La torte chocolate!

fun family photos;

i've had in my phone fOreVer!

i think this photo was taken at the blessing of Charlotte at Jeff & Nicoles' old house in provo. Madison was rEaLLy cUtE with chocolate all over her face & it was the first time she didn't start crying or running to her mother to save her from the 'mean lady' when i tried to talk to her.

brooklyn kept telling me: take mY picture! i can ride a bike!

then savannah copied her sister: take mY picture! i can ride a bike too! . . . savannah also told us that madison "doesn't know how old she is" & she was right. when we asked madison how old she was, madison said 3 (she's only 2) . . . wait until she is 40, she'll know & the eNtiRe wOrLd will know (& cOnsTantLy remind he) of her age;)

nick had to get in on the camera action too! i can't remember which superhero he was this day. i think my favorite is still tinker bell. amber says he puts on wings (i think they are purple) & carries his wand & runs around the neighborhood w/ the neighborhood girls (the neighborhood is deficient in little boys) . . . he has an aWesOmE imagination & i liek playing superheros w/ nick;)

don't tell amber i have her picture . . .

miss sara was rEaLLy cute playing 'fill the front bicycle's basket with rocks from the back driveway' just a few minutes after this photo was taken. as you can see, sara is as bEauTifuL as her mother;)

ya'all come back again now!

La viTa piU beLLa;)

Milestones

20th High School Reunion: 2006

ok, so i don't liek blogging about myself (feels liek i am bragging) but as i have now reached the "age of maturity" by the world's definition, i've come to appreciate my roots & my wings (liek a country song talks about) that were developed while attending high school in the arm-pit-of-the-world bUhL, iDaHo. it was here, at buhl high school with the highest teen pregnancy rate in the state of idaho, that my killer sense of humor (which was so kEy in attracting & marrying my wiLd, WiLd, wEsT) was forged. (yes, here, nOt in mOrdOr!) it was here i learned kindness, appreciation & respect go farther than verbal insults, excuses & harsh stereotypes which carried me through difficult classes & encounters at the U with individuals cOmpLeteLy oPpoSitE in their beliefs & opinions from mine. i learned my need to "discipline (myself) without complaining" (as one of my teachers cOnsTantLy reminded me!) without blaming others & it was here that i learned a gOoD fiLteR is critical in creating & maintaining a healthy self-esteem(that was the day my chemistry teacher lectured me for asking to attend a cheerleading meeting that my advisor scheduled during his classtime by telling me i was a "LoSeR", "sTupiD", and "nEveR gOiNg tO gO aNywHerE iN tHis LiFe") . . . i should've mailed him my graduation announcement;)
at my 20 yr class reunion, i realized i had these amazing women (& others not present in this photo) to thank for their examples of friendship, kindness & laughter. harsh words and actions were forgiven & forgotten and replaced with a genuine concern & appreciation for the part we had each played in our personal lives. (left to right: carrie (working on pHd in colorado), liz (archelogist, wife, mother of 19yr old son, & now electrician studying for her journey man's exam in oregon), me & pam(wife to the wEirDeSt kid in our high school class & teacher in boise, idaho). thank gOoDnEsS i wasn't given nOrMaL friends;)

some say 40 is the old age of youth & the youth of old age. i say (liek my niece ashley says) they're a bunch of dUmB mOrOnS!

