Over the Hill?

I wanted to wish my wonderful husband a wonderful birthday today. I'll post layouts and details of his party later this week when I get them all edited, but today, I'm giving you the list of 40 things you may or may not know about Sean for his 40th birthday.
1 - Is a wonderful husband to his wife and father to his boys
2 - Knows how to play the guitar, trumpet, french horn, melophone, a little piano and the kazoo
3 - Loves the Pittsburgh Steelers and BYU football
4 - Served a mission to Michigan
5 - Likes to go camping, fishing and hunting
6 - Is a level 70 on WOW (World of Warcraft)
7 - Likes to ride his 4-wheeler, jeep, and go for Sunday drives in the golf cart
8 - Doesn't really enjoy reading unless it is the Rush Limbagh website, Ford Enthusiasts Website, or KSL.com
9 - Rush Limbagh is his favorite speaker
10 - Has 2 cute dimples on his face
11 - Earned his Eagle Scout award
12 - Used to have his own Landscaping business
13 - At one time owned 3 Jags
14 - Spent a few years as a cabinet builder and installer
15 - Enjoys playing golf
16 - Favorite question to ask his boys is "How'd you get so stinkin' cute?" And the response is supposed to be "I got my good looks from my dad."
17 - Doesn't really like Italian food - he thinks it all tastes the same
18 - Mt. Dew is his favorite drink - he wanted to have Mt. Dew fountain drinks at his wedding reception
19 - Is the oldest of 9 children
20 - Likes mission style furniture
21 - Loves chocolate - especially ice cream, and peanut m&ms
22 - His favorite season is Fall - he likes 70 degree temperatures
23 - Honors his priesthood
24 - Loves his Harley Davidson edition truck
25 - Likes to mow the lawn
26 - Thinks his wife looks good driving his truck
27 - Favorite room in his house is the covered deck
28 - Doesn't like to play board games but will occasionally play cards
29 - Hates reality TV shows unless it is sports or hunting shows or the Discovery Channel
30 - Dream job would be to build and sell computers for people but there is no money in that
31 - Went bungee jumping once
32 - Likes vegetables - even brussel sprouts, artichokes, and asparagus
33 - Is a good story teller
34 - Doesn't like to travel but does like to drive - at one time he wanted to be a long haul trucker like his grandpa
35 - Has only changed about 1/2 dozen diapers in his life
36 - Has always had the dream of retiring at age 50
37 - Likes sunflower seeds, beef jerky, pistacios, pine nuts, and black licorice
38 - Likes fireworks (watching them and setting them off)
39 - Likes pumpkin pie for his birthday instead of cake
40 - Hates watching a movie more than once

So how many of those things did you know about Sean?

Soccer!!

We are in full swing with soccer this fall. Tyrel and Trevin are both playing and Tyrel is also a ref for Kindergarten soccer as well as 1st & 2nd grade league and 3rd & 4th grade league. They also wanted him for 5th 6th, but his games are on the same night as theirs so he had to pass on that league.

Trevin's team is having fun, but they haven't won a game yet. They did look really good at their last game though. I think it is starting to come together for them.

Tyrel's team is awesome! I love watching them. Tyrel's position is left forward most of the time. The coach usually ends up pulling him back to center midfield the last quarter though. They beat Santaquin their first game 5-0 with Tyrel scoring 2 goals. Then last night they played Genola. The Genola team was pretty tough but we still won 4-2. It would have been 3-2 but on our 2nd goal, Tyrel had it almost there (see picture) when he shot to score he kicked it and for some reason the Genola goalie tried to hit it with his head instead of just grabbing it and it ended up going in the goal and scoring a point for us instead of being hit out of the net back on to the field. Tyrel also had the assist on the first goal we scored. It was a great game!

9/11

I know it is late in the day, but I couldn't let this day pass without sending out a thanks to those that fight for our freedom. I remember 9/11 well. I had just showered and got dressed. I was combing my hair and the TV was on that morning, which is odd for us to have the TV on in the mornings. Anyway, I was standing in the living room combing through my hair and saw the story and happened to tune in just seconds before the plane crashed through the 2nd tower. I saw it live and then couldn't leave the TV. What a sad day in our history. It reminded me of when I was a senior in high school and the space shuttle exploded. I remember just being glued to the TV and watching it over and over. I pray that we won't forget that day and that our prayers will always be with those who have and who still do fight for the freedoms that we enjoy and sometimes take for granted.

Ward Dairy Assignment

Our ward is assigned to work at the church dairy a couple of times a year. In the past, it has been for the Elders and High Priests to fulfill the assignment, but the Bishop has stressed the last couple of times that it is a whole ward assignment. So, bright and early Saturday morning we got up and went to the church to help set up chairs for Stake Conference, had a breakfast of pancakes, doughnuts, juice, chocolate milk, and bananas and then proceeded out to the church dairy. This dairy produces milk for the church welfare system that goes up to the humanitarian center to be bottled and made into cheese and also supplies the BYU Creamery I believe. My boys warned me all the way out there of all the gross things we might have to do as they have been to the dairy numerous times. Everything from cleaning out troughs and finding teeth to shoveling manure. So, needless to say we were in our grubby clothes and shoes from last year that were too small for everyone.

When we got to the dairy, (about 48 of us showed up) we were given our assignment of pulling weeds. First of all, we pulled weeds around the rock beds that were landscaping the entrance to the dairy and then up around the main building. That wasn't too bad as there was weed barrier and rocks, so they were easy to pull and there weren't very many of them. Then we were told that there was a little calf that was running around that needed to be put up with the weaning calves. So, since our Bishop is a great roper, and since we needed pictures to prove we were really at the dairy, we all headed over there to help herd and rope the calf so it could go back to where it belonged.

