4 Guys and a Gal...

Tanner's Lunch Time Observations

2009-04-22T11:40:00.004-06:00

As I was making Tanner's peanut butter sandwich for lunch today,
I asked him,
"How many PB&J's do you think I've ever made?"

He said, "a thousand million."
And then I handed him his sandwich, and he said,

"a thousand million plus one."
I think he's just about right.

And then he proceeded to tell me that white milk comes from white cows,
and chocolate milk comes from brown cows.

And then he asked me how we make water.

How in the world does this happen???

2009-04-17T11:19:00.004-06:00

Get a good look at the state of this 5 year old's room.
This room will almost always will cause bodily harm to anyone brave enough to enter.
It repels the mom.
For this reason, she has since demanded that he put his OWN laundry away.
Legos and other small toys are certain to damage bottoms of feet.
And he cleaned it like 2 days ago. What happened???
The mom could just close the door and not think about it.
But the mom does not work that way.
She knows it's there. Behind the closed door.
Waiting for her to just break down, get down on her hands and knees
& pick up every last lego.
That would take a chunk of time that the Mom would rather be doing something else.

Now contrast that to his big brother's room. The mom can walk in there, actually SEE his rug, to deliver laundry, to enjoy the view of the Oquirrh mountains outside his window, or just to double check that at least she has ONE child that appreciates an organized and livable space. Granted, prior to this picture, he just spent the last 2 days re-organizing every item in his room (desktop, walk in closet, nightstand, etc.). But it wasn't messy before that anyway.

But that's exactly my point: how do two brothers live so differently and have such different standards for their personal space?

This is how I know Johnny is definitely my child. He loves to be organized in every aspect of his life. That is sooooo me. He kinda freaks out with clutter. Also me.

Ethan would fall in between. Ethan's room can get messy quite often, but he also likes a cleaned up space. So he will clean up his room without being asked and the mom is pleasantly surprised when she has to go into his room to put something away. Depending on the day, his stuff might have a home, or it just might all be pushed to the walls, giving the appearance that it's clean. The latter is not an ideal situation for the semi-obsessive compulsive mother. Either way, the rug is visible. (Don't tell him this, but the mom does go in there about once a month with a big garbage bag and chuck all sorts of junk....but she would never attempt that if he's not at school. Sometimes he notices sometimes he doesn't. But by then it's too late and the garbage bag is long gone ).

Mostly April Highlights!

2009-04-14T21:45:00.027-06:00

It's been a while since I posted!! Since the kids have been off track from school for the last couple weeks, we've tried to do some fun things! In the last week, we got together with the Miller & Olsen cousins as well as Grandma & Grandpa Hart to visit BYU campus & some fun things there.

For example, did you know BYU has the best Life Science Museum? I tell ya, it's entertaining and FREE for everyone!! So worth the drive down there. That first picture is proof that ligers are REAL!! For all you Napoleon fans you will apppreciate that. I only wish all 3 of my kids were in that picture...

I liked that moose guy...

Who doesn't love an elephant?

Or a giraffe? And did I mention that the Bean Museum is FREE for all?

BYU ice cream is the best! That's Ethan & Grandma Hart. Doesn't she look great, with her REAL hairdo now?! No more wig!

I spent 5+ years at BYU and never knew there was a planetarium at the top of the Eyring Science Center. Just had bad memories of classes I attended in that building that I didn't do so well in. And, I used to have church in that building. Weird. Graduate Student Emily came and gave us a personal planetarium show! It was great and I loved it! I think the kids did too, but I don't know if I could pick out the North Star yet. Very interesting, and turns out, there's a reason why that building is dome shaped on top!

This is a picture of the awesome BYU football team practicing just outside that window. That was as close as we could get.

We love BYU! Truthfully, only 1 out of the 3 love BYU. :(

Did I mention I sold my ugly couch?? Just so glad to have it gone!!
Also one of the highlights of April.

The boys rode horses at Gardner Village. Johnny seemed so big on that little horse, I'm thinking this might be his last horsey ride! He looked like he was gonna break poor little Sparky.

