101 Reasons to go to the COUNTY FAIR 2012

What is more entertaining, this group shot of us or the lady in the background?

There was even more excitement in front of us. A girl who works for Parks and Rec was RUNNING from one end of the grandstand to the other. She slipped and fell and split her pants from above her knee all the way up her thigh. Slow. Down.

The derby always proves to be an eventful time. Search and Rescue had to come out three times. Usually they don't even come out once. One guy was taken by air med after they had to cut the top off of his car and extract him.

Our tickets were on the front row. A lady at church said to me, "You guys must be die hards to be on the front row!" Truth is that that was what was available when Matt bought tickets so he got them. I think you can actually see better further up into the grandstand. We got the excitement of being sprayed with dirt though. My teeth were gritty.

The winning car. The Derby has become a favorite tradition for me and my three boys to start off fair days with each year. Till next year!

Another Pre-Event that I go to, this one with the girls, is the Miss Wasatch Pageant. We were pleasantly surprised that our good friend was the MC. He sang and danced and read poetry. He was our favorite yet! Katrina babysits for their family on a regular basis. They recently moved to another neighborhood but it seems they have even used her more since then. She babysat overnight in July and  Romney slept over with her. Sadie, Lindsey, and I stopped by to see if they were hungry. We actually had nothing to offer now that I think of it, unless we offered our Mexican leftovers. Sadie and Lindsey noted how young the dad looks in the family picture. Lindsey asked, "Does his mother know what he's been up to? When she finds out he has a house and a family he is gonna get it!" Ha ha ha.

That was Katrina's last fair event since she was at Youth Conference for the week during fair days. But we didn't let that slow the rest of us down...

Fair Days July 30th-August 4th 2012

Ava and Grayson invited Samantha and Mason to join them this year for the fair activities. I wish I would have had a camera with me so I could document the times when we weren't with Matt and his handy Iphone.

On Monday we attended the Party in the Park. We also had Raegan and Sophie with us. I lost track a little bit this summer of when we had which cousins and when. They all came and went at some point and I loved it. After the talent portion at the park a flash mob got up and danced. Always entertaining. I talked to someone later and we both reached the same conclusion that we don't think they are from the valley. Neither of us have ever seen any of them and that just doesn't happen in our town.

Tuesday was the pool party. What can I say, the kids swam, got wet, and smelled like chlorine afterwards.

Wednesday was the movie in the park. Kung Fu Panda 2. Why they choose stupid movies when there are so many great ones is beyond me. But the movie wasn't really the point. It was a GORGEOUS evening. The sky was blue with white puffy clouds rimmed in gold. The air temperature was perfect even at 11pm when the movie ended. Way fun.

Thursday we had a picnic of our own at Wasatch Mountain State Park. We brought the bunnies. What I learned is that if you get out of the car with a cage of bunnies you are going to have kids surrounding you fast. We stayed quite a while. It was just too lovely not to. I remember taking a picture of our picturesque picnic at one point on the phone but where it went is anyone's guess. It was my only proof that we really did have Sam and Mason in tow!
Mallerie had a wristband for the carnival so she wasn't with us. Instead she was going over and over again on the zipper round and round for hours. I don't know how she stands it. Even the other kids didn't ask for a wristband this year. I knew she would be hungry at the carnival all day so I said I would bring her some lunch. Then I got to thinking of her friends and how they would be hungry too. I packed a HUGE lunch and brought it to her. She said it fed her and eight other friends. She said there were a lot of, "Your mom is the best" comments going around. I'll take it. Better than the worst.

Friday Exhibits, Outdoor Market, and Fireworks. This time as the sun set the air cooled with it. There we sat waiting for the fireworks. No one had a jacket (except me!) and so Matt said, "Let's sit in the car and watch from there." By the time the last camp chair was loaded in the first firework started. Booh. The kids got back out of the van and stood on the sidewalk to watch. There were a couple of good bursts where we were certain it was the finale but it wasn't. During these times Ava went wild. She really got into it dancing and clapping and shouting hooray. Like WAY into it, out of control into it. We realized she was putting on a show for Matt and I. We enjoyed it more than the piro in they sky. She's funny.

