Once in a lifetime...or so I am told.

Anyone that has been to my house has seen this elk hanging on my wall.....
Well, good news.....he has a friend.

After 15 years of putting in for the big bull elk hunt, Cody finally drew out. I was excited for him, because as he keeps saying, "it is once in a lifetime". He has spent a few hours the last month up scouting for the elk, but most of his scouting has been done the last 2 weeks. He has gone up looking and every time he would come home and say "I did not see anything". I was worried, but I am sure, not as worried as he. Saturday was the opening day of the hunt, so at 4:30 am him and many, many family and friends headed up the mountain to help him get his elk (or whatever you do when you hunt). He came home that night empty handed.... He did see a few ,but nothing big enough to shoot on opening morning. He headed back up Sunday, and still no luck. He took off this whole week of work, so Monday morning it was back up the mountain for him. I did not hear from him, but around 10:00 pm his buddy called to tell me that he got one. I am no elk expert, but from the picture it looked pretty good. Cody says that it is not as big (wide as his dad's)-----oh yeah that is the one on our wall now, because his parents did not have big enough ceilings for it. Cody d says that he is happy with it, so as long as he is happy, I am happy. After all.....it WAS "Once in a lifetime."

I think I was a pretty good sport about letting him come and go as he needed to to get his elk, but I am glad that he is back and I do not have to feel like a single wife/ mother anymore. I am glad that he had a great experience. Thanks to all of his friends and family for helping him with this. Especially to Casey for spending so much time scouting and finding the elk (and to his sweet wife Sam for letting him come down and take off work). This will be something that COdy always remembers, and I think that I will too. After all, I agreed to let Cody hang it in our bedroom..... I know weird, but hey, it is his house too (and I don't want to pay $1000 or whatever it costs for a garage decoration.) Glad you had fun Cod, you deserve it!!!

Thanks family

Well, on Saturday morning, my brother called to see if the kids (Payton and Rilee)could go up camping with my family at Payson Lakes on Sat-Sunday. I had a bridal shower that I needed to go to, so I could not go. Glen (my bro) dates a girl from Gunnison and her and her daughter were going to be driving up to Payson to go camping also and so they took my kids. It was so nice of them. Cody was actually gone Saturday and most of Sunday looking for his elk (yes he has a big bull elk tag). I was alone with just Talan. We had some great one on one. We cuddled without being malled by the other 2 kids. He got in some great naps (which usually does not happen because he is always getting woke up), and I got my house cleaned. I keep being told that I should have done something FUN on me sort of free day, but we (Talan and I) still had fun. I am so lucky that he is so happy and healthy. He always has a little sparkle in his big brown eyes----even though he is teething right now he is very happy. I am so grateful for everything that my family does for me and my kids. They are always so willing to help out and I am so lucky to have them all. My kids had an absolute blast camping..fishing....riding scooter...fires....DIRT, DIRT and more DIRT!! Thanks to you all for allowing me a little rest weekend....you are all awesome!! Here are some pics of Talan and his cheesy little grins, along with his chewing on his tongue as he is teething.

3 years going on 18---it's preschool time!!

Yes, Rilee finally started preschool, and she is absolutely loving it. She started on September 8th, and was so excited. She got a new Dora backpack which she thinks is pretty neat (even though it is as big as her). She has some good friends in preschool with her and an amazing teacher. She is ready for school... it was very hard for her to sit home when Payton went to school. It is weird to think that 2 kids are in school (kind of), but I think it is good for her. I think it will also help with the little teasing that has been going on a lot lately between Payton and Rilee. Payton is at school from 7:45-11:15. Then Rilee is at preschool (3 times a week) from 12:30- 2:30. By the time the 2 kids are together they have missed each other and are a little nicer. I was worried about how Rilee would behave in school..she tends to be quiet the fire ball (full of energy). But I called her teacher for a behavior report and her teacher (Ms. alice) said she is being just wonderful....yeah!! Every day she comes home and tells me how good she was! She also is loving to feel so big. She think that now that she is in preschool she is so grown up and all that. She thinks that she can use knifes, read, just about anything she wants. She will always reply, "I can cause I am in preschool and I am big...huh". Well I am very proud of Rilee. She is my little princess. She brings a joy to our family that I can not even describe. I love her so much and am so blessed to be her mom.

High School Tag

Thanks to my friend KIM for tagging me on this.....unfortunately I do not have the memory she has about highschool. I can only remember the names of my best friends I still hang out with... I will try though.

