Will's First Day of School

Will started 1st grade this year, and he is so excited. He loves his teacher, and he loves that he gets to play with his friends from last year at recess. He went on a field trip to Bear World last week with the first grade in Rigby, ID, and they had a blast. He does his homework right after school, and loves to read! Here are a few pictures from his first day, just as he's getting ready to go. I can't believe how fast he's growing! Before I know it, he'll be driving himself to school. I just hope he stays as sweet and kind hearted as he is now. I'm sure he will, just like his dad :)

Bye Bye!! His backpack is humungous!

Muffin Top Anyone?

Ok, so we've all seen it for the past 6-8 years, and I think the fashion world has finally had ENOUGH of the infamous muffin top! At least they have figured out that women will buy low-rise jeans no matter what the size! In reality, the worst muffin top is the BARE muffin top as seen in the photo to the left. I mean, seriously! At least wear a long cami underneath, lol! I'm not sure what is going through the minds of the women (and teens more and more) who enter the dressing room, see the overhang of fat, and then say to themselves, "perfect fit, I'm buying!"

I especially like the pink polka-dot 'belt'..I mean, it brings your eye right there to the culprit, and more importantly, it keeps her jeans on nice and snug. I don't believe that muffin top can ONLY be avoided by losing weight. It's all about the clothing choices and sizing. I don't want to sound like I'm bashing people who need to lose weight. Most people, myself included, have wanted to lose weight at one point or another. This is not about weight loss! It's about covering up!

The GOOD news, is that the new trend for fall is high-waisted pants! Although, high-waisted pants are controversial, I think they will at least offer another option to chubby American women.

But the sad thing is, even thin people walk around with muffin top too, it's just more noticeable and mind boggling when it's an overweight person. It's like a size 12 girl doesn't want to admit she's a 12, because 2 years ago she was an 8, so as long as she can squeeze into those 8's, she's buying! But maybe there's hope after all, and although at first I thought the high-waisted look was a bit ummm, ugly...it's starting to grow on me now, and it may be something I try out this fall! I remember when skinny jeans started, I was thinking, yuck! But now I think they're really cute, and come in handy when you want to wear tall boots!

Let's just hope that the 'muffin toppers' agree so that we can finally put an end to this fashion nightmare! To all you low rise wearing people without muffin top...continue as before but try the high waisted look too! Might be a nice change of scenery!
I'm curious as to what you all think of the high-waisted look, and if you're sick of the muffin top too!

In a Nutshell...

Since I haven't been updating my blog for the past for the past 6-8 months, I thought I would update everyone on what my family has been up to, and although I tend to get impatient with uploading pictures, I will attempt it. So many of my pictures get posted on Facebook, but I know some of you aren't on FB...especially my aunts, uncles, and grandparents. So I don't want to leave you out!

We FINALLY moved into our new house (took forever to build) back in early March, and although we love having a lot more space, I am still trying to get it fully furnished and decorated. The upstairs is close to being complete, but the basement is still a Lov Sac, air hockey table, basketball hoop, and a 60" plasma with surround sound (the sad thing is that I have no couch yet to watch it, lol!). But now I am starting to focus on getting it set up how we want it. It's just a trip to Utah or Idaho every time we need to shop so it happens only every so often. Our yard is being landscaped right now, and as soon as it is done, I will post some pictures! But we do LOVE our ward and Cal and I are currently the 17 year old Sunday School teachers and we have about 10 kids in there and they're all awesome kids. We love them! I also serve on the Enrichment board and as the ward chorister (of course!). But our neighbors and our new friends have made it fun to move (again!). Cal's business is doing better than ever since we downsized, and he loves living here in the mountains where he can hop on his snowmobile or dirt bike and go out the back door. He is hunting bear and deer this weekend, but I don't think he'll talk me into mounting anything on my walls if he kills something! He can hang it in the cabin, right girls!

My parents just finished building as well, and their home is beautiful, on 35 acres only about 15 minutes from us! It's nice to have them so close, and we can't wait for them to get their horses! Dad just got his tractor, and you would think it was a Porsche or something the way Cal's eyes lit up! I know where he'll be spending his 'free' time, if such a thing exists!

The kids, Will 6 and Anna 2, are loving the nice weather and Will loves the 1st grade. He is a tall kid, and still towers over his classmates, but when people think he's just a very immature 8 year old, they always have a look of relief when we say, "oh he's just 6". He is playing soccer and loves it, and he's got the best sense of humor. He loves his friends and we're proud of him because his teacher says he's nice to everyone and when a new girl moved in, he made sure she had someone to play with at recess. Anna is definitely feisty and the 'terrible twos' are a REAL thing I have learned with her. I can't remember Will being such a stinker, but maybe I had forgotten? She makes me laugh all the time, and it's so hard to discipline her, because she knows how to turn on the sweetness right when she needs to get out of a 'time out'. It has been fun having a girl though, and honestly, I like shopping for her more than myself. Some have been asking when we're going to have our next? You'll just have to wait and see!!

Well, that's how we're doing now, and the summer has been full of traveling to see family and family coming to see us. I try to get to Jackson with friends or on dates with Cal as often as possible, just to get out! Cal has been working really hard this summer, and even did all the tile in my parents' house somehow! I've been down in Highland to see Ben & Wendy a lot since they moved up, and I wish I lived closer. Living here has it's benefits, but also it's drawbacks. We're thinking of moving to Cache Valley next, probably in about 2 or 3 years. We figured it's a good compromise, since it's 'in the middle' and not quite so hard in the winters. I honestly love the valley, but hate it as well. I could go on and on...