Grandma Lynn came with us. It was a nice Spring day and we had lots of fun. There was a shortage of ducks on this day, I think there were only 3 ducks in the place, so we ended up feeding our moldy bread to the nasty carp that only seemed interested:

And we colored Eater eggs! The 4th boy in that picture is Ethan's friend Quinton.

And this was our 1st Easter Egg hunt in Grandma & Grandpa Hart's backyard. The 4th annual, actually, with the Olsen cousins (also all boys!). It was lots of fun! Kael found the one and only black egg this year.

And our 2nd Easter Egg hunt at Grandma Lynn's!

The Simmons' family girls minus two (Beth & Maddie).

That's all for now! Hope we didn't lose ya somewhere along the way...

Our Newest Addition

2009-01-06T15:37:00.009-07:00

Betcha you didn't know we were expecting. Heck, we didn't even know til his unexpected arrival. Surprise, surprise, it's another boy. And he fits in rather well: he's as ape-ish as the other 3. Here's our newest little guy. He was born January 1st, 2009, at Fashion Place Build-a-Bear. Ethan is the most proud owner (brother?). When they asked him what his name was to be, to put on the Birth Certificate, he came up with "Mark" because once he had a boy in his class that moved to Indiana, and Mark was his middle name. You get a good idea, and you just go with it, I guess.

He's turning out to be a good little monkey, just so quiet, and never wakes up with growing pains in the night. He only has 2 outfits but perhaps someday we'll acquire more.

We were lucky to get out of Build-a-Bear for only twenty-some bucks. Luckily Tanner had just acquired Gary the Penguin from Target. Gary has already undergone a couple surgeries (split-age of seams and leakage of stuffing). Good thing the Mom on staff is the best surgeon around!

2008-12-05T20:52:00.002-07:00

Remember the Reflections contest? Our 3 boys entered, all in Photography, and 2 of them got medals for their pictures! Johnny's was "Old Glory" in which he digitally altered the colors in the background. He won 2nd in his division (4th through 6th grades). Ethan's was the sunflower picture. He received a Certificate of Recognition (in other words, not a winner). Tanner's was "the Great Salt Lake Valley." He won 1st place in his division (kindergarten through 3rd grade). Way to go, boys!!! Tanner and Johnny have engraved medals.

Our Reflections Winners

2008-12-05T20:32:00.007-07:00

Johnny's nerdy b-day cake and some fatherly thoughts

2008-11-21T13:28:00.004-07:00

Jae made Johnny a Pocket PC cake (for obvious reasons). So I thought I would post a picture of it (since Jae worked all day on it).
Here is the masterpiece:

Tanner can't wait to get some of that action...

On a serious note, I wanted to let Johnny know how proud I am of him. He is the perfect son. I was so pleased to be able to attend (and participate in) the Priesthood Preview that we recently held in our ward. I can honestly say that other than Jae (and Tan-Tan and Eth, he is my best friend. We play ball together, watch movies together, talk nerdy technology stuff together, talk Jazz together, watch sports together, etc...
And I know that I don't tell him enough that I love him and how proud he makes me.

Thanks for being such a great son Johnny.
Love,
Dad

David Locke reads my Jazz Blog

2008-11-21T08:08:00.000-07:00

So I got a facebook message from David Locke the other day, saying that he enjoys my blog, and encouraged me to keep it up.

He even subscribes to the RSS feed.

Who is David Locke? First of all, if you live in Utah or Washington, and you don't know, I am ashamed of you.

Locke is one of the best Sports TV and Radio personalities to listen to.

He started off in SLC many years ago (back in the Karl Malone days), then followed us to Seattle (I know, what a stalker). He was the "Hot Rod Hundley" of the Sonics. Then the Sonics got bought and subsequently moved to Oklahoma City. Locke decided to come home to Utah and now has a radio show on 1320 KFAN. Here is more info: http://thefansports.com/the_fan_sports_shows.cfm#locked

Anyway, it is cool to know that someone reads and enjoys my biased views of the Jazz.

Thanks Locke,

John

A Cub Scout No More...