High School Tag
1. Did you date someone from your school? I dated a lot of different people, but no one serious.... I think maybe a few months was the longest.

2. What kind of car did you drive? A blue cressida, and when that died a beater truck with a shell....YEAH

3. Were you a party animal? I loved to party the LDS way. No drinking or drugs etc. We just had fun hanging out and playing with boys.---thanks Kim I just copied you answer.

4. Were you considered a flirt? I think so, but maybe not as much as some of my friends.

5. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? I played trumpet in junior high, but because of my braces (and lack of skill) I was always in last chair ( last place).... I had no interest to continue on to highschool.

6. Were you a nerd? No.... but me and my friends were our own little group, and I would not say that we were to cool to hang out with "nerds".... we just did what ever was fun.

7. Were you on any varsity teams? I was in cheerleading.

8. Did you get suspended/expelled? Never, but had to do detention a few times.....that was some fun times since my friends and I were always in together.

9. Can you still sing the fight song? Yes most of it. Go Eagles!

10. Who were your favorite teachers? My nursing teacher Mrs. Stewart, and thanks to my biology teacher (don't remember his name) for loving cheerleaders. I think 2 times a week I told him I had to leave to do "Cheer" stuff. He always believed me and he gave me an A even though I did not do much work.---- Yeah, and the cheer stuff meant Einstein bagel run!!!

11. Where did you sit during lunch? Went out to eat some times, in the cafeteria some times... it was always different,but I always sat with my best friends.... we were inseparable.

12. What was your school's full name? Skyline High School

13. School mascot? Eagles

14. If you could go back and do it again, would you? I loved high school it was some of the best years of my life. I learned a lot about my self and met my best friends Tiffani, Kelie, Kim and Melissa (although we have all sort of lost contact with Melissa)

15. What do you remember most about graduation? I was with my bestfriends, and I was sad to be done with highschool...... I loved it!!

16. Where did you go senior skip day? I can't remember, but probably to the bagels place or to Kelie or Kim's house to watch days of our lives and eat totinos pizza. I don't kow if there was an organized activity for senior skip day or not!!

17. Were you in any clubs? I was in pep club as a sophomore, and operation smile and a few other clubs, but I would have to get my yearbook to list those!

18. Have you gained weight? I actually weight less now (yes after 3 kids) than I did in highschool. Even with all the activities I did, I still was not super skinny in highschool.---I think I was growing in to my body back then. Although, in highschool my stomach was a lot better than it is after 3 kids. My friends were super skinny then, and are super skinny now.

19. Who was your prom date? Gosh, I don't remember his name..... I remember that it was fun and he was nice!!! Oh yeah and that I was really sunburned from boating that day.

20. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion? No, I still keep in contact with most of the friends that I would care to see, and I did not feel like going and trying to introduce my husband to people whose names I can not even remember....Plus I was 7 or 8 months prego and i did not want to go FAT!!!!!!

Tag: Chantel, Michelle, Akaela, Rebecca, Jayci, Kristyn

San Diego Family Pictures

">Thanks to my brother Ryan and his wonderful camera, we were able to take some family pictures. It has been a very long time since family pictures, so they were much needed. We went to the beach at 6:00 in the morning and we forgot to take the kids to the bathroom first. Payton is holding himself in most of the pictures, but hey at least it is a picture. We had so much fun in San Diego. I will post more pictures of the actual trip later.

First Day of Kindergarten

Yes, I know it is weird, but I have a kindergartner now. Payton started his first day of kindergarten on Tuesday. His teacher is Mrs. Jensen and he absolutely is loving it......especially riding the bus. Here are just a few funny stories about the big day.

1) This is what he told me the night before his first day! Of course he had already picked out the clothes he wanted to wear and folded them nicely (even his underwear) on top of his backpack. Ha Ha

PAYTON: "Mom, how about when it is time for me to wake up you come into my room and wake me up. Then I will get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, brush my teeth and then wait by the door."
ME:" Ok, bud, sounds good."
PAYTON : (a few minutes later) "Actually mom, I am going to wake up, eat breakfast, brush my teeth, then get dressed."
ME: "How come you changed the plan?"
PAYTON: "Well cause if I spill breakfast or toothpaste on my shirt, all the kids will say "Dude, you spilled on your shirt"".

--I laughed so hard. Payton has always cared about looking "handsome".

2) This is after his first day of school...he is talking about a little girl (Kaylee) who he has a crush on...although he does not admit it.

