Fun family and baseball...

LesLee and her fam came to visit this week. Her girls have gotten so big. We always have such a fun time when she's here and keep REALLY busy. Of course my sickness with having to attend EVERY baseball game didn't help with my exhaustion this week. But anyway, a brief run down. They arrived on Wednesday afternoon and came over with Lori, Kaylee and Trent and we visited while the kids played in the toy room (where Lilli was extremely disappointed in our lack of dragon toys). They left around 4:30 that afternoon and after scarfing down a quick dinner I met up with all of them (+ Kesha and boys) for some fun at the hotel pool. I had to bail on that a little early to catch my baseball game. It was "paint the park pink" night for breast cancer awareness. They were actioning off the special navy/hot pink sweaty jersey's they guys played in that night... which I got outbid on the one I wanted, but was given the opportunity for a better one, which I'll have to explain at some other time :)

Thursday we met up with LesLee & fam, Lori & fam, Kesha+ boys, Aunt Karen and Jon & had dinner at Pirate Island Pizza. Thank Jebus for the arcade because the place was packed and the food took FOREVER. The kids played in the arcade with Derek, Josh, Patrick and McKenna while the rest of us sat around the table catching up while we waited the hour+ (no joke) for our food. Of course my boys had the night off that night so there was no rush for the baseball game and no reason for me to have to choose between the two events (I know, told ya, it's sad).

Friday Derek headed up North with the girls, Josh headed up North with Kaylee which left Lori & LesLee with just sweet baby Trent and wide open for a girls day. They picked me up and we headed out to Capriotti's for lunch (because they are evil whores like that), then we went to Roberts to pick up some flowers and stuff for LesLee to make her girls some bows. Somehow we ended up at the mall shopping and holy crap, I haven't laughed as hard as I did in that dressing room in a long time. Yeah, all three of us Lori, LesLee & Me (holding baby Trent who REFUSED to sleep longer than 10 mintues all day) were crammed into a dressing room while they tried on clothes. LesLee's belly dance in the fuchsia skirt and G's will be stuck in my head for months to come. There were plenty of "OMG did I just pee a little" laughing spurts (including the one when the sales lady came to check to see if we needed any other sizes... while Les frantically shook her head no with a look of horror on her face). Had to be there moments, but I'm the only one who reads this thing anyway so it doesn't matter :) We made it home from the mall with just enough time for me to change out of the Virginia Tech dress I wore (because I failed to notice before I left the house just HOW MUCH too big that shirt had become) and race off to the baseball game. As soon as the game ended I jumped back into my car and raced back to Lori's house for the Toes, Bows and Hoes girl night which I had already missed half of, but got there just in time for the good suffocation stories and Hungry Howie's Pizza (see... dirty whores I tell ya!! Pizza!!)

Saturday I got up at the ass crack of dawn (7:30 to the rest of the world... okay 8) to shave my legs before stuffing them into a bathing suit for a day at the lake with Lori, Les and Julie. We had a great time at the launch and then swimming until late afternoon. On the way home we stopped for ice cream (dirty whores) and it was gooooood. I was so sad to hug Les goodbye so I just dropped into my regular denial and told her I would see her tomorrow :) It's just easier that way. Had a great time visiting with her though and wish we could get her to move down here. I think we make a little more progress every time she visits... at this rate we might have her down here by the time Lacey graduates from high school.

And of course some pictures... Les has more than I do so I'll try to get some from her later :)

Halloween Recap...

We had a great Halloween... well most of us. Kesha and Lori's brother-in-law Sean had a small misunderstanding with a group of angry Klansmen brandishing chains and torches. (We suspect they were sent to vanquish the largest gathering of black people within our 50 mile radius.) Luckily for them, Kesha was able to rid herself of that constipated 'oh shit they're going to string us up expression' and broke out the pointing finger and neck roll she usually reserves for unsuspecting tech guys that overstep their bounds. Those pansy klansmen scattered like cockroaches when the light comes on.


Gone are the days of cutesy little Halloween costumes. No more lions, monkeys and donkeys for us. This year we had 1 very convincing Dracula, 1 extremely scary skeleton, 1 emo ninja, 1 drunk extremely talkative skeleton, and 3 blue Cinderellas (yes Liana, Kaylee and Kaiah were ALL Cinderella). Damien was particularly proud of his scary skeleton and the fact that he made two kids cry at the store :) About a block into our trick-or-treating we had to have him lift up his mask and show Kaylee who was in there because she was TERRIFIED of him. She was better after that, but continued to keep a wary eye on him. Aiden, of course, was the drunk talkative skeleton and had to stop and give his whole life story to everyone who opened the door. It always started the same way.... "Rooooaaaaarrrr..... It's okay, its just me Aiden. I'm a scary skeleton. And this is my cousin CJ. He's Dracula... and this is my cousin Dami...." Seriously, we had to call him away from every house. At least this year he didn't try to walk into every house we went up to. We took our normal short little trick-or-treat route (one day the kids are going to figure out that more people are giving out candy than the little circle in grandma's neighborhood and will drag us all over.) A shout out out to the Singlers... We MISSED you guys this year, it wasn't the same without you! Here are some pictures of our night.

Happy Baby & Pine Valley

God, I just want to squeeze this little baby one more time!

Brrr...

Holy crap, where did this cold come from? I swear yesterday it was around 85, today I wake up and it is in the 50s! What the hell, we live in the desert, it is not supposed to be this cold... especially in October!

