UUUGGGHHHH!!!!

I guess I should have been more thankful for that ordinary day on Wednesday.  On Thursday morning, I ended up getting a virus on my computer.  The same one I had last Februaryish.  It totally took out my Internet Explorer and my Outlooks.  So Not FUN!!!!

I spent the day backing up all of my files on Thursday.  On Friday Sean installed a new hard drive, and he also got me an early anniversary gift of a new external hard drive.  So, we got all the programs reloaded and then I spent today getting everything transferred back.  At least I have two 1 TB hard drives now, so I should be able to back everything up on the extra one on a regular schedule now so that I don't have to spend a whole day doing it. 

The boys finished the theater room themselves on Thursday.  Thanks boys!!!  They did an awesome job and it looks all spic and span now.

My neighborhood friends have decided to do a salad swap.  We each have 2 salad toppings that we chop up each week and then we get together an exchange our toppings so that we all have salad fixings for the week.  Here is my salad (I added the chicken leftover from the pizza I made the boys)  It was so yummy.  Hopefully we can all stay excited about it so we can eat healthier.  YAY!

Another Ordinary Day

I've heard that those are the best and most missed once the kids all leave.

Sean went to work.  I worked on some template packs to put in the store and entered myself in a Design Competition.  The boys folded socks, watered the garden and watched a movie together.  They also played Crash Team Racing - a family favorite Play Station game that was lost but found again when we cleaned the theater room.  It was fun to listen to them giggling together while they played.  They even talked their old mom into playing with them for a little bit.  This is the only game I will play other than Guitar Hero, which I'm actually pretty good at.

We had breakfast for dinner (omelets) that were awesome, especially because the boys helped me make them.  I had someone to crack eggs, grate cheese, and make toast and juice so I could just cook them all.

Then I watched So You Think You Can Dance and worked on my Design competition entry.  It is called Designer Survivor and the first challenge gets us on the ship and to the island.  There are over 70 participants signed up.  I'm a little concerned because it isn't judged, it is based on votes from other competitors and the general public and then those who don't get immunity get voted off by the other competitors.  I heard that a lot of talented designers got voted off early last year because of some alliances that were formed.  So, I might be illiciting votes from all my blog readers.  The first challenge was a template.  I'll post mine so you can get it if you want it when I get the go ahead!

The Theater Room

My boys have been putting off cleaning this room all summer and for good reason.  It is the biggest room, the most used room, and the most work to clean, although I think the kitchen cupboards won't be fun either.

We first spent 1 1/2 hours going through all the DVDs, videos, and Gamecube, WII, and Playstation games.  We made sure the right thing was in the right case and then alphabetized and put back on the shelves.  We shall see if they stay alphabetized for more than a day.

Then we removed all the cushions from the massive couches and vacuumed under them.  Next we moved all the couches (those of you that have been in our theater room will understand the monumental task this is, they are huge and there are lots of them) and vacuumed under them while Trevin cleaned all the baseboards behind all of them.  By this time we were all sweating up a storm because that room is a little on the warm side anyway and we were working hard!.  We put back the couches and the cushions, folded all of the 100 blankets we have in that room and then we quit.  It had been 2 1/2 hours and we were ready for lunch.  So the room is still in a bit of disarray but we will finish dusting, scrubbing and cleaning it on Thursday.  Oh, we also found about 15 pairs of socks and Trevin declared that now he won't need new socks for school this year, which means all of them were probably his.

Leadership

Sean gave the most awesome Family Home Evening lesson tonight.  His Sunday School lesson on Sunday was about leadership.  He didn't give us the same lesson, but expounded on it a little more.  We read the scripture about how man cannot serve two masters.  Either we are following the right or we are chosing wrong, there is no inbetween.  We talked about the qualities of a good leader and the qualities of a follower.  To drive home the point that we have to make a choice of who we are going to follow, he sent Trevin out of the room.  He assigned Travis and Tyrel to be the leaders, Trevin was the follower.  He didn't tell Trevin who was the good leader or who was the bad leader at the beginning.  Sean then built a simple little thing out of Lego's.  Travis and Tyrel had to give directions to Trevin and he was supposed to build what Sean had built without seeing it.  So, he had to make a choice of who to follow because if he followed both of their instructions, he wouldn't end up with the right thing or the reward in the end.

Well, Trevin got totally confused and frustrated with both of his brothers shouting instructions and was confused.  So, Sean allowed him some further "revelation".  He told him that Tyrel was the good leader and to follow him and block out what Travis had to say.  This was easier said than done.  Travis was still yelling instructions and Trevin was having a hard time deciphering what to do.  So, Sean allowed him a little further "revelation".  Tyrel was able to spend 5 seconds with him to show him how to get started without Travis interrupting.