PAYTON: "It's just great mom, Kaylee is in Avery and Jaxon and Spencer's class (these are some of his preschool buddies)."
ME: "Well that is OK Payton."
PAYTON: "Yeah, but now she will never want to be my girlfriend."
ME: "I thought that you did not like girls (I have tried to drill that into his head)"
PAYTON: " Well, I don't right now, but what about when I am 18---she is never going to like me."
ME: "Payton that is a lot of years away, don't worry about it."
PAYTON: "Yea!! (Obviously not paying attention to me) " I will just have to play with her at recess." --as if he is thinking of a plan to win her back.

It is so cute to watch Payton get excited about school. He is a great student and he is very patient and excited to learn. He will do wonderful. In preschool he would ask the teacher for more homework papers!!! I love you Payton and I am so proud of you.

SHE'S 3

Well this past weekend I was up at my mom's house and I was getting ready to leave on Saturday morning. I really needed my hair trimmed. The girl who normally cuts my hair is back east selling security systems with her husband, so I decided that I would quickly run to Fantastic Sams and get my hair trimmed. I usually take Rilee to Cookie Cutters...a children's hair cutting place, but I decided to take her with me. After all we were just getting a trim. Well, we get there and after a short wait they took me to one chair and Rilee to another. I told the lady, I just want you to trim up her ends. Well the girl cutting my hair was busy cutting off my many split ends, and when I was finally done I looked up and could not believe it. No...my hair was fine, but when I looked at Rilee she had bangs....and kind of ugly ones. I walked over and grabbed her out of the chair. I was very mad. I said, I did not say to cut bangs. The lady cutting her hair said, "Oh, she told me to." I replied, "She is 3." I was furious, I didn't even let her finish cutting them, I just took her and left. Luckily Rilee is soooo cute that any hair style looks good one her, but I had been growing them out for a year and they were finally almost as long as her hair. I will have to post some pics later of them. I did however finally break down on Sunday and trim them a little better and at a little of an angle. So the moral of the story, don't leave your 3 year old alone when she is getting her hair cut!!! Thanks goodness she did not say that she wanted to be BALD!!

Lake Powell

Another fun vacation that we had this summer was Lake Powell. Cody's family has a house boat there. This year about all the aunts, uncles, cousins etc went and we had as many as 50 people on the houseboat at one time. It made for little room but a lot of fun. To make it even more exciting our house boat was parked next to the Madsen's (another equally large and crazy family from Gunnison). It was a blast. I always love Lake Powell. It is so relaxing. The kids had fun although Payton and Rilee were kind of afraid of the water. Talan was just his normal self and just hung out in the water and did not make a fuss. Cody and I decided to bring a tent so that our family could sleep in it at night and we would not have to worry about the kids waking everyone else up. Well on the last day we packed up out tent and there were 3 scorpions under it.. Freaky!! We did some tubing and skiing, played a lot of games, ate a lot of food, and had tons of fun. Lake Powell is something that we look forward to every year!!

Martin's Cove

Oh wow, it has been a really long time since I have posted. Sorry these posts are a little out dated, but summer has been kinda busy. The first exciting adventure of the summer was Martin's Cove---the pioneer trek. We took Talan on it with us, and he (and I) both did well. It was an awesome experience. I would recommend going to any one who has the opportunity. Cody and I were Ma and Pa's and we had some big strong boys that pretty much pulled our handcart the entire way...it was nice. Our "family" was so helpful with Talan also which made it even better. We did see 6 rattlesnakes, one of which was camping under one of the girls tents...AHHH! Luckily though no one got bit---I was the medical personnel, so I was very grateful to not have to perform any first aid or IV while there. The pioneer trek made me appreciate so much what the pioneer went through. It really was a great experience.