2008-11-20T17:26:00.005-07:00

Mom and Johnny, crossing over.
Johnny with his Arrow of Light.
There you have it. My boy is officially an 11 year old Scout! There's a reason why they give the Mom the Mother's Pin...they earn it just as much as the boys! Johnny earned the Webelos badge (he had 19 out of 20 Activity Badges), the Religious Knot, the World Conservation Award and the Arrow of Light. All on his birthday! Wow. We are so proud of our boy. And the mom now has a 1 year vacation before Little Brother enters. And she needs it.

Halloween '08

2008-11-03T22:29:00.006-07:00

"Just Call Me Bones"

Zombie Skeleton
Bones
and Clone Trooper

Baby Tres

2008-10-29T19:54:00.006-06:00

Since we were in Washington when Ethan &
Tanner were born, thought I'd post their baby pictures.

They were so sweet, and little (not so much Eth).

Sweet Tanner, less than a day old.
Born at 7 lbs. 8 oz.

Baby Dos

2008-10-29T19:49:00.005-06:00

My chubby baby Ethan.
Born at a healthy 8 lbs. 6 oz.

Baby Uno

2008-10-29T16:25:00.004-06:00

Sorry, John Loren. Digital cameras weren't invented so this is how old you were when we went digital.
You were 4.

He weighed 7 lbs. 15 oz.

Random Thoughts

2008-10-29T09:29:00.004-06:00

So while we're on the subject of mooning, I just thought I'd share a little story. One weird day this last July, I was driving down 6200 South, minding my own business. Three little boys were in the back. When suddenly I passed a UTA bus stop, I looked over, and two twenty-something year old boys pulled their pants down and moooned me! I was in shock and awe and when that happens, the insides of you are saying, "look away!!! look away!!!" But easier said than done. And so I stared. And then I passed and it was over. Ick. That's not what I drove down 6200 South to see!
I don't recall if there were other cars on the road. You know, because my eyes were locked on the mooners heinies.

Halloween update: This year I decided that since I despise Halloween so much, I challenged myself to only spend $20 for 3 boys costumes. The ones in the stores were $20 each, flimsy thin cheap things. So, we decided on who's gonna be what, and I went to the dollar table in the Walmart Fabric Dept. And now I have a bunch of sewing that needs to be done before Friday morning when the kids will all wear their costumes to school. Tanners: 100% done. Ethan: also 100% done. John Loren: only 50% done. So that will be a good portion of today's energies...Pictures will come...

You've been mooned!

2008-10-21T22:56:00.007-06:00

I must thank my sister Jana (and my brother-in-law Jeremy) for these funny pictures that always end up on our blog! They're just too good.

Barta Heiner. You know Barta, right?

2008-10-21T19:42:00.002-06:00

Okay, I had the biggest and longest laugh I've had in a while today. My good friend Steph posted a funny story from our good ol' college days at BYU on her blog and it just made me laugh so hard it brought me to tears!! It's all about Barta Heiner. Click on her blog to the right ("Laughing at Life's Little Wedgies") and read "Lucky, Lucky Tuesday" on 10/21. Maybe you won't find it as funny as I did. In fact, I'm pretty sure you won't. How does she remember these stories?????!

Home Again

2008-10-21T11:59:00.009-06:00

Ahhhh....What a nice vacation we just returned from! The boys had a blast with Grandma, she did something fun with them every day! I'm just not that fun. Tanner was not very happy with us, though, because he thought those 6 days was just too long. John and I had so much fun on that big boat! My favorite was Cabo San Lucas, really hot, but so pretty and so much to see! Ensenada was also very pretty. We visited "La Bufadora", the blowhole which was pretty cool. I am glad I was with a Spanish speaking Hombre, that came in handy! Everyone kept asking him, "why do you speak spanish?" Getting used to the rocking of the cruise ship took a day--I couldn't stand and look out at the water til day 2. And then I was fine. It feels good to be on American soil once again!!

75% of the Guys

2008-10-09T18:35:00.001-06:00

Rockin' Out with Weezer!

