A Recap - January to April!

Ok, so Jake tells me I am the worst blogger ever. I do a great job keeping up my Krafty Blog, but when it comes to the family one I kind of suck! ;) So while he's out enjoying 18 holes of golf with the guys, I thought I would surprise him that I finally got our blog-o updated! So this is seriously PICTURE HEAVY, but so fun going back through everything! Enjoy!

So, recap of the last few months!

January

Brady turned 7 on the 21st!

Brady got a new bike

Skateboard, helmet and pads (along with some clothes and toys)

Brady's actual birthday fell on a Thursday, which happened to be Senior Night for the wrestlers! So, the other coaches arranged for the Cheerleaders to sing to Brady! It was so cute, but he told me he was so embarrassed after! ;) (PS - the one side where its not full is the visiting team, the other side of the stands was packed of course!)

Here are a few pics of Jake coaching that night. Man, he is such a hottie! Love my cute husband!

Then there was the Little League wrestling club the high school hosted. They only did one tournament, but it was sure fun!



February

State Wrestling! Just one pic of the arena Jake took. He was gone for three days and we missed him a ton! They had I think 6 or 7 kids qualify for State, and their Freshman 103 pounder was the only one to place. He took 6th. They had a blast though and are really excited for next season.





Jake had a fancy work party that was a Black Tie Event, so we got all dressed up and had a blast!





Monster Trucks! After State Wrestling was over we took the kids to Monster Jam. It was kind of their reward for being such awesome kids through everything!

I forgot to take a pic (bad me!), but Gwynie did her Science Fair Project on lava lamps, and how they work, and the experiment, etc. She did incredible on it! Her teacher even asked if he could keep her board as an example to show future classes what it should look like! ;) I helped a little, but it really was all her! Just helps to have a crafty momma right? I do have pics though that we put on her board, this is one showing the bubbling. (Oil, water, food coloring and alka seltzer)

March

Disney on Ice! Grandma Deb and Poppa Wayne bought all the grandkids tickets (except for Sydney, she's too little still) to go to Disney on Ice! Gwynie and Hannah did't plan on wearing their twiner shirts, but it was too cute!

Deb and Wayne got Brady a bow for his birthday, so once it finally warmed up he got to practice in the front yard!

April

Snow! BOOO SNOW!!! April 1st - not kidding!!

Easter! The kids love dying eggs, their baskets and egg hunts. Just booooo snow!!

And our doofy dog Bridger. He has gotten HUGE since December! His paws are bigger than Brecken's already! Breck turned 3 this year too, crazy! So our little pup will be bigger than his big brother soon! This is one of his typical positions on the couch, weirdo.

And, I chopped off lots of hair again! ;) Super short, but I'm getting used to it! Gwyn also chopped her hair, I'll have to get a pic of her cut to post soon!

I also started a new job! I wasn't looking to leave, but an opportunity came up at Jake's work, and one thing led to another. Within a matter of a few days I had a brand new job! I gave my two weeks notice, and started my new job last Thursday.

Freestyle Wrestling Club

So the other thing that's been going on is the Freestyle Club. Jake is the chairperson for the club and has been running everything!! Since mid February we've had 3 day a week practices (Tues-Thurs) and then Friday night and Saturday morning/afternoon tournaments. Next week is our last tournament, and its State for both Freestyle and Folkstyle. Jake has been coaching not only Brady, but their other kids that signed up. So nice that a few of the highschool kids came and did it, too. They will definitely have an advantage next year! I have a folder where I'm putting all those pictures (and videos). Not counting this weeks tournament, I have 1079 photos!!! I have picked out 25 so far to post to the blog. I have a feeling I will be scrapbooking those for ages. ;)

Speaking of scrapbooking...I have fun news in that area, too!

Kandi's Addiction, erm Hobby

I was so excited to have a some fun opportunities come my way! Not sure if I'd mentioned it or not on the blog before, but I was choosen to be on a Design Team for Skipping Stones Design. I get free stamps (can't beat that), and create cards with them weekly. I LOVE their stamps, so funny and sassy! I've been doing that since December.

