Ball Babies

"Moostaches" and a small snippet of Christmas

2012-01-04T22:31:00.005-07:00

This was probably the most fun gift of the day... Too bad we had to share it!

But I can't forget these hand knitted beauties. They were one of the faves as well!

Knitted by none other than Lyssie Lou herself. Wish I could say I taught her those fierce knitting skills...I'll leave that to YouTube.

...More Christmas updates to come. I know you're super excited.

Mama Bear at the Movies

2011-12-28T22:56:00.004-07:00

This holiday season has been one of shopping, eating, and movie seeing. We took the kids to a couple of movies and I really enjoyed adoring Robert Downey, Jr.'s hair, quirky personality, and wit. I also admired Tom Cruise's Ray Banned face, stunts, and smarts. Studs, I tell ya. Both of them, pure studs.

Our family enjoys a good movie complete with stadium seating, gifted movie tickets, and crowds galore.

What I don't enjoy is the occasional doofus who sits in front of one of my children and turns around to tell my child to quit kicking his chair.

Doofus: (Turning around) "Quit kicking my chair."

Me: (leaning over to Payton who is 3 seats away) "Did you kick his chair?"

Payton: Shaking his head "no".

Me: Settling back in to enjoy Tom and his chiseledness - is that a word?

Ten minutes later...

Doofus: (Turning around) "Quit kicking my chair!"

Me: (Leaning over to Payton who is three seats away) "Payton, are you kicking this guy's chair?"

Payton: Looking shocked and shaking his head "no".

Me: (to the doofus in a loud whisper) "He's not kicking your chair. His legs aren't long enough to reach your chair. Leave him alone and turn around and watch the movie!"

Doofus: Turned around and watched the movie for the rest of the evening.

Me: (Heart pounding out of my chest leaning over to Kourtni): "Keep your legs very still, I don't want to pick another fight!"

Yeah, I'm a grizzly mama bear when it comes to defending my children. Don't mess with me, especially in a dark movie theater cuz I will. take. you. on.

Tom Cruise has definitely worn off on me. Sheesh.

"Don't you be messin' wit our momma."

Houston, we have a concussion...

2011-12-23T19:34:00.002-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I picked Payton and a couple of his buddies up from a jumpy-bouncy-flippy-how-can-insurance-companies-let-this-happen-place. He and I made eye contact when I walked in the door and I could tell something was wrong with his face. As I got closer to him, I realized his nose was the shape of a 'J' and his eyes were red from tears. Um, what the &*$# happened, only son with a perfect nose of mine??? Long story short, he had done a double flip (it was a double flip, Mom.) and his knee made contact with his little perky nose. I'm not one to remain calm when it comes to accidents happening to my kids. Nope. I scurried him to the car, got on the phone with Bill who told me to call Jeff - our brother/brother-in-law Physician Assistant. I was prepared and ready to hyperventilate as I drove toward the hospital to have his little sniffer checked out when Jeff told me not to. He would check him the next day at Thanksgiving dinner. Needless to say, I was a mess the rest of the night and kept telling Payton to come look at me. Yeah, I know, I'm a little obsessive about this only boy child of mine. He couldn't breathe very well for the next week but the swelling went down and now his little schnoz is the shape of a mild lower case 'j'... Pretty sure he didn't break it after all, but it sure got me worked up and I still ask him to come and look at me so I can determine if there is any "movement".

Fast forward 3 weeks, new situation, new sport, different child:

Bill, Pate, and I walked in to the gym to see Kourtni's basketball game, but she wasn't on the court. She had gotten a head to her nose within the first 13 seconds of the varsity game and was on the sideline with an ice pack ON HER NOSE. Sheesh. What is it with these kids of mine and their noses??

Engage freak out mode for this momma. Great, just great. Another possible broken nose in the Ball household. But it was worse. Much worse than a broken nose. Poor Kourt had to be escorted out of the gym by the trainer because there was evidence that she had suffered a concussion from the rock hard noggin of the player who head butted my daughter. I waited for her to come back to the gym. I waited and waited and asked Bill if I should go to her rescue...he said no. Wait, just wait. Pretty soon the Athletic Director climbed the bleachers to where we were sitting and told us I needed to come with him because our daughter had suffered a concussion. Serious stuff. Especially in the state of Idaho. Within the past couple of years there have been major steps taken to protect young athletes who have had concussions. Kourtni was put through a battery of cognitive tests while she was laying on the training table. Her pupils were tracked, questions about months of the year and scores of previous games were asked along with a myriad of other questions to test her cognition. Two weeks minimum away from playing her favorite sport. No running allowed, no "thinking" recommended, no driving, no sports watching on TV, no high school basketball game attending. All in all - a mellow weekend was prescribed for our Kourt. This was all very concerning and I was a little afraid for her well being until I heard Kourtni say, "I just want to punch the girl who did this in the face." That's my girl. I knew she was ok.

She still isn't practicing with the team; instead doing 30 minutes of monotonous stationary bike riding until she gets the clear from our local hospital. It's been a pain for Kourtni. She wants to play. Her team has been plagued with injuries, and she wants to get in some "ballin' time"!

Better safe than sorry though. Even though she really likes the black eye she's sporting, we want Kourtni to leave high school with as many brain cells as she had when she entered! Oh, and her nose is just as button-like as ever, by the way.

My Yearly Addiction

2011-12-22T21:25:00.004-07:00

It happens once a year. I make my nemesis.
My "crack".
My addiction for a day.
My buttery, corn syrupy, brown sugary, molassesy (is that a word?) confection.

Ah, yes, it is my love. It is what makes my legs squish out more when I sit down. It is what makes my belly hang over my belt with more abandon. It is what makes my face look like Alvin the Chipmunk. It is what makes the butt part of my jeans fit a little bit tighter. It is...

the dreaded

C A R M E L C O R N!

I look forward to this treat all year. I throw all my health food crazed notions to the wind on this day, and I indulge with a capital "I". Yes, people, I am an addict of crunchy carmel crazed goodness.

I have a great recipe and I'm not afraid to use it. At any other time of the year I would laugh hysterically if you asked me to consume even a fourth of what I ate today. I would scoff at the notion that corn syrup - alas, even the high fructose variety - would enter my body. And the butter, oh, the butter. I am not afraid of the vast amounts of butter on carmel corn day. I laugh at it in the face as I unpeel four cubes of the greasy stuff to put on the stove to melt into oblivion in my delicious concoction.

The fifth, sixth, and seventh batch. I've eaten almost the whole pan with the green spoon in it...
I'm good like that - er, actually BAD like that.

I'll pay for it tomorrow, and the next day, and when I want to wear my skinny jeans, and especially when I get the courage to step on to the bathroom scales. BUT...I'll run harder, longer, I'll work out with more gusto, and I'll have amazing memories knowing that I had a day full of bliss with my beloved carmel corn confection.

Payton was in his happy place while I was in mine.

I did share some of it.

Awwwww...

2011-12-02T21:49:00.003-07:00

Bill on the phone to Payton: "It's time to come home, Payton, we're going to the Christmas party."

Payton: "I really don't want to go."

Friends in the background: "Don't go, we're not going, don't go!"

Payton: "Do I have to go?"

Bill: "Well, we're eating dinner there, what will you eat if you don't go?"

Payton: "I don't know, I'll find something."

Bill: "OK, you don't have to, you can stay home."

Payton: "Does Mom want me to go?"

Bill: "She'd like you to come with us."

Payton: "OK, I'll be right there then. I'll go. Be right home."

Isn't that the cutest, sweetest thing you've ever heard a son say to/about his mother? I'm so glad I have a boy - a great kid who still kisses me good-bye when I drop him off at school, in front of the jr. high, where 7th, 8th, and 9th graders are walking into the building acting all cool and whatnot. Yep, that's my Patey and I'll take as many loves as this boy is willing to shell out to his mother!

Thanksgiving break + a little time = a new post

2011-10-29T22:49:00.009-06:00

First off, the date today is really November 20...disregard the date above. I'm a computer dork and don't know how to fix it... Carry on:

There comes a time each fall when most people are more thankful than at any other time of the year. You guessed it: Thanksgiving. I'm also very thankful for Thanksgiving: the food, the pumpkin desserts in abundance, the smells, the weather, the love, the (gas) fire in the (gas) fireplace, and a wonderful family whom I adore!

BUT...

There is another reason I get absolutely giddy with thanks at this time of year...

One whole week off from school!

Oh, my goodness, how I am thankful for this week off from the alarm clock, from planning lessons, from chaotic mornings, and from rushing here and there to find things for school.

Yep, I (and every other teacher in my school district) and EXTREMELY grateful for this week of bliss and celebration!

Oh, and it also gave me a little time to put some pictures on this pathetic ole blog! Enjoy! (I know I will!!)

Here is a little peek of some things that have been going on this fall here at the Ball's:

Yep, when we get together we love to eat and be photographed enjoying the food...

Mr. and Mrs. Seth Roth! What a great looking couple, no?

Four of the Ball boy cousins - Payton, Ryker, Ryan, and Preston.

Aren't the backs of their heads ridiculous??

Candid shot of the very candid Ball gang.

We didn't even try to coordinate and look how great these gals look! Lindsay, Brynlee, Kourtni, and Alyssa.

Two blue-eyed beauties - and best friends/cousins. So sweet.

The family at sweet Grandma Burleigh's funeral in Evanston. What a beautiful day to celebrate her life. A wonderful program with lots of family to see and re-acquaint ourselves with.

Mom and her kids minus Kenyon who had to catch his flight to Hawaii.

A labor day bike ride - yeah, we still can't get enough of the baby of the bunch. We love to hold him whenever we can...

Lindsay took to cross country running like a pro. She was born to run.

First day of 11th grade. Where has the time gone...

My newest sophomore, little Lindsay. sigh.

The stud of the eighth grade...(at least in mom's eyes!)

Summer lovin' (note the tans...) and summer birthdays!

Two chocolate cream pies from the truck stop, please. Yes, it was a request and, yes, they really were from a truck stop. Delicious, too!

Little trekkers off to the Owyhee desert for 3 days to get a taste of what the pioneers faced. Bill and I got a taste of what empty nesting will feel like: WIERD!!

Bye bye flip phone...

2011-10-12T16:38:00.002-06:00

I have never thought twice about the coolness of cell phones. Truthfully, they are not a status symbol to me. Never have been, never will be. I didn't mind when Kourtni and Lindsay got my upgrade 2 years ago. Didn't mind when Bill and Alyssa got cool new phones WITH data plans last Christmas. Nope. It was just me and old blue - old "flipper"!

I never thought twice about my status as a flip phone holder. Never even thought I was uncool when I answered my phone by unfolding it. I didn't even realize what I was missing when everyone around me was surfing the internet, reading the news in class, checking Facebook at church, or, heaven forbid, reading their scriptures on those little gadgets.

Never thought twice about it until I pulled out my phone in a class I took with several teachers from my school.

Me: Pulling out my phone to check for a lone text that one of my children didn't send me.

PE teacher: Aghast - YOU have a flip phone?

Me: Yeah, I do. I use it to text and call my kids and husband.

PE teacher: Aghast - I didn't know anyone had flip phones anymore.

Me: Well, I do, and I love it!

PE teacher: Still aghast and speechless.

It was a great relationship with old "flipper". We got along well, I learned to text at lightening speed, and I could talk on that thing for hours without getting too many neck cramps. I really liked him. (Not sure if the phone was a girl or not...)

I dropped old "flipper" in the parking lot a couple of weeks ago. I had done it plenty of times before so I didn't give it much thought as I bent over to pick up the three pieces that had fallen off after skidding across the blacktop. As I put the pieces together, a feeling of dread came across me. There was no life in my phone. Just a white screen. A barren white screen. No familiar picture that told me if I had texts or messages! Crap. Crap, crap, crap. A trip to the T-mobile store was in order.

Fast forward to the next day. I was weak. I needed a phone and needed one pronto. I was prepared to pay $0 in the store and get myself another good old flipper. Imagine my horror when the sales guy told me that the 6 flip phones he carried were going to be obsolete in a couple of months. WHY would I NOT want a SMART phone??? Peer pressure crept over me. Panic struck at my core. I was totally missing out on something I really didn't care about - I know cuz the sales guy told me. Pressure, fatigue, desperation, and weakness set in.

I caved.

I tested.

I listened with tired ears.

I pondered.

I purchased.

I didn't spend $0.

Nope. Add about $130 to that number.

What's a girl to do? Most of MY parts are becoming obsolete; I don't want my phone to become obsolete as well!

Long story short, I am now the owner of a SMART phone that makes me feel very UN-SMART. In fact it makes me feel rather stupid. I miss my old phone. I miss the ease at which I could operate it. I miss the cute little envelope that told me I had texts, or a message. I miss old "flipper".

May he (or she) rest in pieces...

Fall in the Palm of my Shirt

2011-09-30T11:33:00.004-06:00

Yes, that's my shirt holding all those lovely homegrown wonders...And I didn't even plant a thing this year. All those gorgeous gals are compliments of last year - volunteers who wanted to stick around for another year in my measly, pathetic weed infested, chicken loving garden.

I'm glad they stayed. Wish they could be here 'til November when I'm REALLY craving a garden treat. *sigh*

Happy Birthday, Mr. Ball

2011-09-15T18:19:00.006-06:00

It was his birthday yesterday.

He took me to Hawaii this summer!

(I know it's blurry but I like it...)

He's a GREAT dad!

Lookin' good in them glasses, boy!

His kids LOVE, LOVE, LOVE him!

He goes as many of the kids' events as he can, AND,

He can pull off wearing a beanie indoors!

This is where he'll spend the majority of his time during college football season...

(With that goofy kid in the background along for the ride.)

And I'm definitely OK with that.

Love you, Bill

46 never looked so good!

Mars Midnight

2011-08-19T17:31:00.004-06:00

I got by with a little help from my dark chocolate, sweet carmel, delicious nougat friend.

Yep, it was one of those days.

Look what getting ready for school does to me.

I'm weak, I tell you.

W.E.A.K.

*Sigh*

Happiest Place on Earth

2011-08-11T23:10:00.003-06:00

True Fact: In all my 43 years of living I have never been to Disneyland. That all changed in July when Bill and I took the kids (and myself) to the happiest place on earth where all your dreams come true. (And you stand and stand and stand and stand some more in mile long lines. Good thing I'm 43 years old and VERY patient.)

We took lots of pictures. Lots of them. I could show you the pictures of us in a traffic jam from Las Vegas to Rancho Cucamonga, or I could show you pictures of the Disneyland fireworks, or the pictures of our "nasty" little motel across the road and down a ways from Disneyland, or I could post pictures of us eating lunch in the park, or having a picnic on a high school lawn, or maybe I could show you the pictures taken at the San Diego Zoo, or a picture of Shamu from Sea World, but, to tell you the truth, the funniest pictures of all
were the pictures we took
of the pictures the park took
of our final seconds on some of the most fun rides I have ever been on.
Yeah, those are definitely some of my favorites so here you go:

Space Mountain - stood in line for 2 hours for this baby.
Good thing we were patient and that the girls had long hair so Alyssa could practice her mad hair skills on their long locks. Lots of cool "do's" were done in that line.

California Screamin' - 0 to 55 mph in less than 10 seconds! We were screamin'!

More California Screamin' - or in Payton's case: California goofin'

Now it's California sleepin'...teasin'...and mouth openin'...

Tower of Terror - Absolute Favorite!
(Notice Lindsay's hair!)

It was sooooo fun, we had to do it again!

The Simpson's Ride - Can you say "Doh!"

