Memorial Weekend

For Memorial weekend we went camping with friends up Mayfield canyon. It was great to get away and go camping. Our friends went up a day early and warned us there would mud. I was not completely prepared for exactly how much mud there would be. It was bad. We ended up putting our tent on the flatbed trailer to keep it out of the mud. Basically we made a redneck tent trailer. It rained, hailed and rained some more on us the whole weekend. We did have some sun which helped dry out the mud, but then it would just rain again. On Saturday Jon discovered that the bolts for the steering on the 4-Runner had broke off and the vehicle wouldn't be usable. So we decided that instead of having our weekend spoiled by not being able to go 4-wheeling (which was the whole purpose of this trip)that we would go home to get the bolts and fix the knuckle. We called every local auto parts store to find the part so we wouldn't have to go all the way back, but the part is only found at dealership and the closest dealership is in Orem. Luckily it wasn't too far of a drive. We left camp at about 2pm and were back by 7pm - not too bad. It was worth it we had a great time wheeling and camping.

THE REDNECK TENT TRAILER

FIXING THE 4-RUNNER

THE VIEW FROM OUR CAMPSITE

Empty House

It's been almost a month since we have moved but I wanted to post the pictures I took of our empty house. Our last week in our home was crazy with packing and cleaning, but we finished at midnight on Thursday night. We were much too excited about our new home to be sad about leaving this one. We made great memories and friends there and it was a great house for our first home. Now we have the stress of remodeling our new home. When we left our old home for the last time I told Jon to say goodbye because we would never be back inside. It was just really weird to think that this place where we had spent the last 6 1/2 years we would no longer walk into. So here's my empty house.

My Little Beth is all Grown Up

My little Beth has hit a milestone recently. And with this milestone I believe I can say she is all grown up. It's kind of sad really because with this milestone it also means that she is on her way downhill. I'm not quite ready for her to leave. She has been with us to so many exciting places and has never let us down. We got her in 2000 when she was just three years old. Now after just nine short years she has hit 200,000 miles - that's right my little Honda Accord hit 200,000 miles. She still runs great and I have to say that it is a testament to the TLC that Jon has given her over the years. It is great that Jon knows so much about cars and can take care of them properly. Beth is still going strong but I know that vehicles don't last forever. So I hopingly say "Here's to nine more years??"

A couple of pictures capturing the momentous occasion

Funny Things Kids Say

I don't have any kids and don't work with any kids but that doesn't mean my friends kids still don't say funny things to me. So here are a couple of recent ones that I keep laughing at.

In Sacrament Meeting Jon and I sit with our friend and her three kids while her husband sits on the stand. They are great kids and we have really enjoyed sitting with them. Last Sunday the five year old daughter was sitting on Jon's lap and I guess she had leaned her mouth on his shoulder and she accidentally slobbered on him and this is the conversation they had

Jon: Brynlee, did you just slobber on me?
Brynlee: Yeah (sheepishly)
Jon: That's okay, it will dry

Then Jon turns to me and says "Look what Brynlee just did" pointing at his shirt. I look at Brynlee and say "Brynlee did you just slobber on Jon?" Brynlee looks at me and holds her hand up like she is saying stop and assures me "Don't worry it will dry". Now Jon and I will frequently walk around the house with our hand up saying "Don't worry, blah blah blah" We get a chuckle everytime.

Then yesterday another friend dropped by with her three year old to get some raspberry starts. It was raining outside so the three year old and I were inside while my friend was outside digging up my raspberries. Her three year old was climbing all over me and I was telling her not to get too close because I was sick. This is how our conversation went.

Me: Don't get too close Brin, I'm sick.
Brin: Are you going to throw up?
Me: No, I'm not going to throw up.
Brin: Well when will you throw up?
Me: I'm not going to throw up because my tummy doesn't hurt, only my throat.
Brin: No, when are you going to throw up?
Me: I'm not going to throw up Brin
Brin: But I want you to throw up.

So what does that say when a three year old wants to watch you throw up? These kids just keep me smiling!!

12 Days to Go

Yes, we have sold our home. We have twelve days till we sign the papers. We are crossing our fingers that the buyer doesn't back out, but with twelve days left it's almost a done deal. She hasn't given us any reason to believe she will back out, but you never know. It just hit me - 12 DAYS - I better get packing. We put a lot of stuff in boxes when we put our home on the market, now I have to do the rest.

We are excited for our new home. The house we found almost two years ago was still available and we got it for what I feel like is a screamin' deal. It will be a lot of work, but we are looking forward to it.

12 days aaaaggghhhh!!!

THE NEW HOME

Jon is a Star

On our cruise Jon was brought up on stage to participate in the fun. In the first video he is supposed to be a backup singer to the comedian who is lipsyncing. Poor Jon has no rhythm. Yes, you can hear me talking and laughing at him in the background. The comedian is in front of Jon for part of the time but it is still funny.


In this next video Jon is supposed to lipsync to the song, however he has no clue what song this is. Afterwards they gave each participant a bottle of champagne. Yeah - we don't drink! So on our way out of the theater Jon pawned it off on a family group and they couldn't believe that he would give up his free bottle of champagne. Throughout the rest of the cruise Jon would always get these looks from people like they knew him and then they would realize that he was one of the men onstage and ask him something about it. It would give us a little chuckle each time.

Family Cruise

To celebrate my parents 50th Wedding Anniversary my family went on a Wester Caribbean Cruise. It was just my parents, their children and spouses, so no grandchildren. Their anniversary is actually in August, but who wants to cruise in the summer when it is warm, unless you go to someplace like Alaska.

Anyways, we have been planning this for five years. We were all very excited, especially since for most of the group this would be their first time on a cruise. We set sail from Tampa on the Carnival Legend for a weeklong cruise with stops in Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Belize and Roatan. In Grand Cayman and Roatan Jon and I, along with my sister Nancy, went scuba diving which was amazing, especially in Roatan. In Cozumel the whole family went to the Mayan Ruins of Tulum. It was soooo beautiful there. I can see why they built where they did. There is a nice breeze and the water and view is amazing. In Belize the whole family (with the exception of my brother and his wife) went cave tubbing and zip lining which was so much fun. Come on ziplining in the jungle of Belize and then floating on tubes down a river with caves up to 3/4 of mile long. AMAZING!

It was fun to just spend time with my family without any children distractions. The adults could be kids. Our first cruise it was just Jon and I which was really fun, but I liked having other people to talk to and do things with. We definitely liked Royal Caribbean better than Carnival but we had an excellent time and both cruise lines have advantages and disadvantages. To each his own I guess. The week after our cruise was difficult but we have survived and things are finally back to normal.