On Wednesday night we also attended the dutch oven dinner cook-off following which was a hypnotist show. I was only mildly surprised when I saw Mallerie eagerly volunteer to be on stage. Her personality is just what the show needed for laughs and enthusiasm. Here is the group playing bum drums. Yeah.
Can you find Mallerie? She is 3rd from the left. Ironically this is the same photo that ended up in the Wasatch Wave! We couldn't be more proud...

Saturday: The Grand Parade. If you want to sit on the west side of Main Street in the shade you have to set up your spot two days early. If you sit on the east side you can show up just as the parade begins and practically sit in the road. The parade starts at a goofy time, 5 pm. The sun is always at it's hottest. Even though we brought umbrella's for shade, we were ROASTING on the asphalt. I said to Matt, "I think it's good to have at least one day each summer where you feel like you are literally boiling and melting." He said, "Is that how you feel now?" I assured him, "That day is today."

The kids drug Matt over to the exhibits on Saturday afternoon so they could show off our success.

Ah shucks, "You like me? You really like me?"

Ava made and decorated a 6" white cake using methods she learned at a summer 4-H  cake decorating class.  She doubled the recipe so there was also a 8" cake sitting at home. The next day I attended a convert baptism in our ward. When I got home I wished I had something to give the lady and her daughter who was also baptized that day. Then I saw the extra cake on the counter and a tupperware of white icing. I put it together and presented it to the lady. She said, "You know I was just thinking how we didn't even have a baptism cake!" It's interesting  how things work out.

Even little C entered a necklace Matt helped her make.

Graham anticipated entering his lego creations into the fair all year long. Whenever he made something he'd say, "I am going to save this for the fair!" But since he loves to play with his legos so much it didn't seem right to have most of them tied up for months on end. I would tell him to just play with them and then he could make something right before the fair. Then when it was the day to enter projects he had nothing made. He hurried and put together a small car. Maybe he was right after all.

One of two bird houses Grayson entered into the fair. Did I ever write how he hung one in the back yard with Peanut Butter on the ledge to attract birds? Then he came in the house all excited because the PB was gone, "The birds came! They ate all the PB!" Graham then confessed, "I ate the Peanut Butter off." It's a good thing I was there so there wasn't too much bodily damage inflicted.

The Primary always enters a display for each ward. Each of the kids made a Choose the Right key chain. They were lost in about five seconds once they came home.

 

The apron Mallerie made for YW. She was disappointed in the red ribbon since the bias tape was so hard for her. But it's adorable and she wears it all the time so that is what matters most.

Two of Mallerie's items went on to state. She was supposed to remake her banana bread at the end of August to take to the 4-H office but her day was too busy. She had track before and after school plus a team spagetti dinner and back-to-school night. The next morning I was tempted to make it for her and run it to the extension office. Wait, was I thinking? Instead I made a double batch and our family consumed them both.

I have fond memories when I look at this jar. We made projects side by side at Color Me Mine last summer. Hey, why didn't I think to enter mine? There is always next year...

The following Monday we went to the Event Center to pick up the projects. The kids were eagerly awaiting this as that is also when their money is doled out. I told them beforehand that it is bad manners to count your money in public so they shouldn't open their envelopes until they got home or at least in the car. Their grand totals were anywhere from two dollars to 36 dollars. All together it came to $101. Now THAT is why we enter into the fair!

Some Bunny to love...

When we were in the gift shop at Crazy Horse over our summer vacation I bought a rabbit fur. It was soft and only eight bucks and I don't know why, I just bought it. That fur sits draped over the bench in the living room. But now when I look at that fur instead of thinking of happy memories from our trip, I feel sort of sad. Here is why: 

The date was June 14th. Matt and I were down on some Saturday errands with Ava, Alivia, and Landrie. We were in Sam's club when the phone rang. It was a call from home. Matt answered. I could tell it was one of the little kids from, "What?" "In the window well?" "Say that again?" "Bunnies?" He handed the phone to me, "I can't make sense of any of it." As soon as I said hello I heard a hurried tale of Bunnies that had been left in the window well followed by Callie's pleas, "Can we keep them please, oh very much please???" I had an older child put on the phone and learned that indeed the bunnies were found in Mallerie's window well. There was a note, "Had extra, Enjoy!" Whaaaaat? All I could think to even say was, "There is some salad in the fridge. And keep them outside."