A Must Read

2011-07-26T20:32:00.002-06:00

What is summer break without a good book or two to occupy your sun filled days? On our trip to California, I knew I could count on Alyssa to bring along some excellent books and she didn't disappoint me. I quickly fell in love with The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Historical fiction from post World War II and written in letter format, I was quickly sucked in with the quirky characters and funny dialogue. One minute I was laughing and chuckling, the next I was trying not to cry out loud at the sadness and human atrocities that occurred during the Nazi reign of terror. I felt a sense of urgency to get this book read so that it could be returned to Alyssa's roommate when we returned. It is an easy read with no F bombs being dropped every other sentence - what a welcome relief from the many books out there with yucky language.

Read this book!

Immediately!

You'll be soooo glad you did!

Kona, Kona, Kona, Friday bye-bye

2011-07-25T23:11:00.004-06:00

I knew that going to Hawaii meant coming home from Hawaii.
Bummer.
Sure I missed the kids, my familiar surroundings, and my house, but that was about it. Oh, well, such is the nature of a vacation, so we went to the beach and the pool one last time and called it good. One final dinner in downtown Kona, one futile attempt at a last shave ice (WHO RUNS OUT OF ICE AT A SHAVE ICE STORE???), three stuffed pretzels eaten on the trunk of the rental, a final inhale of fresh ocean air, a 5 hour flight over the dark Pacific Ocean during the middle of the night, a 1 1/2 hour flight from San Francisco, and 3 kids and a mother-in-law who were very glad to see the travelers return.

Bye-bye for now, Kona. Maybe we'll meet again someday...

This bad boy fell on Bill's empty chair while we were getting lunch. Ouch.

The view from my lounge chair. I know, right??

Part of the ocean/swimming pool.

Pretty windy, but beautiful still.

My view when I decided to look up from my book.

Yeah, I'm pretty happy around ocean, palm trees, beautiful scenery, and warm tropical breezes.

Yeah, I'm pretty sad when it's time to leave the ocean, palm trees, beautiful scenery, and tropical breezes.

Crazy pretzels that took the place of our shave ice. Shave ice would have been much better.

Life is good in Kona, Hawaii, but there are more people who love us in Boise, Idaho!

Kona, Kona, Kona, Thursday

2011-07-15T21:19:00.008-06:00

This picture is from the first day - NOT the day mentioned below... carry on.

Aw, yes, Thursday in Kona, Hawaii. Definitely not my favorite day. Definitely the day I dreaded. Definitely the day I thought for sure we would die in the open water; easy shark bait. Very easy shark bait.

When making plans for Kona, we decided to go on a snorkeling outing. That was fine. I had snorkeled before in Mexico. I loved it! I was good at it and didn't get seasick in the least. However, this snorkeling outing was nothing like Mexico. No boat with a motor to take us out to our destination. Nope. Just KAYAKS. Yep. We would kayak 1 1/2 miles to the snorkeling sight, anchor the kayaks together, get our snorkeling gear on, snorkel for 45 minutes, climb giant 25 foot cliffs, jump off, eat snacks on the rocks, get back into the kayaks, paddle 1 1/2 miles back.

Um.K.
There were definitely problems in this plan for me.
1. No boat with a motor.
2. Big ocean swells due to a storm system moving through.
3. A husband who gets green around the gills on any kind of boat - literally green. (He was my kayak companion. Ahem.)
4. Paddling out in to the DEEP water, unsure of what hungry sea animal(s) were around us.
**OK, OK, in my defense, I had seen the movie Soul Surfer a couple of months before, and, people, she got her arm bitten off by a SHARK!!!**
5. Fear of the unknown ocean- you see, as much as I L.O.V.E. the ocean, I really, really like it from the shore. Not paddling on it.

I was pretty scared. Not much talking on my part. Tried to stay focused on my paddling. Kept my life jacket on the entire time. Didn't really have the stomach to enjoy the snacks. Could not possibly have jumped off of the 25 foot cliff - even though Bill, John, and Stefanie did it...show offs. Was super grateful to return to where we started. The old arms got a great workout from those 3 miles of paddling. (yes!) Didn't get seasick at.all. Nuff said.

Needless to say, I was very glad to be finished with that "adventure", get my feet on dry ground, and feel less shaken up inside.

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring downtown Kona complete with its flea market, quaint restaurants, excellent views of the ocean, shopping for souvenirs for the kids, DELICIOUS shave ice - dreamsicle with ice cream in the middle to be exact, and a lunch of various shrimp dishes at Bubba Gump's.

Yeah! Back on solid ground. Whew.

View from Bubba Gump's

Self explanatory, no?

Uh, John, you look a little too natural in this picture... haha

Bill, you don't look natural at all.

Shave ice shop. Yummmmm.

Delicious Dreamsicle shave ice. "Shave ice" NOT "Shaved ice"--I was reminded to say it right...

Our shave ice preparer - check out those gauges! Whoa.

I loved this scooter, all decked out with boogey boards, just in case...

A common sight along the lava covered roadside. Take some white rocks, spell words, walah!

Kona, Kona, Kona, Wednesday

2011-07-15T16:34:00.004-06:00

Since Tuesday's beach activity was limited to public access - including various feral cats trying to be caught by the locals - we decided to venture out onto a four wheeling accessible road to hike through miles of lava fields to (finally) arrive at my slice of paradise! The day started out fine until I realized I hadn't brought my camera.
Grrr.

It would have been nice to document the barren landscape
(how can there possibly be a beach at the end of this road???),
the wild billy goats
(with the females of the group each being chased by 8 or 9 males - sheesh),
the top of a bikini left behind on the trail
(who leaves their top behind?),
the abandoned wooden resort buildings from the 50s
(can you say From Here To Eternity?),
and finally the 3 crescent shaped beaches laid out in all their beautiful salty pale blue glory
(the internet pictures didn't do them justice and I don't think my camera would have either!).

Yes, as I mentioned before, I was like a little child at Christmas! My running/hiking shoes were immediately flung onto the beach, my socks were pulled off inside out and tossed next to the shoes, and Bill and I took.off.running. We were giddy. We were mesmerized. We were like little kids at Christmas! I asked Bill as we were running if he thought I had thrown my shoes far enough away from the surf... He didn't seem to think there was a problem so I believed him and kept running to explore those glorious sandy beaches. Exhileration was the word of the day.

After we decided to return to our friends, who had stayed at the first beach, we were caught up in the beauty and the delicious smell that the ocean provided for us. No cares in the world at this point, only feelings of regret that:
a.) we had no camera,
b.) we had no water or food, and
c.) we had no swimsuits or towels.
Dang blast it.
As we approached where our shoes and socks were laying, I noticed that my shoes had gotten closer to the water's edge. Upon further examination, I realized that I only had one sock and that one of my shoes was filled with sand and sea water. Oh.My.Gosh. How lucky was I that my shoe had not been taken out to sea along with its sock?!? I was so thankful that I had both shoes to put back on to hike across those miles of lava and rough road. I'm not sure what we would have done had I lost my shoe and sock. It would have been a nightmare indeed to walk back those 2 miles with one shoe on...Yikes. Bill's back would have been awfully sore from carrying me piggy-back!

Later that day Bill and I ventured on a little field trip to the highest point on the island: Mauna Kea. We filled up a grocery sack with yummy junk food and drove the windy, foggy, narrow road up to the visitors' center. I never thought I would have to wear a sweatshirt in Hawaii, experience freezing toes on the side of a volcano, or feel the sweet relief of hot cocoa in July!

In order to ascend to the top of the mountain, you had to have a 4-wheel drive vehicle or pay big bucks to ride in one of the rigged up vans that were stationed at the visitors' center. We opted to stay at the 9,000 feet above sea level visitors' center, certain we would have become ice cubes with our lack of winter woolies. We truly enjoyed all the wind, all the driving on Mario Kart roads, all the clouds that surrounded us below, and the sunset as it went behind this 13,497 foot high sacred mountain. The history, the lore, the sacredness, and the beauty were highlights of our trip!

Kona, Kona, Kona, Tuesday...

2011-07-14T19:46:00.008-06:00

So when you go to Hawaii, (or at least when I go to Hawaii) I'm all about the beaches, the surf, the ocean, and the sunset. Tuesday was BEACH DAY, Baby. We were determined to find one of the beaches we had read about, the problem was, you had to walk about 2 miles through lava rock and an extremely rough road to get to the slice of paradise I had read and longed about.

Tuesday morning: get in rented Altima. John and Bill in front.

Kris and Stef in back.

Drive and drive and drive by lava fields, quaint little towns,

the Kona Temple,

and through extremely winding roads. Need water and snacks. Stop at a humid, muggy, nasty little Hawaiian store for over priced water, Big Hunk candy bars, coconut candy, and dried Ahi tuna jerky. Realize we need breakfast as well. Go across street to Rebel Kitchen Cafe and eat yummy breakfast burritoes. Resume driving. Realize we are miles away from the slice of paradise I so longed to be at.

Stop the car. Take pictures.

Get back in car and retrace route of quaint little towns, extremely windy roads, and lots of lava fields. Realize that the slice of heaven we are looking for is less than 5 miles from our condo... hmmm. Decide we will go to public beach since it is now noon and we will leave the hike for tomorrow's adventure.

For so long I have wanted a picture of my toes in the sand with the beach in the background!

Lots and lots and lots of sand to clean out of our swimsuits for a couple of days! Yessss!
"Just hoping that the tide doesn't hit my chair..."
(The Zack Brown Band totally ROCKS.)

Gorgeous beach with clear, light blue water that was so salty it literally made your nose run like a momma who had injected saline into her baby's stuffy nose to break up the congestion.
(Am I the only momma who ever did that???)
Pretty salty.

We were full and happy with our Costco spinach salads, yummy baguette, diet Cokes all around, and shrimp cocktails. Probably my most favorite meal of the trip!

Then it came.
That long awaited for-haven't seen it since Mexico 8 years ago-nostalgic feeling of a beach
SUNSET!
So.Awesome.

John and Stefanie enjoyed it too so I took their picture like the creepy stalker that I am when I have a camera!

Some of the locals (or "natives" as I called them...) enjoying the sunset before acting all crazy again by running into the surf from the shore, with their boogey boards, to catch a wave and surf it in or skim the wave in. They were nuts!

Just another day in paradise!

Breaking News

2011-07-13T15:44:00.003-06:00

***We Interrupt This Blog Session About Hawaii To Bring You Breaking News***

After only a year and a half of driver's ed completion, Kourtni Ball now has her DRIVER'S LICENSE. This morning, it is reported, that she took her skills test with a tester who filled up the entire front seat, and a mother who KEPT HER MOUTH SHUT in the back seat the entire time for fear of causing her daughter to fail said skills test if any negative comments spewed forth. Although there were 7 points taken from Miss Ball's score, due to California stops at stop signs, she did indeed pass the test and proceeded to the DMV while narrowly missing a cement barrier. Both daughter and mother are fine, but mother's negative comments spewed forth at that moment - good for Miss Ball because the skill's tester was not in the car, I repeat, the skill's tester was not in the car.

After an hour and a half of sitting at the DMV listening to the female computerized voice designating which window to proceed to, the knowledge test was studied for, taken, and passed. We repeat, it was studied for, taken, and passed. Only 4 points were missed and her picture was snapped, fees were paid, and texts were sent to friends and family proclaiming the glorious news.

Upon arrival at home after a celebratory lunch at Cafe Rio, Miss Ball immediately asked for the keys to the family van and was off with a friend for an afternoon of sun worship. The van is scheduled to arrive at home by 6:00 with no new dents, scratches, or cracked oil pans.

***We Now Return You To Your Regularly (or not so regular) Scheduled Blog Post***

Kona, Kona, Kona, Monday, 4th of July Style...

2011-07-13T15:03:00.006-06:00

The 4th of July was a bit untraditional for us this year.

No parades, no red, white, and blue clothes, no rubber pancake breakfasts, a bbq hosted by Hawaiians, (who definitely DID NOT cook my hamburger all the way through...), and no long, drawn out fireworks at 10:00. In fact, these fireworks were the shortest I've ever seen and at the earliest time as well. In Hawaii the sun goes down at about 7:00, so the fireworks were scheduled for 8:00. By the time we left the restaurant, walked across the parking lot, tried to get out of the way of all those palm trees, the show had ended. At 8:08, our 4th of July was definitely over. Weird. Don't get me wrong, the 4th of July in Hawaii was amazing but not your same old, same old festivities.

Life is good in Kona, Hawaii.

I just love this picture because I can see the palm trees in my sunglasses. Cool.

Yeah, we're cool like that sportin' our red, white, and blue.

We spent the day at the pool and tried and tried to get the sun to quit hiding from us behind silly clouds. We were giddy with happiness when we got more than 10 minutes of warm rays. We people watched, read our books, made John wait on us by driving around trying to find decent priced diet-Coke and some good food to eat pool side, and we ate double scoop ice cream cones of macadamia nut, and Kona coffee mud pie ice cream. Yep, we waited all day at the pool for 4:30 to come so we could devour those free fourth of July frozen Hawaii delights!

We ate our 4th of July dinner in true style at the most expensive restaurant we've ever been to. (Did you know that when you spend money in Hawaii it's only play money? Yeah, it's true!) Roy's got our business that night and they did not disappoint, but I would have liked more than 3 macadamia nuts in my $15.00 salad... (just sayin') The edamame was delicious and spicy, the 3 macadamia nut salad was worth its weight in gold ('cuz we had to use all our gold to buy it.), the butterfish was just that - "like butta!", and our hot chocolate souffle was sinful and moan inducing. De.Lish.

Butterfish - aka Alaskan Black Cod. Oh.My.Deliciousness.

Hot chocolate souffle cake. Heaven help us.

Happy Belated Fourth of July! Hawaiian style.

Kona, Kona, Kona...

2011-07-11T06:18:00.004-06:00

Well, it took 43 years, 4 children, and 23 years of marriage, but we finally did it! We bit the Hawaii bullet and took a vacation to the Big Island last week.

This was really not something we had planned on doing but rather a spur of the moment decision made in June when our friends, John and Stefanie, told us about their time share in Hawaii. They needed to use their time share points by August and wondered if they should book a 2 bedroom or a 1 bedroom.

Um, 2 bedroom, please!

I was a little apprehensive after we said YES because I remembered I had 3 children at home... Three children who would need an adult to stay with them. But then I also remembered I had a mother-in-law who would LOVE to make a trip to Boise and cater to their every whim! Problem solved!

Bill bought the plane tickets, we researched tourist-y things to do, our neighbor gave us her Big Island handbook, I went shopping for swimsuits, flip flops, shorts, dresses, and sunglasses, and we were ready.

We left last Sunday right after I took the kids to church. My kids - they are awesome - I was not planning on going since our flight left at 2, but Lindsay convinced me we needed to go for at least an hour! So, after attending one meeting, we came home, the Hruby's picked us up and we were off for the adventure of a lifetime!

FLIGHT: Boise to San Francisco - easy enough, 1 1/2 hours long, 1 time change, 1 diet Coke, 1 trashy magazine read, almonds eaten, arrive at SF.

San Francisco to Kona - easy enough,

WHEN YOU GET UPGRADED TO FIRST CLASS!!!

Yep. Our names were called when we were in line to board. Bill went to the desk and he was given 2 new boarding passes: 4A and 5B. Aw, man, we're not even sitting next to each other! We're talking a 5 hour flight over the Pacific Ocean. That's scary unless you're sitting next to your man! We get on the plane, thinking we'll get to be more toward the front, and walah...our seats are in the cushy section! First Class, Baby! Thanks to a very kind man who was traveling alone, Bill and I were able to sit next to each other in row 4. We were treated to warm nuts, all the soft drinks you could drink, sea bass or macadamia nut chicken for our meal, delicious, melting, warm oatmeal cookies for dessert, and warm towels to wipe the crumbs from your face.

Yeah, it was posh.

