Brand New Nephew

Our new nephew/cousin is here! He had a rough start but is home and doing well now. Trevin is the only one who has seen him so far because we were at Youth Conference, but we hope to see him sometime this next week. His name is Jaron Michael Evers and belongs to my brother Brett and his wife Andrea. Congrats! You will make great parents.
We spent the 4th of July at Shar's place watching the Stadium of Fire fireworks, but I forgot my camera so maybe someone who was there will send me photos with my kids in them.
Indymac bank got taken over by the Fed's last week, so Sean is looking for a job. He actually had multiple offers from other lenders within about 15 minutes of the announcement, he just needs to decide where he wants to go now.
Sean, me, Travis, and Tyrel spent Thursday through Saturday at Youth Conference and had a great time. Miraculously I did remember my camera, so I will try to post some layouts later.
That's all for now.

Today's Your Birthday! Travis!

I can't believe my baby is 15 today! It just seems like yesterday they were handing you to me in the hospital. Your dad and I just want you to know how much we love you! Here are 15 things about Travis from dad and mom:
1 - I remember when they handed you to me in the hospital and I thought what a cute little nose you had and your skin was so pretty (I know cute and pretty aren't words you are supposed to say to a boy, but you were)
2 - We love your sense of humor and think you are funny although dad says that you are not as funny as the original (him of course)
3 - We love that you are very patient with all the little cousins
4 - It is great that you are a good example to your brothers, your friends, and your cousins
5 - We think you are a good swimmer
6 - We loved watching you play football and basketball this last year, it is fun to see how coordinated you have become
7 - We are proud of how well you do in school
8 - We think you have nice hair, although it needs cut
9 - We are proud of how far you have advanced in scouts (only needs to do his eagle project now)
10 - You are kind, obedient and respectful
11 - You get along well with others
12 - You are lots of fun to play board games with
13 - You have a good memory - unlike your father
14 - We love watching you learn new things and seeing the decisions you make, like when you were first learning to ride 4-wheelers, Mom hated to ride behind you because it made her nervous but Dad loved riding behind you and watching the decisions you made. He was proud of how well you did and that you were conscious of what was right and wrong and seemed to make the right choices and really thought about what you were doing.
15 - You are an all-around good kid and we love you!

15 things Travis says about himself

1 - I am scared of spiders

2 - I think I am the funniest guy I know (and he is humble about it too!)

3 - I am a very good swimmer (unlike my mom)

4 - I am tall

5 - I hate crunchy food like lettuce, celery, watermelon, and onions

6 - I am a cheese-a holic (like my mom)

7 - I love to play WOW (World of Warcraft) with my dad, I think I am the best player on my server (humility again)

8 - My friends think I am fun to be around

9 - I am really good at Guitar Hero

10 - I am excited to get my learner's permit

11 - I am girl crazy

12 - I like to watch movies

13 - I love ice cream and BTS cake

14 - I hate listening to Rush Limbaugh

15 - I love Italian Food (spaghetti, lasagne, pizza)

Update on Sean- went to the Orthopedic specialist today. They still don't know if he will need surgery or not but are thinking not. He has to go back next week again to see. Tyrel is spending the week in Leamington with Grandma and Grandpa Evers and his cousins Tyler and Kaitlyn. Lori was surprised on Friday evening with dinner at the Sauce Place with the Nielsen's. Thanks to all of those that helped with the planning. They gave me a plant (love it) and letters from each family which she cried when she read (thanks everyone). On Saturday we had a combined party for me and Travis with my parents. We went and saw Kung Fu Panda and then went out to eat. Mom is making me curtains for downstairs as soon as I figure out what fabric I want. Thanks to everyone for making it a great birthday!

The big 4-0!

I really dislike saying that! It is my birthday today and the facts are what they are. I can't really say I am excited about it though. I'd just rather not celebrate getting older, but as Sean says, "It's better than the alternative." I'm copying my SIL and making a list of 40 things you may or may not know about me, so here goes.

1 - I absolutely love being married to my best friend, Sean

2 - I have 3 boys that I adore

3 - I was born in Germany but don't remember being there. I would love to go back someday
4 - I am a reality show junkie (my fav's are Survivor, The Amazing Race, and American Idol) I love to watch "So You Think You Can Dance" but I detest "Dancing With the Stars"

5 - I like to play board games and cards

6 - I have a degree in business management

7 - I went to SUSC (now SUU) in Cedar City, Utah for college

8 - My high school mascot was a rabbit (don't laugh). I was on the track team and the drill team in high school

9 - I graduated with honors from both High school and College

10 - If I were to go back to college, I would either get a degree in accounting or go in to something medical (I almost changed my major to Physiology at one time)

11 - I love Travis' sense of humor and love watching him play football

12 - I love watching movies and taking walks with Tyrel, I also love watching him play soccer