In other news, I have officially lost the Auntie of the year award! I completely forgot about Damien's birthday party today! I went over there tonight to see him and as sweet as he is, he assured me that "it's okay you missed my party, you can come to the next one". I just had to squeeze him, I fully expected his feelings to be hurt. So instead of being at his birthday party, we had a Wii party tonight and had a lot of fun. He got Mario Kart for his birthday and we all had a blast playing it (although there were some tears when someone didn't win and Damien got a little frustrated with Aiden because he kept driving his character into the water, thinking it was hilarious.) After the kids went to bed Jake and I got serious and played 3 sets (4 races each set) Kesha ended up recording it with her web cam on her laptop so I might have to post that when she sends it to me... I might have to screen it for language first :) Competitive... NOOOOOO not me :)

I have some pictures of our "Wii Party" tonight that I'll post a little later when I get them uploaded.

Random 'Remember that' Picture Post

A few of the family pictures we had taken the day before Dad moved out here to Utah. Of course we didn't know that less than 3 years later we would all be out here. (Well for awhile anyway until Annie and Keith bailed :) You know we still love you ;)

UNO!

Last night I watched Jake and Kesha's boys for a few hours so they could go to some work thing Jake had. As soon as I pulled up they came flying out of the house like a swarm of bees and as they climbed all over my car, begged me to play UNO with them. Lucky for them, UNO is one of my favorite games... and I happen to kick ass! So after delaying long enough to take care of Mobsters (yes still hittin' that site like a crack pipe) we settled into play a couple games.

Dami looks like he's up to something:


I think his poker face might need a little work...


CJ says bring it!


Making his move... with the distracting whirlwind Jalen behind him :)


I'm rather ashamed to admit that I was worked not once, but twice by a seven year old! CJ is the UNO master. And it doesn't hurt that he inherited his daddy's cheating ways.

A fun family night...

Tonight Dad and I went over to Jake and Kesha's house to see CJ on his birthday. We introduced Paw-Paw to the Wii system (crossing my fingers one will appear under my Christmas tree) and now he's hooked. I'm sure that the golf game had something to do with it. Damien was all smiles as he WORKED Paw-Paw in bowling. And I mean bad... by like 50 points. Jalen and I bowled as well and even though I couldn't quite bring myself to throw a game to a three year old, I could take advantage of the fact that he can't read :) He was so excited when the game ended and we whooped and hollered and told him that he'd won.

I also discovered that I am not the only one who has a Mobster obsession. Jake has got it as well. We sat on the couch for quite a while going over strategy and who we need to ice when we get a little more power built up. A perfect family bonding moment.

Kesha lifted my spirits as well by informing me that the new Harry Potter movie release has actually been pushed back to next spring which means my loyalties won't be tested with my two favorite series' movies releasing on the same day. She also read me a memorable Keith quote that will surely go down in family history: (As reported from Annie)

Keith asked me how long to cook the grilled cheese sandwiches and I said, "Just turn 'em over when they're brown." His response? "Brown like Kesha or brown like Jalen?" ;)

Miss Me

Mmm... yeah. I have been just a tad bit negligent with this blog. But maybe I'll do a little better now that I've just found out I can get wireless on my laptop up in my bedroom :) I know, I've been meaning to call and get internet for months... note to self, next time don't cancel your internet service until after you make an appointment for the new installation.

Anywho, now that we've established that I'm the biggest slacker in blogger history, on with the news and HOLY FREAKIN' HELL there is a ton of it!
Family Reunion Yep, the whole famdamily on my Dad's side made the trip down to Lake Powell for three days. We had a great time seeing everyone with very little drama... a miracle I tell ya, we’d been making bets for weeks before hand on what it was going to be and who was going to start it. We pretty much just hung out in the lake during the day (those with more adventurous natures than me spent a lot of time in the two boats we brought… I was content just to chill on a float all dayJ). I did go cliff jumping though… yes seriously… there are pictures to prove it. Amazingly enough I didn’t die and had a pretty good time.
Annie and Keith moved to Alabama. Yes, seriously. It all happened very quickly. I think between the time the decision was made and the move was about three weeks. Keith got a new job close to his family and so we packed them up and moved them out. We are happy for them, but miss them terribly. Now we all look forward to Keith's daily Newsflash text and daily picture mail from Annie :)
School Started. Yep, it's that time again already. The kids I work with don't start until next week, but CJ and Damien started about two weeks ago. CJ is officially a big boy and in first grade is now going to school full day... and didn't even cry on his first day! Damien has started kindergarten and goes half day. He seems to enjoy it and his favorite part is recess, of course J
Dad went to Alaska. He won a trip to Alaska and is currently having an amazing time. He calls home every day and tells us about what an amazing day he's had. He should be home in the morning, so hopefully I'll have some pictures to share :)
Mom spent 2 days in the hospital. She'd been feeling bad for a few weeks and we ended up having to rush her to the hospital after a doctor's appointment. She had a bleeding ulcer and very, very nearly bled to death. Apparently the average person has between 36 and 40 units of blood at any given time and by the time we got her into the E.R. she was down to 13. They gave her a lot of blood and fixed the ulcer, then kept her in the ICU for observation. They moved her to a regular room the next day and did another test and a little more observation and a lot of blood work. She gave us all an extreme scare, but they let her come home tonight and she's feeling much better.

So that's pretty much the reader's digest version of our CRAZY summer. I'll try to post some pictures later :)