Brinley Lost Another Tooth - June 29, 2013

Saturday - June 29, 2013
We babysat again all day.  The kids really have a lot of fun playing with their new friends.  They have always loved it when I babysit.  They love having a lot of kids around to play with.

Brinley and Parker were playing a game and Brinley used her teeth to try and pull something off of one of their toys.  She said that her tooth just came out.  She was excited, because this time wasn't scary at all.  She hadn't even noticed that it was really loose, so she didn't have time to be panicky and worry about the day it would fall out.  It was on of her front teeth.

This is a picture of her in the morning, after the tooth fairy came.

Ice Cream at McDonald's - June 28, 2013

We didn't have to babysit today.  I planned to spend the day packing and getting us all ready to go on our vacation.  It didn't happen that way.  I got a few things accomplished, but not much.  I was feeling too tired and in need of a nice relaxing day.  In the evening, the kids and I walked to Mcdonald's for some dessert.  We each got an ice cream cone.  The kids love going to Mcdonald's to play in the play place.  I love Mcdonald's for the ice cream cones.  Parker was already in the play place playing, when I remembered to snap some pictures.  That's why he's not in any of these.

Come to Montana With Us

We will be in Montana all of next week and we think it would be much more fun if we had friends or family or both come with us.  We just realized about a week and a half ago, that Roger would have a lot of time off over the fourth and we would be able to afford this vacation.  Also, just found out that the family members who had planned to be there over this time, won't be able to make it, so we will have the place to ourselves.  So, I know it's short notice, but a spur of the moment vacation can be so much more fun than a planned for vacation.  So please, somebody be fun and come on vacation with us.

Pictures of the most beautiful place ever!  My Great, Great Grandparents homesteaded here in the early 1900s.  There is their original log cabin they built when they first homesteaded here, the home they built in the 1920s (I call it the "white house" or "the old house" - because that's what color it was when I was a child), and a house with plumbing built in 1978 (I call it "the cabin" - because that is where we usually stay when we visit).  There is also the barn and a few other old buildings on the property.

This is the view of the cabin from the road.  My sister, Kari, took these pictures when we were there the summer of 2004.

 Another picture taken from the road, but in this one you can see the old house and the cabin.

This is the few, sitting outside the old house.

 The barn is behind the trees and off to the left is their original home.

 This is a picture of Bowman Lake in Glacier National Park.

 A picture of the barn and other buildings.

 The old house and the fire pit.

 Another view of the original home my great, great grandparents built.

 This is the kitchen in the old house.  It feels like you are walking back in time.

 An artsy photo of Alissa and Parker in front of the old house.

 A few from the road.

 This is the road out in front of the property.  Roger and I encountered a grizzly bear in this area on Roger's first visit.  Roger remained calm and I freaked out!  I started screaming and ran for my life back to the cabin.  Roger, of course, had to follow.  Luckily, the bear ignored me and continued to walk away in the other direction.

This is Alissa on the driveway from the road to the cabin.

 The fire pit

 A view of the cabin from the window of the old house.

 Another view from the window of the old house.

 In the barn.

 The view from a window in the cabin.

 The front of the old house.

 Playing in the creek.

 Enjoying huckleberry ice cream at Apgar in Glacier National Park.

 Swimming in Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park.

Another day of Babysitting - June 27th

Alissa had so much fun painting yesterday, it was all she could think about.  She came with me in the morning to babysit, but ended up heading back home, shortly after to do some more painting.  She called her friend, Erin to come over and paint with her.

 The kids had a ton of fun playing dress up.  Brinley and Aliyah are friends, but when we go over there to babysit, Aliyah and Parker spend most of the time playing together and Brinley plays with Aliyah's little sister, Lily.  Aliyah likes to play rough and play more boyish games.  Lily enjoys the girly things like Brinley.

Babysitting - June 26, 2013

On Sunday, June 23rd, I met a new friend.  We were walking in to sacrament meeting when a little girl, walking past us, saw Brinley and ran over to her.  "Brinley!  You're here?  This is your church?  I bet we're in the same class!  I'm so excited!"  She gave Brinley a big hug, then walked off to where she was headed.  Brinley said that the girl was a friend from school.  Her name is Aliyah.

After all of our meetings, Brinley and her friend, Aliyah, were waiting for me.  They both told me that I needed to meet Aliyah's mom so that they could have a play date.

So, I met Aliyah's mom.  In relief society when she introduced herself, I had thought she seemed like someone that I would get a long with.  Also, she reminded me a lot of my friend Laurie, who passed away in November.  So, I was glad to get to meet her.  Her name is Lori.  She lives down the street from us.  She mentioned that she is newly divorced and was trying to find a babysitter for her kids, so we couldn't get the kids together to play until Friday, when she would have the day off.  I wanted to offer to help her with babysitting, but I haven't been doing any daycare, since we moved out of our house.  I didn't think Roger would like it and I didn't think it would be a great idea because we don't really have an outside area for the kids to play in.  so, I didn't say anything.