getting old sucks, i'll be honest! i had been dReaDing this birthday more than any other . . . everywhere i went i got the often quoted & laughed at & sTupiD cliches: 'you're only as old as you feel', 'you're 40 years young', 'it's all a state of mind' . . . it's aLL a bUnCh of cRap & a socially accepted opportunity/ritual to fling humiliating insults/gems of truth& reality(?) at individuals we feel threatened by & jealous of (just liek any gOoD hard fought political campaign!)
in my deny council at the U, the assist dean (whom i have forced into having a friendship with me because i have pested him for 3 yrs with admissions questions, who has shared his law school admissions story & other personal stories with me over the years & whom advised me to extend my bachelor's graduation to complete my honors degree for law school) had the aRrogAncE to tell me that my personal statement for law school was "iNmAtuRe" for "sOmEoNe Of my agE"?! (he is about my age!)why is it that just because i am successful at avoiding & cheating myself out of an early death by living to 40 that suddenly eVeRyoNe eXpeCts wiSdoM to ooze out of my mouth in eVeRy sTatEment to guide them?! liek anyone listened to me bEfOrE i achieved the crowing-glory & ripe-old-age of 40?! & why should i have to nOw worry about wearing clothes that are always 'agE aPprOpRiaTe'? i know aLoT more 20 & 30 somethings that should worry about this one because they want to wander around naked liek they are still 2 or 3 years old!
instead of being insulted by all of these individuals, i decided to be mAtUrE & see their attempts for what they were: a compliment! at least i've learned the mOsT iMpoRtaNt lesson in this life in my short 40 years (while others sTiLL haven't learned it in 80!) thank goodness that with all my mAtUre responsibilities that i can sTiLL rEmeMbeR hOw (& dO) behave inmaturily as often as i can! . . . we'll see who is sTiLL around in aNoThEr 40 years & who has died of a mAtUre (sTrEsS) related heartattack;) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LiVe LoNg & pRospEr

Le pHotOgrAphiE deLLa miA tEsSa & figLi;)

today was a gOoD dAy! i finally got my sAmRtpHoNe (i mean sMaRtpHoNe) linked with my sTupiDLapTop (i mean nOn-sMaRtLapTop) and was able to transfer the bizillion photos . . . today will be happy pHoTo bLog day:)

tessa's seminary graduation & the whole fam damily . . . minus granderson dana's husband, our camera shy photographer: granderson ralph

as if high school graduation wasn't enough for our over-achiever (i don't know wHeRe that trait came from!), tess had to complicate things by rEaLLy attending seminary (instead of skipping) and aCtuaLLy graduating! she never had to attend what i affectionately call "real seminary" (aka: eArLy mOrniNg sEmiNaRy) but she resisted the urge to skip her release time seminary class . . . most of the times. her teacher insisted all the stupids (i meant students) call him 'dirt bag', which they willing did . . . i think she acutally learned a few scriptural references as well . . . .

tessa's high school graduation held at south town expo center & lasted 3+ hours!

isn't she sSsSsSsSsSoOoOoOoOoOoOoO cCcCcCcuUuUuUuTtTtTtTeEeEe!

after 18+ years of her reminding me she nEeDeD to attend school everyday (she played "school" since the day she came out of the womb), she graduated from high school and decided to continue her schooling by attending a higher learning institution . . . . little did mom know that Tessa would choose to further her educational pursuits at mama's LeAsT favorite unversity: the eViL BYU "Live Life in a Bubble" blue cougars:( . . . . while she cheers for the arrogant BYU (don't exist in our reality) she retains her tRuE color: rEd (like oxygen rich living blood). . . . she must keep her tRuE identity a secret or lose her higher learning privileges . . . .

i guess we should have done this first . . . but i'm backwards so dEaL with it!

& then there was the pRoM . . . . . .

tess was sMaRt . . (yes, she is tOo sMaRt for her own gOoD as well as everyone else's) . . . she dated ryan (not the boy in this photo) most of her junior year and his (ryan's) senior year . . . after the on & off (more off than on:) boyfriend/girlfriend thing throughout the summer, tess decided to test out the "vanilla theory" in dating. ryan was at a local jr. college & enjoying dating "college girls" & tess didn't sit home for aNyThiNg!!! i don't think she realizes how beautiful, fun & intelligent she rEaLLy is! she was asked eArLy to prom by this boy (there were sO mAny i honestly can't remember his name!) & had a fun filled sTrEsSfReE evening ( i think the photo says it aLL . . . . . . . . . . & then there was adam, or as he says "A - DAM HUNT" (& his middle name IS "gOoD";)

