Cheater Fishin'

Have you ever taken your kids Cheater Fishin'? There's a great STOCKED POND in south Utah County that my sister knew about and decided to take the kids to a couple of weeks ago. I couldn't pass the opportunity to go take pictures. This little family owned and operated pond is complete with fishing poles, worms, guaranteed catch... and they even CLEAN the fish for you! We had so much fun and my kids are already begging to go back again!

We started by petting the dog (of course):

Then we picked poles:
And got them baited with worms:
Cast the lines:
And put on our fishin' faces:

Katy had the first catch of the day. She was super excited about because she's competitive like her mother:
Tessa kept seeing the fish jumping:

And was trying so hard to be patient (she even found a rock to stand on for a better view of the lake):

So I tried to give her some help:

And so did her Aunt Kathryn:
But her patience started to wan when Katy caught another fish:
But I had to laugh when she refused to touch it, and the little boy that worked there had to take it off the hook for her:
This is her telling me, 'WHAT? You can't expect me touch it, it's GROSS!':
So Tessa and Aunt Kathryn got a new worm on her line:

And her patience finally paid off:
But she wouldn't touch hers either, so a cute little pregnant gal that was there with her cute family took it off for her (what? did you expect me to put my camera down?)
This is my nephew Josh. He caught a couple of fish too, only he didn't yell and tell me, so I never got a photo of it. I told him that was against the rules....
Trevor was being more patient than I'd ever seen him before:
He cast his line over and over again:
He even got excited several times when he felt the nibbles, but they kept getting away:
We had to re-worm several times:
But they kept getting away, and so this cool guy (pregnant gal's husband) gave him a few pointers, seeing that we were teaching him girlie fishin' - he was the picture of patience and I was really glad for a man being there to help Trevor:
And finally a good tug on the line:
He was THOROUGHLY EXCITED:
Because even though it was the LAST fish of the day (of about a dozen), it was also the BIGGEST (which is all a boy cares about apparently):
And he wasn't afraid to touch it, because he is ALL BOY:

And while we were waiting to get them cleaned, Tessa decided to have some lemonade and hold a cow:
Everyone thought it was cool to watch them get cleaned, even my animal-loving Tessa. I didn't take any gory pictures, but here was the dinner that I couldn't eat, because I hate fish:
We had a ton of fun... if you get a chance, you should take your kids... just ask Tessa! *Ü*

The Promenade - 2009 - Photo Overload

Prom night was a huge success!

This is Edynn, Chris's date. I think she has the best name ever, and that her parents were really smart when they named her that... because I think that any boy that dates her will hear his parents say, 'do not partake'. We said that and thought we were funny, Mike and I were giving each other high fives for being so hilarious. Chris walked away while rolling his eyes.

Besides having a great name, Edynn is absolutely adorable and has the sweetest manners ever. She was nervous about drawing blood while pinning the boutonniere on Chris. She didn't. That was a good start for the night. I love this pic because it shows how beautiful her hair looked!

And if we thought Edynn was unsure about it, you should have seen Chris. This is him telling her that he'd never done this before, and wasn't sure what he was supposed to do.
It was a wrist corsage. He figured it out. *Ü*

And they were happy when that part was over:

They both looked drop-dead gorgeous. Chris wore my little brother Jon's cuff links for the night, which was really special to me. They were Jon's favorite and he wore them to church every Sunday.


This is Edynn and her friend Kourtney:


Even though they were bombarded at every house for pictures, these girls were so fun and let me take as many as I wanted WITHOUT COMPLAINING. The boys weren't quite as generous. They moaned a bit... I heard them. And since the girls were so cooperative, I kept shooting:



And then they started getting silly... which was even more fun:


I took a few more of Edynn and Chris. Chris was starting to look bored with pictures already after only a few shots.

So I told him to just act like himself:

He's a special boy. I didn't want him to be embarrassed, so I told Edynn to act like Chris too. She knew exactly what to do:

After all of these pictures, they went to get their 'professional' pictures at prom. Then they came back to our house for dinner. This is Eric and Kourtney. They never met before prom night... Eric is Chris's friend and Kourtney is Edynn's friend... they set them up just for prom. This wasn't really their first glance at each other, but Kourtney may be wondering what she's gotten herself into.