13 - I love Trevin's giggle and love that he likes to sing when he thinks no one is listening

14 - I love to dance with my hubby

15 - I have been happily married to my sweetheart for almost 17 years

16 - I love mexican food

17 - I am a cheese-a-holic

18 - I love to go out to dinner to Ruby River and Tepanyaki's

19 - I love to curl up with a good book

20 - I love driving my 4-wheeler but don't like riding behind Sean. I especially like to ride in the fall when leaves are changing and in the spring when it is really muddy

21 - I love the waverunners but hate to ride in the boat (can you tell I'm a control freak)

22 - I don't think teenagers are all that bad (so far anyway)

23 - I love to watch professional football (and BYU football) but don't get in to watching any other sports except I do like to watch the Olympics.

24 - I love to eat popcorn with lots of butter

25 - I like to cook but I don't like to follow recipes unless I am baking (which means we get in ruts of eating the same thing all the time)

26 - I like to camp

27 - I don't mind spiders and snakes, but I really hate mice because they move too fast

28 - I love the smell of newly mowed grass and rain, I hate the smell of gas (fuel) I guess I don't like the smell of the other kind of gas either LOL

29 - I am not a morning person or a night owl, in other words I need my 8-10 hours of sleep

30 - I don't like pine nuts, black licorice, or pistacios but the rest of my family love all 3

31 - I'd rather get a house plant than flowers

32 - I like to golf even though I'm not very good at it, but think it is very boring to watch

33 - I love sitting out on the deck in the evenings in the summertime

34 - I'm not a very good swimmer

35 - My favorite day is Friday because Sean always takes me out on a date, my kids love it because they always get pizza

36 - I wouldn't make a very good sales person because I CAN take NO for an answer and I don't like to be on the phone so don't feel bad if I don't ever call you to catch up on things. If you call me, though, I will talk to you

37 - I was very shy in high school

38 - I like to have a plan (menu, shopping list, calendar, agenda etc) I am not really good at being spontaneous although I am better than I used to be

39 - I'm scared that Travis is almost old enough to get his driver's license and date

40 - I have been working in the banking/lending industry since 1990 and love that I can work from home and be a mom at the same time

Being Heroic........NOT!!!

We had an exciting evening in the emergency room last night. It so happened that Sean, busy talking on the phone while filling up with gas, went to step over the gas hose and tripped, the concrete won! He managed to get home and eat dinner and then we took him to the emergency room where we commenced to spend the next hour and a half. He broke his radial head, better known as the elbow. He is in a cast and can't eat or write very well and needs my help to get dressed. Did you know that they don't do plaster casts anymore? Just fiberglass and a sling. This is his first ever broken bone so he was disappointed that he didn't get one that people could sign and he could auction off on EBAY once this is all over.

He had to re-tell his story like 10 times while we were there and was feeling kind of silly about how it happened. He told the receptionist to put on his admittance that he was helping some old lady who was getting mugged, or was fighting off Ninja's or something more heroic like that. They all laughed and thought that was funny. Should make for lots of fun over the next few weeks.

Only a week late......

I know, I'm late, but I just barely got the Father's Day photo layout done. This is my first ever digital layout. My sister always does her layouts this way, and I think it makes her blog so cute, but it took me forrrrrreverrrrrr! I'm sure I'll get faster. Maybe I can find a class to take that will help. Anyway I thought it turned out pretty good. I want my hubby to know how much I love him and let him know what a great father he is to our boys. I didn't get his project done, so all of the trees we bought for the yard ended up being his Father's Day gift, but I'll be sure to get it done for his birthday. The top 3 things that I think make him a good dad are:

#1 Honors his priesthood and has a strong testimony (OK that is really 2)

#2 Loves spending time with his boys doing what they like to do

#3 Has taught his boys to love and respect their mother (ok this one is kind of selfish, but I love it)

I also wanted to tell my dad how much I love him. I couldn't have asked for a better dad. I hope he knows how much I respect and look up to him. Top 3 things I love about my dad:

#1 Humility (I need a lot of practice here, I can only hope to be like him someday)

#2 Taught me independence (he helped me be able to do lots of things on my own, like when he had me learn to change the oil and tires on my car and how to complete my tax returns before I went away to college, I know those may be trivial, but he has taught me many things that have made me a better person)

#3 Patience (he always was very patient, no matter what problems I was having, he always took the time to talk things through with me and help me see others perspectives on different things, I also have a long way to go here as my kids will attest to)

Love you DAD!

I also want to tell my Father In Law how great I think he is. Top 2 things I love about him

#1 Sense of Humor (always is happy and fun to be around and can make any event or situation a ton of fun)

#2 Raised a wonderful son (again I am being selfish here, but I do love all of the values and things that he instilled and taught Sean so that he can be a wonderful husband to me and father to our boys)

Love you too!