Later that day, I talked to Roger about how badly I want to start babysitting again.  We could really use a little extra income and this is the best way for me to help with out having to leave the kids.  He agreed that if I wanted to, he'd be okay if I babysat one or two kids.  No more than that, since we don't have a large house or a yard for them to play in.  I figured, that I wouldn't advertise that I am doing daycare again, but I will just keep my ears pealed and if I hear of someone looking for a sitter, I can offer to help out.

On Sunday night and on Monday, Lori kept coming to my mind.  I kept thinking that I should let her know that I do daycare and offer to help her out with her children.  I thought that might be weird because, we just met and she doesn't really know me, so I decided not to.  On Tuesday, the feeling that I needed to offer her help kept coming to me.  So, I did it.  I sent her a message telling her that I used to do daycare and that I am always at home with my kids, so if she needs any help let me know.  Then I texted, "If you're home, we can walk over and visit for a little bit?"  She texted back, "O my heavens!  You totally answered my prayer!  Please do.  I'm heading home with a quick stop at Kent's.  I will text you when I get home. ok?  Thank you and I will explain then."

We walked over to visit for a little while when she got home.  She said that she was getting them enrolled in a daycare, but she had to fill out some paper work and the daycare wouldn't start watching her kids until next week.  She still had 3 days of work this week and she didn't know what to do with her kids.  So, we arranged for me to come over to her house and babysit her kids for the rest of the week.  It was a little crazy, because it was so spur of the moment and I really needed to be a little more focused on packing and getting us ready for our vacation next week.  But it felt good to help.  It also felt really good to know that I had been an answer to somebody's prayer.  

 The kids wanted to paint, but I couldn't find any paper at their house, so we walked over to our house, to paint for a little while, before heading back so the little one could take a nap.  The kids had a lot of fun playing with their new friends.

It was a pretty long, hot, and exhausting day babysitting.  When we got home, it was after 7:00pm and I didn't have it in me to make dinner, so we headed to McDonald's.

Playing with Friends - June 25, 2013

We went to the Crozier's house to play today.  They had a cute little giraffe pool.  We played in that for a little while, before all the fussiness started.  Alissa got frustrated, because she was bored.  The pool was too little for her.  While we were setting it up, Heather read on the box that the pool was for kids ages 5 - 10.  Alissa wasn't impressed and didn't think that it would be fun for any 10 year old.  She was sad that she had come with us and hadn't arranged to go play with one of her friends.  

Before we left to their house, I told Brinley to bring a change of clothes, but she insisted that she only wanted to wear her swimsuit the whole time.  Mikenna and Brinley decided to take a break from swimming and play inside.  Brinley was too cold in her swimsuit.  I told her to come out in the sun and dry off, then play inside.  She didn't like that.  That started Brinley's fussiness.

Eventually the kids calmed down and we all went inside to eat lunch.  We had fun for the next 2 hours or so, then the fussiness started again and we knew it was time to leave.  Kids were fussy and whining on the drive home, then came home and went to their rooms to calm down.

After things calmed down, Roger and I let Alissa have a go at babysitting.  We left her in charge, while we walked down the street to Wendy's.  We enjoyed a nice little break from the kids.  It was a mini date.  It seems like it's been a really long time since we've gone on a date.

Roger had to work tonight, so the kids and I are just chillin'.  Brinley helped me make some brownies.  I like brownies made from a mix better than the ones from scratch, but we didn't have a mix.  We tried a different recipe, I hope it taste good.

Ward Party at Bothwell Park - June 22, 2013

Saturday - June 22, 2013
We went to a little ward party at the Bothwell Park.  Not a lot of people showed up, but it was still a lot of fun.  It was really nice to get to know some of the people in our ward.  We had a good time, except for all the mosquito bites we got.

Our Girls - June 20, 2013

Thursday - June 20, 2013

I read a tutorial about how to make eyes pop in your pictures you take.  It recommended that you don't use a lot of photoshop fixing on them (which was great, because, I don't know how to do that very well anyway).  It just talked about the lighting.  I don't have all the equipment that it mentioned, but I wanted to try out what I learned anyway, so I had the girls sit, while I kept trying to get a good eye popping picture.  I like to take pictures, but I get overwhelmed anytime I start reading and trying to learn how to be a better photographer.  I don't think I'll ever really get into photography, but I love to learn little things here and there.  I think Alissa's eyes look really cool in this picture.  I wonder how much better I could make these look if I knew how to do a lot with photo shop.

 Alissa was getting really bored and tired of posing for me, when Brinley came a long to save her.

Brinley really liked posing for the pictures.  She is really goofy and didn't want to take a lot of pictures with her just smiling.  She wanted to pose and make funny faces.

Just a Regular Day - June 19, 2013

We went to Sam’s Club to get some much needed groceries.  On the way back we called Jenny Springman to convince her to come on our Montana vacation with us.  Roger took the phone and did the convincing.  When he handed me the phone, Jenny said, “Wow! Is that how he got you to marry him?”  I thought that was funny.  After that and still on our drive home, we took a detour and drove over the scary bridge in Beaver Dam.  I call it the scary bridge, because it is long, skinny, and wooden, and it just looks a little like it won’t hold us.  I thought it was really scary when we went on it before.  It wasn’t as scary this time.  I think because the last time we went on it, was when it was starting to get dark.  In full daylight it is not as scary.