She may even be a little surprised:

But she gathered her emotions... and they looked so cute together:


For dinner, Mike and I made them salad and bread, fettuccini alfredo, cheese cake, and chocolate dipped strawberries. We set a table up in our basement, complete with candlelight and an ipod for background music. Katy, Trevor and Tessa were their waiter/waitresses for the night. I was really surprised at how great the kids did. Katy was really shy and embarrassed about it, but she was so cute. I think Trevor may be a waiter when he's working his way through college, because he had it DOWN... complete with, "may I clear this, or are you still working on it?" before he took their plates. It was really fun to watch. When the dinner was almost over, without my knowing it, Trevor went downstairs and gave Chris a big hug. He started to cry and told him that he loves him 'so much'. He then came upstairs and laid his head on my lap for a while, crying and telling Mike and I how much he loves Chris. We were finally able to find out where these feelings stemmed from when he told us that he's not ready for Chris to move out yet. We all told him that we are years away from that, which made him feel better. I think some of his emotions were brought on because our best friends' son (like a cousin to our kids) had just left for his mission the week before. Trevor cried then too. He's such a sweet, tender boy. But since I'm blogging about him... I have to tell you he's also ROUGH and TOUGH and ALL BOY.

Wow, I got side-tracked! Here are some pictures from while they were eating dinner. I tried to leave them alone most of the time, and only shot these real quick so I could get out of their way.




Edynn said everytime I took a picture, her mouth was full of food. Really, Edynn, there was only one... and I didn't post it. But I think she still questions me.



Then they just relaxed around the table and listened to some guitar. Edynn was embarrassed that I caught her with the guitar... but she was just so cute with it, I couldn't resist.



Chris was up for playing... he's actually quite good on his guitar. One of my favorite things to do is to listen to him play.



They let me take a couple more pics before they left for the dance. From what I heard, the dance was SUPER FUN - it was at Thanksgiving Point. They came back to our house after-wards and watched a movie before everyone went home. Overall a great night!

Some Days I Just Feel...

HUNGRY!

ALMOST

I think it's a Utah thing. Even though Chris and his date had already talked about going to prom, they had to do the 'official' asking and answering. You know... the fun way with clues and props, etc. I grew up in Texas and never had a big 'to-do' about asking. It was pretty much, "will you go to prom with me?" But when I came to Utah, I realized that this is a big tradition here. I always thought it was fun, and I'm glad that they still do it today.

Chris decided to ask Edynn by freezing several small cups of ice, each with a different 'clue' inside telling her where to meet him, which ended up being at the junior high they both went to in Spanish Fork - the place they met each other. I was the get-away driver, which turned out to be really fun (and reminded me why my Aunt Jan thought it was fun to take us toilet papering - a.k.a TP'ing - when we were younger).

Chris took the bucket of ice and door-bell ditched her house, and we took off in a flash. I then left him at the junior high so that he (and his guitar) would be there to meet her once she broke the ice and figured out her clues. I really shouldn't have been surprised when I was asked to LEAVE, and yet I was. No fair! But I did as I was asked... I promptly left after dropping him off. I didn't get to hear him ask her. But I got to SEE it all unfold... I almost felt bad about driving away and then spying from the car where he couldn't see me. I almost felt bad because Tessa was with me and I was setting an example for her. I almost felt bad that she thought it was fun. ALMOST... but not quite.

A few days later, Edynn decided to 'officially' answer his question. This time I was the 'take-away' car, so I took Chris on a few errands while Edynn and Katy left this pathway to our bathroom:



This cute sign above the bathtub:

I'm thinking the 'planet universe' is an inside joke?

And these IN the bathtub:



I couldn't stop myself from wondering if I had a sign on my forehead that said, 'Wanted: Free Fish' since THIS GUY was free, too. I was also very overwhelmed with trying to take care of so many fish. If you know our family, you know that we tend to get attached to animals. Seriously... our little Yapper actually wags his tail at us and gets all excited when we talk to him and feed him. He's a part of family and we went into panic mode a couple of months ago when he got sick. We put antibiotics in his water twice a day for a week. Seriously. A fish. But he's OUR fish, and therefore part of our family.