2008-10-08T21:55:00.003-06:00

So that my husband did not have to go by himself to this concert, I went along and we had a blast!!! We actually had really good seats considering they were the "cheap" ones. Lisa tracked us down, it was fun to see her there! Getting out of that parking lot was horrendous (agree, Lisa??) but it was a great show and I was glad I went. Not a fan of Angels & Airwaves. I kept calling them Angels & Airplanes. And who was that first band????? We went just for Weezer! He's a strange dude, made me laugh though!

2008-10-08T21:51:00.002-06:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAE!!!

2008-10-07T09:05:00.000-06:00

Well, today Jaelyn is ...um....29 years old. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Seriously, though. I want her to know how much I love her and appreciate her and hope she is having a great b-day today.

Take a minute and wish her a happy birthday if you want.

John

A note about the Jazz...

2008-09-26T15:10:00.003-06:00

Well, I haven't posted much on my other blog "JAZZ TALK" the past few months. Mainly because it is the offseason and there hasn't been much going on since the Jazz lost to the Lakers in the playoffs.

But now things are finally picking up again, so check out the Jazz blog for regular posts. The Jazz season officially starts Tuesday in Boise (OK, OK, it is just training camp, but that still counts). Then the preseason games start Oct 7th. Then the season starts (for real) on October 29 vs the Nuggets.
By the way, here is the new slogan for the year...

I LIKE IT!
GO JAZZ!

2008-09-25T11:46:00.001-06:00

Today's funny....

Now I'm in Control...I have to Make it Look Pretty

2008-09-25T00:13:00.003-06:00

So our blog underwent some major surgery tonite. Can you tell? All the credit goes to John. And here I just assumed that people designed their own backgrounds! So many choices! John's only requirement was "not too femmy." It's a good compromise, isn't it? Tomorrow I might get really brave and try to post some recent pictures.

I told Tanner this morning that he only has 2 more days of school before they're off track for 3 weeks. I'm not as anxious to go off track as I was last year...mostly because I will be forced to entertain 3 boys for an additional 7 hours a day. However, I am soooo excited to go on our cruise. That will be a great way to break up that long 3 weeks. Tanner was really upset that we aren't planning on taking him, because, "I've never been on a big boat in the ocean!" Hello. I'm 6x your age plus some and neither have I! Cry me a river.

Ethan's Defiance: Rare but Ugly

2008-09-23T22:13:00.002-06:00

At the risk of giving my husband a heart attack, I am going to make history by posting on our Family Blog. I tried to do it on the downstairs computer but I think I broke it so now this is attempt #2, upstairs. I tried to call him to ask him how to do this (because I'm too lazy to run upstairs and ask him in person) but he didn't answer which means he's asleep. That's okay. The man works hard and deserves to go to be at 10 p.m. instead of his usual midnight or later. So, be proud of me, honey, I did it!! I'm going to let this be a little surprise for him. He'll be so proud!! I'm not exactly computer smart. Normally I would go straight to my 10 year old but he's asleep too.

For those of you who know Ethan, you know he's usually a very sweet and non-confrontational little boy. Here's a funny story that might make you think twice about that! From Star Student of the Week to Naughty Six Year Old!

Last night, John did our Family FHE on the Plan of Salvation. We had tried to call Ethan up from the basement and were met with a loud "NOOOO!" He was busy building legos and just couldn't take a break. Now, not participating in FHE comes with a price and it only takes one experince with this for the kids to know that there is a serious consequence: no treat. And so, we had our FHE with just the 4 of us. And then it was Treat Time and guess who showed up?! Our Ethan must have thought that his old and tired-by-that-time-of-night Mom, would just give in and offer him a treat anyway. And forget that he had no part of our FHE? No way! I was sticking to my guns on this one. It's interesting how some things, when it comes to parenting, are just suddenly so clear and important even when it's late and I want nothing more than for 3 little boys to be in bed. It was not pleasant in our house for a time. But before you think I am completely merciless, I did offer him a piece of bread before he went to bed. He wasn't happy about that and after more and more "please mom please mom please mom" he relented and went to bed. But he wasn't done. An hour later, he came back down and asked again. I was just as strong and marched him back up to bed. So when I got him up this morning to get ready for school, I was hoping the whole ordeal would be done and over with, lesson learned, right? Not so lucky. He woke up and he was mad! He wanted his treat for breakfast. We don't have treats for breakfast and Ethan knows that, so that one wasn't so brutal as the night before. Got him out the door with his big brother and forgot about it. When he walked in the door after school, the first thing he said to me was, "Mom, I need 2 treats to make up for last night." What does he think I am?!

