Oh, What Do You Do In The Summertime??

Well if your last name begins with a B and ends with an OYER then you are at the pool!!

A bunch of our playgroup friends from our former ward all bought pool passes to the city pools this summer. It has been a sound investment! My original reasoning for spending the money on pool passes was that if we weren't at the house it wouldn't get messy - and to a certain extent that's been true. But even better than a clean house is water-loving kids who look much healthier with a little sunshine and always come home from the pool tired and ready for an early bedtime. ☺ It's nice that I get to socialize with my friends too.

I have one week left of my summer before I'm going to be going back to work. We're going to enjoy it!

The 2008 swimming crew: Beans, Boyers, Jeffords, Koenigs, Petersons, Wurtz' (and Allens not pictured...)

The Never-Ending Weekend...

It all started Friday with a 5 AM wake-up call to leave the house by 5:30 to get to my doctor's office in Dallas by 6 for a 7 AM appointment. Yes, you really do need to arrive that early... Normally when I have a 7 AM appointment I'm home by 10 but things went swimmingly and I made it home around 8:15. Sweet!

Hung out at Suzy's house for awhile since I had to pick up my children - Bryan dropped them off on his way to work... Went home to try to get some cleaning done because I knew I'd be otherwise engaged on Saturday. Then watched Suzy's kids while she ran some errands. The kids always play well together and get along great, so that's nice.

Then it was off to Jennie Jo's surprise party that was disguised as a "Game Night". It was a lot of fun and we ended up staying so long that afterward I just went to buy my copy of Breaking Dawn. Let's face it, it was the most important thing to do on my list that day, right?

For such a big fan of the series, I had no game plan for getting my copy... My friend, Sandee, went to Borders and got a wristband. She asked how many people had reserved copies of Breaking Dawn and the clerk told her over 300! People with wristbands would be served after the reserved list was taken care of. My Twilight friends around here bailed out of going at midnight so I took myself to Wal-Mart. I'm not a huge fan of Wal-Mart. I can usually get better deals elsewhere... But I knew they would have it.

When I arrived at 11:30 PM I expected to see a long line like there was for the Harry Potter release. I found nothing. No sign. No line. Nothing. I asked the clerk running the self-checking area if they would be releasing it at midnight. He didn't know what I was talking about so he radioed the manager who confirmed that they would have it up front by the registers. I stood there by myself for about 10 minutes and then was joined by another Twilight fan named Stephanie (who asked my age and felt better about herself since she was only 23 and I was obviously a much older fan...) and then Sandee came close to 11:55. I called to let her know there was no waiting behind 300+ others and I was home by 12:15! It was fabulous.

I stayed up until 3 AM reading and then woke at 7:30 to press forward. Minimal distractions and forced feedings by Bryan were the only interruptions and I finished around 3:15 PM on Saturday. There were a couple times during the book when I thought to myself, "Okay, this is where Stephenie Meyer will jump the shark..." but overall, I closed the book feeling pretty satisfied with the story and how it ended. We'll talk later about that, I don't want to spoil it for anyone...

Housework, dinner and preparing Sharing Time for the next day (yes, I waited to put the last parts of Sharing Time together until after I was finished with the book... Are my priorities out of whack? Nah...) then kept me up until 11 PM and we were up for church by 7 this morning...

Phew! I'm tired. I need to rest up before I start reading it again... ☺

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

My friend, Suzy, has had her niece, Grace, & nephew, Curtis, staying with them for the last 3 weeks. They will be heading back to Utah soon and she wanted to do something "Texan" with them before they left. So I suggested the Stockyards. How is it that we can have lived here for nine years now and we've never been? We turned it into a fairly major field trip with three brave women 'herding' eight rambunctious children through downtown Fort Worth.

We took the train to Fort Worth and then transferred to a bus that took us to the Stockyards. You can buy a day pass to ride the trains and buses in any direction for $3 per person. That's a steal of a deal! The novelty of riding the train is always something the kids LOVE to do so to ride the train AND the bus for the kids was awesomeness supreme!

On the train with Gracie & Curtis. I think Cara was doing her 'tough girl' face...

