Summer Time

It has been such a long time since I have blogged and so much has been going on. Frank and I went to Ontario this summer to visit family. It's becoming like an annual trip. We love it and have such a great time. This year we went to Ottawa to visit my Aunt Mildred. She's like 95 years old and is still amazing.

Mary Jane met us at the retirement center and brought us lemonade and cookies. I haven't seen them for a very long time. I have alot of great memories of my aunt. She used to take us to the library where she worked, that was a lot of fun. That's where I first heard of the dewey decimal system and learned to catalog books. I remember one of the best one on one times I had with her was when I was in Leamington visiting and she came and took me to lunch and for a walk along the beach. We had the best talks, I remember thinking, "she really gets me." After she had met Daniel and Sarah, when they were very young she went home and painted a picture of them on the beach. It is to this day one of my favorite possessions.

Uncle Jimmy took us all over Ottawa, I loved it, the history, the sights, the company, it's all about who I am. I LOVE living in the United States and being an American, but I am proud also to be Canadian and the history that I have. I always say you can take the girl out of the country but you can't take the county out of the girl.

This year we were able to stay with Uncle Jim and Aunt Pat for 2 weeks. They sure went by fast and we did so much. Uncle Jimmy built me a raft, we had our usual tournaments of croquet and bocce ball and went to the sheepdog trials. The weather was great and seeing all the fam was the best part. We even went to the cottage where I spent many a summer. My one cousin owns it now and it kinda doesn't look that same anymore, except for the docks and the lake.

My family totally rocks.

CINDERELLA

Kelsey was given the wonderful opportunity of playing Cinderella in the Blackfoot Community Play. At the start of rehearsals she was driving back and forth from Rexburg, because she is attending Paul Mitchell Hair Academy. After about a month of that she took a leave from school and moved home for a month. She was ready for a little vacation from school anyway.



It was great that Prince Charming was played by Chasten Ellis, one of her really good friends from high school. One of the ironic things...last year Kelsey was crowned as Prom Princess during prom and Chasten was crowned as Prom Prince.

I was threatened with my life if I posted any of the kissing pictures. There are a few for scrapbooking moments but not for the blog I'm afraid. She said it was awkward to rehearse the kissing scenes in front of the dads. Chasten's dad was the King and Frank was the minister.

Frank also was in the play. The only way he would be in it was if it didn't take too much time. He's so great, he had his lines memorized the first night. "Dearly beloved" We just called him Friar Frank.

It was so much fun to watch the two of them in the play. I loved it so much that I saw it like 5 times. I'm still humming the songs. Kelsey said that one of her favorite parts was when the little girls would come up to her at the end of the play and want to have their pictures taken with her. One little girl was so intrigued by her glass slipper that she asked to see it and to touch it. I even heard one little girl ask her mom if the theatre was where Cinderella lived!

I love this father and daughter picture. I'm so glad they have a talent that they can share.

EASTER

Finally we had nice weather and it was Easter.
Debbie and her family are here with us until they move into their house and she asked me if it was just Jon that hunted Easter candy. I just looked at her and laughed out loud. Are you kidding.

Look at these faces. They are a competitive bunch and no one and I mean no one is going to tell them they are too old to hunt for candy.

In the end everyone still loves each other. Notice Steve's pockets. Yup they're bulging a bit. Why? Because he and Sarah only got one basket and he had to store candy somewhere!

Happy Birthday to you TWO

On the night of their birthdays Kelsey turned to me and said "Do you realize that all of your children but one are adults?" She has waited, I'm sure it seems like a long time, to turn 18!! I can not believe how fast time has gone. Every year I think back on the day each of them was born and it really doesn't seem that long ago.


Daniel turned 24 on the 19th of March and Kelsey turned the coveted 18. That is so bizarre to me, it wasn't that long ago that I was either one of those ages!!!!!
We used to take them for individual lunches on their birthdays. Frank would take one and I would take the other. Then one year they decided they wanted to have lunch together. After Daniel's mission and the logistics of where everyone is living, we decided that dinners might be best. So for the last two years they have picked Texas Roadhouse to have their birthday dinners.
I hope the two of them have the opportunity to celebrate together many more birthdays. Kelsey has made the statement many times that she hopes that they will always be able to be together on their birthdays and that sad will be the day when they aren't. For the two years Daniel was in Louisana serving his mission, it was very different and Kelsey didn't like it much.
I have so totally enjoyed the celebrating of your birthdays.

Orange is HAPPY Right?

LAUNDRY
A necessary evil that I've decided isn't too bad.
I'm a freak I know. It's theraputic for me to hear the hum of the washing machine and the tumbling sound of the dryer. I love the smell of clean clothes. I love the thought of sending germs and dirt to their death. I do have to admit that there is the dreaded folding, you can only smell so long and then those babies need to be folded. YUK. So I figured out a way I might be able to tolerate this. PAINT!!!!