Well, that's the rare defiance in Ethan. Tonite our neighbor Amanda was over and I had told her about this, and she didn't really believe it because she thinks Ethan is a doll. But since he was standing a few feet away, she asked him, "Hey, Ethan! How was FHE last night?" I couldn't help but giggle. Oh, Ethan. It's good that you're more sweet than not. I am proud of me for sticking to the principle of it. I would bet that he'll never miss FHE again!

I think I could get used to posting....kinda fun! Breathe, honey. I just might do this again someday.

FarWorld

2008-09-17T08:40:00.003-06:00

So I am reading a really cool book right now.
I work with the author's brother, and I have his copy. It just came out last week.

Johnny just read it (400 pages in 2 days!), and he loved it. I guess it is sort of like a mix between Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings.

Here is the website:http://www.readfarworld.com/

And here is more info about the book:

http://www.amazon.com/Farworld-Book-Water-Keep-World/dp/159038962X

Anyway, happy reading.

Student of the Week

2008-09-12T08:53:00.000-06:00

So Ethan got the Student of the Week award this week and he was pretty excited.
He has had a grin ear to ear all week. His school gave him a free meal at Applebees so of course he wanted to go that night. So we went to dinner (and Jae lost her phone).

Here are the 3 nerds.
Later.

The real reason to get a new job...

2008-09-03T21:59:00.001-06:00

I have had many of you ask how I am liking my new job. I really am enjoying it so far.
But I had to post a picture of my favorite perk.
It's not the free fruit.

It's not the view out the window of the airplanes flying by...
It's the brand new Usana basketball court. I can bring 2 guests with me, so let me know and we'll go play.

Danny, that means you...before you go all Jack Bauer on us and head to China.

Update

2008-09-01T21:15:00.000-06:00

Well, we have been pretty busy lately, and I haven't made time to post.
The boys have been busy getting back into school, I starte my new job at Usana, and we attended Gene and Anna Marie's wedding during the past few weeks.

We are thankful for our many blessings. I will have to take some pictures this weekend as we will be having the Fathers and Sons.

Until next time,
John

Girls Camp 2008 (AKA the mountainslide adventure)

2008-08-12T11:12:00.005-06:00

I wasn't sure what to expect at my very first girls camp. I always thought that my first girls camp would be down the road someday when I had a little girl. But DNA gave me 3 boys, so I guess this will have to do.
It started out pretty good. The girls went horseback riding in the 100 degree heat, but everyone was having a good time. Then it was time to drive up to American Fork canyon. And that's when the rain came. Did I say rain? I meant torrential downpour of epic proportions...yeah, that about sums it up. Oh, and did I mention that we didn't think to bring a tarp for the trailer? Yep, 13 girls' sleeping bags, pillows, clothes, etc. covered with water. Once we got to camp we hesitated to set up the tents, for fear that we would just have to take them down and go home. We didn't want to be responsible for the girls getting sick from sleeping in drenched sleeping bags. We then sent the YW President to drive down the mountain to get cell coverage to make some calls, and guess what? There had been a mudslide and the road was closed. So much for going home.

When we had first got there, one of the girls asked if we could say a prayer for the rain to stop. We did. And 4 hours later, it stopped, and we were able to have a good girls camp despite the challenges nature was throwing at us. It reminded me of our Heavenly Father's power. He wanted those girls to grow spiritually and to have the experiences they had there. There was one less active girl who showed a great interest in learning more about the gospel and how to gain a testimony. I think everyone's testimony was strengthened by being there this past weekend.