Shelley, Parker, Brinley, and I went to Ridleys to finish our shopping trip, while Roger went to sleep and Alissa played the Wii.

We got home from that, ate lunch, then the kids all went out to play.  I took Parker and Brinley to Brin’s friend Bethany’s house.  Parker asked if Bethany’s brother could play also.  It turns out they are the same age.  Parker had a lot of fun playing with them.  Bethany’s mom brought them home at 7:30 tonight.  They loved that!

Alissa had her friend Erin come over and play.  Erin’s parents agreed to let her have a late night, so Erin was here until 8:30 pm.

While kids were gone, I cleaned the house and made dinner.

After Roger left, Shelley and I watched some TV.

Parker's Prank - June 18, 2013

Tuesday - June 18, 2013
We had a barbecue for dinner tonight.  Roger grilled some sausage and I made macaroni salad.  While Roger was out grilling, I was relaxing in front of the TV.  Parker came in and said, "Mom, you should come outside and sit in your chair.  It feels really nice out there"  Then he paused and I could tell he was trying to keep a straight face as he said, "I didn't spray your chair with water."  He is such a stinker!  I think it is so funny how he tried to trick me.  What a goof!

After we ate, I was sitting on the couch feeling like it was way too hot in the house.  Roger had his water bottle that he was drinking from, so I asked him if he would spray a little water on my head to cool me off.  He came over and pretended that he was going to spray mu head, but instead he emptied his whole water bottle all down the front of me.  I should have known he would do that.  I was just so hot, it was a risk I was willing to take.  We all had a good laugh about that.  Then Roger suggested that we go play at a park.  We decided to go to the playground at North Park Elementary School.  The kids played on the playground and in the sprinklers there, while Roger and I played basketball.  Shelley sat on the bench for a while then got up and walked through the sprinklers with the kids.

We also spent a lot of time today planning what we will do on our trip to Montana.  We plan to do a lot of hiking in Glacier National Park.

Brin Lost a Tooth and Swimming at Brigham Pool - June 17, 2013

Monday - June 17, 2013

We dropped Alissa off at Erin's house to play for a little while.  Since we were out and about we decided to go to the library to look and see what books on CD they have.  We'll borrow one or two for our long drive to Montana.  Parker and Brinley played on the playground while we were inside looking.  Shelley wanted to go to the Family Dollar, so that's where we headed next.  We decided to walk since it wasn't very far away.  It was pretty hot outside while we were walking and I guess it got Roger thinking about swimming.  I saw him checking something on his phone, then he told me that the Brigham City Pool has family night prices.  Of course, I wanted to go.  So, Roger called his friend to cancel their basketball plans and see if he wanted to bring his family swimming.  His friend wasn't interested in swimming, so that was a bummer.  We called Alissa over at Erin's house and told her we were coming to get her early so we could go swimming.  Alissa convinced Erin's family to take Erin swimming also.  The pool was so refreshing!  I loved it!

Father's Day - June 16, 2013

Sunday - June 16, 2013
A few weeks ago I saw a thing on Facebook saying they wanted to feature some fathers in the Leader (the Tremonton newspaper).  The post said to send in a short message explaining why the father in your life should be featured.  So, I quickly typed something up and sent it in, before Roger came in the room and saw what I was doing.  I wanted it to be a surprise if they chose him.  I figured that they would let me know if he was chosen, then we could type up something nice to say about him.  But that is not how it happened.  They did choose him, but they didn't let me know.  They just used the paragraph that I had sent in explaining why he should be featured.  I had forgotten about sending that in.  I just figured they hadn't chosen him to be featured.

So, Roger comes home from work on Thursday morning and comes into the bedroom.  He sits down on the bed and says, "I want to read something to you.  I think you might recognize it."  Then he picks up the paper and starts reading what I had written.  I laughed.  I had no idea they posted that.  Roger liked it.  He was really surprised. 

He found out about it while he was at work.  A guy that he works with was at home and called him at work.  He said, "Moser, you're famous!"  Roger was confused, so the guy explained that he had just read a short story about Roger in the Leader.  Roger told his coworkers and then he headed to the Maverik to buy a copy of the newspaper.  I'm glad I was able to surprise him, I just wish I would have known that was what they were going to post.  I would have tried to write something a little better.

A few weeks ago we were watching an episode of World's Dumbest.  This was episode was titled World's Smartest Inventions.  While we were watching, I had a brilliant idea.  I decided that it would be so funny to buy something that I had seen on that show for Roger's Father's Day gift.  I decided that I would surprise Roger with this, then ask him if he wanted to make it our new tradition to always buy gag gifts for Mother's Day and Father's Day.  The thing I got him is the pillow tie!  Their slogan is, "Because most functions that require a necktie deserve to be slept through."  The base of the tie is inflatable, so you can use it like a pillow.

We were so excited to surprise Roger with his gift.  He loved it!