After that, Trevin was able to "resist" what Travis was saying and was able to complete the building correctly even though Travis was still "tempting" him.  It was awesome and I think it really drove home the point to the boys that we need to be following our Savior and doing what our Heavenly Father wants us to do.  That is the plan.  We will be tempted but we have instructions that are clear and we need to follow the commandments and what we have been taught to do so that we can return to live with Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father.

An Ear for Music and July date with Travis

Travis decided this week that he wanted to learn to play piano.  So, he borrowed a keyboard from his friend Darren and set to work.  He plays beautifully and has been able to figure out quite a few songs playing by ear.  He has no idea how to read piano music.  I am kind of amazed.  After listening to my kids play (or not play) during their two years of piano lab, I am astounded that they have the musical talent they do.  They were horrible in piano lab (although I heard Trevin was quite good)  They definitely got it from Sean, not me!  He is going to borrow some piano books from Traci and learn to read the music and teach himself.

Travis made us treats and we had a Harry Potter marathon this afternoon.  Actually we just watched two of them but they are really long movies.

We went to Grandpa Nielsen's for his birthday celebration tonight.  It was fun to visit with family again.  Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Decorating

My parents came up yesterday and brought me two years worth of Birthday Presents!  I had asked my mom for curtains for my basement game room before they went on their mission, but I never found a style I liked or fabric that I liked.  I finally decided about a month ago when she asked me again now that she is back and I had seen the cute ones Kara made on her blog for her family room, so that is what I got.  For this year, my dad made me a cabinet door and a drawer to replace our trash compactor that has been broken for two years now.  It is nice to have a few things done.  Thanks dad and mom!

This is a layout I did of my dad with a pic I took of him at the Richardson Reunion.

Sean with Hair

Ever wonder?......................

Passed Level 4

I was worried, but he did it.  Trevin passed level 4 swimming and is ready to move on to level 5 next year.  He had a hard time the first week, but did lots better this week and got everything passed off.  He was even able to dive without doing a belly flop today.  Good job Trevin!

We cleaned Sean's office today.  Everything but vacuuming because the belt on my vacuum is broken, my central vac isn't working and I can't find anywhere locally to buy a belt.  So I ordered some today and hopefully they get here soon!

Name layouts

Well, today isn't over yet, but I just finished the last of these three layouts and wanted to post them because I think they are cool!  They are name layouts for each of my boys.

We had Cub Scouts today.  We finished up the flag requirements that they didn't cover at camp and we also roasted marshmallows to complete our campfire and summer activity requirements.

Tyrel went to work with Sean today and I worked on a new kit.  Now I'm going to make dinner and watch So You Think You Can Dance.

Cleaning still

Each and every Tuesday and Thursday, my boys think I will forget the Summer cleaning schedule, but so far, no such luck.  Trevin picked the room today and he picked to clean the upstairs bathrooms.  We split between the two of them and got them both whipped into shape.  It is so nice to open the medicine cabinet doors or the drawers and see how clean and organized they are.  I love it.  Sean even noticed a difference.

Travis went to work with Sean today.  He is still looking for a job.  He has a couple of prospects now, so hopefully at least one of them will pan out.  Tyrel is going with Sean tomorrow.

I haven't done a grateful post for a while now.  I am grateful today that we are almost done deep cleaning the house.  We should be able to finish before school starts.  It feels so good to know that the house is clean, even if the boys don't agree with me.

Saturday Chores on Monday

We spent the day doing our regular Saturday chores since we were gone on Saturday.  The boys seem to think they don't need done, but mom thinks otherwise.  I still need to get the mountain of laundry folded, but other than that, it is done.  Nothing exciting today, just nice to have some peace and quiet.

More reunions....................

We got up for the last day of the Richardson Reunion.  Everyone was packing up but we did all get breakfast together.  We had breakfast burritos, muffins, and fruit, took the last of the family pictures, loaded up and headed home.  I think the hit of the weekend was all the trips down the river.

We unloaded at home, relaxed a bit and then Sean's family all came up for a BBQ along with Steve and Suzi and their family, Lisa and her kids and Linda and her girls from Bakersfield.  They are in town visiting this week and it was fun to get together and see all of them.

Tyrel took all the little kids around the neighborhood on the golf cart for rides.  It was crazy and loud, but fun to see everyone and listen to childhood stories.