Last month I also found out I'd gotten a spot on the Staff Reporter team for Craft Critique! I've had one article published so far, and have a few in the queue. I have assignments based on what I currently have, or plan on buying, to write my articles on. I've also been fortunate enough to be selected to review products, and have them sent to me by the vendors! Woot! :)

I've had a few more cards picked up for publication as well, and have loved seeing my cards in an actual book! It was kind of surreal, walking into my scrapbook store and seeing my two cards and MY NAME in a book! Then, next month I was in Hobby Lobby and saw that months mag with a card of mine. Wow, talk about cool!

And the end...

Ok, well I think that's about it! My plan (HA!) is to get a post ready after next week of all the Freestyle Wrestling stuff going on and a recap of that. After that, well I think we are MORE THAN READY for a break! We felt like we've been going a million miles an hour...wrestling 5 days a week, working, kids homework/school stuff, then just trying to have fun every now and then. ;) Spring Baseball/Softball starts mid May though for the kids (Jake's team starts next week), so I'm sure we will be ready after three weeks of boring-ness and nothing to do. ;)

Easter, Baseball and a Museum...all made for a fun month!

Well, its been awhile that I've posted anything about the fam. I finally decided tonight that I better just do it instead of feeling guilty about it. (Sorry Mom! I know how much you like to see these!)

So....here is a jumble of stuff all at once!

First, I better do some Easter stuff. Here is a quick recap of what our week had been shaping up to be...

Wednesday - Dye Easter Eggs

Thursday - Bees Baseball Game

Friday - Kids spend the night in Grantsville camping with Jake's Mom and DAd in their trailer

Saturday - Dutch oven cooking, shooting clay pigeons, easter egg hunt w/ Jake's family

Sunday - Easter

The Bees game ended up getting postponed on Thursday. It was their opening game and we had gotten our tickets for 75 cents each! Since the game was postponed we could use our tickets for Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Well, we knew we couldn't use them on the first two, so we decided that if the weather was nice we would go on Sunday. Even though it was Easter, we thought it would still be fun for the kids.

So first, Easter egg dyeing on Wednesday night!

Gwynie's eggs

Brady's coloring an egg with these paintable things I found at the store. Of course it was all blue...which we told him he could have just dyed, but oh well.

Here are their eggs, all done! Word to the wise...don't fall for those foil or glitter things next year. They were awful and messy and didn't work. You would think after how many years of always buying the "cool" dyes I would just realize they never work and stick with the standard stuff.

On Friday Debbie, Jake's Mom, came to pick up the kids about noon to take them camping in their trailer for the night. We went out on Saturday, and Jake's brother Dustin and our neices Hannah, Bailey, and Abby came as well. Erica and the baby stayed home since Sydney was sick.

The kids got Easter baskets, and then had an egg hunt. We did dutch oven chicken, potatoes, and a peach cobbler. It was delish! :)

Kids with their Easter baskets from Wayne and Deb
The Phillips Boys...in all their glory

Sunday the kids woke up to their easter baskets, an egg hunt, and then that afternoon the ball game.

The weather actually turned out beautiful that afternoon! It was supposed to be 55 and partly cloudy, but the sun was shining, and we all got a little burned! I actually made the kids wear jeans, and they were bummed because they could have worn their new shorts. We ended up with even better seats than our original ones (and still only 75 cents each!!) so we were on the first row right behind home plate!

Last weekend we took Brady to the Museum of Natural History. Gwynie decided playing with friends was more fun so she stayed at a friends house instead of going with us. :( But we had fun, and it was more geared towards Brady anyways. They have a special Toads/Frogs exhibit going on until September. If you are in the area you should check it out, it was so amazing!

In the lobby they had two workers showing off a millipede, a hissing cockroach, and a tarantula! Brady had been dying to see a REAL LIFE tarantula so he loved this...but got a little scared right at the end.