So, in a nutshell, I would say that my life has been about my kids and my family, and trying to do the best job I can to teach them how to be happy. At the end of the day, our children are the most important thing, and if we can instill our values and beliefs in them at a young age, their lives will be easier. I am grateful for my parents and the road they led me down throughout my life, and for my husband's family as well. And Cal and I are so blessed to be parents and will one day look back on these times when our kids are young and impressionable, and hopefully feel like we gave them the foundation they needed to live the way their Heavenly Father would have them live. The rest is just gravy...

And the Award Goes To...

I must admit that I have given myself the award for 'Worst Blogger of the Year!' Woo hoo, thank you...I couldn't have done it without all of you reminding me and being great bloggers yourselves; however, I have decided to change my ways, because I think it's important to keep a record of memories and events, and what better way to 'journal' your family's activites and share your thoughts on issues than to blog? I hope I am able to become 'Most improved blogger' by this time next year! Thanks to all of you for your examples of what a true blogger should be (JAMIE!!!!) Love ya! xoxo

Good times, good times!

Well, even I can admit that playing in the snow can be fun! Last weekend, we took a trip up to the cabin (Cal and his brothers built it themselves) up Grey's River with aunt Laura, her husband Dave, and my parents (no kids). It was a really fun trip, and my favorite part was when we were snowmobiling in a foot of fresh powder! We rode up this trail to an area called Blind Bull, and it was by far the funnest sledding I've ever experienced. There was just enough fresh snow to make it exciting, but not too deep, to where you were always getting stuck (Miss, you know what I mean ;o)...then we went tubing down a HUGE hill and it was hilarious!! My favorite moment was when Laura flipped off her tube and started rolling down the hill. You really got going FAST down the hill and there was a small jump. We got some air on that jump..heehee. We were like a bunch of kids!!

Here are a few pictures from that trip:

A "Stinky" Situation

I would like to share a funny story with you all about our friends, Andy & Amber Clegg. They are the same friends who went with us to Cancun, and are probably our closest friends here in Star Valley.




Before I tell the story...here's a little background info:
Andy is a hunting FANATIC!! And Cal can vouch that this is not an overstatement. This time of year, he's huge into trapping!! You name it, he traps it! Their garage is full of creatures...mink, beaver, fox, skunk, etc. etc. And it DRIVES his wife crazy! This guy plans his life around the hunt and wild game is usually the topic of conversation when he's around. I must say that he has gotten much better lately at expanding his interests. He's a good guy though and has a good sense of humor.

Amber is a self-proclaimed "germ-a-phob" and a bit obsessive-compulsive, But a good friend and fun to be around. She recently discovered she is pregnant, unexpectedly...and it came as a shock which caused a little stress! She has a 4 year old and and 18 month old now.

Okay so here is the story!
On Saturday morning, I went to the grocery store, and while I was in the produce section, I suddenly smelled SKUNK! It was pretty strong, and I even began looking around for one. Hey, it's Star Valley...ya never know! Soon after I moved around, I forgot about the smell and continued shopping. Well, a few minutes later, I was on the other side of the store and I glanced up the aisle and sa our friend, the above-mentioned Andy, shopping too. He was quite far away and I was in a hurry, so we never said hello. And he didn't see me anyway.

Later that evening:
Cal and Will had been out with Andy checking traps, and they came home and took off their snow gear in the laundry room. Well, when I opened the door to the laundry room, I smelled SKUNK again! I told Cal that the laundry room smelled like skunk and he laughed and said, "It does? Are you sure? Andy got sprayed by a skunk a few days ago when he was trapping, but I didn't think it was that strong!"

Back to the grocery store incident!! My mind immediately put two and two together..it was ANDY that stunk in the store, and he wasn't anywhere in sight when I smelled it! LOL! He was saturated with the smell!

I called Amber to laugh about this incident and she said, "Kenzie, I'm in Salt Lake, because my husband stunk and I've been so nauseated at night that I couldn't stand it! I ripped him up and down and told him that he HAS to stop trapping! I can't take it anymore. We got into a huge argument, and he asked me "why won't you just let me be he man I wanna be?" LOL! And he was dead serious! Isn't that kind of a funny story? Andy's new nickname is Stinky...

I have nothing much happening in my life to post, so that was all I could think of!

Wyoming Winters

Steve and Marissa's Visit











ALL I CAN SAY IS THAT I AM SICK OF THE COLD!!! I can't believe it's almost March and there is still so much snow!! Soooo depressing ;( Maybe I'm being negative and a real 'bummer' about it, but I am NOT a cold weather girl at all..everything is such a hassle when it's like this outside! And to make matters worse, we live in a town with nothing to do to get out of the house. I mean seriously, how many times can you walk the aisles at the Thriftway or the Family Dollar? AAAArrrrghhhhh! And with the roads so bad, it's hard to travel this time of year. Ready for the summer!! I remember when we moved here in May 3 yrs ago, the people warned me, "oh, you might like it okay now, but just wait til winter..." Now I know what they meant! It's so sad, but I find myself telling people that exact thing!! I wouldn't be terribly upset if we ended up moving somewhere warmer...

Cancun

Well, it's been almost a year since I've posted anything on my blog, but due to my family's blogging trend, I decided to get back in the game.
Cal & I recently took a trip to Cancun with our friends, Andy & Amber Clegg, and we had a great time. I must say, I think I preferred Playa del Carmen's resort, that Cal & I went to in 2006. But Cancun was a fun place and it was nice to have some of the American restaurants, movies, shopping, etc.
The best thing we did was swim with the dolphins at Xcaret! It was by far one of the coolest things we've done. We had an hour with them, and I really wish I would've bought the DVD that showed the whole thing. Of course, they try to rip you off for $50 a pop, so we didn't buy.
Here are a few pictures: