il giocio!

Saturdays are for fOoTbaLL!


ok, here's levi's team in action. i believe you can see levi going in for the 'kill' (he's number 73 & the only kid on the team with rEaL calf muscles!)
his team was undefeated until yesterday. they lost to aRrOgaNt 'wE tHinK wE aRe aLL tHaT & a bAg oF cHipS' aLtA:( !!!!!!!! they lost in double overtime after the dUmB (i mean unLeaRneD & unEduCatEd) refs denied riverton (levi's team) their touchdown (tWiCe) because they claimed the pLayEr had to cross the goal line, not just the baLL had to cross the goal line. . . . . big liars! i'm sure they were on the alta pay roll!

this is levi hangin' out on the sidelines restin' w/ a few of his homeboys. . . . he's only 10 yrs old,

scary, huh?

here's levi w/ his american-all-star 'v' for victory pose & smile w/ mouth guard still in the mouth! personally, i'm glad he keeps the mouth guard in his mouth . . . unlike his brother adam who broke one of his front teeth in half during a game when he chose to play wiThOuT a mouth guard! . . . . can you say 'root canal' & 'partial cap until he turns 18'? adam didn't like saying that either:)

tiGgRrRrRrRrRsSs . . . .

PeRcepTiOnS
why is it that when you try to do something NiCe for someone you care about, they always choose to see you as doing something mEaN to hurt them?

you try to put their well being first & you are rewarded w/ nOt even being rEmeMbeReD,

Or wOrSe,

being iNstAntLy rEpLacEd w/ aNytHiNg aNd/Or aNyOnE who is tHeRe at the present moment?!

why are so many people so caught up in making sure ThEy aRe being rEmeMbeReD & being treated as if they wErE iMpoRtaNt that they

fOrgEt

hOw to rEmeMbeR someone else & hOw to make someone else fEeL iMpoRtaNt?

granted, not every KiNd iNteNtiOn turns out the way you hoped it would.

certainly there are times when bEiNg kiNd & tyring to tHinK of anOthEr's well-being & feelings can cause pain. . .

but can't we even tRy to give someone credit for aTteMptiNg to 'gRoW Up' & tHinK about sOmeOne eLsE's well being & sOmeOne eLsE's feelings other than their own for even a millisecond?

for example, take tiggers!

while many people want to believe tiggers are just self-centered, self-absorbed, & insensitive individuals, tiggers are rEaLLy very confident, socially considerate, & unselfish.

they may come across to those who consider themselves as 'mOrE mAtuRe' & 'mOrE giViNg' than tiggers, as always trying to be "in your face". . . . . .
but mAybE TiGgeRs are just trying to sHoW they are gEnUineLy iNteResTed in yOu as a rEaL pErsOn!

or maybe to them, this is tHe wAy they sHoW they cArE & are being aTteNaTivE!

why do people have to judge? why do people have to be snotty to one another? & why do people feel they have to tear someone else dOwN in order to bUiLd themselves up?

why can't people be happy every time some does well? why do they feel the oVerWheLmiNg nEeD to coLLecT aLL the gold stars for themselves?

why do they feel tHreAteNed when someone else does well?

when will we realize that sHaRiNg IS better than pOsSesSiNg soLeLy & making OtHerS feel rEmeMbeRed & iMpOrtAnT makes US fEeL rEmeMbeReD & iMpOrtAnT?

seems to me that we can aLL LeArN a thing or two about fRiEndShip & bEiNg a tRuE fRiEnD from tiggers

afterall, who else can you count on to be there when yOu mOsT nEeD a fRiEnD!

who else can you count on to cHeEr yOu up when yOu are fEeLiNg dOwN? (nOt EeyOrE)

& who else can you count on to lift yOu on tHeiR shoulders when you are having trouble getting around & your 'bOuNcE' isn't workin' so hot!?

triste :(

today i feel LiEk this baby w/ marker on her face . . . . . . . .

yes, the one who trusted her big sister to not hurt her & the big sister who took advantage of that trust & violated it all in the name of 'fUn' . . . . .

fAmiLy . . . .

too bad the big sister didn't see the little sister isn't laughing:(

hopefully the little sister isn't bLiNd either . . . .

or i feel a LoT liek this kid . . . . .

yes, the one who was iNviTeD over to his cOuSin'S hOuSe to play & was rewarded with humiliation . . . . .

all so his cousin could have a good laugh, at his expense . . . . .

. . a fAmiLy member did this to another fAmiLy member . . .

was it wOrTh the relationship?

a relationship that didn't mean a whole lot to one person to begin with:(

where are the rEaL bUdDieS & rEaL fRieNdS &rEaL fAmiLy members that care about your feelings . . . . . .

that ride the wagon down the dangerous hill & won't stand on the banks of the river laughing at you while they watch you drowning w/ the wagon . . .

. . . where's the rEaL bUdDieS & rEaL fRieNdS & rEaL fAmiLy mEmbErs that would rather tie themselves to the wagon than to rEjeCt yOu. . . . .

where are the fAmiLy members that will LoVe yOu & nOt disCaRd yOu for another . . . . . .

always looking for something better to come along

& so i feel liek this (i guess this is the way the world & families choose to live these days):

shields to maximum, weapons fully loaded

(which every sci-fi geek LiVeS for & LoVeS to hear in every episode)

completely armed with truthfully humiliating sacrasm & extra cutting remarks

hUrT, aLoNe, pRotEctEd from any more hArM.

protected from fAmiLy members whose duty & responsibility it was to protect me & provide a safe haven for. . .

the same fAmiLy mEmBeRs i have protected, created & maintained a safe haven for . . . .

the same fAmiLy mEmBeRs who have rEjeCteD me & are always looking for others to replace the fAmiLy mEmBerS tHey'Ve cHoSeN tO abandoned & blame & hold accountable & responsibile for tHeiR iNmaTurE & iNseNsiTivE cHoiCeS!

when will the wOrLd & some fAmiLieS & some pEopLe gRoW uP?

L'amore della famglia;)

this was taken over that LoNg & hOrRibLe 4th of july weekend when our family was dEniEd seeing the fireworks:( tess was working at the theatre, adam & kt were working an event w/ custom events amusement corporation & west, me, abs & levi were hangin' out together. abs ended up throwing a temper tantrum (just liek when she was 2: 3 temper tantrums/ day lasting 1 hour/temper tantrum for 3 years . . . . . i think this is why she is sSsSoOoOoOo sWeEt nOw;)

anyway, the family made it through the day & the disappointments & still managed to enjoy greasy fast food & slushies together while sharing a few blankets on the grass in the city park listening to the aBnOxioUs rOdeO while waiting for the fireworks that never came . . . sigh

i LoVe this photo! abbie & levi have always had what has come to be known as "the abbie/levi wars". they are my closest children in age (weird that my last two were born the closest together, huh?) since levi's birth, he has gotten a kick out of trying to scare his big (only in age) sister abs, she, in turn, has told him eXactLy what she thought of his tactics: "mama, that, that, that, bOy! pank him! pank him hArD!!!!!" as they have grown, they've begun to express their love & affection for each other in more passive ways: t-shirts. levi has shirts that say: "i'm allergic to my sister" & "i traded my sister for a video game". no one ever questioned wHiCh sister he was referring to & never asked wHiCh video game he picked . . . . abs fought back with her own expressive apparrel: "i'm recycling my brother". again, no one questioned wHiCh brother this was until she attended a family function (cousins' mission homecoming, i think, in idaho) & one of her aunts asked her, "which brother are you recycling today, abbie?" without hesitation she replied, "levi. adam isn't feeling well today." i'm glad they can expresss themselves & still be sSsSoOoOo cLoSe . . . . . what mOrE could a mother ask for?

Sempre la stessa!

at grandpa cal's & grandma rachel's 64th wedding anniversary west decided charlotte was 'big enough' to be held & not broken. charlotte was happy, until she saw who the photographer was:

the sAmE eViL woman who tries to talk to her older sister madison!

for those who didn't know, peace & quite can be purchased! i think this was back in june. i asked west what he wanted for father's day & his response was "peace & quite". well, me, being a cReAtiVe sOuL & completely understanding & sympathizing with his sincere request purchased exactly what the step-dad ordered! a basketball hoop for the rancous, wild, untamed, part indigenous, part non-indigenous, often spitting at the mouth, entirely ADHD activated & driven, poor sugar processing pirate species: the children. although only the specimen know as 'levi' would 'vogue' for our photographers to demonstrate how the peace & quite machine works. the good thing is that no species is inmune to the pull & influence of the peace & quite generating machine (we've had small neighorhood children wander over & try to play while their parents are screaming at them, "get away from there!" . . . yeah, you might have fun;)

Uno ragazzo e la tua moto . . . . . .che bello;)

west & i got this hair brained idea to buy motorcycles & explore abandoned mines. while the mines are ok, the bikes are aWeSoMe! i love irritating the neighbors after a hard day at work or w/ the kids by riding my bike around the neighborhood & business parking lots. its gObS of fun, until the cops show up . . . but they have to catch me first & they got nOtHing on me! hee, hee, hee, hee . . . . . .

this was taken about 2 months ago the day west & i ran away from home & the children to buy his bike, a yz250, from mapleton, utah. west says it reminds him of the dirt bike he owned when he was younger.

this is from our weekend trip to gold hill, located between the utah/nevada border. on the way home, the truck developed a hole in the radiator & we (through much prayer & miracles) temporarily repaired the hole in the radiator w/ gum & road tar while filling the radiator with water from the kind strangers who stopped to offer help. we both decided we've had enough of wendover,nv 's 'lights, old people, & smoke'. at least the food in the cheap hotel was gOoD & cHeAp and the rooms were cLeAn & cOoL;)

this is one of the abandoned mines at gold hill in the middle of nowhere. i think the only 'gold' we found that day was gObS & GoBs of peace & quite;)