The next day we went and hiked Mount Timp. and went to the caves. Those caves are cool! (and very old). The picture on the left is of the "heart" of the caves.
Overall a very cool experience. I am looking forward to going next year.

Johnny and Ronnie

2008-08-12T11:07:00.004-06:00

Johnny got to go to the Ronnie Price Basketball Camp when I only got to go to Girls Camp!
Anyway, it sounds like he had a great time, and even got to meet Ronnie!
He also got 2 T-shirts which he is really happy about.

Johnny is looking forward to the upcoming Jazz season.
Hopefully Ronnie keeps his backup spot, despite the addition of Brevin Knight.

12 crazy years

2008-07-28T10:45:00.004-06:00

Jae and I have been married for 12 years now. We celebrated our anniversary on Saturday, since Sunday was pretty busy. We went to the Roof at the Joseph Smith building. Good food, but everything was covered with sauce. If you know me, I like things plain. Jae liked it though. I think I had 7 desserts.
Then we went to Home Depot, I know, a very romantic date, but that's what she wanted to do, so we did.

One story from yesterday...I am sitting on the stand listening to a good talk, when the Stake President nudges me and says "You can go help your wife if you need to". I look down and Tanner is hitting, punching, and being crazy. So I walk down, pick up a flailing 5 year old, and walk out to the foyer where we had a man-to-man talk.

He has been going through a hard phase lately. I am hoping that he will snap out of it once he gets back into school next week.
Speaking of school, all 3 boys had father's blessings last night, as Johnny (our big 5th grader) starts school today. Year-round school is starting to grow on me; once they start getting bored and restless, it's time for school to start again.

Well, we hope to hear from Mike and Kim soon. Just to make sure a whale or shark or Mickey Mouse didn't eat them. Oh, and Mike, to answer your question...NO, Estelle Ghetty is NOT here.
Later,
John

It's a nice day for a white wedding...

2008-07-25T14:02:00.005-06:00

We had a fun day Wednesday, despite it being a long day. We are getting used to this wedding thing. Now we just have Gene and Anna's next month, and that will be our 5th wedding in the past year.
Tanner got tuckered out, which was fine with me...less Tanner to deal with..haha.

I enjoyed the dancing more than I thought I would. I even got to dance with Maddy.
I told the kids that they can now call Kim "Aunt Kim".

It was cool to see old acquaintances, like the McQuinn's, Lassons, and Firmages. It may be a while before we see them again, since this is the LAST wedding...(until Johnny, that is).

It was also fun to see President Virgin and his family, as well as Pete and Michelle Hilton. It was like an Oquirrh Point 4th ward activity or something!

I did get to go up to the roof of the JSB and take this picture...it turned out pretty good for being a camera phone.
Anyway, hope everyone had as much fun as we did. Let us know how the honeymoon was.

Dorm life: Youth Conference 2008 in Logan

2008-07-22T15:04:00.003-06:00

I had never spent much time in Logan until this past weekend. I must say it was pretty up there.
Jaelyn and I were able to spend a lot of time with our fun Young Men and Young Women. i was impressed with how good these kids are and how much they really want to choose the right, in spite of the world we live in.
Thurday night we went to the temple and we spoke to the youth as a bishopric. The only problem is that the gate wasn't open, so we sat on the grassy curb outside the temple.

Jae said that was the highlight of her Youth Conference. I would say it is a tossup between that and the testimony meeting on Saturday. Or the dance on Friday night. I had never been a chaperone before, but Jae and I did one slow dance.
We won't talk about the living conditions. (My dorm was very old and it had a restroom odor). The food wasn't very good either, so we made a few 7-11 runs while we were there.

Anyway, it was a lot of fun!
Thanks Grandma for watching the boys.

I promised Jae that I wouldn't divulge any embarrassing stories, so you'll have to pry them out of her.

But by far the funniest part was when a young man from another ward got up to bear his testimony and started quoting Poison..."life is like the Poison song, every rose has its thorn...every night has its dawn".

I had to bite my cheeks hard so I wouldn't bust out laughing.