Yeah, I was giggling for the first hour of the flight.

Yeah, there was lots of leg room.

Yeah, I went to the bathroom about 3 times during the 5 hours. (Unlimited diet Coke I tell ya!)

We felt totally relaxed and pampered. What a way to start our Hawaii vacation!

Laziness and respectability...

2011-06-27T22:57:00.003-06:00

"Summer is when laziness finds respectability."

That's my motto this summer. Or at least I wish it was. I thought it would be. But this summer, with June almost over, seems to be the busiest e.v.e.r.

*That Relief Society calling - whew. Are they sure they got the RIGHT girl?? hmmm

*That trip to Palm Springs with four fellow teachers and the principal - yeah, it was educational AND recreational!!

*The new job I got at another school - can you say Uhaul my entire school life and teacher possessions to my new classroom??

*The many camps the kids are going to - U of U, Gonzaga, BYU, EFY, Scout Camp, Trek, - hope I can keep the dates firmly in my head..

*That one vacation to that one island with that one guy I've been married to for 23 years that the locals (and map makers) call Kona - yeah, that's coming right up in 5 days whether I'm tanner, skinnier, or readier for it get here..

*The family vacation (or is it a "trip"...heard that when the kids come along it's a trip. Just Mom and Dad, it's a vacation..) to Southern California to see Shamu, Mickey, the beach, and a whole lot of miles of desert to get there..

*The weeklong class that I "get" to take during the last week of my summer vacation - nothing like sitting in a math class for 8 hours for 5 days during the gorgeous weather of summer..

Yeah, I'm pretty sure laziness should reign supreme during summer, but at our house, it's not THIS summer.

Surprise! Surprise!

2011-02-21T16:31:00.003-07:00

Time: 12:30 AM early Saturday morning.

Place: Master bathroom/Master bedroom

Who: Me, (in the bathroom taking off make up), Bill, (in the bed waiting patiently for me to turn off all the glaring lights so he can get some shut eye), Kourtni, (in the bed on my side of it waiting to get kicked out for the night).

Hear: Someone knocking on our outside bedroom door.

Me: Freaking out a bit.

Kourtni: Was that your bedroom door?

Bill: I'm not getting out of bed - I'm in my underwear.

Me: Freaking out a bit.

Bill: Who is it?

Me: Still freaking out a bit and hiding in the bathroom.

Knocker: Let me in! It's your daughter!

All: Yay! It's Alyssa! What a surprise! I thought you weren't able to come! How did you hide this? Did your dad know? Did Kourtni know?

We always love it when everyone is together under one roof and this weekend was no exception! Even though there were no grandiose plans made or spectacular events attended, we had a great time:

working out at the gym,

grocery shopping at WinCo,

looking at, talking about, and perusing our favorite cooking blogs,

planning Sunday's meal and what we're going to cook,

driving out to Kuna for dinner just to drive back to good old Boise for Mexican at Andrade's,

a Blue Cow run,

church,

dinner with the aunts, uncles, and cousins,

falling asleep to a movie,

working out some more at Gold's,

more grocery shopping at WinCo for Lyss,

then off to Utah again for that "little thang called college".

Thanks for the surprise, Lyss! You pulled one over on us and we really enjoyed it!

Now, drive safe!

The following pictures, though not taken this weekend, are fun times with the oldest daughter and bring back memories for when she's not here:

An update, perhaps?

2011-02-11T21:48:00.007-07:00

Christmas? My last post was about Christmas?

Whoa.

I need to do some serious updating to this ole blog. I mean we've had New Year's complete with the first photo of 2011:

Say it with me, "Awwwww..."

Two friends who dress drastically different... ahem, Gayla, do we need to go shopping soon? (And sorry about the hand placement. Oops. Good thing we're friends!)

The winners of the ugly sweater contest; and no, they normally do not dress like this.

Thank. Goodness.

The rebel rousers of the families. Only 6 kids! Wow, our numbers are drastically dropping as the years go by!

Traditional picture taking at 12:01 New Year's Day.

Still can't get over those pink pants, Gayla. Sheesh, girl!

We then went on to attend multiple basketball games played by number 10.

Kourtni definitely was not wearing her game face at this game.

Daddy no likey...

Such a happy little girl!

And thirsty, too!

Now that's better. Did she make it? Can't remember, but I'm sure she did.

And to celebrate the anniversary of our second daughter's birth 16 years ago, we decided to make a date out of it with Fred and lots of meat and salad at Tocano's. Total yumminess and fun with the two 16 year olds.

Oh, so cute! And so mature! Using good manners on a date with the parentals.

Uh, oh. Starting to get a little silly - Kourtni style.

Um, did I say they were mature and had good manners? Disregard the earlier comment.

Our tummies were full and we were happy - not only for good food but for a great daughter!

Christmaaaaaaaahhhhhs 2010

2011-01-07T22:11:00.009-07:00

Well, a little time has passed and I'm feeling a bit better- but still missing Alyssa and wishing she was here with us for a much needed cry and a huge bear hug.

*sigh*

However, I'm putting on my big girl undies, trying to get our family's blogging and journaling caught up, and re-capping the break that we called Christmas. Where did it go? From what I remember, it was glorious and relaxing, and so wonderful to have all of my children under one roof again, if only for 2 weeks. We spent days doing nothing but staying around the house, we spent days (four in a row!) of shopping at the mall, we spent days baking, candy making, and delivering the goods, and we spent days enjoying each other's company before we had to go back to the normal routines of school and work.

The following are some memories we snapped during our 2 week hiatus:

We spent the first night of the break "choiring".

The Ball girls "reunioning".

Stay in your church clothes picture "taking".

Ahhh, when did those 4 grow up, I'm "wondering".

Can't get enough of the "sibling-ing"...

Cat picture "posing". (This one's for you Alyssa!)

Freddie and Kourtni gift "giving". (And Mom is so "embarrassing"!)

Making a 14 year old dog "sparkling".

Dog wash apron "modeling".

Mom and Payton self picture "taking".

Lindsay first time by herself fudge "making".

Christmas Eve traditional pizza dough "making".

Vegetarian pesto and pepperoni "pizza-ing".

Christmas lights in Boise "oohing and "aaahhing".

So that's what Mom looks like from the back seat I'm "thinking".

Patey without his custom Reebok Zigtechs Christmas morning - patiently "waiting".

Lindsay with her bird artwork for "hanging".

Kourtni and her pillow to go with her new queen bed for "snuggling".

Alyssa in Kourtni's new bed "texting".

New scarf, new shirt, new hat, new pj pants "modeling".

An array of all our trash needing "dumping".

Christmas day "raking".

Red "Robining".

The entire first season of Modern Family in one day "watching".

A final evening of "Alyssa-ing".

Farewell 2010 - here's hoping 2011 will treat us just as well!

Wind is out of my sails...

2010-12-30T19:25:00.003-07:00

Today I am sad.

Sad for a variety of reasons, but the biggest reason had to go back to Utah today.

As excited as I was for her to arrive two weeks ago, that is how let down I am today.

I don't know if I will ever get used to sending a child to live and go to school far away from my maternal embrace.

It has to happen, right? I mean, they can't live with you forever, right? Where did the years go?

Sometimes I think I'm in a time warp, and I don't know how to get out.

I know I should be posting happy things about how great the holidays were with everyone under one roof - and they were, don't get me wrong! And I'll post all about them, tomorrow, maybe. But today I think I'll just be sad until I can get back into the groove of life with the youngest 3 children (whom I dearly love and adore as much as the oldest - PLEASE don't ever leave me, OK?) and my sweet husband.

Oh, well, at least she left a bunch of stuff behind for us to look at... (Thanks, Lyss! Love you!)

(I'll send these things when I am not so verklempt...)

**sigh**

Go Number 10!

2010-12-12T18:12:00.002-07:00

This is what we have been doing for the past couple of Saturdays and about once during the weekday.

Yep.

Basketball, basketball, basketball.

We live it, eat it, drink it, and sometimes we even sleep basketball... Well, maybe just Kourtni does all that, but we accompany her to each and every game and cheer her on as she plays on the Junior Varsity and Varsity teams.

Go Wolves!

(Those long arms are a pain when trying on long sleeved shirts, but they sure help out in the rebounding and tip offs! heh heh...)

Dad of the Year Goes to...Billy Ball!

2010-11-28T20:51:00.004-07:00

I'm am thankful for so many things in my life. I have a lot to be grateful for. As I sit here typing this I am especially grateful for the man I married 22 years ago. He is unselfish, smart, caring, loving, unselfish, helpful, kind, and, did I mention that he's unselfish? Right now, at 8:50 in the PM, he is in the Salt Lake Airport waiting for a 7 AM flight back to Boise. Why is he in the Salt Lake Airport without any personal necessities besides his coat, wallet, phone, and winter gloves you might ask. Well, let me tell you. It's because he's such a great dad.

We haven't seen such yucky weather conditions around here at Thanksgiving in a loooong time. And we definitely haven't had a college student who has to drive home for Thanksgiving in the yucky muck either. Well, when you put nasty Old Man Winter, and mix him with 2 college young ladies driving right in the middle of his masterpiece of a blizzard, you get two nervous parents who don't want their daughter to drive back to college with any flakes falling from the sky.

Here's where Bill gets nominated for father of the year in my eyes: He called me on the phone Friday morning and told me to book a one way flight for him on Sunday evening. He was going to drive those girls back to school himself and fly home Sunday night. The plan fell into place. The car was readied with new windshield wipers, washer fluid, a niiiiice new scraper, a shovel, an emergency kit, and a tank full of gas. All ready for the treacherous trip to Happy Valley. Well, that cranky Old Man Winter took his wrath out on the stretch of I-84 from Tremonton to Burley and the road gods decided to close the road. Add on another hour and a half, mix it with icy conditions, stupid cold weather drivers, an accident, and more snow falling, and you get a dad who misses his flight back to his warm house, the rest of his family, Sunday dinner, a football game playing on the big screen tv, and, best of all, his nice warm bed complete with all of his pillows.

Yep, as I write this, the Father of the Year is trying to make himself cozy on an airport chair with his coat as a pillow, and some yucky fast food for dinner. Hopefully there is a nice Southwest employee who will loan him a travel pillow so he can rest his head until he gets the boarding call tomorrow morning at 7.

Your trophy will be waiting for you when you get home.

Love, your other half who is not nearly as unselfish as you are.

Halloweird This Year

2010-11-05T09:38:00.004-06:00

Oh, Halloween, 2010. Where did you go?

Was it because I had the world's worse head cold and laryngitis last week that I didn't even know you came and went? Was it because most of my kids weren't too concerned with dressing up and trick or treating this year? Was it because you fell on a Sunday that I really didn't pay too much attention to you? Maybe it's because only one of my children expressed interest in buying and carving a pumpkin? Sorry, Halloween, but you seem to have lost your allure in our household. Gone are the days of planning, sewing, driving around town, hot gluing, and sequining those costumes of my children's childhood. This year we resorted to this:

It's called: "dump out the Halloween boxes on the kitchen table to see if there is anything we can throw together since we've been invited to a party on Halloween and even though no one else is going to dress up we need to be different and show up in costume." Whew.

Here's what we threw together for our party at the Hruby's:

Yes, I actually did wear those overalls in the 90s. Good thing I kept them for future use as a farmer's daughter costume. Yeah, wore the shirt too - hey, it's from Eddie Bauer!

Yep, Lindsay actually wore that witch's dress when she was 7 or 8 years old. Oh, the tights, too.

Did you recognize our youngest basketball playing child? Thank goodness. Hard to tell what look he was going for - all I know is that I refused to spray paint his hair neon pink one more time. Sorry, Pate, pink hair is NOT a costume to your mother.

Me. As a first grader. Or Minnie Mouse. Or a crazy runner. Or a stressed out, laryngitis stricken, report cards on the brain first grade teacher. Whatever you want me to be, I'm there. It was a ROUGH week! Blech.

Thanks to my ingenious brother, we threw this beauty together for a hilarious fit of laughter from everyone in attendance! Yeah, betcha didn't know that Bill got his Secondary Ed degree from BSU with an emphasis on Physical Education did ya? It's his inner gym teacher coming out in FULL FORCE!

Of course we're missing one child who actually did have a ball celebrating "Halloweek" down in zoobieland. She was a Blackberry and an Indian (From India). I was so impressed with her Halloween skills. Sorry, Lyss, you would have been either extremely disgusted with the rest of your family or highly impressed with our recycling abilities! (And try as I might, I could not download any pictures of you from your FB album in costume onto this post. Sorry, honey.)

Four Eyes...FINALLY!

2010-10-15T17:39:00.003-06:00

This picture has nothing to do with glasses, but I thought she looked so cute with her Keds and rolled up jeans I had to take a picture!

So what do you do with a child who has been telling you for months that she is having a hard time seeing? That when her teachers asked if there was something they should know about her at the beginning of the school year she told them she had a hard time seeing from far away and needed to sit at the front of the room? That she couldn't see the road signs and license plates of other cars? That when she's on TV each morning as she reads Blazer News, she needs to borrow some kid's glasses or memorize what she's supposed to read on screen?

Do you ignore that? Dismiss it? Just smile at her? Procrastinate getting an eye doctor appointment because of the dread mother has of being alone with an eye doctor in a darkened room and him being so close you can smell/feel his breath?
I did.
Mom of the Year Award coming right up!

Well, folks, we have a straight A student here. A girl who takes life, school, service, church, homework, progress reports, and basically everything else VERY seriously!

OK, OK, so I got her an appointment.
We have excellent benefits - saved $386 since we have awesome eye coverage.
90 bucks for those cute glasses. Yep, Mom of the Year award coming right up!

Lindsay was in awe.

"Everything is so clear! Does everyone see this well? Is everything really this clear? It looks like a pop-up book!"

I was in awe as well.
"Your room will look a lot dirtier when you get home than it did when you left."

You can't wipe the smile off her face now. And when she reads this, it will definitely look like a pop-up book.

Conference = Courage

2010-10-03T20:25:00.006-06:00

Ahhh, the luxury of a General Conference weekend. I absolutely love it!

No lesson to prepare, no make up to put on, no ironing to be done, no early morning waking up, no extra meetings, Elder Uchtdorf's fabulous looks and, oh my, his HAIR!!!

Yes, it's marvelous all the way around.

Oh, yeah, and then there are the actual talks that we get to listen to! What a great weekend this has been. The only part that wasn't so swell was the fact we had to take Bill to the airport right after the last session so he could fly to Portland to set some UPS drivers straight. Go get 'em, boss!

Here are some of the highlights that I really honed in this weekend:

*When it comes to your family, you spell love T-I-M-E.

*Have the courage to be a good parent, and don't be intimidated by your children and the reactions they might give you when you make a decision regarding them.

*Simplicity is a high form of sophistication.

*Develop an attitude of gratitude.

*Live so that the Holy Ghost will be able to be heard and felt by you each day.

There were a lot of other wonderful things that I heard, but those were the main points I will hopefully have the courage to strive to do. Yeah, that was a scary one- the talk about courage.

Whoa. Set me straight, would ya? Yikes.

Hopefully I can have the courage to re-read the talk and put its principles in action. It's hard when you don't feel very courageous at times. Good thing I have a marvelous husband who can encourage me and be an awesome example - even if he can't have Elder Uchtdorf's hair.

Love you, Billy.

What Happens in McCall Stays in McCall...

2010-09-21T18:44:00.005-06:00

Gayla, Stefanie, Kris, and Tracy enjoying one of the many laughs of the weekend. This is the only picture my camera took since all others had to be deleted...

Well, not really. It's just that I'm not very good at keeping my camera battery alive. Blast.

A girls' weekend away.