So... yeah, I was overwhelmed with taking care of 25 goldfish. I went to the pet store to ask how to care for them, which turned out to be completely different than with a beta. I got them their special goldfish food and the biggest bowl in my house. I changed their water when it got dirty (who knew goldfish were such filthy little buggers?), and I did my best to keep them happy and healthy. But when they started dropping like flies a few days later, it was too emotional for the girls and me. So I called the pet store and asked if they would take them back. When they said they would, we all decided that it would be best for everyone involved - the fish and us - if we took them where they would best be taken care of.

So I almost felt bad when we took the last, living dozen fish back to the pet store. I almost felt bad that the fish water spilled all over Katy on the way over, that another one died before we got there, and that they fed it to a turtle. Mostly I was relieved. Because now those surviving fish will live forever in Tessa's sweet, animal-loving mind because she didn't have to witness them floating the next morning. Because we didn't have to have anymore ceremonies around the toilet for fish that 'get to go live with Nemo now'. Yeah, I almost felt bad about returning the survivors. ALMOST... but not quite.

Have a Wonderful Easter!

I believe in Jesus Christ and I know that He died for me. I know that His suffering was beyond my comprehension. My heart can hardly handle the thought of His body hanging limp on that cross, held only by the nails placed into His hands and feet. Tears streak my face as I imagine witnessing these events.

The beauty... the MIRACLE is that He stepped forth from the tomb. HE LIVES!

I know that I am never alone, and I will stand beside Him and be a witness of His love at all times. I hope that your Easter is wonderful and that your greatest 'find' is the joy and peace that can be found in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It's A Date...

Chris has been madly filling out job applications the last couple of weeks. For a small amount of time, I took a little bit of pride in the fact that I've taught him well, and that he is a responsible, self-motivated teenager simply because I'm a great mom. Ha! That was short-lived! Turns out it has absolutely NOTHING to do with ME. (Why is that so hard for me handle?)

I just got informed this week by Katy that he's asked a girl to PROM and that she said YES. After I choked down the thought that I'm that OLD (to have a child going to prom?!)... I think that put me in a sour mood... and I marched straight to him and asked him if he knew how EXPENSIVE prom is? Why is it that my first reaction wasn't, "oh, how fun!"? (Although in my defense, it did run through my head, I just didn't let it out my mouth.) But seriously... I was thinking about the dinner, the tickets, the pictures, the tux (do they still wear tuxedos to prom?)... and the list goes on. He immediately took the defense (of course he did - I would have too) and let me know that THIS IS WHY HE'S BEEN TRYING SO HARD TO GET A JOB. I couldn't argue with that. I've personally witnessed his attempts... he really has filled out quite a few applications. And he has an interview next week... let's all keep our fingers crossed for him!

So my sweet baby boy is going to prom. That same teeny, toe-headed boy who was positive that girls had cooties just a few short years ago. The same one that used to lift his hands, curl his fingers like claws and sing, "Cwoo-ella Da-bill, Cwoo-ella Da-bill, if she dud-unt cawe you, no e-bill ting will!"

I don't think I could convince him that girls are scary and evil anymore. Or that they have cooties. Especially when his date is such a dolly and I'm secretly really happy she said yes, because she's a GREAT girl. And you can bet that Miss Kodak will come out on Prom Night. He doesn't know what he's in for.

In the meantime, if you need your car washed, or your lawn mown, or.... anything else... you know who is MORE THAN WILLING...

Where in the heck...

Have I been? I've been asked this question several times the last few weeks... so I'm here to tell you...
I've been eating these:
Anyone else addicted to Kneaders new cup full of goodness?


I've been breathing in the these:
Thank you, Dani and Shaunee, for giving me yet another addiction!


I've been going places like this:
And enjoying the company so much! (Sorry, Laurie... I had to steal the pic since you had the cam!)


And I've been going here:
To the principle's office, which hasn't been so enjoyable. Why do kids have to be mean? Needless to say, after visiting UVRMC with one of my children because of some meanies, I'm seriously considering changing schools next year. Very seriously.