Then we all headed over to pull weeds at the lagoon. What a project!! If you look at these big pictures, you can see the crew and then the 2nd picture is what the lagoon's looked like before we weeded them. There was a lot of weeds and they were on a slope so we had to pull them and then get them up to the top of the hill and then put them into big piles so that some of the others could pitchfork them into the loader so they could be dumped over the fence. The third big picture is of the lagoon after we had weeded it.

We weeded four lagoons that were huge (like the size of a football field). We were rewarded with cheese and chocolate milk and I'm sure we earned some extra blessings. We had been there from 8:00 to noon and we were tired from all the hard work. This gave us just enough time to get home, eat lunch and shower before the BYU game started, which they won by the way and it was a great game 28-27. We blocked their field goal at the end or they would have tied and sent the game into overtime. We are all so excited that football has started and that we actually get the Mountain channel this year so we can see all of the games. GO COUGARS!

Update on Tyrel, his lip is back to normal size. It only took 3 days. Trevin and Tyrel have both started soccer also. I'll have to take pictures at their next games to show you. Trevin's team has lost both of their games, but they are having fun. Tyrel's team beat the Santaquin team (which is usually a tough game). They won 5-0 with Tyrel scoring two of the five goals. He and his friend Jansen and Jansen's brother Golden were the forwards and they worked amazingly well together. It was so fun to watch. Jansen scored a goal, Golden scored a goal and then Kelsie, a girl on their team scored the 5th goal. I'm excited for their next game.

Where is my cereal?!?

Aren't kids supposed to like all of that sugar coated stuff that isn't good for them? I remember as a kid that I really wanted to have Lucky Charms or Trix or Fruit Loops and we rarely got them. We were stuck with Cheerios, Shredded Wheat, or Grape Nuts. Well, being the bad mother that I am, I buy all of those sugar coated cereals for my kids even though I know they aren't good for them. Most of them rarely eat cereal, so I guess that makes it okay? Yes? No. Anyway, now that I am an adult, my favorite cereal is Cheerios Berry Burst that my sister in law got me hooked on. My hubby happens to like Grape Nuts.
But, it seems that every time I go to have a bowl of cereal, which I admit is rarely because I like yogurt or fruit for breakfast during the week, it seems that my box is empty. I have recently found my hubby complaining of the same thing. It appears that our middle child is not normal and he happens to like our healthy cereal instead of all those others that I buy for the kids to eat. Oh well, he also likes salad and fruits & veggies although he does eat his share of junk food.

Stung, Labor Day, and New Blog Title

Labor Day is the annual celebration weekend here where we live. They have Payson Onion Days over Labor Day weekend every year. We didn't participate a whole lot this year. We went as a family to the fireworks on Friday night. We sat on the lawn at the Jr. High with our big bowl of popcorn. The boys wanted a front row seat, so we sat right behind the yellow tape. It was a pretty good show for a small town. On Saturday, Travis went with the Teachers Quorum to the drag races only to find out there weren't any races that day, so they ended up just going out to dinner at the Mayan and coming home. Tyrel had a going away party at one of his friends house for his friend Becca who is moving to Australia. On Monday morning, we didn't attend the parade because my hubby hates parades. His dad was the announcer so the kids wanted to go down to see the parade, hear grandpa and get candy, but the weather was horrible and they decided they didn't want to stand in the rain. So, we didn't go to the parade. We had a family get together after the parade and after everyone else that went went and dried off and changed their clothes (there was a major rain storm and even some hail). We had Navajo Tacos, corn on the cob, watermelon, and Texas sheet cake. It was yummy. All the little nieces and nephews put on the dress up clothes and did their own parade at Grandma's house and we even had a fishing pond put together by Jen (I think) The kids thought it was great. Oh, and Jen did our nails. Even Grandpa got a star on his nail since he fell asleep while we were busy. Once the weather cleared a little, the boys went outside to play. Travis and Tyrel noticed all of the bees buzzing around and talked about how it would be bad if one flew in their pop cans and stung them when they took a drink. Well, as fate would have it, those little bees (or wasps or hornets) did exactly that and Tyrel got stung on the inside of his lip while taking a drink. We immediately gave him some Benadryl and he didn't swell hardly at all. I gave him some more Benadryl when he went to bed last night, but this is what he looked like when he woke up this morning.......
Poor kid! Well, needless to say, he stayed home from school. He is sleeping with an ice pack and I'm waiting for the Dr. to call me back to see if there is anything better than Benadryl to help out. He has two soccer games to ref tonight, so hopefully we can get it under control.

I didn't get any response for my new blog title, but on Sunday during testimony meeting, Brother Shuler talked about the booth they had at the carnival raising money for his son Kyle's Eagle project (BTW Travis went and helped at the booth on Monday evening). He talked about how he enjoyed spending the time at the booth and at the carnival over the weekend with his family and talked about how the prophet and general authorities have told us to take time and make memories with our kids and "Enjoy the Ride". I thought that would be a great blog title, so there you have it. My blog has been renamed by Brad Shuler and he didn't even know there was a contest. As I pulled in my driveway after church, I realized that it was a good name for us becuase we have 30+ modes of transportation in our garage and driveway including my car, Sean's truck, 2 jags, 2 trailers, the jeep, 5 bikes, 3 foot powered scooters, 2 motor scooters, the golf cart, 2 trailers, five 4-wheelers, 2 boats, 2 wave runners, a rip stick, and who knows how many skateboards. Whew!

Blog Naming Contest

I think NIELSEN FAMILY BLOG is just too boring of a title. I have seen so many creative titles for blogs when I am out blog surfing. My title just won't do anymore. So, leave a comment or send an email and let me know what you think my new title should be. And no, Nielsen News doesn't cut it. Still not creative enough.