Away from the internet, facebook, kids, errands, time schedules, getting up early, making dinner, cleaning up dinner, doing laundry, and all that fun stuff that goes along with being a mom. Don't get me wrong, I love being a mom and doing all those tasks, but I was psyched to get away for a couple of days to rejuvenate, recharge, and remember the reasons why I love my little family so much!

Thanks to my sweet friend Gayla, we got to stay in the lap of luxury at her "cabin" in McCall, Idaho. (I mean, really, who calls a cabin a cabin when it has a hot tub, 5 flat screen TVs, soaring ceilings, a state of the art kitchen, and a painted garage floor?)

We enjoyed lounging around in our comfies, watching great chick flicks, soaking in the hot tub, enjoying fresh faces with no make up, shopping at good old McCall Drug Store (and finding some cute stuff!), eating lots of chocolate, drinking our fair share of diet Coke, and laughing until I cried - SERIOUSLY - I cried real tears thanks to Stefanie, and it was good to have a nice hard belly laugh, indeed it was!

I will admit that I was extraordinarily happy to see my sweet family and catch up on the events of the couple of days I missed. I'll spare the details, because I'm sure the girls would want me to do that, and after all, what happens in McCall on a girls' weekend stays in McCall!

Our Little Princess...Homecoming Princess that is...

2010-09-16T18:33:00.008-06:00

It happened.

Little Kourtni, who was just barely born, and just barely learned how to walk, and just barely graduated from preschool, got asked to Timberline's Homecoming Dance.

Of course the way a girl gets asked is as important as who asks the girl. In Kourtni's case, it was a trail of string and daisies leading to a 7 month old baby boy sporting a t-shirt that said, "Will you go to Homecoming with my big bro?"

And of course the way a girl answers is as important as who the girl goes with as well.

Kourtni and her friend cut out a bajillion hearts, confiscated the garage code to enter the home, and spent about 2 1/2 hours taping hearts to the bedroom wall.
"I would love with all my heart to go to Homecoming with you" was her reply.

Yeah, she's pretty giddy about taping all those hearts to all those walls...

A few days before the big game, important news from THS:

Your daughter has been selected to be a finalist in the Homecoming Court. Please fill out the enclosed form indicating who will be your daughter's escort(s) and indicate how to say said escort(s) name(s). Oh, and don't wear your grubbies on the blue turf.

OK, maybe I made the grubbies part up...

Three girls from each grade. Three guys from each grade. Parading into Bronco Stadium at halftime praying that no tripping over blue grass would ensue.

And the sophomore winner is:

Yep. Kourtni Ball.

Totally cool.
Totally darling.
Totally memorable.

I'm just glad the background is so un-grubby.

Kourtni and her good friend, Alyssa after halftime.

Nope. We didn't get a picture of Kourtni with the sophomore guy prince. (And his lovely crown.) He was the quarterback and was a bit anxious to run in to the locker room to get a little tongue lashing from the coach.

A manicure was a must for this girl.

So was a pretty pedicure.

Waiting patiently for those nails to dry.

Aly and Kourt making the boys wait just a few minutes more - you know, don't want to seem tooooo eager, or tooooo nervous!

Oh, and the curls were courtesy of big sister Alyssa who came to Boise for the weekend. I don't know who would have done those girls' hair if it hadn't been for good old Lyss! Whew!

Obligatory mom and dad pose!

Yeah, I was a bit of a freak following them out to the car and snapping pictures...

I was so afraid they would fall into the little creek right behind them, but they had really good footing!

I just really like to look at this picture! To me it's just soooo cute!

The group.

The sisters.
(Lindsay was there somewhere...)

The mamas.
Do we look too young to have kids this age???
Don't answer that about me, but you can say yes about Carly looking young.
Because she is!!!
Still love her though!

A final shot of the family before Kourtni was whisked off for Hawaiian food, great dancing, frozen yogurt, and a "change your clothes so we don't make your dress smell like smoke" bonfire.

Oh, thought I'd mention that being the Homecoming Princess didn't go to her head - the only thing she said to us was,
"Since I'm now a princess, can I get a bigger bed?"

Um, yeah, no.

The Napping House

2010-09-05T14:31:00.003-06:00

One of my favorite children's stories is The Napping House by Don and Audrey Wood. If you haven't read it to yourself or to your children, well, I won't alert the authorities just yet... It is a beautifully illustrated and well written story about a house where everyone is sleeping. That just about sums up the Sunday afternoons here at our house.

Yay for 9:00 church!

Yay for some peace and relaxation!

Yay for cat butt hair when you wake up from your slumber!

Yay for the grogginess that ensues after you awaken!

Yay for blissful slumber for 2 hours of the afternoon!

Yay.For.Sunday.

Blue and Orange and Windy Game

2010-09-05T13:58:00.003-06:00

So every year the BSU football team (have you heard of them? My alma mater? Number 3 in the nation?... yeah, them!) has a scrimmage open to the public. It's called, for the lack of a more creative name, the "Blue and Orange" game. It's free to the public, fans, and anyone who wants to go see what all the hype is about BSU. We aren't season ticket holders, although Bill and Payton attend a lot of their home games and even traveled to Phoenix to watch them play. We do love to watch them and so off we went to Bronco Stadium on a overcast Saturday evening.

The guys look good in their shirts, I look like I'm in my pajamas. Oh, that's because I usually wear this shirt to bed!

On our way to the game - yeah that was a HUGE piece of gum in my mouth that makes me look all distorted and such.

We sat waaaaaaaaay up high in the bleachers. Waaaaaay up high. And, in case you were wondering, No, I am not a smoker, even though I have the lines that may say otherwise...

It was extremely windy that evening. So windy that we decided to leave early because we didn't want to have to run to our car through the crazy weather we could see coming since we sat waaaaaaaay up high in the bleachers. Did I mention our seats were almost to heaven?

Go BSU!

Girls' Camp - with my OWN girls!!!

2010-08-18T17:11:00.007-06:00

So I got the call about 6 months ago. The call from the bishop. The call that I had never gotten before even though I had served in the young women organization during the past decade for 7 years in a row in some capacity or another. The call that would let my inner teenager emerge.

Would you please serve as ward camp director?

Color me giddy...

a little nervous, but mostly waaaaay giddy.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!!! Yee haw - no 11 or 12 year old boys would be in sight during the entire week. No boys trying to be funnier than the other 11 in the group. No boys diverting attention from the lesson with a silly joke or comment. No boys playing around in their seats. No boys involved in this! Oh, wait, I still had my calling of teaching those boys... Well, no matter, I could handle them plus camp no problem. In fact, camp would be my distraction for the summer. Yesssss.

Another plus to being the camp director was the fact that Kourtni and Lindsay were going to be there! Yay! A chance to be with my two girls in the mountains for about 5 days. Let the planning and fun commence.

I had great help with this years' camp. From my two teenaged daughters to my college aged daughter who told me what to do and definitely what not to do. Thanks, girls!

I had great ladies to work with! Wow, we were literally the "dream team" of camp if I do say so myself! We all got along great, laughed into the wee hours of the morning, ate lots of good food, crafted, cleaned up very little since our awesome young women pitched in tremendously, laughed some more, bonded with the girls, got dirty, got wet, and laughed some more!

Thanks to everyone who made Girls' Camp 2010 such a positive, memorable experience!

Redfish Lake with the fourth year girls - Kourtni was a fourth year this year!

The fab four! These girls were basically inseparable! And so modest!

Just look at those one-piece suits! haha

Gettin' ready to jump off the point at Redfish. Fire powah!

You gotta love the burst feature on your camera!

Refreshing water at 9:30 in the morning! Brrr...

I was happy to stay in the paddle boat and be the photographer! Nice and dry was I! haha

Some of the cutest young women Ever!

Day 3 of no make up, filthy feet, and greasy hair. Wish I looked as good as Lindsay!

Yes. We did the horsey face game. And yes, I am posting pictures of it 'cuz I have no shame after spending 5 days with these ladies! Love 'em!

Beau-dilocks and Leslie

2010-08-10T12:24:00.009-06:00

When I first met Bill, his nephew Beau was just a little guy, about 4 years old. He was so cute and had such darling curls. He said funny things, too.

Beau and Bill in Bill's red Toyota Celica. Bill stopped on the side of the highway. Pulled over for speeding. Again.

Beau: "Uncle Bill, that policeman he has a gun and he'll shoot you."

Bill: Speechless.

Fast forward about 20 years to July 19, 2010, in the Draper Temple:

One of the most good looking couples I've seen emerge from a wedding. What you can't see is Beau's fist pumping and Leslie's strutting! Priceless.

Lyss and me (with my fresh color and cut - aahhhh, thanks, Teressa) waiting in the wind and rain for the bride and groom to emerge.

Lexi and Lyss in front of the golf course that I thought was a cliff. This was where the reception was held - complete with a ring ceremony, photo booth,

dancing,

more dancing,

a beautiful view of the Salt Lake Valley at sunset time (my favorite time of day! and with my favorite person in the whole wide world. ahhh.),

and all my kids together again - it felt so good to see them all together - dressed up and happy to be there. I sleep better when my kids are all under the same roof.
Oh, yeah, right beside Payton is Beau's hand. heehee

And what wedding wouldn't be complete without beautiful flowers and a beautiful 19 year old who definitely IS NOT ready to get married ANY TIME SOON!
(I did that just for you, Alyssa, even though Kourtni wants to marry you off soon so she can drive the Corolla...)

Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Beau-dilocks Murphy!

Fun at the wedding reception

2010-07-27T12:14:00.003-06:00

Forget the dancing, the food, the photo booth, the mints, and the family reunioning...

Payton just wanted to leap over the fence.

Clothed in his church pants, shoes, shirt, and tie.

And what a fine leap it was!

(The reception was delightful for the rest of us non-leapers...)

Thoughts on chicks leaving the nest

2010-07-16T11:36:00.003-06:00

I'm missing my twelve year old boy. I miss munching on his cheeks to wake him up in the morning. I miss his little crooked teeth smile. I miss seeing him in the bathroom each morning "doing" his hair with that gu stuff he likes so much. I miss hearing the Disney Channel for about 5 hours of the day. (Did I really just say that???) I miss sneaking up behind him and smooching a kiss or two or ten from him. I miss that dang Wii being used each day and the sounds of Mario Kart coming from the living room.

*Sigh*

I have felt like an almost empty nester this summer. Each of the kids has been busy with activities, friends, camps, etc. that there have been many days when I've had several hours of alone time. That's weird. I'm not used to it. I don't know if I like it. I'm too young (I think) to be an almost empty nester. I'm not ready for Family Home Evening for empty nesters! I'm not ready to shop at certain retailers to get the senior citizen discount! I'm not, I'm not, I'm not!!!

Am I getting ahead of myself? Probably. Most certainly. All because of missing my 12 year old boy.

I think I'd be ok if it hadn't been for a call I received from the scout master's wife earlier this week. I was in the shower. She called Bill to relay the news. Payton had barfed. He had had one (or maybe four) too many smores before bed on Tuesday night. He found his way out of his tent and managed to find the scout master's tent to inform him of the disgusting news. Bless that man's heart. He was an angel to help clean up a barf fest in the dark. At 1:00 in the morning. Not even his own flesh and blood's puke. Using his own towel. Yeah, that man deserves a medal!

Oh, Pate got another fresh sleeping bag and pillow from home - delivered via another leader. I hope he learned his lesson. I hope he's at least trying the camp's food. I hope he's cleaned all the crud off of his face (or at least I hope it's cleaned off before I get to smooch on him Saturday...). I hope he misses me as much as I miss him...Nah, I really don't - that would be way WEIRD.

Anyway. I'm not ready for my children to be gone all the time. The oldest has already flown the coop and taken part of my heart with her. Nope, I'm not ready for all the stuff -or lack of it - that comes with an empty house. I'm definitely not ready for the end of an era of raising 4 children. Nope. So if you're reading this and you have a house full of young children in diapers, scattering toys about, throwing tantrums, or refusing to take a nap and you wish for them to grow up.

Don't worry - They Do.

And I don't think you'll be ready for it either.

The Ball's Went Over the Mountain

2010-07-09T19:56:00.011-06:00

Remember the song about the bear going over the mountain? I loved it when I was a kid! Maybe it was because my family lived at the base of Maple Mountain and my dad owned a great pair of binoculars. There would be many days where I would use his binoculars to look up at that mountain to determine if I could see anything up close! Never really did see much but a bunch of bushes and trees, but I sort of felt like that bear...

Fast forward about 25 years and here I am with more great mountains around me. (Technically they're called foothills but I still consider them mountains.) The Boise foothills are gorgeous - for about 4 weeks of the year when they've been washed with spring rain and have had ample amounts of May sunshine they are a beautiful sight to behold. I'm sure my kids are sick to death of me saying,
"Just look at those foothills! They're so green!"
And,
"Someday we're going to climb up to the top of that mountain and see what's up there!"
Or,
"Just look at how the sun is hitting those hills. Wow."

Yeah, I'm sort of weird like that.

Bill has been telling me for awhile that he would accompany me up to the top. We just never had a good 4 hours to do it - you know, scout camping trips, fishing trips, and more scout camping trips taking place on a Friday night and Saturday morning. Grrr. This "bear" wasn't going over any mountains!

However, last Monday we found some time to actually accomplish this highly anticipated hike. Bill was off for the fourth of July vacation so we gently coerced the kids to join us. Wow. What a great morning of hiking, talking, amazing views, and good old family time. Now we know what's on the other side of that mountain - excellent views of the other side! Hah! That bear was right.

There's my "mountain" - to the right of Kourtni's head is where we were headed.

Bright and early on July 5, 2010

Notice how Kourtni is no where in sight - that's because she BOOKED it up that trail! Yeah, I thought for sure she was cougar bait! Yikes.

Once we caught up to Kourt (really the cows scared her and slowed her down) we tried to pick out the landmarks of Boise.

Had to go through a bit of forest to get to the top - saw lots of cattle. Weird but good for us since cougars might like beef more than human...

We made it to the top in about 2 1/2 hours. It was FREEZING up there and extremely windy. We took several pictures and kept moving to keep warm.

Pretty wildflowers on the way.

He's such a good sport to hike all that way! Say it with me, "Awwww..."

"This" is what's on the other side of my mountain! Isn't it gorgeous? Totally worth the hike.
And, yes, Griffy made it. He kept up the entire way - pretty good for a 13 year old dog!

Girls in the back singing Dragon Tales songs... they got sort of loopy on the way down.

Bill and Pate tried the rope swing at the end...

Good thing he didn't land in a cactus...

Griffy's not as young as he used to be - he gets by with a little help from his friends. Hah.

Sweet relief - now let's go get some pizza!

And that's what happened when the Ball's went over the mountain.

Wordless Wednesday - Posted on a Thursday...

2010-07-01T22:42:00.002-06:00

What do you do in the summertime?

2010-06-24T17:23:00.005-06:00

So what do you do in the summertime, when all the world is green?

Well, this seems to be my summertime:

Get up around 5:45. Check Alyssa's blog to see if there are any updates. (Hey, she's 8 hours ahead of me, I can wonder...) If there are no updates, go to FB and check her status to see if anything has changed since before I went to bed. If no change in status, get to the gym so I can be home by 7:10 to wake up kids for swim team.

At 7:10, wake up Lindsay and Payton. Check Lyss' blog and FB status. Run kids to swim team practice.

At 7:50 hike 1 1/2 miles up Table Rock with 2 girlfriends, then run the 1 1/2 miles down. Get back to the swimming pool to pick up kids.

At 9:00 start oatmeal on the stove while checking Lyss' blog and FB status on laptop on kitchen table. Eat oatmeal and check a few other favorite blogs for new posts.

At 10:00 get in the shower - well most days it is 10:00 - today it was 2:00!!! I love summer.