"The Fort Worth Stockyards is the history book of the livestock industry in Texas and is a one of a kind location with many unique attractions. It is the only place in the United States that has a daily cattle drive! Texas Longhorns are driven down East Exchange Avenue which is right in the heart of the Stockyards. For the history buff, museums and historic locations are plentiful to learn about our great history, from cowboys to cattle. Along the way, there are Texas Trail of Fame bronze makers in the sidewalks throughout the district." Cara loved to identify the stars and tell us what she learned about them in 4th grade. The cobblestone streets and rustic shops made you feel like you stepped back into the West.

This horse is named Gotch (as in got'cha) and his cowboy is the lead in the cattle drive.

The kids all got to pet and watch the cowboys do show tricks with their horses. This is Lil' Texas and he was smiling for us in this picture. His cowboy cracked his whip over and over for the begging children.We staked out a prime viewing bench and ate our sack lunches. This is right next to the Texas Cowboy Hall of fame and across from the Stockyards museum. Waiting for the cattle drive to start...Here they come!Check out those longhorns! Aren't they cool? They were just feet away from the kids who were mesmerized.
And there they go...
The water tower for the train that still runs through the Stockyards.
Thank goodness we didn't have to ride to Ft. Worth on one of these...My cowgirls.

Three tired mamas. Erin, Suzy & I.

It was a long, hot, fun, relatively cheap, and informational trip. I learned you can do the same train/bus deal to get to the Ft. Worth Zoo and the Botanical Gardens too. We'll have to do that with Bryan sometime.

P.S. I forgot my camera so all of these photos are courtesy of E & S. Thanks girls!

Who's Your Mama?

I think this is no surprise to anyone... ☺

Who's Your Mama 2?

This one shocked me though...

Me A to Z...

My niece, Amanda, tagged me...

A = ADVOCATE FOR: Reading to your children
B = BEST FEATURE: My eyes (but I've been told that my "long, slender fingers" are nice)
C = COULDN'T DO WITHOUT: My family, Books, the pool
D = DREAMS AND DESIRES: To be able to stay home for good, to be financially secure
E= ESSENTIAL ITEM: my new handy, dandy planner
F= FAVORITE PAST TIME: reading, playing with the kids
G= GOOD AT: blowing bubbles, listening, making cookies
H = HAVE NEVER TRIED: karaoke (don't even ask...)
I = IF I HAD A MILLION DOLLARS: pay off debt, take the fam to Germany, Austrailia, Tahiti
J = JUNKIE FOR: Junior mints
K = KINDRED SPIRIT(s): my crafty club & Cara
L = LITTLE KNOWN FACT: I used to wear 2 bras to play basketball in highschool. Imagine how many I'd need now... no, dont...
M = MEMORABLE MOMENT: April 25, 1996; August 13, 1998; November 19, 2003
N = NEVER AGAIN WILL I: use expired sunscreen
O = OCCASIONAL INDULGENCE: Cheesecake Factory's Crispy Chicken Costoletta
P = not sure where the P went...
Q = QUOTE: "Every day's an adventure!"
R = REASON TO SMILE: Bryan's laugh
S = SORRY ABOUT: forgetting Trent's birthday
T = TAG SOME FRIENDS: anyone who wants to!
U = UNINTERESTED IN: Lost, sorry guys...
V = VERY SCARED OF: home invasion, public speaking, calling people I don't know
W = WORST HABIT: singing like an opera singer when I yawn (according to Cara)
X = X MARKS MY IDEAL VACATION SPOT: Hawaii
Y = YESTERYEAR DECADE OF CHOICE: Live in the now, people!
Z = ZODIAC SIGN: Aries

My Little Cheerleader

So, I was doing Sharing Time today in Primary about missionary work. I had a suitcase out and we were packing it with all of the things that a missionary needs to take with them when they leave; white shirts, name tags, ties, toothbrush, Preach My Gospel, scriptures etc... (I even threw in a teddy bear for a cheap laugh.)

When I pulled out my scriptures I explained, "This was my first set of scriptures. I've had them for a long time. My parents gave them to me on the day I was baptized."

Jordyn's reaction was classic... no hand... volume WAY up...

"You did, Mama? Wow! You really did get baptized? Good job, Mama!! That's so great! Whoo-hoo!"

Yes, I did. Here's the evidence. ☺

Dad and I just before the baptism. This is one of two photos I have of my Grandpa Davis. I love that he is giving bunny ears to my mother. ♥ My father must have taken this picture since he's not in it. My mom made my baptism dress and the skirt and matching vest I wore to be confirmed in. As a matter of fact, she made Krysta's, Alison's & Jillian's too. She was crafty like that.