I have been TAGGED

I have been tagged by my friend Jayci, so I guess I am supposed to post 8 random facts or habits about me. This is going to be hard cause most people that read my blog now almost everything about me. Well, here goes!!
1) Before I got married, I wanted to have 8 to 10 kids. I have now settled on between 5 and 6. The main reasons for dropping in the numbers is a) to compromise with Cody b) they are so dang expensive and c) I am getting too old to still fit in 5 to 7 more pregnancies. I have always said, "I don't want to be the mom that has too leave Payton's (my oldest boy) highschool football games to go breastfeed." I do love kids and hope to still have 2 to 3 more kids..... I know I am crazy!!
2) I am extremely afraid of mice!! When we first moved to this house 5 or so years ago we had some mice. I remember being at home with just Payton and I saw a mouse run across my kitchen. I called Cody all hysterical telling him he needs to come home. Of course I was sitting on the kitchen table....which is where I stayed for about 1 1/2 hours until Cody did come home. (Try keeping a 1 year old entertained on the kitchen table for an hour ). Cody---as well as the rest of his family still tease me about my fear. Cody said to me, "Nona, I am sure that they are more afraid of you then you are of it." Forcefully, I said, "Oh... I don't think so."
3) I am addicted to CANDY. I try all the time to cut back on my candy intake, but I just can't. I think when I go without candy I seriously go through withdraws. I am more tired, awnry, and unhappy. I don't crave all sweets like cookies, cake etc.....just things like licorice and gummy bears. YUM....anyone have any good ideas on dealing with my addiction?
4) I have always wanted to adopt an African American baby. I don't know if I ever really will, but I want to. Cody is OK with it, and there are actually some adopted black kids in Gunnison, but it is sooooo expensive to adopt. My good friend Tiffani hs 3 adopted black siblings. I remember in highschool i used to tend them a little, and just play with them when we were at her house----they were so cute. I wish it was not so expensive. I guess I have a hard time reasoning paying 20,000 + to adopt when I have no problem getting pregnant and having healthy babies on my own....Oh well, everyone can dream and who knows, one day maybe it will happen.
5) I am named after my Grandma (my mom's mom). I never met her because she died from blood clots when my mom was just 10 or so. "NONA" actually means Grandma in Italian, so a lot of people ask if I am Italian....which I am not. I had a neighbor who's step Grandma was italian, and it was weird because she wanted the grandkids to call her Nona instead of Grandma....kind of confusing. I am grateful it means grandma because in elementary my parents bought me a book called Strega Nona. It starts off by saying....Far far away there lived a little old lady named Strega Nona, which meant Grandma Witch. Just translating straight across, I though that my name meant WITCH. Needless to say I was happy when I found out it meant Grandma!!
6) I did not get my drivers license until I was almost 17 years old. I had a June birthday and did not plan ahead to take drivers ed through school the last semester of my sophmore year, so I had to take it privately. I started the course in July and was done with class in about 6 weeks. I had a hard time finding time to do the early morning driving practice, because in August started early morning cheer practice. I finally completed all of my training by about January....I know crazy! Then of course, I went to go take my driving test, and I failed. So I had to wait 1 more month to re take it. Then I failed again......Damn those DO NOT ENTER ZONES!! Luckily I was just on a course, not on real roads. Finally the third time was a charm. I passed and began driving. So I know you are all scared to ever drive with me again, but I am much better now. Back then you didn't have to do any practice other than the hours for the course-- so I was a newby on the roads. I must have paid attention well cause I have yet to get a ticket! Thanks to all my highschool friend who halled my butt around until I could drive!!
7) I really enjoy cooking, but have a very hard time deciding what to make. I usually make the same old things over and over again. (So any recipe ideas from anyone are greatly apprecited). One time I decided to step out of the box and try this new recipe. It was for Honey Mustard Chicken. Well I made it according to the recipe (I think), and when I got done cooking it, it looked and smelled so gross. I said to Cody, we don't have to eat it. Because he is so sweet and frugal he said, we can eat it, I am sure it is fine. We started trying to eat it....he was trying harder then me. Finally I said, let's just go out to eat, and Cody said, "this is OK." My reply was , "Yeah, if you like to eat SH**". Needless to say, we went out to eat. However, that has been my only real food disaster, most of the time when I try new things now they are atleast edible and sometimes very tasty.
8) I am running out of ideas, so I will just post this fact although most of you already know it. I was vegetarian from when I was 9 or so until about 2o. I was not vegetarian for the animal cruelty thing, I jsut had a real hard time with the texture of meat. My mom woud make vegetarian meals for me and my sister.....she was and still is vegetarian. When I met Cody I started eating a little meat, after all how would I get Cody the dairy farmer/meat with every meal guy to fall in love with me if I did not eat meat....so yeah the rest is history I ate meat, we got married and lived happily ever after.
Well that is the end of this very long post....I guess I get to tag 8 people now. I tag Tiffani, Kelie, Kim, Chantel, Michelle, Akaela, Sue and Teisha. Here are the rules: 1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.2. Peoplethat are tagged write a blog post about their own 8 random things and post these rules.3. At the end of your post tag 8 people and include their names. Don't forget to leave them a comment on their blog to tell them they've been tagged, and to comment back and read your blog for the whole story.