Putter around the house after shower making sure kids are doing their jobs. Do my jobs. Try to get my piles of stuff organized. This may take the entire summer - blech.

Around 1:00 eat lunch while checking Lyss' blog and FB status. Nothing new on either site. *sigh*

Do whatever the kids want to do - provided I don't have to take a loan out to do it - for the afternoon.

Around 5:00 check Lyss' blog and FB status. If I'm lucky I may hit the jackpot and she will have posted something to let us know that she is ok, or that she has a drunk naked man as a roommate in her hostel (don't worry, she has 3 "men" with her to protect her... ahem. I hope they are doing their "job"...), or that she had to pay an extra 50 or so American dollars to the train police in Italy, or that she has a touch of heatstroke since she didn't eat or drink anything during the day. Whew! It's always a relief to be able to read something she has actually written that day! What would I do without the internet to connect me with my daughter who's halfway around the world.

Around 6:00 think about cooking dinner. Wonder what to cook. Check several cooking blogs to see if there is anything that is quick, won't make my pants too tight, is appetizing, and that I have the ingredients for.

Around 7:00 clean up the dinner that will probably make my pants too tight, and solicit help from the kids (if there are any around - sheesh) to get kitchen cleaned up.

Around 8:00 think about going on a walk with Bill for our decompression/nightly date/hand holding time.

Around 9:30 return from nightly walk with Bill. Check Lyss' FB status to see if anything has changed since the last time I checked it. Watch the last of any TV show that might be on. Watch the news. Get ready for bed so we can start it all over again tomorrow.

Oh, the joys of summer.

SIDENOTE: Lest you think I am obsessive about checking up on my daughter: well, I'm not. I consider myself very curious as to her whereabouts and travelings and I will continue to be a little curious until she safely arrives back on US soil next Wednesday. There. She'll be back next Wednesday - wow! I think Alyssa's blog will get a lot less hits from me, and my little laptop may or may not collect a little more dust once she is safely home.

That's what I do in the summertime - at least for the next week.

The many uses of duck tape

2010-06-17T21:16:00.004-06:00

Well, summer is here. Kids need something to do. Something fun. Something economical. Something that won't make the mom (who is helping the kids out) go ballistic. That really narrows it down, huh?

We checked our calendar, invited a few friends, and headed out to the craft store for a "free" duck tape wallet demo.

Here are the numbers we had to endure:

There was one small table.

One employee who had to keep looking at the directions to see how to make these things. Seven kids crowded around the small table.

Four kids I brought with me waiting to make a lovely (free) Father's Day gift.

One mother (me) who had about had it with 2 of the 4 children she brought (they were not my own children either...).

Fifteen minutes of torture and impatience that passed before I wised up and decided I was getting out of there before heads were going to roll.

I marched back to the duck tape aisle. Commanded the children to choose 3 colors and 3 colors only. Marched up to the front of the store. Paid for 3 colors and 3 colors only. Drove home and made our own duck tape wallets. Whew.

After I had regained my composure, I took some pictures that I thought I'd share.

Three colors and three colors only..

Measure, cut, fold, repeat...

Concentrate...

Help out a friend...

Put on your finishing touches...

Display your work of art...

Now I expect all those wallets to be used every.single.day.

Anyone interested in a free lesson on duck tape wallets???

I promise I won't go ballistic.

Well, maybe.

Spring happenings

2010-06-13T17:37:00.011-06:00

Wow, where has the time gone? It was spring, now it's summer vacation. I've blogged next to nothing, took a million pictures, posted some of them on Facebook, but have so many more to share. Unfortunately, due to my lack of patience, Blogger's "problems" loading my pictures, and fat fingers on a laptop, there are not as many pictures as I had hoped to share. Sigh. Oh, well, here are some photos showing what has been going on in and around our house and family. Enjoy the pictures.

DISCLAIMER:

(Lori, I am totally copying you on this, and I want to thank you for YOUR inspiration. You get all the credit for this update!!!)

This spring was a:

First place time of 13.22 seconds in the 90m for Payton in the city track meet taking,

Lindsay triple jump leaping,

Blue ribbon showing,

12th birthday celebrating,

Kiss stealing,

Air soft war preparing,

Baby chick feeding,

Race for the cure walking,

New coop making,

Griffey exploring,

Table rock hiking,

Payton, Seth, and Ben posing,

New baby Brock holding,

Cemetary visiting,

Kourtni 9th grade photo student award winning,

6th grade tie-dye graduating!

Farewell to Freshman Dance attending,

Crappie fish catching,

Kind of spring.

Wow. Sort of summarizes everything up. Until next time...

Belated Mother's Day

2010-05-11T22:04:00.003-06:00

Ahhh. It's so nice to be a mom!

Sure missed Lyss, though...

Happy Mother's Day.

A little belated but, hey, we moms like a little recognition on more than just one day of the year, right??

Dear Espana

2010-04-28T17:17:00.003-06:00

Dear Espana,

Is it ok if I call you Espana? I'm not sure since I don't speak your language well/at all/occasionally/poquito; I only pretend to know which verbs are being conjugated as I listen to my daughters converse as their Spanish homework is talked about and completed. Would you rather have me call you Spain? Whatever the case, I want to let you know that today, April 28, 2010, there is a group of fresh-faced BYU students arriving in your country to grace your borders for about 2 eternally long months. Oh, I'm sure the time will fly for the co-eds, but for me, as a mother, one who feels like she just gave birth to that college student yesterday, it will go on forever; of this I am sure.

You see, Espana, my daughter got a bee in her bonnet to spend a semester away from her family, on a different continent, speaking a language that is becoming more and more natural to her as the time goes by, for a whopping two months. What is so great about you? Is it the culture that she will get to experience? Is it the people she will get to meet? Is it the meat (gasp) she will probably/definitely/most likely have to eat if she doesn't want to offend her host family? Is it the wonderment of a new, exciting corner of the earth waiting to be explored? Just what is it that you can offer her? I admit I am being selfish, immature, selfish, immature, and selfish about this.

I admit it.

But, you see, she was just born 19 short years ago. I'm still in the elementary/jr. high/high school frame of mind where there are parent meetings, parent letters, packing lists, parent signatures required, medical releases to be signed, etc. There was NONE of that for this trip, Spain. And she isn't going across town on a field trip.

She's flying across the Atlantic Ocean and there was not one parent letter, list or signature required of me. sigh.

What is wrong with this picture, my Latin American country?

Please take care of her. Please ensure that your many inhabitants will treat her well. Please keep her money, passport, laptop, cell phone, and other necessities safe. Because, Spain, I love her and want her to spread her wings. I want to see her thrive in a country where she can speak with the locals and learn from them each day. I want her to feel comfortable in a place where traditions and customs are muy importante (see, there's that Spanish I know!). I just wish it was a little closer to home.

I'll quit my complaining now, Espana. I know she would be totally disgusted/embarrassed/and shaking her head if she read this right now. "Don't worry. Get some sleep. I'll be fine." That's what she said just yesterday. Yeah, easy for her to say. She's not the mother of a daughter who was just barely born.

Spain, I'll definitely be checking up on you.

Just sayin'.

Su amiga,

Kris (the parent of the cute blonde who didn't sign one permission slip for her daughter to go to Spain...)

These two are THE BEST SPANISH speakers to come out of Timberline High School I miss both of them very much right now.

Spring Break...with a lot of BAD weather

2010-04-10T17:17:00.004-06:00

Every "spring" break, the kids and I usually head on down south of the border (Idaho border that is...) to brave the frigid temperatures, enjoy snow in March, eat waaaaaay too much junk food, spend waaaaay too much money shopping and eating out, and see our cousins and stuff. This year we had another excellent reason to venture down south: Alyssa lives south of the border now, too!

We left Bill in Boise to do this:

We're good like that.
But really, he NEVER gets spring break off so he stays behind. Alone. To fend for himself. To eat at Burger King each night. Or cereal. Or nothing at all. We miss him terribly when we go because we know how much he enjoys shopping each day of the break...

So I took along some friends I hadn't seen for awhile to help me out on the long trip:

You're such a bad boy... I haven't partaken of you for about 8 months, but you keep me awake for a good 6 or so hours so I'll invite you back next time!

You were a most delicious traveling companion. I enjoyed all of your fruity goodness for those hundreds of miles. I tried to make you last as long as I could. It was hard 'cuz you're so dang tasty! High Fructose Corn Syrup and all!

This momentous event took place on the way down near the thriving metropolis of Jerome, Idaho. A moment of silence for the Honda Odyssey. She is now past puberty.

We had fun holding, kissing, munching on, and passing around this little bundle. Oh, how I love new babies!

Lindsay put her friendship bracelet skills to work for a fun cousin.

More holding and cuddling a week old babe.

Acting goofy with the sis. Love her.

More goofy antics with the gang.

Posing with some of the girls.

Yeah, we had our "spring" break in Utah. We enjoyed all the March snow, the frigid temperatures, the junk food, the shopping, and eating out. What would spring break be without all that? Next time I might take even take a coat!

Gold's Sweet Gold's

2010-03-30T19:34:00.002-06:00

I miss my Gold's.

Gym, that is.

You see, the kids and I are in Utah and the closest Gold's Gym is in a building that was once a grocery store where I accompanied my mother to buy food for the family when I was a child. Storehouse Market was its name. Writing the price with a black grease pencil on each product was the game. Squashing the bread with a big jug of syrup was a huge memory for me!

My Gold's is like a Greek Temple.

With columns.

With new machines.

With COOL group classes (that I'm too insecure to attend...except Gayla's :)).

With a nice cool down area complete with dark lighting for relaxation (and so no one can see how lovely I look at the end of a sweatfest...).

With lovely bathrooms and a nice changing room.

With 5 brand new stairmills (oh, yeah, I'm now the queen of the stairmill since my butt has prohibited me from running...).

With a separate ladies' workout area (that works for me when there are too many men flexing their pecks and peacocking it in front of the main weight area).

Yeah. I miss me my Gold's Gym in Boise.

But I really love working out next to my cute, lovely lashed, earringed sister Teressa!

*Sigh.*

I would like that occasionally. A cute workout buddy who can make the time go by in a flash!

I'll see you next week, Gold's Sweet Gold's!

Thursday Night Funny

2010-03-27T14:16:00.002-06:00

Bill was hungry the other night and "needed something". That something took us to Jack in the Box where he ordered a diet Coke and two strawberry banana smoothies. (Actually the strawberry orange ones are waaaaay better, but he was paying, driving, and ordering so I just went along for the ride.)

As we pulled to the "next window" his diet Coke was handed to him as well as this question,

"Would you like any sauces with that?"

ummmmm... sure, we like strawberry, banana, sweet and sour, barbeque smoothies...

Another reason to stay in school kids. You don't want to be the butt of someone's joke on their blog.

Dinner Theater - Jr. High Style...

2010-03-14T20:08:00.005-06:00

How do you solve a problem like Maria? Well, first of all, you sing that song from the "Sound of Music" over and over and over and over... Then you sing it some more... heheheh.

You gotta love junior high choirs.

Lindsay and Kourtni are both musically inclined and so they like to sing - in junior high choir. Fortunately, each year, our school puts on a dinner show so each of the 4 choirs can showcase what they've been working on.

It's a huuuuuge deal.
It's a huuuuuge commitment from parents since it's all parents who organize and put the thing on.
It's a huuuuuge thing for 13, 14, and 15 year olds to dress up and sing in a school gym over the munching sounds of parents, neighbors, and friends enjoying their dinner.

This year the theme was Broadway. I decided that, after the first dinner theater I volunteered with, I would never volunteer to work in the kitchen AGAIN. You see, our junior high has a kitchen nazi. This woman works for the school. She is about 4 feet tall. She is about 4 feet wide. She is a nasty little person who shouted condescending things, demanded rude things, and was basically awful to all the nice parents who were volunteering their time for the show.

Nope. Never in the kitchen again.

I volunteered to make, design, and copy the program. Ahhhh. No one yelled at me. No one shouted at me. No one demanded rude things of me. It was so sweeeet.

Anyway, here are a few pictures of my cute girls dressed in their fun costumes. Doesn't Kourtni look great with her stage make-up on? "Don't put any of that stuff on me!" she begged. Ummm, sorry, dear. You are going to be seen from the audience. So I used all my knowledge from a former life called "Drill Team", and painted her up like a doll. She looked fabulous! "West Side Story" songs were so fun! What stage presence! What teeth! What a cutie! I was sorry she didn't have any solo parts. Dang driver's ed. (That was her teacher's excuse for not giving her any of the solo parts - yeah, driver's ed...) I know. Oh, well, a girl's gotta learn to drive!

Lindsay was a nun from Sound of Music. No stage make up needed for her! But what a cute nun she made! She had a great time practicing for this. So did I... We would break into sound of music songs whenever we could. Hey, Lindsay, how do you solve a problem like Maria? heheh
The girl's got some good pipes. I know, I heard her in the shower, in her bedroom, in the car, in the kitchen, doing her homework... Nicely done Linds and Kourt!

Payton REALLY enjoyed the evening. The picture below tells the whole story! He also owes me $12.00 for the meal I bought and which he left virtually untouched. I mean, what kid doesn't eat brownies and ice cream??? (Turns out he was getting sick and stayed home from school the next day.) I don't think he'll ever go to another dinner theater again - and from the looks of it, we have a lot more to go to before these musically inclined daughters of ours graduate from high school. So the question now is, "How do we solve a problem like Payton?"

To Nap or Not To Nap...

2010-02-22T16:58:00.003-07:00

Thank heavens for 9:00 church time.
Dang that 9:00 church time.

Dang that 10 year old boy lesson preparation time at 6:30 AM.
Thank heavens for a nice, long afternoon!

Dang that rushing around to get the rolls made, shirts and clothes ironed, hair done, Sunday dinner started, last minute lesson items assembled, gum searched for, pantyhose looked for, and searching and searching for something to wear.
Thank heavens for church being over at 12 blissful o'clock!

Dang the afternoon meetings, home teaching, and dinner clean up.
Thank heavens for a soft bed and fluffy pillow to fall in to after dinner clean up.

Dang the mess I always manage to leave before 9:00 - in the bathroom, in the bedroom, in the kitchen, in the laundry room, and in the computer room.
Thank heavens for time to clean it up before it's time to go to bed.

Dang the missed morning walk with my honey.
Thank heavens for the brisk, late, windy afternoon walk with my honey.

But most of all, thank heavens for the nice 2 hour nap that I can take if I want to. Such leisure, such drowsiness, such grogginess, such bliss!
But dang the weird afternoon dreams which involve stealing my identity, stealing my purse, admitting that you took my purse and you've broken your probation, trying to cover up your theft with a jacket, and what in the world was I doing at a Kmart/Payless during the middle of the night with probation breaking purse stealing thieves in the first place? It absolutely woke me out of my slumber!

(Oh, well, weird dreams and all, my bed is much nicer than a nap against a pole at Payton's basketball game...yes, I said basketball game...)

Dang that 9:00 church time!
Thank heavens for that 9:00 church time!

A letter to Robie Creek

2010-02-14T16:21:00.004-07:00

Dear Robie Creek,

Tomorrow I will miss you. I will miss sitting feverishly at my computer with fingers revved and poised over my keyboard to frantically try to type faster than thousands of other runners who, for some strange sadistic reason, want to enter your coveted race.

Tomorrow I will miss you. I will miss the anticipation of training in tall drifts of snow and preparing to climb your steep 8.5 miles, often by myself, to reach the summit called Aldape. I will miss the relief that fills my body as I go 5 miles downhill to reach the finish line. I will miss the delicious feast of food that waits for me after the finish line is crossed and my t-shirt is picked up.