adam, 16 in january & wanting to date by may, asked this sweet girl (again, i can't remember her name . . . he gets texts, calls & drive-bys at all hours of the day & night by mAny, MaNy, mAny . . . . as levi says "stupid girlfriends" . . . girls!) adam: no job, no money, no license, no car, no tux, no plans, no problem! he asks this girl to the prom the dAy Of tHe pRoM (liek, he asked her after lunch), borrows the $50 bucks for tickets from a friend (don't know if he has paid this friend back . . . yet!) begs for $50 bucks from mama by batting his blue eyes at her . . . & talks this girl into having her pArEnTs drive them to the resturant & the dance as well as bring them home. . . . (he should write a book on dating ettiqute;) yes, that is west in the background, shaking his head in disbelief . . . . he never had such luck in dating:( adam IS a gOoD bOy & he IS quite a cHaRmeR!

young womens' "mOdEsT" fashion show . . . . .

the young women decided to have a fashion show to pRoVe that being modest was eAsy, fAshiOnabLe & aFfoRdabLe . . . 1/2 the girls wore what they usually wore on sunday while the other 1/2 were chosen to wear a dress that was "bOrRoWed" from a local shop for the "show" . . . (i think the leaders misunderstood the meaning of "aFfoRdabLe") . . . tessa's dress was "bOrRoWed" while katie's is her uSuaL sunday attire. i rEaLLy liek this photo because it has 2 of my 3 girls & because you can see katie's pretty eyes . . . this is pRe heavy eyeliner days;) she still favors black! mama mia!

katie's customized body tattooing


ok, so k8e, or kt, or kAtiE, however she decides to spell her name (all mood & day dependent) LiEks to draw on herself! one day she came home with red pen from her fingertips to her shoulder. it looked liek her hand & arm had been mummified: vEry iMprEsSivE! one day the tips of her hair were red (i called the mother of the girls, the girls were twins, who gave kate red 'highlights' & requested they not be so generous with their creative talents anymore;) this day she was rainbow stripes. she usually cathces aLoT of flak from tess & adam . . . i silence her older siblings & remind kate that if i cAn'T have a tattoo, neither can she! (& that the prophet says we shouldn't draw on our bodies) these days she is down to black hearts & stars mostly on her feet & hands. katie IS a gOoD girl & very eXprEssiVe:)

katie's & abbie's unique fashion expressions

a photo is worth a 1,000 words & i think this one says it all. katie favors the 80's & i have nO iDeA where abs picked up her hair accessory! i'm glad they didn't try combinding their two favorite activities (liek they have in the past): reading a book & bicycle riding. they are gObS & GoBs of fun:)

Le lezione importante per la famglia

this weekend west & i LeArnEd the meaning of "mAndAtOry" (or dEmAndAtOry") . . . . .

this weekend, the family had actually planned to go to the "armpit of the world" buhl, idaho to visit my parents & attend the open house of the newly built twin falls temple. we were all actually excited to go, something i haven't always been able to admit to in the past.