John

Temple, women's basketball and guitar hero

2008-07-15T08:22:00.003-06:00

Well, Saturday was a busy but fun day.
We had the opportunity to go to the temple with Kim and her family. It's amazing how you always learn something new there. I am excited to take my kids to tour the new Oquirrh Mountain temple (probably sometime early 2009).
Then everyone came and played ball at the Church. Jeff brought a women's ball (thanks V!).
The teams were the Utah JAJ (John, Andy, Johnny) vs. Jeff, Mike and Danny, (I can't remember what they called their team). Then we played a different version of lightning. We won't really discuss that last game....(12-0).
After that we went and saw Chris McQuinn and his family. He has such a great family. The kids all played well together. We had a great time. I even played Guitar Hero for the first time and rocked it! By the way, Chris wants to come to your reception Mike, so I am going to give him the info.

Anyway, hope everyone else had as much fun as we did. Only 8 more days Mogs!

4 Ten's and Lagoon!

2008-07-10T12:10:00.002-06:00

Well, I just started working 4 Tens, which is even nicer than I thought it would be. I basically have every Wednesday off. Yesterday I took Johnny to the Church to play hoops, then did some work on the garden zone of our sprinkler system. We also went to Target to visit some nerd who works in Pharmacy there. (HAHA!! Andy made Tanner cry because he teased him about giving him a swirly. I'm like, Get over it Tanner!). Then we went home and Johnny mowed the WHOLE FRONT YARD. Am I a slave driver or what?

Well, hopefully everyone is having fun at Lagoon. I hope there are some new funny stories like last year when mom went on Wicked, and just kept saying, "oh no!, oh no!).

Later,
John

Reaching out...

2008-07-08T07:29:00.003-06:00

Well, we went and saw Brandon Call this past weekend. He hasn't changed a bit. Same old Brandon. It was good to see him and his family. He asked about all the brothers and what they are up to. We also saw Jeff Hall, aka Jefe. Brandon lives down in Springville now. The kids had a fun time there.

I feel like I need to express my thanks for little miracles that I have seen recently. Just last night a less active neighbor called and asked for a blessing. She was in the hospital (ER) and so I called the other counselor in the Bishopric and we went to see her. She and her family were thankful.

I have had several experiences recently where opportunities to serve have come out of the blue. We have had a tragedy in our ward recently, and along with that comes the opportunity to serve and grow closer as a ward. If we are looking for opportunities, they will find us.

Anyway, we are looking forward to Mike and Kim's wedding. This Saturday Kim is going through the temple. We are looking forward to it.
Hope everyone has fun at Lagoon. Go on Wicked a few extra times for me. But don't hurl.

John

Basketball John...ny

2008-06-28T15:07:00.003-06:00

Here is Johnny shooting the lights out at the church.

Did this shot go in or not? I guess you'll never know.

Meanwhile, Ethan and Tanner burned a lot of energy running around. I had promised that I would take the kids to the Church to play ball for a while, and I think it was a nice break for Mom.

More garden fun...

2008-06-23T21:37:00.005-06:00

OK, so here is our garden. We'll see how it turns out. Each of the boys has their own square.

I am especially looking forward to Johnny's "Japanese melon experiment."
He learned in school about how they plant watermelons in square boxes and they form in the shape of the box. So he begged to plant his own watermelon in a rectangle tupperware. I hope you all have big appetites in a few months.

Speaking of railings...

2008-06-23T21:33:00.002-06:00

Here is the visual evidence of the railing incident. Luckily it has already been repaired...Go ahead...make fun of me...

Weekend fun...

2008-06-23T11:01:00.004-06:00

We had a busy but fun weekend, with a painful ending.
Friday night we went over to Colin and Jacci's for a night of BBQ chicken, Ice cream, and the new and improved Pictionary. (There are some new rules and fun additions to the game). We all had a fun time. It was good to see the kids have so much fun together.