Tomorrow I will miss you. I have managed to get into your race for the past 6 six years and I have finished your difficult course in less than 2 hours 10 minutes.

Tomorrow I will miss you. I will miss the comraderie of 1500 other crazies on race day who, together, make the trudge up your winding, dirt canyon road.

Tomorrow I will think about you. I will remember the way I put sunscreen on my face last year without wearing a hat. I will remember the way sweat poured down my face and trickled into my eyes and burned them incessantly until the sunscreen had worn off.

Tomorrow I will think about you. I will remember the lovely sunburn I received on my right arm that outlined my ipod attached to that arm. I will remember how that sunburn outline tattoo stayed with me throughout the winter to help me remember that gorgeous day.

Tomorrow I will think about you. I will think about the training runs Alyssa and I ran last year to prepare for the pounding we would take from you. I will think about the gnarly trails we decided to take in the freezing wind and icy conditions to the top of the world - to the top of the world of Boise anyway. I will remember how nice it was to have a running partner who enjoyed climbing the hills and trails with me for a common purpose. I will remember how well Alyssa did and how excited she was to win a "medal" for taking 2nd place in her age group.

Tomorrow I will think about you. I will think about how nice going for a run is. I will try to remember how it feels to have my legs move freely beneath me without feeling like my hip is going to explode. I will think about this when I am climbing an infinite amount of stairs going nowhere in particular inside a gym and doing a bazillion exercises meant to strengthen my core. Sigh.

Robie Creek, I didn't know how much I would love, hate, miss, regret, and enjoy you. Please don't give your participants a cute t-shirt this year. Please don't give a great swag bag on number pick up day. Please remember me, because next year...

I'LL BE BACK!!!

My Last Nerve...

2010-01-30T21:47:00.002-07:00

Well, as I found out yesterday, it's not just those 20 little first graders that are "getting on my last nerve". Evidently, according to my newly found doctor friend, I have a nerve problem in my sciatica. Yep, I've gone through 4 pregnancies and never once did any of those sweet babies give me the "stop dead in my tracks" pain that I've been experiencing the last three months.

Oh, it's nice to know that there is a diagnosis for my extreme discomfort. It's also nice to know that there can be exercises done and drugs taken to relieve the inflammation around ms. sciatica. (She's quite the wench right now...)

My hope is that with some physical therapy exercises and a round of anti-inflammatories, I can become my old self again. Of course I'll keep everyone who has been so kind to me and so empathetic to my situation up to date on my butt! heehee. Thank you friends and family!

Funny sidenote: On my trip to the pharmacy to pick up the steroidal pack prescribed to me ("don't worry, it's not anebolic", said my new doctor friend-- great 'cuz I don't want to get Incredible Hulk-ish) the pharmacist directed me to start the dosing "tomorrow".
"Why not tonight?" I questioned.
"Well, they make you grouchy, irritable, fidgety, and anxious. You should probably just start them in the morning with your breakfast," said Albertson pill counter person.
"Great! Now I have an excuse to ruin a perfectly wonderful Saturday!" I exclaimed.

Even funnier sidenote: This morning after reading the documentation that accompanied the prescription, I thought twice before popping the first two pills. Heck, there's a lot of stuff that can happen as a result of taking something that is supposed to help you! Don't worry though, I told my family to call 911 if I "vomited anything that looked like coffee grounds or experienced extreme puffiness, or developed severe mood swings, or ate grapefruit while taking the medication, or ... "

I'll "end" it right there, folks.
I don't want to be the "butt" of anymore jokes.
I know reading about this is a pain in the "kiester".

OK, I'll stop since I probably think I'm funnier than you do... but seriously, thank you for your concern.

Goin' to the doctor and I'm gonna get better..

2010-01-25T17:25:00.004-07:00

Yes, I finally did it.

After a couple of months of complaining loudly to anyone who would listen and to anyone who wouldn't,

and after a couple of months of becoming best friends with Advil,

and after a couple of months of climbing and climbing and climbing the stair machine at Gold's,

and after a couple of months of clean running shoes,

and after a couple of months of feeling like an 82 year old,

and after a couple of months of thinking it would just go away,

and after a couple of months of Bill telling me I needed to go see someone, I finally did it!

I made the call to The Sports Medicine Institute of Idaho.

I hope they are nice to me.

I hope they don't say I will never run again due to the unfixable damage I have incurred upon myself.

I hope they don't make me do hard stretches or strange contortions (Bill frowns upon hard stretches and strange contortions - he feels they hurt more than they help.)

I hope they don't want me to take heavy drugs - I'm a lightweight!

I hope they do give me good news.

I hope they make the pain that churns in my right butt cheek and radiates to my right hip and slinks its way down my right leg and causes me excruciating discomfort GO AWAY.

I hope my insurance pays for this.

I hope I will be whole once again.

Wish me luck.

A No Good, Very Bad Day

2010-01-20T22:04:00.002-07:00

Today was a no good, very bad day.

5 children went to the "red" - that's BAD in first grade.

1 child slapped another on the face. That's BAD in any grade.

2 children told the music teacher they were not afraid of going to the principal - they'd been there before. That's EXTREMELY BAD in first grade.

4 children sauntered in from recess 10 minutes late. That's just plain old fashioned ANNOYING.

2 children laughed and talked while I was talking. That's BAD in Mrs. Ball's class.

1 child was/is/always will be concerned about what/where/why/when everyone else is at/doing/being. That's just enough to make me want to be EXTREMELY RUDE. That's BAD for Mrs. Ball to be extremely rude.

I just want to go someplace warm, humid, sandy, watery, massage"y", facial"y", and where there is good chocolate I can eat while I enjoy beforementioned adjectives.

I think I deserve a couple of these. Don't you? (What the heck, I'm eating about 6 right now 'cuz I don't really care what anyone thinks.)

...think I'm starting to think like a 1st grader.

Fiesta Bowl, Baby!

2010-01-17T23:27:00.006-07:00

Ever since we screamed ourselves silly at our friend's, the Lindsay's, home 3 years ago at the first Fiesta Bowl, an idea had been formulating in Bill's head. An idea that involved a loooong road trip, his only 11 year old son, a charter bus, lots of junk food, and the chance to watch his Boise State Broncos play in a nationally televised football game in person. After the BCS selection show, I didn't think he'd still want to go, I mean, BSU was paired with TCU - just like the previous year. Again. Disappointment reigned supreme with the two males in our household. Disgust, mini tantrums, yelling at the TV, hands thrown in the air - you get the gist. Aaaaaanyway, after a couple of weeks trying to decide if he really wanted to make the trip, Bill took the plunge, made sure Payton REALLY wanted to go, then paid some guy for game tickets and another guy for two bus tickets. The idea was really going to happen. The only thing that worried me was, "Who would take the pictures?" I mean, I am the only one who believes in pointing and shooting in this family, so I didn't think that there would be many photos to document this occasion.

I WAS WRONG!!!

Bill was a good boy. He took my camera. He took pictures. They were pretty good pictures considering I have one crappy camera. The following are the pictures he snapped while on he and Payton's grand adventure.

Pre-dawn fun just waiting to happen!

Adventure is out there! (On a loooong bus ride...)

Awww, I missed him while he was gone!

Da field. Da Team. Da Best!

You're going down, TCU. What is a horned frog anyway? Sheesh.

Tostitos and salsa on every chair in the stadium. That must have taken a.long.time.

Wook at does coot BSU fans! (Say that in a baby voice for full effect.)

Diggin' those BSU Bronco shorts!

No vegetables were eaten or harmed during the duration of this trip.

Bill's gettin' good with the self portrait taking!

The trip went great - for the most part. The Broncos kicked some horned frog booty and my boys were able to be there to witness it! Loud. Very, very loud!
The bus ended up breaking down in Las Vegas, but Bill is an excellent hitchhiker and managed to find a ride back to Boise with a friendly attorney from Eagle. Thanks to Scott and his son for letting two extra Boiseans share your ride! (And thanks for not being a serial killer! Kisses!)

Good-bye, Phoenix. Until next year. They'll fly down then. Maybe I'll go with them... After all, someone has to take photos for memories!

Christmas Break 2009

2010-01-08T22:45:00.004-07:00

What a GREAT couple of weeks we had at the Ball household during our break from school. Alyssa got to come home for 2 weeks, we (well everyone except poor Bill) got to sleep in past 7:00, we ate what we wanted (when we wanted, then made more of what we craved, and are now paying the price...), we had a great Christmas day (it didn't even start until 7!), saw some excellent movies, got to take a rockin' body core fit class several times with Gayla (boohoo she only teaches at 9:00 and, unfortunately, I'm teaching school. Drat.), drove 2 hours to a natural hot springs, sat in the lovely water for an hour, then turned around and drove 2 hours home (I'll do anything for Alyssa...), had a great New Year's Eve with our extremely FUN friends (laughed and laughed and laughed some more!), and just relaxed knowing that the end of this much needed vacation would come way too soon.

I would love to show some really fun pictures of all these events, but for some reason, my camera is being fickle. I took tons of pictures but they are no more. Sigh. Tears. Sigh. Hopefully my techie daughter who attends school in another state will be willing to provide some tech support for her computer challenged mother. Huh, Lyss?

The following pictures will have to suffice. More will be added later if I can somehow retrieve them from cyberland.....

Wii Sports Resort and the nightly three point contest...

Reaction to Axe body wash, shampoo, and cologne. Yeah, he's 11.

My favorite picture of the kids - in the middle of our Christmas trash.

Checking out the new pillow-memory foam. Aaaaahhhh.

For some reason, Kourtni had way more presents than anyone else...

A new cell phone! Whooppee! Hopefully Mom can remember her number...

My new toy - a Macbook! I love to use it while reclining on the couch or in bed or eating my oatmeal, or cleaning the bathroom...

We've all been good this year!

Santa delivered WIFI to us and so we're all taking advantage of it! Except Bill - the cat's enough for him...

Traditional Christmas Eve dinner - pizzaaaaa!

Wow - it's a good thing all those other pictures were lost in cyberspace! That's a lot of photos...

Wordless Wednesday - How I feel about Winter/Christmas/Holiday Break...

2009-12-30T20:05:00.002-07:00

I can't bake, but I can POP!

2009-12-23T06:58:00.003-07:00

Lately the baking around the Ball house has been a series of tried and failed scientific experiments. Messes occurring before the oven is entered, messes occurring during the baking process, and a disaster when the finished product emerges from the oven. I'm not sure what's wrong with my baking skills as of late, but they pretty much suck.

I think there are several reasons for this inability to create a gastronomical success. Here are my theories:

#1: I didn't get the baking gene from my parents. I mean, seriously, how come my mother and sisters can bake and create beautiful concoctions, have a delectable recipe for everything, and present it in such a Martha Stewart fashion??? Huh, Mom, Teressa, Aly, Emily??? Not.Fair.

#2: I am a HUGE multitasker. I can't even watch TV without having laundry or schoolwork in front of me. So, when I bake, I'm usually doing laundry, the dishes, homework with the kids, cleaning the bathroom - (don't worry, I wash my hands), and getting dinner ready at the same time. I just listen for the timer to go off...

#3: I think people leave out ingredients or one step of the direction just to frustrate me and make my baked goods look like a science project gone wrong. This happened last Sunday when I tried to make a recipe from a certain blog. Let's just say, the blog was a total and complete lie. I think the recipe was made up and the pictures the blogger took were from some other place. My cookies DID NOT look like hers and to show her a thing or two, I deleted her blog from my sidebar. Yes, I am heartless! Nah, nah, nah, nah, naaaaah!

I think those are enough reasons to show my incompetence in the kitchen and around stoves. Suffice it to say that my neighbors will not be receiving anything baked, or anything that has to rise, be creamed, sifted, beaten, rolled out, set to a hard or soft ball stage. Nope. They'll have to wait for another, better neighbor to deliver those things.

However, lest this post seem too negative on my part, I do want to add that even though I may not be the baker in my family,

I can sure pop popcorn!

I can also put carmel on top of it!

And stir it through.

I can put it in cute tins!

I can deliver it to a couple of neighbors
(but only a couple since I ate most of it...).

Yep, that's what I can do this Christmas season.
I hope my mom and sisters can understand.

I'm just saying...

2009-12-13T07:39:00.005-07:00

Where has the time gone? My mom used to say that the older you get, the faster time flies. Words of wisdom from a very smart mom!

I've been thinking about my lax blogging lately - due in part to my status obsession with FB. I figure, why do I need to blog when I can write a silly one or two sentence status that no one really cares about? hmmm. That's just it. No one really cares about a FB status and this blog is like my family's journal of the events in our life. So, here I go to get caught up with the happenings in life from the past 2 months. I know a lot of you might not care so you can just go back to check your FB friends' statuses if you want... heehee

The following are a list of things in no particular order that have been on my mind or happening in our life that I think about during the day, or that keep me up when I should be getting my precious 6 hours of sleep each night:

***That my purse is like my life in that it is cluttered, not sure what I'll find in the deep recesses of it, that I would be embarassed if someone peeked into it, starting to get worn out, but I still use it everyday and love the fact that it was a gift from a precious daughter who knows I like nice things to carry stuff in!

***That Thanksgiving dinner was really very tasteless to me. Everything on my plate was a pale color and not very satisfying. We all missed being with our usual company of Jeff, Tresa, Ryan, and Tyler. Her gravy is much better than mine and she decorates the table really cute. I also missed reading her paper and perusing all the ads after stuffing ourselves. Don't go away for Thanksgiving ever again. OK, you guys?
The leftovers we had on Sunday were, however, totally scrumptious! I wonder why that was???

***That I miss Alyssa being home. But when she is home, I worry about her and where she is, who she's with, what she's doing, why she hasn't called to check in, if she's driving safely, etc... That will never change.

***That teaching first grade is such a blessing for me this year! What a 360 degree turn around from the dregs of 5th grade last year. The funny thing is, those 5th graders from last year, who are now in 6th, are so happy to see me in the hall, give me hugs, tell me how great I am and how they miss me.. Um, kids, could we have seen a bit more "love" last year??? Yeah, didn't think so.

***That I feel so blessed to have a healthy family who are capable of playing sports at each season of the year and keep my driving skills up to date by dropping them off at practice, and picking them up, then driving to their games!

(I am serious about them being healthy- we are lucky.)

***That Christmas is going to be here in less than 2 weeks and I'm still not finished with my shopping and hope that I've made everything "fair" with the kids and that I hope I can get my mom's, dad's, and mother in law's gifts sent out so they'll reach them in time! Whew. I can really start to stress myself out at this time of year. I don't think that's the purpose of this season???

***That I can't believe I haven't even done anything for our Christmas cards this year. We took a few pictures downtown on Thanksgiving day but those turned out blechy. I had a clear vision of us standing against the old brick walls of beautiful downtown Boise, looking all perfect and card-ready, but when you don't have someone to tell you to move to the left, or put your foot there, or suck in your gut, or try not to look like a pirate, well, it's dang hard. Alyssa did a great job managing to balance our camera on the tripod on top of a garbage can, however. Self-timer just didn't cut it though, and we turned out grainy and awkwardly posed. We definitely need some re-takes, but Bill isn't as excited about old brick walls like me.

***That if I can never run again I will be the saddest person on the planet. Been too busy to actually schedule a PT appointment, been stretching, doing other exercising, and taking some Advil. Been adjusting the way I sit during long meetings at church, or while I'm on the computer. Been visualizing what it's like to have my legs carry me for miles and miles. Yep, I've been on the edge about this, but maybe once I'm home for more than a couple hours at a time, I'll actually do something about it...

