh!
We visited our old townhouse in Boise (and played at the playground while our oil was getting changed).
We ate dinner in a tiny, tiny, tiny little town named Carey, Idaho. It"s actually home to one of my BYU roommates. Just for kicks I asked the server what the graduating class was that year. It was 18. Yep, just 18. WoW!
Little P turned 2. I don't want to talk about it. Oh, does anyone have a baby they want to give me? Just wondering.
And last, I made this mosaic that was supposed to be auctioned off at a church thing but I chickened out. For all you LDS people, it's supposed to be the Sacred Grove, with James 1:5 on it.
So that is our update. That's allllll we've been up to in the past two months or so. Yeesh. If you made it this far, then you are a true friend indeed. Or you are just really bored.

Like I said before I missed you all, and I missed feeling connected. But now it's 3:22 a.m. and in a few hours I will be missing some sleep. So good night all!