Saturday was the official Simmons Garden/Chik-fil-a day. (For those who don't know, Jaelyn's favorite fast food place is Chik-fil-a, and they just opened one in South Jordan). Also, I have been gardening like it is going out of style lately, and I had a free Saturday....I'll let you do the math.
We got our last garden box done and transplanted the boys' pumpkins from the kitchen counter. We also planted watermelon, cantelope, tomatoes in addition to the main boxes: corn, potatoes, peas, beans lettuce, sugar peas, cucumber, radishes (yuck), spinach, carrots and strawberries.(I need to some pics). The boys got a kick out of the fact that we were adding "cow poop" to our soil mix.

Sunday, I had early Bishopric meeting at 6:15, but we got some good stuff done that has been lagging for a couple of weeks. Church was good. I got to do sharing time in Primary. I think the kids liked it -- the lesson was on temples. Tanner cried 'cause I didn't call on him in Primary. Then later I went home just in time for Danny, Lisa, Jeff, and Venita to show up for another BBQ. (2 BBQ's in 3 days! sweet!). We had a fun time making fun of various things, and then played Whoonu. I won't say who won, but he's a handsome son of a gun.

One more thing...Right before going to bed, I was going down the stairs in the dark....I know what you're thinking...and you're right.
Toys on the stairs are not a good thing. I slipped, grabbed the railing with one hand, with my other arm bracing myself on the stairs. Then--the unthinkable happened. The metal supports that connect the railing to the wall snapped (both of them), and I have a few bruises and a nasty carpet burn to prove it.
Johnny and Jae got a few laughs out of it, but I was OK. The railing on the other hand....will be needing a few repairs. I'll post photos later.

John

I wish I was in China...

2008-06-18T13:28:00.001-06:00

Jae went to the Dr., so I took Eth and Tan to lunch today. So we went to BK so they could get Hulk toys. So we are sitting there eating, and Tanner lets out a burp. I give him "the look" and he smiles and says, "I wish we were in China." I said "What?", and he then matter-of-factly says, "It's polite to burp in China."

I had to laugh. That's my Tanner.

Kites and corn

2008-06-17T19:33:00.002-06:00

Jae wasn't feeling good, so we went to Harmons and got her flowers. Tanner got a kite, but wished it would fly better. Ethan was pleased as punch to have a beach ball. Then we checked the garden, and we have little corns coming up. Yes! Finally...something growing in the garden.

July Ensign focuses on Internet

2008-06-17T15:10:00.000-06:00

Check out the cover for next month's Ensign...

I can't wait to read the content. I guess now all the "offline" members who don't follow the online presence of the Church will get an insight here.

Can't wait for mine to arrive in the mail, or better yet, for it to be posted on the Church's website so I can download it to my PDA phone.

John

Elder Ballard's invitation

2008-06-17T14:38:00.000-06:00

I have been thinking about Elder Ballard's recent invitation to use technology to share our experiences and testimonies.

"Share your experiences – those from your own life – that show how your values and your faith intersect. It doesn’t matter whether that’s face to face with another person, or whether you do it by participating from your own blog or contributing to someone else’s blog. The most important thing is that you let people know that you are a Latter-day Saint, and that your behavior and attitude always reflect the high standards of the Church and what is expected as a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, you will be speaking as an individual member and not as an official representative of the Church."

I thought I would start blogging more, both to do what Elder Ballard invites, but also to write about what the Simmons crew has been up to.
Anyway, I'll try to post regularly and feel free to comment if you'd like.
John

FHE

2008-06-17T14:27:00.000-06:00

Last night we had FHE with the Bradfords and the Adamsons. The kids had a great time playing together. They played Wii, toys, and jumping on the cuddle bag. For a good laugh, just ask Elizabeth or Asher to juggle.

Afterwards, Johnny and I started a game of bball, but it was interrupted by bedtime. So later tonight, I owe Johnny a continuation of our paused game. I believe I was winning 9-7. Bring it on, Johnny!

Johnny has glasses!

2008-02-29T16:00:00.000-07:00

Johnny got glasses the other day. I think he looks pretty cool. A nerdy kind of cool.
Also, here's some big news about Johnny: He made his first 3 point basket at the church last week. He is getting to be quite the little baller.

Anyway, we will update this thing soon.

--Simmons Family