***That I will be glad when Kourtni gets her license. That I will not be glad when Kourtni gets her license. I have very mixed emotions about that girl and her socializing skills. She feels the need to go to parties, bowling, movies, b-ball games, etc... but she has no way to get herself there other than ME! And, after all, I do have awesome driving skills thanks to running her and her siblings around, but, my word! That girl is on the go and that means that I have to be on the go as well. I'm too tired and old to be on the go like that, so it is really nice when another parent chips in to drive but that hasn't happened too much lately. Oh, Kourtni, I love you, I just get tired thinking about taking you places...

***That I live for the weekend. I get giddy when it's Friday! A little more sleep, a little more time at the gym, a little more free time, a little more time with the family. Can you say it with me, "Ahhhhhh!"

***That I love having someone other than me or my kids clean the house. Wow. That's about all I can say. Too cool to come home from work and have your home sparkling. To look at the shower walls and actually see, what looks like, your reflection in them. To have the dust bunnies removed from the ceiling fans. To have mopping done in the laundry room! To have each bedroom vacuumed on one day! To have my toilets look amazing! Wow. I'm definitely thinking about adding this luxury to our budget...Thanks Merry Maids, you did a phenomenal job! Can you come again???

***That it really is ok for us not to have Christmas lights on the house. We can just enjoy our neighbors' lights and imagine what our house would look like if it were trimmed in red and white sparkly orbs...Wow, it would look great! But, this is an extremely busy time of year for he-who-would-get-on-the-house-and-put-up-the-lights, and we're just grateful to see him before 9:00 each weekday night and occasionally on Saturdays. Besides, we don't need any broken bones, sprained joints, or twisted tendons from what might happen if we got up on the roof...

***That I really am grateful to have such a good group of people who surround me each day - my little family rocks! These 5 people in my life are forgiving, patient, obedient, wonderful, funny, smart, amazing, and loving. I don't know what I would do without their support and presence each day. I love my ball babies!

Made of Spare Parts

2009-11-22T19:50:00.003-07:00

I've been feeling a lot older than my 42 years for the past couple of weeks. You see, I have this horrible pain in my right butt cheek that will not go away no matter how many stretches or ibuprofen I take. It has bothered me before in getting ready for some of the half marathons I've done, but it has never lingered this long before. It's sidelining my running and it's making me a HUGE crab. I don't like feeling like a 72 year old. It sucks.

To make matters worse, I did something last night in my sleep that totally made me wake up in tears and agony.

***Sidenote: It all began about 3 years ago when Bill and I went skiing for the first time in 15 years. I got a little cocky toward the end of the day and felt like I was 20 years old again and limber as a gymnast... Nope. Not happening. I got taken down by some dead bushes and ski equipment went flying. So did my left arm. It flew right behind my head and when I got the snow out of my face, I wondered whose arm I was laying on. I did make it down the mountain, but I needed Bill to help me get my coat, skis, and paraphernalia off so we could get in the car and make our way home. It took a couple of months to feel better, and it still continued to make me wince every now and then. This summer I had a date with the sidewalk - a face plant date. Yep, I injured the same shoulder again, plus a hip as well! Yay me! Again, it took awhile to feel like I was post injury self. It slipped every once in awhile and jumping jacks were definitely not my friend.

OK, back to last night. I woke up on my stomach with incredible pains shooting through my shoulder which felt like a stretched out rubber band. I had either separated or dislocated something in my battered little shoulder. I quickly moved to try to right the wrongly stretched ligaments, tendons, and bursa inside - all while crying out for Bill, trying not to throw up, and breaking out into a cold sweat. It was not a pleasant feeling. It hurt like the dickens, to put it bluntly.

And now I feel old- AGAIN.

And now I need to see a physical therapist for my butt and my shoulder.

I'm convinced I am truly made of spare parts. It sucks to get old.

(I put this picture here to show that at least my hair looks youngish...)

Halloween Headaches

2009-11-06T20:33:00.003-07:00

For Halloween this year, I just wanted to go back in time and have my children dress up as their younger selves. I wanted a sweet little cowboy, a darling little cowgirl, and a good green faced witch.

Awww, the good old days when I had time to be domesticated and actually put time, energy, and thought into costumes for my kids. (And when they were so young that they agreed to be anything I could make - just give me some felt, iron on adhesive, and face make-up!)

This year, I was not domestic. In fact, we spent 2 Saturdays searching the thrift stores to see if I could find someone else's past domestication. I was tired after driving to 4 different smelly stores that were filled with loads of other people searching for the same things.

Success was had with Payton's costume (just don't tell anyone his shirt was found in the girls' section). Score at store number 2. Not so for Kourtni and Lindsay. After several more attempts at second hand shops, I called it a day and offered many suggestions: a pirate, a gypsy, a scarecrow, a white trash gal, a hippy, a nerd, a UPS girl, a dead football player, and the list went on. We had the parts for those outfits at our house, for Pete's sake. Lindsay relented and a dead football player it was. Yippee!

Not so easy for Kourtni. We drove around and around on Saturday the 31st to see if there were anymore ideas out there. NOPE! After several "I told you so's" and "why don't you just take my suggestions", we headed home with no ideas.

After going through my closet, trying on different shades of acid washed jeans, and going through my drawers of old "Stuff", Kourtni decided that she would take after her father and deliver the goods for Halloween by posing as a gangsta UPS gal. Thank goodness for "snap decisions"...

Thank goodness that there will be no more trick or treating for the girls next year.
Thank goodness for UPS clothes.
Thank goodness for patient friends.
Thank goodness Bill and I had an extra 40 bucks to pay our kids to get rid of their 10 pounds of candy.
Thank goodness I can take all that sugar to school and give it out to deserving 1st graders for the rest of the school year! (Yes, there is that much.)
Thank goodness Halloween comes only once a year.
Thank goodness for soft bristled toothbrushes, Crest toothpaste, and Glide floss.
Thank goodness for Dr. Wagner when the toothbrushes, toothpaste, and floss don't do the trick.

Thank goodness I'm done.

Tin Grins are In!

2009-11-06T20:20:00.003-07:00

Yes, it's true. We have another brace face in the Ball household. Little Miss Lindsay Lou donned her tin grin this past week and now joins Kourtni as a patient of Dr. Jarvis. (We just hope Lindsay doesn't get the violent feelings toward the doctor like Kourtni does... After each appointment Kourtni wants to "punch him in the face"... Yeah. Having those things on your teeth for 18 months gets old.)

She was a real trooper and I got the mother of the year award for making her walk to the orthodontic office during the school day, sit in the chair for 2 hours with no motherly love sitting nearby, and walk back to school for the rest of the day. Lindsay is awesome and she didn't even utter one word of complaint at having to deal with a delinquent mother who was busy teaching her 24 "other children".

Come back in about 18 months to see the big after reveal! 'Til then, no pop, no carmelly candy, no jerky (poor carnivore!), no Skittles, no sugary gum, no hard shell tacos or Doritoes, etc. etc.

You can do it, Lindser!

Fall Pictures

2009-10-24T06:58:00.005-06:00

So I've discovered this thing called Facebook. Do you know what I'm talking about? This online phenomena where you can reconnect with old friends. Where you can spend limitless hours perusing their photo albums, profiles, and such? Yes, I've found it and I'm not sure that it's a positive thing for me. You see, lately many of my Facebook friends have posted new fall family pictures, complete with beautiful autumn colors and leaves of breathtaking beauty mixed with a perfectly coordinated family who have gorgeous (the girls) hair and make up, and (the men) great outfits to go along with the rest of the gang. Hmmm. My thoughts go back to last fall when it was like chopping fingers off to find something, anything, for my family to wear for a family picture. It was like herding cats to get the entire group to decide on a pose and to maintain that pose while I quickly balanced our pathetic digital camera on a rock, set the self timer, sprinted back to my spot, and tried to smile like we were all so relaxed and happy to be there. Yes, we haven't taken any cute fall family photos. Reason number one is that we need each member to be here (unlike my mother and father who had a family picture taken while I was at Ricks College...yes, really.) and Alyssa is definitely not here. Reason number two is that we are slaves to everything football. College football, Optimist football, Sunday night football, ESPN football, etc. Football takes a lot of our time. Reason number three is that I feel like a fashion dork most of the time and I am really not sure what I would have our family wear. I was thinking that we might look good in coordinating Snuggies? Reason number four is that our little camera has been taking pathetic pictures lately (or maybe I just need to read the unopened manual that tells me how to use it) and I just don't want to sprint around setting self timers in a park with lots of unbalanced rocks.

So there you have it. Four reasons why the Ball family just doesn't have any fall pictures that depict our cuteness. You'll have to settle for the grainy, unfocused, candids of what we've been doing lately.

Try not to be jealous if you see them on my Facebook.

Doin' the tummy rub dance on Dad's birthday. You had to be there.

Lindsay's city cross country meet.

Kourtni's choir concert.

Number 81!

Sweaty, sisterly love.

Little Broncos Optimist Football Team 5-2!

My view from the worn out desk chair at the computer.

The cat and Kourtni.

Another running picture with lots of grass in it.

A very muddy practice. The mud did not come out of his shirt but it did come out of his pants!

Bill's 44th birthday!
(See what I mean about grainy?)

Bill's newest friend and my newest nemesis...

My zebra snuggie. We should all get them, look like we've just woken up, and have a family picture taken. What do you think? Sorry you have to turn your head to see this fashionable photo.

Church Thingy and Kourtni

2009-10-05T21:27:00.005-06:00

You've gotta love Kourtni. I mean, who doesn't? She is nice, fun, positive, in tune with her mother's emotional needs, funny, happy, and on and on.

She keeps us laughing. She keeps us shaking our heads. She keeps us driving to pick her and her friends up at late hours in the night. She texts almost all the time. She has 8 million friends. She is a character.

Ever since she was a young girl, she has said funny things. We've laughed at mixed up phrases she's gotten confused so many times.

For example: Upon hearing that Bill was going to the landfill to drop off some large hunks of junk, she perked up her ears and said, "I want to go to the land mine!"

When talking of rude people overhearing another's conversation, she proclaimed, "I don't like ear droppers!"

After watching her sister intently, she announced, "I'm watching you like a duck!"

There was a point in time when Alyssa and I started to write down these funny Kourtni-isms. They were that humorous and I wanted to remember them! Too bad I don't know where that hilarious list is.

I guess I'll have to start a new list beginning with her latest proclamation from yesterday (General Conference Sunday) when she asked, "What time is that church thingy on today?"

Yeah. That's our Kourtni! We totally love her sunshine and silliness in our family!

The Secret

2009-10-01T15:46:00.004-06:00

I've always tried to be a positive person. Tried to be tactful about something negative. Tried to look for the good in unhappy situations. Tried to cheer up the sad. Tried to be a shoulder to cry or vent on. I was really good at positivity (is that a word?) when I was younger and my kids were smaller and had smaller problems.

As the years have crept up on me and my children have grown, I've become less of a positive person and more of a snark. More pessimistic. More sarcastic. More "half-empty" less "half-full". More judgmental. More cynical.

I decided today that I have to change back into the positive person I think I used to be.

If I want to live longer, be happier, be healthier, and just plain more pleasant, negativity needs to become a thing of the past for me. You see the light when on today as I was sitting in a crowded high school auditorium listening to a fabulous presenter about how "worksheets don't grow dendrites". Her comments were very applicable to the classroom - as they were intended to be - but her comments were also highly applicable to typical non-teaching-professional as well.

Did you know you will live 8 years longer if you laugh at least 3 times a day?
Did you know that your brain doesn't recognize the difference between a fake laugh and a real belly jiggling one?
Did you know that everyone needs to wake up each day with a purpose in mind for the day?
Did you know that people who lose their purpose tend to die within 24 months of that lost purpose?
Did you know that most famous comedians live or have lived well into their 80s?
Did you know that most professional successful athletes use visualization to make themselves more confident?
Did you know that it is imperative for your health to get at least 7 - 9 hours of sleep each night for important body repairs?
Did you know that you were born with 100 billion neurons in your brain?
Did you know that when you learn something new you grow a new dendrite? (It's part of your brain that talks to the axons which promotes healthy synapses... makes you smarter.)

I love teaching, but some days it's so nice to be the one being TAUGHT! Thank heavens for October Idaho Teacher Inservice Days! Thank heavens for Dr. Marcia Tate! Thank heavens for her secret! I'm sharing it with you, right here, right now, in hopes of passing along the vital information I learned today... Hope you can use it in your life!

The Secret

Find something to look forward to
Something to love
And, something to do!
Don't worry! Be happy!
Eat as you should
Exercise makes your life all good!

Here's to having a purpose and being positive.

John Deere or Massey Ferguson???

2009-09-23T18:18:00.002-06:00

Wow, 17 days of school have passed and I've definitely learned a lot about the typical first grade student:

1. They are like lemmings - if one laughs at the funny part of a book, THEY ALL LAUGH.
- if one has to go to the bathroom, MOST ALL OF THEM DO, TOO.
- if one tells a story to Mrs. Ball when she has asked for "QUESTIONS" THEY ALL HAVE A FUNNY STORY TO TELL.
- if one is praised for a beautiful job of writing his or her name - THEY ALL NEED PRAISE FOR THEIR SCRIPT.

2. They like to blurt whatever is in their brain OUT LOUD - my dad is IN JAIL.
- I losted a tooth LAST NIGHT.
- It's not fair she found the MAGIC PIECE OF TRASH.
- Move YOUR clip, Mrs. Ball.
- I'm the smartest in the class since I WAS DONE FIRST.
- When is it lunch? - (THIS SAID AT 2:00...)
- I'm done now what? Now what? Now what?
- Mrs. Ball, Mrs. Ball, Mrs. Ball... (adinfenitum...that means FOREVER)
- The slug has escaped from his cup that Missy brought in this morning!

3. They know A LOT for being 6 - Mrs. Ball, he just said a bad word - whispers: moron
- Mrs. Ball, she just said a bad word - whispers: crap
- Mrs. Ball, was that tractor in the apple book a John Deere? Or was it a Massey Ferguson?
- They can read like no one's business! Some up to 90 words a minute - sheesh!
- They know our routine down to a science and DO NOT LET ME FORGET IT!!!

Yep, I've learned about 3 things during the past 17 days.

Now what I need to do is: take it all in, remember the funny stuff, breathe regularly and consistently, keep my voice level and slightly syrupy, give daily hugs and/or high fives, recognize good behavior, and be prepared for ANYTHING! ('cuz it just might happen!!!)

Klutzy Kris

2009-09-12T17:21:00.002-06:00

This was the summer of the klutz. That would be me. No ice, no snow, no slick surfaces waiting to suck me down. Just pure ditziness on my part.

You've seen the pictures of what that dreaded bolt did to my leg. I now have a garishly colored purple scar on my thigh. One that gets more and more purple after a workout or a run. Good thing that leg is covered up most of the time...

I haven't posted my second incident of the summer:

With the sidewalk.
Broad daylight.
In my childhood hometown.
In front of a school parking lot filled with children and parents.

The sidewalk reached up, grabbed my foot, pulled me down in an instant, left me bloody and in shock, feeling like my hip and shoulder were a 90 year old woman's. I was in town to help Lyss move into her dorm and, needless to say, I was not a very huge help since I could barely gimp along!

Thankfully, these other road rashes that are finally healing. Four distinct areas on my body with four distinct (and disgusting) scabbed over areas.

I'm ready to look like a 42 year old and less like a 4 year old who doesn't know how to remain upright on a bike.

I'm practicing how to stay upright on my feet from now on!

Lumpy and Bumpy

2009-08-23T16:59:00.008-06:00

About 21 years ago, on a very lumpy, bumpy double bed, in a quaint house Bill and I called home, I made the decision that would affect the rest of my life. (No, it was not to get a queen bed either...) There were 2 options for my future employment: teaching or nursing. I chose the first and have really never regretted that decision. After all, there are many good things to like about teaching: June, July, and August. And that isn't just something you read on a teacher's mug, either. It's very true and right now the third reason is almost over and it's time to bite the bullet and get back at it.