I put the sorted tale out of my mind as we finished out errands at IKEA and then went to a block party in Draper where Kei and Ademir were performing. At one point they called Matt and I up to do the Tahitian with two other couples. As I wiggled my hips while Matt danced around me I wondered to myself, "Is doing this in front of a bunch of strangers making this less or more embarrassing?" 

When we got home we saw for ourselves there were indeed two bunnies. The white had been named Skipper, and the brown one Charlie. 

We had no other place to put them except in the garage. They pooped and peed all over and hid under the cars when I needed to go somewhere. Because of this Matt and I parked on the driveway instead. This came after one day when I was trying to take the kids to free lunch at the school and no matter how slowly I backed up, the bunnies hopped with the van. Finally I out was out of the car with a pole trying to get them out while Grayson and and Adren chased and wrangled them. I told a neighbor my tale at lunch and she came and looked at them since she used to raise bunnies. She said they weren't older than six month and that they were both girls. Phew. I kidded to anyone who stopped by, "Want some bunnies?" In the mean time the kids could not stop loving on them. They were better than movies and video games when the cousins were over. I even rounded up a  cage from the lady I visit teach. She told me what to feed them so we bough some hay and pellets. Matt was a great sport and looked online to find out that bunnies can be litter box trained and he bought litter boxes. I smiled when I opened the garage to find Callie reading to the bunnies on the step. They would hop away and she'd exasperate, "Skipper, stay here I am reading to you!"

One Saturday I was out visiting the shut-ins with the Relief Society President and I came home to find the kids sitting in the shade under the crab apple tree out front. They were taking turns passing around the bunnies with the next door neighbors. Ava said, "The Kennards might be able to take Charlie. They just have to ask their mom." Hmmm. I had never said we were keeping them, but I hadn't said we were giving them away either. I said, "Don't you think they would rather stay together?" Ava was disappointed, "Oh, but I love Skipper and don't want to give her away." I asked, "Then why are you offering them?" I picked up Charlie. She had a goopy eye. I told the kids to walk with her over to another neighbor's house who is our eye doctor and recently treated Ava for pink eye, "Ask Dr. Ackerson if we can use your left over drops for Charlie." He walked back with the kids and said that should be fine but he also had some extra drops at home that he brought us. The next door neighbor ran home then came back and said that if the bunny's eye was in fact going to get better then his mom said they could keep her. I said, "Well, we need to talk about it first." He had already taken the eye drops home and I told him to go fetch them. His determination was making me more determined. We started Charlie on eye drops twice a day and her eye cleared right up. 

Fast Forward

The bunnies have learned to use the litter box. They have also learned to use the cat door in our garage and come in the house at their will. We put them in their cage at night. They have leashes if the kids want to take them for a walk or we tie them up and let them roam in the flower garden out back. If we close the doors to the play house outside they can sit in there and eat grass.

But we have found that the play house isn't a fail safe place to put the bunnies. Skipper got out the other day. We didn't know till someone knocked on the door during dinner and asked if our bunny was loose. Grayson was confused, "No." But the other kids jumped up and saw that she WAS loose and across the street!

Matt and I attended education week for two days the second week of August and left the kids in charge of each other and the bunnies for the afternoon. The first night as I was "shutting down the systems" as we call it for the night, I couldn't find Charlie. All the kids had a different story of when they saw her last. Matt looked everywhere in the house top to bottom. I looked everywhere in the house top to bottom. It was too dark to look outside but the kids did so the next day. No Charlie. The tales continued from the kids, at one point Callie said she was riding with her on her bike when Charlie ran away across the road. I don't know what was more frustrating, the lost bunny, or that I couldn't get a straight answer from anybody! When we came home the next day Charlie was still missing. And I mean missing. We missed her. Callie came into my room, "Charlie is gone forever..." she looked forlornly at the floor.

Well the next day, Saturday, we were going about our regular Saturday morning chores when Mallerie's friend Madi called, Mallerie exclaimed, "No way!" She got off the phone, "They found Charlie in their yard." I looked out the window and saw not only members of Madi's family, but the missionaries as well all crouched around the bushes. Yep. They found Charlie. Ava brought her into her room where Callie was, "Callie I have a surprise for you." She brought Charlie out from behind her back. "You found her!!!"

I don't know if a couple of days on her own spooked her or what but Charlie has been more feisty lately. She had a really bad day two days ago. Callie was sent in to clean her room but came out saying, "Charlie is being mad at me!" I went in and sure enough any time I tried to pick up a blanket or dress-up Charlie would growl, lunge, and bite the end of what I picked up. Finally both Callie and I were on her bed. If we even put a foot down we were growled and leaped at. She was more mellow yesterday and even more so today. Maybe she wasn't feeling well. She better not have gotten pregnant in those two days of roaming free. I have learned that rabbits only have a 31 day gestation period so I guess we would know sooner than later. Yikes. I don't know how much more I can take of, "Charlie bit me..." Sound familiar?

So there you have it. We have pets! In addition to our trusty goldfish (still swimming after Mallerie won it at the fair last year) we have two bunnies; Charlie and Skipper.

"Happy Unnawear!" June-July 2012

June 3rd 
Mallerie turned 14. What she was most excited about was that she can now go to stake dances. Since her birthday fell on a Monday she had her party the weekend before. She had been on again/off again about having a party and was still undecided the Saturday of. Around noon I said, "You should have one, you won't regret it but you might regret not having one." She used the modern method of texting to get the word out. I called Days and ordered up a party platter. Matt and I went to pick it up that evening around 6 pm and when we pulled up at our house there were kids everywhere! I said, "I could NOT have scared up this many friends last minute when I was her age...or my age for that matter!" One boy was seriously like 7 feet tall. I thought to myself, I bet all anyone says when they meet him is "You are tall!' Sure enough right when Matt got out of the car he asks him, "How TALL ARE YOU???" The evening consisted of a lot of organized chaos. They went on a scavenger hunt and played night games. Matt put on a movie on the B-Ball court. Matt and I got engrossed in Downton Abbey. We went out around 10:30-11:00 to tell everyone it was time to wrap it up and the place was desserted! They were galavanting around the neighborhood and what not. Kids. Mallerie's memory card in her camera isn't formatting so we don't have photos of the day (hopefully just not yet) but I was glad to see that her friend took a photo of her in her new birthday dress another day.

When I picked Mallerie up in Midway the night after they took the following photos Mallerie said she had lost her necklace sometime during the photo session. It was a dark night and the yard was huge. Since the house is someone's second home they weren't there. I shined the headlights onto the yard and she got out to look. I figured I may as well help look too. I got out and noticed a stream running through the yard. Could I jump over it? I probably could but it would be a pretty big jump. I decided not to and walked down to take the little bridge. As I started looking in the grass the headlights turned off. I hadn't left the car running so I walked back in the dark and turn on the car. There was that stream again. I really thought I could make it if I jumped. Should I? Nah, I'd probably fall in the water. So I took the bridge again. I thought I could see something gleaming in the grass. I started walking towards it when Mallerie yelled from another place in the yard, "I found it!"

Have you ever been reading a paragraph and you are certain that at some point the writer is going to reveal how they made the wrong choice and ended up, say, in a stream all wet? Or they were their daughters hero and they found her long lost necklace on a dark night in Midway? Well, this story has neither tragedy, heroism, or a point.