as things do, they quickly degraded from bAd to iMpoSsibLe in a matter of hours! levi had football practice from 6pm - 8pm friday night (something that could be taken as opTioNaL), a "mothers' meeting" at 8pm (again, opTiOnaL, to discuss volunteering for the various waterballon, half-time poster & after game snack committees) & 9:15pm mAndAtoRy weigh-ins for his upcoming first game on the 30th. (mAndAtoRy, for those of ya'all that don't know what that means, is the equivelant of still practicing but nOt playing in any of the games . . . & after making the small investment in mAndAtoRy fees ($210) to play football, we decided levi should attend his mAnDaTory weigh-in on friday night & fore-go the trip to idaho.) west & i mistakenly thought we would have time to squeeze a "friday night date night" dinner in while k8e was at work, levi was at practice & adam was at his scrimmage. the minute we sat down to eat (7:10pm) levi called on a borrowed cell phone inquiring where i was & requesting his shorts (which he fOrgOt to take with him to practice even though i reminded him a bizzillion times during the day) he needed for his weigh-ins. miraclously, levi's practice ended early, his weigh-ins occurred earlier & the mothers' meeting was, of course, still held at 8:15pm. . . . . while i was busy making sure levi had his shirt & shorts for his mAndAtoRy weigh-ins & was faithfully waiting for the rEquiReD "mothers' meeting" (which turned out to be a bunch of, well, nonsense) west & abbie (who had planned to have a slumber party with a friend - abbie had the plans, not west-, but had to cancel since we weren't at home), finished eating the food we (west & i & abbie) had ordered for the "friday night date night" dinner west& i had planned, and then went & picked up k8e, who i had dropped off 3 hours earlier at sugarhouse park (45 minutes from our house) from her "event" she had worked at that evening. after the senseless "mothers' meeting", levi & i swung by riverton high school football field to pick adam up from his mAndAtOry scrimmage for the varsity & jv teams & decided to participate (consume the hamburgers & hotdogs & fruit salads & chips & cookies) in the family bbq that had been scheduled as an incentive after the scrimmage (liek feeding us will be the SoLe determining factor in whether we attended or not . . . ok, so they were right) . . . meanwhile, tessa, who obediently "rto-ed" work off from the theatre to be able to go to idaho for the weekend, decided to pick up an extra shift & make some extra buckos when she figured out that the trip to idaho wasn't happening & each individual family member had individual "mAndAtoRy" & "rEquiReD" plans. she was key in dropping adam off at 5pm for his scrimmage before she went to work from 5pm- 12midnight, while west was driving home from work to help levi get "nebulized" (his asthma has gotten to the point where he is now taking meds to manage it) to his 6pm practice & i dropped k8e off at sugarhouse park at 4:45pm for her work. . . cOmMuTiNg is nOt fUn & is VeRy eXpEnsiVe bOys & GirLs!!!! . . . . . well, west & abs & k8e made it home about 9:30pm while levi & adam & i made it home about 9:45pm. "friday night date night" was nOt . . . . :( then there was saturday . . . .

levi had a "rEqUirEd" practice in bluffdale (30-40 mins south of our home) from 8am -9am with a "mAndAtOry" scrimmage from 9am-11am. "mAnDatOry" in this case means, show-up & play or LoSe your starting position (levi is starting at defensive tackle). . . . adam was told he had a "mAndAtOry" film meeting saturday morning at the high school at 9am: "mAndAtOry" in this case means aTtEnD or be kiCkEd oFF the team . . . mama has a "mAnDaToRy" gym class every saturday from 8am-9am. "mAndAtoRy" in this case means let mama go to the gym to exercise or someone gets eaten! . . . saturday was trying to be true to the theme of the weekend (aka: west & tasha get screwed out of any time together), but west & tasha had other plans . . . . mama didn't make her gym class but was successful at talking (ok, maybe a little bit of bribing) levi out of participating in his "scrimmage" & tess was sweet enough to step up & drive adam to the high school . . . west & i decided to make a few "mAndAtOry" & "dEmAnDaTory" plans of our own: we told the kids that we had a "mAndAtOry" bike (motorcycles) ride scheduled immediately & every family member needed to "sacrafice". at this point, k8e offered to babysit & adam volunteered to entertain levi while we left. (who says demands don't work!?)

other things west & i learned this weekend:

1) manufacturing 2 stroke motorcycles is now illegal in utah

2) don't ride your motorcycle sideways in the shallow river, you might fall over

3) the way you hold a cookie in your hand makes your hand look either bigger or smaller

4) having a family is aLoT of work but rEaLLy gOoD when eVeRyoNe steps-up & helps:)

che buffo!

my life has felt aLoT liek the photo this week . . . ok, the last several weeks . . . . but i am happy to report that the polar bear has nOt eaten any of us!