My kids have always been real troopers when it came to the classes I taught. When they were young and needed a babysitter, I loaded them (Alyssa and Kourtni) up in the car with a babysitter in the front seat, and headed out to school. Now babysitters are no longer needed and their actual help is very much appreciated! They have always been interested in the funny, sad, disgusting, and interesting stories I told them about the children in my classes.
"Miss Kris, my dad thinks you look like a dinosaur...but I don't think you look like a dinosaur!!!"

or

"Mrs. Bald, your make up is soooo pretty!"
or
"Mrs. Balls, your earrings are beautiful!"

They have had to compete, in a way, for attention from me - I have had an additional 20 to 25 kids in my life as well as the ones I gave birth to. They have always asked me about my students. They have been interested in my days. But most importantly, they have always been quite willing to help me out during the middle part of August when my classroom needed to be moved into, rearranged, put together, etc. etc. I've been lucky to have great helpers who, only occasionally, will barricade their brother in the square crawl space in my room...

They are excellent at organizing my things.

They are wonderful at resting when it gets too hard to handle.

And they'll hang posters 'til the cows come home for a new pair of jeans from Hollister or American Eagle...
Thank you, Ball children. I love you and appreciate all that you put up with from having a mother who is also a full-time teacher. You are the best! Thanks for your help again this summer.

Thank goodness for that lumpy, bumpy double bed in the quaint house in Rexburg where Bill and I called home 21 years ago. I know I made the right decision!

Lucky Lindsay Lou!

2009-08-17T17:35:00.007-06:00

Awww, feel the estrogen in the air!!!! Mmmmmmm! We have another female teenager in the Ball house as of August 12, 2009. Lindsay turned 13 which explains the picture above! It seemed only logical that we eat her birthday lunch at one of our favorite local places of pure yumminess - Lucky 13!

We enjoyed a fun day of helping Mom in her classroom, eating lunch out (the best part of the birthday!), making the Funfetti cake (requested by the birthday girl), eating Chicken Alfredo for dinner, going to Young Women and winning the Fugitive Game (yay, Lindsay!), then returning home for a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday singing, ripping open the birthday gifts, and the devouring of cake and ice cream...literally devouring. (We love cake in this family.)

Lindsay, we absolutely love you in this family! You are most excellent in so many ways!
Since you're now a teenager, I thought I'd list some totally awesome things you're, like, so good at:
- You are the bomb at setting goals and following through on them.
- You keep a most excellent room in most excellent order.
- You like to hang with your Mom - STILL!!!
- You are, like, the best cook at breakfast time - often making eggs for you AND Kourtni...
- You know how to prioritize your to do list - fer sure!
- You are a totally excellent mix of serious and silly.
- You are still happy without a cell phone - yessssss!
- You are so awesome at keeping a ultra cool journal with ultra cool illustrations and keepsakes.

There are many more ways to love Lindsay, but I'm sounding a bit cheesy so I shall stop for fear of further embarassment from our newest teenager.

Love you mucho - Lindsay Lou!

It's Over! (And I'm still alive)

2009-08-09T21:35:00.003-06:00

Well, I'm baaacck! Back from good old Girls' Camp, back from the all-summer-long-dreaded- 4th-year-overnight hike, and back from sleeping in my cold car to my nice soft warm fluffy soft warm fluffy nice soft bed...

As you may remember, at the beginning of the summer I blogged about dreading 2 things: running at 3 in the morning and hiking into the wilderness and staying overnight. Yay! Those two events have come to pass and I am still alive and kicking! I'm also deliriously happy to say that I had a fabulous time during both of those said events!!!

I have to give a huge Kudos to my darling of a husband, Bill.

He prepped me, previewed the hike with our family and hiked by me, talked lovingly to me, filtered my water, cleaned up our camp, hung up our food to keep it away from the bears, allowed me to freak out a few times in the preparation, and still managed to love me in my states of mental unsteadiness that occurred as we got ready for this. He. is. a. STUD!!! I love him mucho mucho!

We hiked with 18 girls and 5 of us adults. The scenery was breathtaking, the experience was one every young woman should have. It helps build character and lets a young gal know she can do hard things - like carry all of her possessions for 2 days on her back! Sure we sweated through our clothes as we carried 35 pound packs on our backs for 3 hours. Sure we had no bathroom facilities. Sure we had to sleep on the hard ground. Sure we were not able to have a campfire since we were in the wilderness. Sure we had to be careful with our water so we didn't get any giardia. Sure we had to listen to the high mountain winds howl around our tents all.night.long... But we all made it! And I think that all involved are better people since we did it.

It sure is good to be back, though. Payton is glad to have a mom again, he's glad to have company during the day, and he and Bill are glad to have something for dinner besides cold cereal...

Bitten by a Bolt

2009-08-02T21:39:00.006-06:00

For years Bill and I have taken a nightly walk during the spring, summer, and early fall evenings. We love this time together. It's like a mini date each night! Sigh...
On Thursday night we decided to take our "walk along the canal" route. Nothing too strenuous, you get to see the sunset, dogs bark at you from way down below since the canal bank is situated high above the homes below. Easy route, good company, nice conversation, solving the world's problems... you get the drift. Well, as we commenced under the broken chain link fence, and proceeded up Federal Way (It's a road with an incline on our way home), we didn't have a care in the world! Cars whizzing by us at 45 miles per hour don't scare us since we have a nice section of bike path that we traverse on the way home. However, sadly, the bike path ends when we have to turn down the final road that heads home.

Amity Road, scary Amity Road.
No sidewalk.
Cement guardrail on one side of the road and metal guard rail on the other side.
Cars approaching at 40 to 45 miles per hour.
And did I mention that there is no sidewalk to walk on?

I usually walk on the side of the guardrail that puts me out of direct impact with approaching traffic. I feel safe, Bill is protecting me on the opposite side of the rail, and the dogs who bark at us from their safe back yards are still far below us.

EXCEPT---The metal guard rails are fastened to their wooden posts with something that is
extremely sturdy and makes the guard rail stick to the wood. Huge metal bolts with sharp teeth and long fangs. Well, maybe not fangs, but sharp teeth!
I, however, didn't notice the particular bolt sticking out 5 inches ready to make contact with my thigh until it was too late and I felt like I had been bitten by a metal bolt - the kind Frankenstein has sticking out of his neck, Folks!

Notice the blue aura around the gash...ouch.

This photo just makes my leg look fat(ter)...

Yeah, this nasty bolt managed to rip a huge hole in and ruin my favorite shorts and gave me a terrible looking gash on my thigh. The worst part about this injury is that the bruise surrounding the gash is so sore! I can hardly walk without throbbing heartbeat pain in my thigh! I know it will get better, but you can bet I'm going to walk next to the traffic in all upcoming walks!

Dear BYU...

2009-07-26T18:31:00.005-06:00

Dear BYU,

I am perturbed at you. You have made me feel mad, sad, anxious, irritable, a little depressed, slightly insecure, and a whole lot of old. You see, my oldest daughter will be attending your "hallowed campus" in the fall. Be good to her because I had to leave her with you today. Because of you lurking in the background, I was constantly aware of the hours ticking down until I had to return to Idaho without her. Because of you I didn't really get to enjoy the time with my family because I was too preoccupied with Sunday - the day I left. Because of you I wasn't myself most of the time while I was in Utah. That's not fair and I'm a little irked. Please take care of her and make sure you take every precaution to ensure her safety while on your campus. Are the locks to the dorms new? Are all the lightbulbs in the outside floodlights working by her dorm? Are your campus policemen well rested? Are the boys who will attend your school fully passing background checks? Are the creepers and men in their 30s told to stay away from incoming freshmen girls? Let me assure you, I have many more questions for you since it is not easy to leave a child at school and return home to find her bedroom empty, her picture wall blank, her clothes absent from the closet and dresser, and to find no laptop on the computer desk. Not easy AT ALL.

BYU, will you please make sure she finds gainful employment with you? She is a good worker and knows how to be consistent and responsible in her work environment. She has an open mind and has been exposed to lots of diversity in her short 18 years. Please make sure her mind is continually expanding with lots of valuable information that your employed professors get paid to impart. She is a very tolerant individual - one who gives people a chance even when they look, sound, or seem close minded. Keep her head full of important facts and make sure we get our money's worth each and every day.

BYU, you are getting her for 4 years - maybe 6 if she likes you enough and wants to continue to grace your classrooms for even more higher education. But that's it! You don't get her for one year more. Give her back to me after she is finished!

BYU, do you get many letters from selfish mothers like me? Am I the only one? Do you think I'm being a little overbearing in writing this note to you? Hmmm. I don't and I really don't care what you think. I love her enough to let you know my feelings about how you are taking her away from me. I know it's for the best and that she will enjoy her years with you, but I intend for you to take the very best care of her that you possibly can. Do we have a deal? I hope so.

Sincerely,
The momentarily slightly blue mother of Alyssa.

Another Race with a Brown Shirt

2009-07-15T12:23:00.005-06:00

Once again, Lindsay and Payton laced up their running shoes, donned the lovely brown t-shirt, hydrated themselves with all the free chocolate milk they could stomach, ate as many Power Bars as they were allowed, then were off and running at the Main Street Mile.

It's a pretty fun race.

You get to see the mayor. You get to see an ice cream truck with kids running after it. You get to smell sweaty kids. You get free chocolate milk. You get to take funny pictures. You get to relax and enjoy the fact that you, the parent, does not have to run a mile as fast as you can! Ahhh. The Main Street Mile. Wanna join us next year? heehee

Tippin-over-the-cave

2009-07-15T11:56:00.006-06:00

Hiking. It seems to be a theme for me during the summertime.
While the kids are at swim team, my friend Jen and I hike up beautiful Table Rock. It's early morning exercise at its finest! The views are breathtaking, the conversation is priceless (we've solved lots of problems and vented lots of stuff), and the workout, oh. the. workout. LOVE IT! We've done this for years! Probably like 6 years now, huh, Jen?
This year Alyssa even joined us for several tramps up the trail. It is a sad moment when swimteam ends and I realize that hiking up to Table Rock is almost over... sigh.

This summer we did another type of hike. With lots of cousins. With steeper trails. With a cave at the end of the trail! The following pictures are views of us hiking Mount Timpanogos...or as Bill used to call it "Mount Tippin-over-the-cave". Loved. It.

Deep in the dark, dark cave...

The heart of Timpanogos

Awww... love in the cave!

Wowww... lovin' that cave!

Payton and The Burn!

2009-07-09T22:42:00.004-06:00

So a couple of days ago I decided to sign Payton up for a highly overpriced football camp which only lasted 3 hours for a total cost of $50.00.
Gasp. What? I. Know. Me. I paid that much for 3 hours of playing with a football in an indoor arena.

I think I love Payton a little too much... Aaaaawww... What's not to love though???

Aaaaanyway. I think we got our $50 worth since our little guy made the 5:00 and 10:00 news here in Boise! Woot woot!

click here to see his skills!

A Little Behind

2009-07-01T14:58:00.002-06:00

So, here it is, July 1, 2009, and I am feeling
A Little Behind.
It's not that I'm not doing anything. I can putter around the house all day and when Billy comes home, it looks as if I have done nothing... Oh, how I have a love/hate relationship with this season called summer.

I feel so rushed during the school year that I go to the extreme opposite during the summer months where all I want to do is:
1. Hike Table Rock - but only on cool mornings
2. Go to the pool and read my book
3. Take a nap while at the pool
4. Go for an evening walk with my hubby

Yep, that's it. Those are the 4 things I want to do and you'll notice that laundry, housecleaning, meal preparation, grocery shopping, de-cluttering, blogging, and doing anything that's productive, creative, or necessary did not make the list.

So, I'm feeling a little behind in most every aspect of my life, but, heck, it's only a couple of months, right?

Sawtooth Relay

2009-06-15T15:15:00.006-06:00

What happens when you take 6 women (2 of whom are in their 40s, and 3 of whom are in their 50s) who love to run, put them in a van together with less than 2 hours of sleep at 12:45 AM, gather 2 reflective vests, 2 headlamps, a clipboard, string, a pencil, 2 Garmins, a cooler full of food and Vitamin water, and head out to Stanley from Sun Valley with the intention of running back the way you just came in 9 hours and 13 minutes???

No.

Not crazy. Wrong answer.

It's called the Sawtooth Relay.
Duh.

And WE DID IT!!! We definitely rocked that race and are proud of it!

You see, it works like this. Gather 6 friends who don't care about each other's post run smells. Ride to Sun Valley Friday afternoon (while still smelling nice and fresh) and enjoy each other's company carbo loading at Smokey Mountain Pizza. Go to the local grocery store and pick up lots of replenishing foods for our post run snacks. Oranges, Triscuits, cheese, chocolate, bananas, Power Bars, Luna Bars, Clif Bars, and more chocolate. Determine that it's time to go back to the condo and try to get some sleep before we awaken at 12:45 AM to load into Kris' van and drive to the start in Stanley. First, however, coffee is needed for Kelli, Claudia, and Joni. Drive to 6 locations at 7:30 at night and find nothing open to satisfy the need of caffeine.

***Hmmm... note to self: A good business opportunity for someone in Sun Valley - Some COFFEE place that stays open past 5:00 PM!!! Duh.

Find coffee and drive to condo to get ready for bed. Arrange 3 different changes of running clothes in bags and slip into comfy sleeping bag only to remain awake for the entire "sleeping" time until 20 minutes before the alarm goes off. Wake up - hey wait, I'm already up. Physically get up and put dry contacts in. Pray that they don't get too foggy so I can drive for an hour and a half to Stanley. Arrive at the start line. Put vest on, head lamp on, number on, gloves on, head warmer on, and leave at 3:00 AM after having said a prayer that no mountain lions or bears are up like me and ready for a snack! I leave to start my run and I am grateful that the moon is almost full and the sky is mostly clear. I am surprisingly calm and feel that my prayers are being answered! Yay! The river is to my left and the forest is to my right. There are very few cars on the road: only the ones who are stopping to offer water to their runner. My girls stop at mile 2 and I gratefully accept water from them knowing that I need some human communication! Then they drive off to mile 4 while I continue to run and listen to my breathing and for the wildlife around me. Nothing but the smell of a skunk and 55 minutes after 3:00 I am finished with leg number one and I am handing off the bracelet to runner 2 - Keziah. I receive hugs, praise, and a warm van to retreat into the back seat. Awww... I love endorphins!!!

This cycle continues with each runner and it is like a huge cheering contest as we encourage each other on and show our support for this cool event we've gotten ourselves into.

We love "Sweet's Sanitation" portapotties. Yeah, that was the name of the company! I know!

The rain started around the time I was ready for my second leg. The backside - yes, downhill - of Galena Summit. It was a little more difficult to run after I'd been sitting in a car for 5 hours, and we had a lot of elevation up on that thar mountain! I dug deep and kept trying to visualize the backside of Robie Creek, which is harder by far according to me!!! I tried to listen to Lindsay's ipod but Kelly Clarkson and the Spice Girls just didn't do it for me so I took out the earbuds and enjoyed listening to my own breathing...heehee... Handing off to our next runner was AWESOME! I was finished and could now enjoy cheering and eating and encouraging and laughing with my team.

Ahhh...Warm and dry at last!!!

When it was all said and done our team finished in 9 hours and 13 minutes. We felt pretty good about ourselves and the fact that we finished so well for the Women's Master's Division! I think the part I liked the most was the comraderie that we felt being together in a van for 9 hours striving for a common goal. Ahhh, Teamwork is a beautiful thing and I know I definitely want to do this race again next year.

Kukimbia Kumamas Rule the Hill!