I was going for mango and got pumpkin. But hey, orange is orange and it's HAPPY!
Now, honestly I don't mind being in there washing and folding. well ok it doesn't totally fix the drudgery of folding but it's an improvement.
The votes were cast and the replies varied. Sarah said if you were a Bengal (ISU) it'd be great. Kelsey wondered what I was thinking and it was not mango it was tide box orange. Jonathan loved it. Steven said it looked like baby food carrot puke. Must remember to ask him how he would know that. Daniel thought it was awesome. Chris thought it was bright. And bless Frank, he thinks its wonderful, except he keeps wanting to turn the light out in there whenever he walks by.
I myself took a couple of days to get used to it, but now I really like it and I tell the orange haters that when they want to spend as much time as I do in there, they are welcome to paint. Not thinking that will happen any time soon.

Paintball - Living the Dream

Chris has been

paintballin for about 4 years now. He absolutely loves it. He plays on a team in Boise and also plays with a guy from Rexburg.

Saturday he went to a tournament in Salt Lake. He's gone to a couple of tournaments there. He didn't feel like he had played exceptionally well during this tournament. They came in 11th out of 16th. I'm thinking if you can get shot with paintballs at a high rate of speed that's exceptional!!!!!

Friday he asked me if I'd like to come watch him play! I was so glad that he asked, so of course I said yes. It's not always he wants his mom around so when he asks I do everything I can to make it happen. So Saturday morning I left for Salt Lake to go watch Chris play. He called me while I was on my way and said they had changed the schedule and that he might be done before I get there. :( I was so sad. I was mad at myself for not leaving earlier and just told him I would get there as soon as I could. I said a silent prayer that I would atleast see him play one game, afterall he asked me to be there. He called me a couple of more times to check on my progress and each time I told him I was hurrying but I would be there. The last time he called he said the tourney people decided that they would take a lunch, so that meant that I would atleast get to see him in two games!!!!

I'm so thankful for a loving Heavenly Father. That He knew how important it was to me that I get there to see Chris play, that prayers are indeed answered, even if that answer is a lunch break.

Chris met me at the car walked me in the building and introduced me as his mom. One of his team mates asked me if I was just stopping in cause I had things to do in Salt Lake or if I made the trip especially to see Chris play. I told him the only reason I came was to see Chris play and root for the team.

It was such a GREAT day. Even if he didn't feel like he played his best. I really enjoyed watching him play. He puts his heart and soul into it. He's always doing some practice move down in his room, I've seen the carpet burns not pretty. He works so hard. Gives new meaning to the words, "LIVING THE DREAM."

Finally

For a very long time now Jonathan has wanted to learn to play the guitar. So last year for Christmas we got him an electric guitar. Who knew that trying to find a teacher would be such an adventure. Not ME!!!!

So someone gave us the name of a guy that lives in Riverside. I called a couple of people that I thought might have known who this guy was. I should have listened to Kathleen Hall when she said he was ok but her Chris didn't really learn anything from him and they moved on. That should have been my clue to just keep searching, just keep searching. So no. Well I call this guy, funny how his name escapes me, probably a good thing. He says how he loves to teach, that he's played in bands and is currently playing in a band. I of course think, cool, Jon will love this. NOT happening. We go out there for his first lesson, the walk up to the door was a little scary, the yappie ankle biting dogs were not impressive, yet the bells didn't start going off in my head until I realized the teacher was the oxygen sniffing old guy!!! I kid you not Jon just looked at me like this isn't for real is it? Sadly I just fake a smile and say "Have fun" and I leave. I should have been reported I know. So I wait and in 30 minutes go back in and get him, I tell you the guy talked our ear off for another 20 minutes and played me bluegrass!!!!! I could tell Jon was not the least bit impressed. When we get in the car and he starts TRYING hard to find nice things to say I know it's a lost cause. So I try to keep it positive and just say it will be better and I know he's hoping he doesn't have to go back. The next week the teacher calls and says there's snow on the road and he won't be doing lessons until it's gone!! I kid you not and I'm thinking we live in Idaho for crying out loud and it's January. Truly Jon was relieved and praising us when we said he didn't have to go back there. Ok maybe we thought we heard praises, probably not, but I have to find redemption for leaving him there somehow.

Fast forward a year.

He still really wants to play and has been trying on his own, with help from Frank to learn a few chords. So I decided to just call a place in Idaho Falls. Imagine Jonathan's surprise when we told him we had signed him up for lessons at the Violin Shop in Idaho Falls, hahahahahahahahaha. For real that's where they hold lessons for alot of instuments. His first lesson was last week and I was so impressed and better yet he didn't suck oxygen and Jon thought he rocked. There is a new rock star in the makings at the Paice house.

Christmas in February

We love our Christmas in February!!

Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Pat send us gift certificates to Texas Roadhouse for Christmas. It always seems like it takes us until February to get everyone's schedules to match up. Between Christopher's schedule at Convergys, Steve's schedule with the Police Dept., Sarah's schedule with the nursing home, Kelsey's schedule with school and Daniel's schedule with school, I really thought it would be April or May before we got to enjoy our family dinner. It's just a good thing that Frank, Jonathan, Grandma Elle and I are so stinkin flexable. I'm so glad that Chris decided to take a couple of days off at the beginning of the week. Steve and Sarah were trying to talk us into taking everyone in shifts, and then they so unselfishly agreed to go with each shift to help spread the love, but it turned out great for everyone because we all got to go together. The only thing that would be better was if Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Pat could join us.

SUPERBOWL

The comment was made today by Daniel, that one thing he loves about the superbowl is that we eat better than we do at Thanksgiving. Isn't that what superbowl is all about, food and commercials.
Ok well being with family and watching the game is number one but the others are a close second.

It was different this year that we didn't go to Hoges, like we have for the last umpteen years. I hope Sharon gets feeling better, being in the hospital is not fun.

The game was so good. At first I thought it wouldn't be a very close game but was I wrong. We really got into the game. So much so that the police arrived.

Ok well it was just Steve. He wanted to eat and watch the half time show. It was fun to have everyone here even the dogs enjoyed themselves.

All in all I think everyone had a good time. Kelsey and I especially, since the Steelers WON.

It's funny though, I hated football right up until the time that Daniel started playing. A new appreciation is formed when you have children involved in a sport you know absolutely nothing about. It seemed like with each season I gained new knowledge and appreciation. So when Chris and Jon played I could atleast cheer and jeer at the right times. Although I wouldn't be completely honest if I said I never cheered or jeered emphatically at the WRONG time, because I have. That is one mistake that is hard to cover up, so I just would look around and smile. Frank is so good to me when I do that, he just pats my leg, smiles and says, "Oh hon" Then he tries to explain it to me sometimes missing the next important play.

Christmas Pickle

One of our family traditions is the Christmas Pickle.
We have two glass pickle ornaments, one for the boys and one for the girls. On the afternoon of Christmas Day I hide the pickles one at a time in the tree. This year the boys went first.



The rule is no touching the tree, you can just look and then point to it if you find it.

Steve gets so into finding the pickle. He and Sarah are two of the most competitive people I know. Hum, I wonder where they or Sarah atleast gets it from.

Sometimes there is a little wrestling involved, but the winner remains victorious. Jon I think just wanted to win really bad, so he figured if he could wrestle it away from Daniel he might be declared the winner. Wrong.


This year it was Daniel. Most everyone was fine with that since he actually missed out on the pickle for the 2 years he was on his mission. He won Whoppers and gumballs. He was happy.

Sarah and Kelsey were next. I'm surprised neither of them actually got under the tree. They were pretty darn close to that this year. The older they get the funnier they are.

Obviously Sarah didn't win the pickle this year. Darn it and she picked out the prize because she was so sure she was going to win!!! Notice some of the ribbon has come off the tree, so much for no tree touching :)

Kelsey won!!! Her prize was a hot chocolate cone. Actually it was just hot chocolate with marshmallows wrapped in a clever way as to look like a cone. I think Steve was looking to make sure that Sarah was truly ok. She was.

And our two winners for the 2008 Christmas Pickle are Kelsey and Daniel. Sarah and Steve say they are winners too so sneak into the picture.

We have been doing our Christmas Pickle for as long as I can remember. It's something they all look forward to and I have to admit I love doing it too. They all just make me laugh. It's a crack up listening to them go over strategies, usually it's the Simpers that are doing the planning. I'm not too sure what will happen when little ones start showing up in the picture. We may have to get more pickles because I don't see the bigger ones abandoning this tradition for quite some time.

Christmas was alot of fun this year. We were fortunate that we had everyone home. I love it when that happens. I know that sometime down the road it won't be like that but I am so thankful for the times it does. There is nothing like having all your family around especially during the holidays.

2009

Thanks to our girls we have now entered the world of blogging. Thanks Sarah and Kelsey.
(Sarah helped me set this whole thing up today.)

I can't imagine that our life is that interesting but they assured me that it is. Well afterall though I love to read other people's blogs, it's actually fasinating to me. So this will be one more reason to not get those scrapbook pages done!!!

Christmas was great, it always seems to get here so fast and is over even faster :( We hunted all over for a Wii Fit for Christopher and finally found one AFTER Christmas. I had left him an IOU from Santa in a tiny little stocking, that seemed to suffice. I would really like to use that thing myself but I don't want to when people are around or have people see my stats or anything. Jonathan assured me today that I could password protect it, now I just have to think of a different password that I can remember. Frank got me a trip back east. We had such a great time last summer that we want to go again!!!! I'm so excited to go. The kids got me a glass wall hanging that says, Home, a refuge from the storm. I love it. Daniel got me a wall hanging that talks about Fullfillment. I love things like that. Especially since Frank and I, ok Frank, repainted our family room and our hallways.

I'm not much for New Years Resolutions because by January 7th I've broken almost everyone. So this year I thought I would try something new. My goal for this year is to just be a better me. I feel like that is a broad enough goal that I can accomplish. I let you know how the progress goes. Atleast it will be something to blog about.