The following Sunday the Bishop called her up to give her her advancement certificate from Beehives. Then he called up another girl who was leaving YW. Before he gave the other girl her certificate he walked into the congregation and traded certificates with Mallerie. He had mixed them up and the ward got a laugh. Mallerie was called up again two weeks later to receive her Young Womanhood Recognition certificate and necklace. What takes most YW four years to complete, Mallerie completed in two.  The Bishop caught her off guard and asked her to share her thoughts at the pulpit. She looked like a deer in the headlights. This was a moment where I wished I could run up there and help her out with ideas of whet to say. Instead I sat there in the congregation knowing this needed to be al her. She was able to get out a few thoughts such as, "It was really fun." For one of her projects she sewed an apron. Another was to start her own recipe collection. She found a yummy Peanut Butter bar recipe that she made for FHE one night. I was so disappointed with how they turned out. I so wanted them to be dry and tasteless so I wouldn't eat half the pan.

Mallerie has stayed busy this summer with Cross Country each morning. Well, except for July when she was gone the entire month! She has inspired Matt and I to kick up our heels a little more as well.

 

 Photos taken during the annual stake 5k.

Mallerie is so much fun to be around. She is a light whereever she goes. After our family vacation, she enjoyed a week in Elko, then Girls Camp, and then Oakcrest Camp with Sophie. I missed her helping hands sorely.

During the summer we got a letter from one of her school teachers. Hmm. With Mallerie, a letter from a teacher can only mean one of two things. This one basically was a thank you to Matt and I as parents:

Abby and Matt:
I wanted to write a quick note to you about Mallerie. She has been in one of my more challenging classes this year. However, it was because of Mallerie that this was one of my favorite classes. She really saved the class by bringing a lot of life and spunk to it. There would be times when the class is getting into something pretty intensely and then there would be a little commotion in the back. I would look up and Mallerie would be in the middle of it such as when a spider was seen in her vicinity. She made me smile and laugh this year and all the students really liked here. She also worked hard for the grade she received and it was a real pleasure to have her in my class this year. I know that she will have much success in High School.
All the best,
Marc Sullivan

When Mallerie got home later we had to have some fun with her, "So Mallerie we got a letter from one of your teachers today..." Marc is also our neighbor and Matt's golf buddy. This isn't Mallerie's favorite thing. I suppose she feels like her worlds are colliding.

July 25th
I asked Katrina what kind of cake she wanted and her request was a yellow cake with cream cheese icing. No problem. I bought a yellow cake mix at Smith's. It said butter recipe. Man, it did not turn out. It totally fell apart when it came out of the pans. So Matt, the gem, went to Smith's and picked up a cake with cream cheese frosting. It was red velvet instead of yellow but when I showed her the pile of crumbs that would have been her cake she understood. I was disappointed as I so wanted to grant her request.

This was a significant birthday for Katrina since she turned big SIXTEEN on July 25th. Our Mormon lifestyle is really cramping party plans. Mallerie's birthday fell on Family Home Evening, and Katrina's was on a Wednesday, which means Young Women's. She spent the day down in Orem shopping and lunching with friends. I was doing the same thing! I thought back to my sixteenth birthday when I spent the afternoon with besties Melanie, Missy, and Kirsten. And for Katrina's sixteenth I also spent the day with my besties Missy, Melanie, and Kirsten.

Have your lips ever been really dry and you finally got your hands on some lip balm? Have you ever been super thirsty and been relieved to pour a tall glass of water? Have your hands ever been dry and itchy only to be soothed by some sweet smelling lotion? Have you ever been craving your favorite food only to have it for lunch? Well, those sweet feelings of relief are what it is like for me to get together with these girls. They are balm for my soul!

I am glad Katrina has such a group of her own. Her friends are all really great as well.

Katrina let us take her to Kneaders for dinner that night and then her friends (who I guess were skipping YW in their wards) came for gift opening and cake eating before they watched The Woman in Black.

Some sixteen-year-olds aspire for a new car for their birthday but even more thrilling for Katrina was her very own Madeline DVD collection! Look at Callie being introduced to them, "Wow, what are these?" She has had them on replay since.




Her other gifts couldn't be opened out of a box. I took her for a day of pampering at the University Mall two days later. First stop was Remedez Salon where her hair was trimmed and styled. Then to Clinique where make-up was applied. Lastly I took her to Photoworks for some cute pictures. She humored me on that last stop. It was not her thang but she was a good sport and I looove them!