Richardson Family Reunion Day 2

We got up and had scrambled eggs, fruit, pancakes, french toast, and ham for breakfast.  After we cleaned up from that, more went golfing, another group took a trip down the river and the rest of us played some cards and visited more.  The little kids played in the horse trough full of water.

We ate up the leftover salads for lunch and we played the Minute to Win It games.  It was miserably hot and muggy, but it was really fun to watch, especially Greg and Barbie playing the Junk in The Trunk round.  The little kids (and parents) went for a ride around the block in the Leamington Fire Engine.

After that there was another big group that went down the river and I went as far as the drop off point to get some pictures. 

For dinner we had dutch oven potatoes, rolls, BBQ'd turkey, green salad and homemade root beer.  We had cake and ice cream for dessert and it was all totally yummy!

We took some family pictures of those taking off after dinner.

pictures to follow

Richardson Family Reunion Day 1

We combined the regular Richard Family Reunion (my mom's siblings) with the big Richardson Family Reunion (my mom's cousins and aunts and uncles) this year because my mom was in charge.  She held it in Leamington.  We went down this morning after Trevin finished his swimming lessons.  As people arrived, we mostly just visited and played cards.  There was a big group that went golfing in Delta and the older boys went down the river on inner tubes.

For dinner we did hamburgers and hot dogs and everyone brought potluck salads and desserts.  Many of these relatives I have never met, or only met once, or haven't seen in years (like 20 or so).  It was fun to reconnect and see them.  Hopefully I can remember everyone's names.

My grandpa's descendents that were there (Charles Richardson)
My mom and dad, me and my family, Heidi and her family, Brett and his family, Greg
Charlene and Mark (mom's sister) and her kids Matt, Darrell and Micael and their families
Trudy and Craig (mom's sister) and their girls Katie and Nicole along with Trevor's two girls
Kyle

Marge (grandpa's sister) and her son Ray along with his wife Wendy from Montana

Tom and Eileen (grandpa's sister) and their boys Chet with his daughter Kylie, Wade and his wife Karrie, Jon and his wife Jodie along with their daughter who I can't remember her name.  They live in Winnemucca Nevada.

Janet (grandpa's sister) and her daughters Barbie with her son Travis, his wife Jessica and their girls McKenzie and Kalli; Shay and her husband Ray with two of their daughers (can't remember their names) and granddaughter Taylor; and Sherry with her granddaughter Annalies.  I believe most of them are still in the Meeker area.

Wilbur and Lois (grandpa's brother).  None of their kids were able to make it.

pictures to follow

Room is finished

Travis and Tyrel finished cleaning their room today and I must say it looks and smells awesome!  They did a really good job with it.

Trevin had swimming lessons this morning.  He came home with a red belly from trying to dive and not quite making it.

I spent the afternoon baking cakes and making desserts for the family reunion while the boys got everything in the car packed so we can leave tomorrow after swimming lessons.

Our router for our internet went out during the afternoon, so Sean had to make an emergency trip to Provo to get a new one because we can't live without the internet for a day.

July Date with Tyrel

Got up and went to swimming lessons with Trevin this morning.

When I got back, Tyrel asked me out on a lunch date.  He wanted to go 4wheeling to Four Bay so he packed us a lunch of sandwiches, chips, string cheese, and a treat.  We got our water bottles and headed out.  It was fun and I only got lost twice.  Did I tell you I was directionally challenged?  I told him he needed to make sure he stopped at all the forks in the trail so I knew which way to go.

We found a nice spot and had our lunch and took some pictures.  Thanks Tyrel for the fun date.  I love it when they plan it all out.

No Cleaning Today

Since Travis and Tyrel deep cleaned their room yesterday, they thought we should have a day off today.  We will finish it up on Thursday.

Trevin started swimming lessons today.  He is struggling with the deep end of the pool.  He gets nervous and then starts swallowing water.  He actually does fine jumping into the deep end and swimming to the shallow end, but every time they want him to go from the shallow end to the deep end, he beelines for the side of the pool and only makes it about half way (to where the water is above his head) and then grabs the edge and works his way down from there.  Hopefully by the end of lessons, he will overcome his fears and do better.  It makes me nervous until my kids get over that fear.  Tyrel was the same way.  Travis has always been a fish.  Once Tyrel got over his fear, he loves swimming and doesn't have any problems now.  Trevin was excited to have Riley as his teacher again this year.