levi & adam have had football . . . morning, noon & night . . . LiteRaLLy! adam has had practices from 7:30am - 1pm & levi's practices have been from 6pm - 8pm both mOndAy tHruOugH fRidAy!!! adam has a "required scrimmage" tomorrow & levi's first "game" is on the 30th afterwhich practices will be after school for a "few hours" for adam 4 days of the week w/ 1 game/ week & levi's practices will be 3 evenings/week w 1 game eVeRy saturday:( why is organized violence sSsSsOoOoOoOo eNteRtAiNing?! levi took a helmet to his left elbow last night in practice & his asthma is giving him problems . . . . but there IS a solution: drugs in the form on an inhaler:) (praise alla!)

my hOrRibLe business commercial law class ended & i was rEaLLy happy to see my grade posted on-line as an 'A-' . . . uNtiL i got my final paper back & saw the mEaNy professor had rEaLLy given me an 'A' but posted the wRoNg gRaDe on-line:( i'm in the process of making him change it . . . he isn't returning my emails, but he can't ignore me forever . . . . i kNoW where his office IS & i kNoW which department he teaches in!!!!

the family had planned to attended the open house of the new Twin Falls Temple, about 30 miles east of where my parents live in the "armpit of the world town" called bUhL, iDaHo . . . but fOoTbaLL & gReEd got in the way:( levi has practice, yes, friday night from 6pm - 8pm with a "mother's meeting" at 8:15pm & "official weigh-ins" that if you miss you can't play in the first game of the season on august 30th at 9:15pm on friday night! (who schedules this stuff anyway! a bunch of wEirDo uTahNs) adam has his "must be there or can't play in the first unofficial game next friday" scrimmage on friday night . . . so k8e decided to cash in on the situation & make a few buckaroos of her own by requesting to work friday evening/night & saturday day . . . eyee, yiee, yiaaaa . . . and tess was the oNLy one who made sure she got both friday & saturday off to go . . . . . mama mia! . . . . . and we made sure the air conditioning in the van was fixed for the trip, too! (which i rEaLLy appReciAtE, especially when i'm driving home from work at 6pm at night:)

our family goal: do oNe bRaVe thing & . . . well, you kNoW the rest;)

La festa come RoCksTar;)

buddy veg weekend is quickly coming to a close . . . i am happy to report that there were no survivors;) sprinklers were ignored, weeds were left to grow wild & the house was forced to fend for itself!

west & i learned that just because a restaurant is cRaZy bUsy & cOmpLeteLy pAcKed doesn't mean that one mUsT wait for service. . . . .being a superhero has its advantages;) Cafe' Rio, Friday night, wall to wall hUnGry utahns with chemically altered hair, and only 45 minutes to order, eat, drive to the theatre (10 minutes away) & make it to our movie pick for our Friday night DaTe! we had previously picked up the movie tickets because twice before, our attempts to view this movie had been tHwArTeD! time was of the essence, a natural resource we couldn't waste & weren't allowed to purchase more of . . . some evil fiend was aGaiN trying to throw a monkey wrench in our fRiDayNigHt dAtepLaNs:( (dunt, dunt, dun. . . the plot thickens & the suspensful music esculates) . . .(what EVER will they do? calgon, take them away!) liek a tRuE superhero, west quickly and bRiLLantLy assessed the situation devising a pErfEcT fuLLpRoOf pLaN for us to jump ahead of the 50+ fake blondes & jock wanna-bes preventing us from reaching our goal: the front of the line! we walked outside, communicator & dialing device in hand, made our wants and wishes kNoWn & had our order in hand in 10 minutes! . . . . evil villans will have to quit using sSsSoOoOoOo much dye in their hair in order to keep up with us mentally . . . . . . oh, & the movie was pretty gOoD tOo!