Katrina seems to be all grown up. She makes her own decisions and seems to be doing all right! I took her to HS registration to settle fee's (ouch). One of the expenses is the Drivers Ed course. The lady said that we didn't need to pay for that yet. Katrina spoke up. "Well, I called and talked to my councilor this week and he said if I pay and turn in my receipt to the Drivers Ed instructor I can start driving. And I have an appointment with him tomorrow." The lady and I looked at each other, "Well then, we'll go ahead and have you pay." Katrina had arranged it all and that was that.

You may see the similarities between Katrina's birthday outfit and Mallerie's (on the dress form). I can't dress them as twiners anymore, but I can try. I enjoyed running into Heber's newly opened Rue 21 the eve before each of their birthday's and picking up an outfit. We are big time now. It's hard picking for someone who has a definitive taste of their own but since she wore the outfit to church I must have done alright. She was leading the way into Sacrament meeting as the kids were following her down the isle. Then she went and sat on the stand! We said to one another, "I guess Katrina is speaking." See? She. does. her. own. THANG. She did a great job of course.

Katrina attended the same camps as Mallerie except for Oakcrest this summer. Instead she attended EFY for the first time at BYU. She went with her close freind Liz. Both really loved it. Matt had to pick them up bright and early on Saturday morning from campus. He pulled up in front of a dorm and called the cell, "I'm here," Liz got a kick out of that. Here there were thousands of kids at different locations and he just pulls up and say's, "I'm here, where are you?"

Matt and I signed up to can peaches at the Lindon cannery for a Tuesday morning in August at 7 am. The Sunday before when they passed around the reminders I realized that wasn't going to work for me at all. I was hosting a wedding shower at my house that day at noon. Even though I would be home in time that would leave me no time to prep (aka CLEAN). Sixteen was the minimum age limit for the cannery so I passed it down the pew to Katrina and asked, "Can you do this?" She nodded. I loved how willing she was. This turned out to be a huge life saver for me when I ended up helping a horder move out of our ward the next day for six hours. Then when I came home I remembered my taped off dining room all ready to paint. Me being me I decided to go ahead and paint it. It went pretty fast. So the next morning I got the house cleaned up just in time for the sisters I was throwing the shower with to bring the food over. By the time the shower started Katrina still wasn't back. I learned later that since Matt had to head back to work Katrina got a ride home with some sisters from the ward. The canyon had some construction and was closed when they tried coming home. They passed time by going to Macy's to get an ice cream cone. I got a kick out of picturing these three random gals out on the town. One is old enough to be Katrina's mother, and the other is old enough to be her grandmother. People may have thought how nice it was to see three genrations getting together like that for ice cream on a Tuesday morning.

From time to time Katrina and I borrow each other's shirts. She had a bunch of stuff ready for MS to take. I sifted through it and found several things that I have kept and worn quite a bit. We attended the wedding reception for the gal I threw the shower for and Katrina was serving at it. As soon as she saw me she said, "Is that my shirt?" I looked at what she was wearing. "Is that my shirt?" Nuf said.
Maybe we are a little too sassy in our family for your taste. Towards the end of the reception the newlyweds started dancing till more people joined in. The kids asked me, "Why aren't you dancing?" I said, "Cause no one asked me." "Matt asked, "Do you want to dance?" I said, "No I don't." He said, "Neither do I." We took some cake and went on our way.

With Callie being newly potty-trained. Underwear (she pronounces it unnawear) is a common word around here. "Are they dry?" "Did you put clean ones on?" "Let me help you turn them so they aren't SIDEWAYS." So starting in May when our family began to have a slew of birthday's and she heard the phrase, "Happy Birthday" more often than not. Callie tweaked it to, "Haaaaaappy..........UNNAWEAR!!!!" Which she has had occasion to yell out quite often lately.

In celebration of Mallerie and Katrina, Happy Unnawear, We love you!

Sometimes I miss the twinner days.