Brady is the funniest little kid. He is a true boy and loves spiders, bugs, and all that stuff. He is so fascinated by the world around him, and is always asking us questions. He asks things like, "What is the deadliest scorpion on the planet?" or "Why are there so many different kinds of beetles?" and then wants to know about dinosaurs, and sharks, and sting rays all in the same breath. So the area here with the bugs, beetles, and scorpions was perfect for him...he probably could have stayed here all day long! Here he is next to a "Black Lidow". No, that's not a typo...its not a Widow at our house...Brady calls them "Lidows" and so we all say it now, too. :)

There is a great kids area here, too. Brady is uncovering dinosaur bones and had a blast playing in it!

Haha, no I didn't pose him like this. I told him to stand in it (kids area - don't worry no rule breaking here!) so I could take his picture...and this is what he did. Well, of course we just laughed and I got a funny picture out of the deal!



So right now...I'm all caught up...finally!

SURPRISE ROAD TRIP!!

Have you ever done something spur of the moment? What about a road trip? Well that is what we did Friday morning! We came up with our little plan Thursday afternoon, came home and packed, and then left Friday at 6 am. Wanna know where we went? :) Vegas Baby!

(Gwynie did a pretty good job taking this didn't she!)

But, there was a reason for our impromptu trip...Grandma and Grandpa Merritt. This weekend marked their 50th Wedding Anniversary!!


On Saturday night we watched a DVD and looked at a scrapbook Teresa had put together with all the kids/grandkids/greatgrandkids in it. It was awesome! To top off the night the kids (meaning the original kids!), and Grandma's sister Carol, came up with reasons why they had stayed married so long. Now, just a disclaimer, I don't remember all the reasons, and I'm not sure we ever hit 10 (we were all laughing too hard!). So if this list isn't perfect I apologize, but I know it's pretty close! Plus, I have writer's liberties at this point, and added at least one of my own. :)

TOP 10 REASONS WHY RICHARD AND LANETTA STAYED MARRIED FOR 50 YEARS

10. Grandma married Grandpa for his money, and he married her for her body. They both got jipped on that deal, so they stay married out of spite.

9. Grandma wanted to go to heaven and she knew if she put up with Grandpa for so long, well that was an instant ticket into those pearly gates. ~St. LaNetta

8. It's much too expensive to live apart!

7. Their marriage survived because of Grandma's patience, and Grandpa's work ethic.

6. They had to make it last to get the good stuff....the grandkids and great grandkids.

5. They are both too stubbon. Everyone said it wouldn't last more than a year...

4. Murder is a punishable crime.

3. You can't beat FREE nookie for 50 years...yet we all know it's never FREE!

2. They really, truly, madly, deeply love each other.

And the number one reason, as submitted by GRANDPA! The REAL reason why these two have stayed together for 50 years:

1. Grandpa loves her with all his heart, and he married the dumbest girl he could find!

So here's how we happened to be there and how this all came about:

There was a plan in place...Rick and Jody, who were celebrating their upcoming anniversary, were to meet Gram and Gramps in Vegas on Saturday and stay at Rick and Jody's timeshare. Grandpa was in on the plan though. All their kids, Mick, my Dad, and Keri (and spouses of course!) were all meeting there! We decided we couldn't pass up the opportunity to see Mom and Dad, and the rest of the family, since we are only about 5.5 hours away.

We met up with Mom, Dad, Keri and Tom Friday about 11 and then headed out to Hoover Dam. That was were Grandpa, tugging a reluctant Grandma, was to meet up with them. Little did they know we would send the kids to them saying they were lost! :) Grandma bawled of course, but it was an amazing surprise for her. :)

We were going to take the DAM tour, but the DAM elevator was broken (hehe), so we ended up doing the power plant tour. The kids loved it! We had seen the new bridge they are building on a History Channel or Modern Marvel special, so it was impressive to see it up close and personal!



Saturday was spent seeing M&M's World, and a few other places. We have a lot of other pictures, but my bed is calling my name! I'll leave you with this one...the whole fam damily, and some of just the original family.

L to R:
Mom, Dad, Me, Jake, Keri, Tom, Teresa, Mick, Jody, Rick
Brady, Grandpa, Grandma, Gwynie