saturday was discouraging . . . trying to purchase a pair of magic boots of escaping in preparation for our buddy veg rOaDtRip in 2 weeks. i've noticed i pick up a few bruises on my legs & feet every time we ride (call me the 'human banana': my superpowers are inflicting bruises on myself. . . i missed the course on inflicting bruises on others) we learned some sports are bLanTanLy discriminatory towards specific genders (wOmEn) . . . clinging to the archaic belief that men & women can wear the sAmE bOoT that was specially designed for a mans' phat foot (an idea that came from a mans' fat head!) west, once again showing his tRuE superhero character, bought me a pair of pink goggles. . . (my HeRo, heavy sigh:)

saturday night: west & i have a friend, Andy, that lieks to share drinks with us. it all started one new year's eve when he & a bunch of married couples started making new years' resolutions to aLwAyS "share a drink with Andy". he was the only single guy there as i recall & everyone wanted to make him feel, well, welcomed & not single! well, Andy found Jalizebeth & their wedding reception was at the top of Noah's (i am nOt making up the name of this reception hall. . . ask west) the flood rains started (i'm nOt making that up either!) but the air conditioning in the van was fixed! we traveled through the pounding rain and relentless wind & once we arrived, we climbed the hidden cement staircase as the flood waters rose. once "on deck", (the top had a partially opened ceiling) we congratulated Andy & Jalizebeth and found many families huddling around tables two by two (ha, ha) wild children were running free & the ice cream was melting in all the rain . . . west & i decided we needed rEaL superhero food (brain food: protein) & left for RuBy RiVeR . . .

all the hitchin' peanut posts were takin' & the peanut shells were left on the floor! (as if a bucket full of peanuts every customer shoves their hands into for a 'bite' was appetizin' to me!) if i didn't kNoW that Ruby River had the bEsT cinnamon yams & steak in Utah, i would have left from the filthy conditions they presented in their waiting area. after rustlin' up some grub & vittles that hadn't been handled by every customer in the place, we stopped by the washburns' homestead for a night cap. actually, they called & invited us over. . . we discussed the ways we could further save the town & the world from its own growing ignorance & the greed of corporate America outsourced to foreign lands. we learned that 'profit taking' is when gas stations first price their gas LoWeR than the national average & then raise their prices hiHgEr than the national average in order to "break even" (we didn't buy it either!) . . brooks decided flipping the 'birdie' at the flying J was a gOoD start at reclaiming americans' intelligence;)

sunday: meetings were LoNg & boring & attendance was down. kids were forced back into town about 4:30pm ( i think their step-mom had hAd eNougH despite her claims to the opposite . . . yes, there IS a sToRy there, but not for this bLoGg!) they were hungrier than a teradactyal after a fast. . . . Levi got stung when he & Adam ventured out to the abandoned swingset. i don't think they'll be going out there again any time soon.tess had to work.

being a superhero is tOugH . . i mean t-O-p-H!

La casa noi

for years now, the neighborhood has had "the unspoken but well understood" contest to see which house had the most gEtTo- rEdNeCk, iNtenSiOnaLLy nEgLecTed yard . . . and for years, we were cLoSe to winning this dReAdeD & uNcoVetEd TitLe, but were aLwAyS saved from the first place position by the two continually abandonded homes. . . one home has gone through 3 owners, the other 4, and one of the homes has been vAcAnT since west & i married almost 4 years ago. . . . we always felt pretty confident that we would nEveR be unanimously & quitely chosen as the gEtTo-rEdNeCk, iNtenSiOnaLLy nEgLecTed yard. . . and then the banks, or whomever is nOt making a profit on these two abandoned homes, thought they could intice some buyers to actually sTay in the house IF they put in sprinklers, sod, got rid of the weeds, put up nice fences, and LaNdsCapEd the yard! rEaLLy, the selfish thoughtlessness of these people . . . did they even rEaLizE what they were doing in terms of the tight competition for this gRoSsLy uNcoVetEd but nEceSsAry award within the neighborhood?! well . . . west & i bEcAme mOtiVatEd with a LaRge cApiTaL "M" . . . sprinklers are aLmoSt done, recovering the lawn from the morning glory and weeds . . . well, that will take a little longer. we'll keep ya'all posted;)