Tyrel's friend Keaton came up today.  Travis drove Tyrel down to Keaton's.  When they got bored there, they decided to ride bikes from Keaton's house to Elk Ridge.  They were pooped, hot, and stinky when they got here.  After they recuperated, they went and rode 4wheelers all afternoon.  Keaton stayed for dinner and then they went riding some more and then came back and played video games. 

Travis had a few of his friends over too.  They watched TV for a while and then all headed to Spring Lake to catch toads once it got dark.

Starting a new week

Travis and Tyrel got the bug to clean their room today without me even saying anything, and it isn't even a regular cleaning day today.  They got lots of it done, but still have a ways to go.

I went grocery shopping to restock from being gone and get us through the next two weeks. 

The challenge this week at Stuff to Scrap is to scrap about names, meanings or significance, or nicknames or whatever.  I did a layout for Travis and hope to get one done for the other two tomorrow if I have some spare time. It was kinda fun.

I shouldn't have started

So, the Hunger Games series are our book club picks in a couple months.  I thought I could just read the first two books slowly and then be ready for the third one when it came out the same month as our book club.  I couldn't.

They just kinda drew me in and I finished the 2nd one this afternoon after church.  Now I'm mad because I'm going to have to wait for the third book to be released.  The first one ended well and I should have stopped there because the 2nd one ended at a stupid spot and now it is going to drive me nuts!

Quick Trip

Well, so much for a relaxing weekend.  It kind of seems like a waste to pack everything up for just one night, but we have a wedding reception to go to tonight and Sean didn't get a substitute for his Sunday School class, so that is all we get.

It has been fun though for the most part.  I froze last night!  Couldn't get my legs warm and so I didn't sleep very well.  Everyone else said they were okay.  There was a huge lightning and thunderstorm, so it was good the boys had decided against their hammocks or they would have been soaked.

We had breakfast this morning.  I sat around and chatted.  All the rest of my family took naps at various times.  After lunch Sean went on a 4 wheeler ride.  He took Lauren with him.  Ken took Alli, Adam took Kristi.  They said they had fun.  Alli was so cute when they got back showing us how she could drive the 4 wheeler.  She has a lead thumb though, I though she was going to throw Uncle Sean off the back.  They found a gravel pit that they said was really fun to play in.

After they got back, we got everything packed up and headed home.  We barely made it back, showered and to the wedding reception on time.  I thought it went until 9 but when we got home I looked at the invitation and it only went to 8:00.  We did make it though.  Kimberly looked gorgeous and we are glad we made it back in time.  We went and grabbed something to eat after with Sean's parents and Sharlynn.  Our boys had stayed home to go to a party at the park.

Soapstone

Sean's family reunion this year is at Soapstone in the Uintah's.  It is beautiful up here.  We got here, visted a bit, had lunch and then set up camp.  The boys are going to sleep in their hammocks in the trees, I'll have to take some pictures, because it looks pretty cool!  Since Sean sold his truck we couldn't bring the trailer so we are tenting it and I'm not really too excited. 

They had a dutch oven potluck for dinner.  We made SWAT team chicken.  Only a few of us were done on time.  I thought the lasagne was good and our chicken was yummy!  After dinner, we played family fued and the Nielsen family won.  It was Troy, Lisa, Me, Sharlynn and Jen the first time we were up.  Then it was Troy, Lisa, Sharlynn, Grandpa LaMarr and Travis the 2nd time we were up.  Then for the championship, it was Troy, Lisa, Sharlynn, me and Travis.  Some of the questions were dang hard!  We won some Cottonelle toilet paper and a plunger.  We were thinking it would be fun to toilet paper the 2nd place team - Team Ballard.

It keeps raining up here, hopefully we stay dry.

After the game, we roasted marshmallows and went to bed.  The boys are worried about the rain, so Trevin is sleeping in a tent and Travis and Tyrel gave up the hammocks for sleeping in the car.

Getting ready to go again

First thing this morning, we cleaned all the upper cabinets in the kitchen.  It wasn't too bad of a job.  Trevin wasn't feeling well, so I sent him back to bed but we saved the blinds for him to clean.

We spent the rest of the day doing laundry, cooking and packing for Sean's family reunion this weekend.  We were going to leave tonight, but then decided we didn't want to set up the tent in the dark so, we have everything loaded and ready to leave first thing in the morning as long as Trevin is feeling better.

Day Camp

I had my first adventure at cub scout day camp today!  We had 8 of our 9 scouts attend and they were all on pretty good behavior.  It was pretty early, and we had last minute rushing of getting a couple missing medical forms, but we all made it on time.