I wish, I wish, that I were a fish......

Swimming lessons round 1 are over. Travis and Tyrel both passed their stroke development class last year, but I thought it would be good review and keep them in shape to do it again this year. I was amazed at how much better they were than the other kids in their class. All of the other mother's kept saying, "Your boys are such smooth swimmers." They kept laughing at their kids thrashing around the pool. It was kind of comical to watch the others. Travis and Tyrel make it look effortless. After listening in to their classes, I decided I should probably take a class because I'm sure I don't do it right. The teacher gets very technical going over every little thing to make sure everything from their fingertips to their tippy toes are doing the right thing at the right time. It has been really beneficial for them and they are both little fish (I guess not so little anymore) and love being in the water. I am debating signing them up for a lap class later in the summer where they just swim and condition. We'll see what finances are like after we get our yard work done and our front steps replaced.

Trevin didn't quite pass his class this time around. He is really scared when he knows he is in water over his head although he is getting a lot better about it. I'm definitely signing him up for another session probably in August to reinforce the progress he has made so far and hopefully get him over his fear. The pool we take lessons at is a private pool here in Elk Ridge and it is landscaped beautifully. Their teacher said that they have quite a few weddings scheduled for their pool and yard this summer.

We are having to get our front steps and porch replaced because the wonderful builder forgot to put a barrier down on the old porch and then he put tile on top of the wood, so now we get water that leaks through the grout lines and collects in the light fixture in Trevin's bedroom and then leaks all over the floor when it rains really hard. What fun! This time we are putting down the water barrier and putting an epoxy finish on top. I think it will look really nice.

We have also got the front yard almost shaped and ready for the rock retaining walls to go in. I'm hoping we can get more than that done this year, but we will have to see how far our money stretches.

Sean and I went and bought peppers, cucumbers, strawberries, more ground cover and a tree for Father's Day today.

He is going to be busy tomorrow planting it while I host Andrea's baby shower. The back yard is looking really good though. I'm excited for it to be finished.

Andrea's baby shower is tomorrow at my house. I was in charge of invitations and favors. Heidi is doing the games and my mom is doing the food. I thought the invitations turned out cute and I think the favors are cute also. I'll have to post pictures another day in case she reads my blog tonight, I don't want her to see what they are before the shower. I'll also post pictures of the gift I made her later. Stay tuned!

Grandma Richardson

I was thinking about my Grandma Glenda Richardson yesterday. Tyrel was the one that got me thinking. The boys are out of school now and he wanted to make macaroni and milk for lunch, so I had some with him. I'm sure many of you are saying "gross" right about now. I know Sean is. But, I remember when I was little and she would make me macaroni and milk to eat. It was one of my favorites. My mom would make it for me when I was home and requested it, but it never tasted the same and it took me until I was an adult out on my own to figure out why. You make it kind of like macaroni and cheese, without the cheese, so the ingredients are cooked macaroni noodles, milk, butter, salt and pepper. "Butter" being the key ingredient. When I got married, Sean and I decided that we liked butter better than margarine. I made macaroni and milk one day and it tasted just like grandma's. I figured out then that it was the butter that made the difference as my mom always used margarine.

I know this is all useless information for most of you, but just in case some of my cousins remember this and were wondering the ingredients, and because this is one of those weird family traditions that I want my boys to remember, I am putting it here for posterity. This dish is actually one of the favorites of all of my kids although Sean won't touch the stuff. This is what they always request when dad is out of town and mom doesn't want to make a big dinner. So, think what you will, we love it! And, every time I make it, I remember Grandma.

She had MS for most of the time I remember her. After Papa passed away, she would take turns living part of the year with each of her kids. So I remember when she was with us, I was like her little nurse. As soon as I got home from school, I would go to her room. I loved rubbing lotion on her feet, helping with her exercises, rolling her hair in curlers, and giving her the pills and vitamins she had to take daily (she cold swallow more pills at once than anyone I ever knew). We also spent hours playing gin rummy together. I also watched "General Hospital" with her. I wasn't so much a fan of "General Hospital" as my mom had me hooked on "Days of Our Lives", but it was fun to watch the whole Luke and Laura thing with her. I can't believe I still remember their names. Actually, I can't believe I watched such corny shows with such bad acting. My favorite time with her was when she would tell stories from when she was little. I wish I would have written them down, because there are few that I remember now. My favorite one that she would tell was about when she sat in a pile of red ants. My nephew had a run in with ants not too long ago and it reminded me of grandma telling that story. Anyway, this post is getting long and I have work to do, so farewell for today.

Macaroni and Milk

cook macaroni noodles according to package directions. Drain. Add milk, BUTTER, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Serve. I don't have exact measurements because I just make it and never measure.