The counselors were all pretty good and were excited to be there for the most part.  They made it fun and interesting for the boys and the weather couldn't have been better!  We were pretty worried when we had to sign up for a July spot.  We really wanted June so the weather would be cooler.  Our rotations kept us in the shade all day, no sunburns, no dehydration, no puking in our cars after the winding drive, and only 1 scout got trampled slightly during one of the games.  I think they all had fun and all spent pretty much every penny they brought with them at the trading post.  I think that was the highlight of camp.

My wonderful neighbor mentioned her husband does work on appliances, so he came over this evening and figured out what is wrong with my dryer.  Hopefully by tomorrow we will be back in business.  Just in time to get everything washed before we leave to go camping on Friday to Sean's family reunion.

Clean Up Clean Up

My kids are still hanging in there.............

Today we cleaned the Game Room downstairs.  Travis had the unfortunate job of cleaning the blinds.  The front side weren't so bad, but then he pulled the string to flip them.................The back side was absolutely disgusting!  I finished my job of vacuuming (thanks Tyrel for moving each and every piece of furniture out for me to vacuum under and behind) and then helped Travis with the blinds.  Trevin dusted everything and cleaned and rearranged the videos on the entertainment center.  Tyrel did the furniture moving, windowsills, and baseboards.  The boys think it doesn't look any different, but just knowing that it is really clean makes it better for me every time I walk into that room.

My Dryer is Busted

.....and that is not a good thing.  I got all but one load of clothes done on Saturday before it happened.  I thought maybe it was just tired so gave it a rest over the weekend.  I tried again today and it still isn't working.  It runs, it just doesn't blow any hot air.  Sean thinks it is the ignitor.  We had brother Sheets come over and look at it and he agrees.  It will be about $120 for the part.  Bummer!

Sean didn't have any work lined up for today.  The boys went swimming at the pool in Payson and I spent the day paying bills and then scrapping pictures from the last few days.  So, go back and look through the past couple weeks of blog posts because they all have fun pictures now.

Tyrel gave us our family night lesson tonight and had us role playing missionary scenarios.  Sean and I were the investigators and the boys were the missionaries.  They have a bit of work ahead of them.  Silly kids!  They need to work on their presentation and their tact!  At least it gave them an idea of what they need to work on.

Sunday

I stayed home from church today.  I'm over my head cold and feeling fine, but I still have this hacking cough and I'm sure the people at church wouldn't appreciate it.

I started reading The Hunger Games and it is quite interesting.  I'm liking it so far.

We went down to Sean's parents for a BBQ this evening.  Four days in a row of family and the reunion is coming up this week too.

Stadium of Fire

It has been a few years since we have gone to the Stadium of Fire.  Actually probably more than a few since Trevin can't remember ever going.  Tyrel really wanted to go to Delta for the derby again this year, but since tomorrow is Sunday and we have the early church schedule this year, we opted for the shorter midnight drive.  Maybe next year we can do the derby again.

So, Traci went at 1:00 in the afternoon and set out blankets to reserve our spot.  The rest of us got there around 7:00.  We visited, played frisbee, played cards, read books, listened to Rush Limbaugh and waited for the fireworks.  Actually I think the most impressive part was the fly by of the air force jets.  So cool!

The fireworks started around 10:00.  Trevin thought it was amazing.  He was full of comments through the entire thing.  Sean found the place to park for a quick getaway, so we actually got home at a decent time compared to other years.

Family Photo Shoot

Adam and Kristi and their girls got into town today for a visit.  It is good to see them.  Since everyone was here, and since it has been 4 years since we did a family picture, we did one.  Poor photographer!  I think most people cooperated other than a few toddlers and my husband!  The spot was beautiful, so I hope that we get at least a few that turn out well.  I was able to get some snapshots that turned out pretty good!

Afterwards we all headed back to Grandpa and Grandma Nielsen's for sundaes and the tour of Grandpa's new truck and camper.

Not feeling well

Today was a pretty yucky day.  I felt a head cold coming on last night.  Sean tried to convince me it was allergies, but I could tell it wasn't.  I woke up this morning feeling ok.  Tyrel went to work with Sean and Travis, Trevin and I cleaned the laundry room and the downstairs hall and closet.  Then, by around 3:00, I was feeling achy and chilled.  I laid down to take a nap and felt even worse when I got up.  I told the boys they were on their own for dinner and just vegged in front of the TV till about 9:00 and now I'm typing this and going to bed.

I'm grateful for Nyquil, even though it is the nastiest tasting stuff in the world, it helps me sleep good so I can get over this cold.