KARA IS COMING HOME IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS!!!!

Loving Husband

I just wanted to share with you what a loving husband I have. Last week I traveled down to Wellington, Utah with our two boys to visit my family. We had a baby blessing on Sunday and that afternoon Tyler hurled all over the front room floor. Well for the next couple of days it was passed on to almost everyone. I luckily didn't get it. So my trip was extended until the boys were better. But when I got home I was astonished. Our apartment was clean. Very clean. All the laundry was done and put away. The bed was made and with fresh sheets (I love crisp sheets). Ice cream in the freezer, dishes cleaned, floor vacuumed, a movie rented and help with bathing the boys. I have never seen this before. I heard that men can do this but never in my life have I seen so much done in one day. But then during the movie Logan leaned over and made sure that "business time" would take place. So much for my astonishment. I should have known there was something behind this kindness. J/K. Logan is the greatest and I love him very much and appreciate his help.

Tantrums at 25

So I was talking on the phone to Lindsay last night and we were discussing the many bad sleep habits of infants. She has had quite a hard time with Itallie sleeping and Rhett hasn't been so pleasant either. We talk every so often to commiserate together. Last night I discovered I was not alone in my midnight tantrums. After being woken more than 4 times in the night it is not uncommon for me to throw a tantrum probably comparable to the tantrums I threw for my parents when I was a wee lass. About the fifth time my little alarm clock goes off my body begins to convulse in bed. I kick my legs and thrash my body and say things like, "Come on man! Are you serious?!!! This is so not funny anymore!" Followed by several more grumbles and deep breaths. I found out last night Lindsay is a fellow tantrum thrower and she heard Megan had even admitted to throwing a few of her own when her girls were babes. So, are there any other closet tantrumers out there?

7 things

7 things I can do: Enjoy v-8 while drinking it, beat the computer in old school nintendo tecmo bowl, minimize tecmo bowl window and maximize ASU studying window before Lauren walks around the corner, vacuum efficiently, feel no remorse after brutally imposing death upon a cochroach, drive others insane with a subpar irish accent, add using excel.

7 things I can't do: listen to a Shania Twain cd more than 2 times consecutively (lauren doesn't easily tire of music), I can't be without my Lauren, throw good left handed, bake bread, stomoch the thought of any more school, wait to visit the philippines, eat 10 saltine crackers in 60 seconds.

7 Flaws/Bad Habbits- drive slow until someone gets frustrated and goes to pass and then speed up so they get stuck behind the car in the adjacent lane (i'm trying real hard to quit), wearing contacts too long, incredibly fast growing finger nails, inherent baldness (not yet...give it time), not staying in touch too good, saving instead of buying things that may cause me to perish should I not purchase, getting to bed early.

7 things I say a lot- Freakin A, Maaaaaaan, yes dear, i love chicken, fetch, where are the keys, what time is it (this happens in the middle of the night when I wake my poor, slumbering wife because I can't see the clock...blast these eyes.)

7 things to do before I die- skydive...then chicken out while still in the plane, graduate, test drive a lamborghini, take out a loan and rent an amusement park (this loan would of course be drafted in a way which would leave my loved ones unresponsible after my death), eat a 2 pound block of pepper jack cheese, be with family, start a food fight in albertsons, give random people money.

7 Famous people- mom, dad, makenna, rochelle, jaylynn, kara, lauren

Happy Birthday Shirley

Happy Birthday to my beautiful, selfless, talented mother. I hope your day is extra special! We love you!!

Larry, Curly, and Moe

Just wanted to help everyone smile today! :)

Easter

I just was wondering, who is going to Idaho for Easter? Julie and I are planning on coming up and were hoping that many of you would be doing the same.

When ever I think of Easter, I think of Mom. I know she loved Thanksgiving and Christmas, but I think Easter might have been a contender for favorite. She was always happy, but at Easter, with spring in the air, the special meaning of the holiday and the excitement of the kids and the Easter egg hunt, I think it might have been a first place candidate.

Anyway, I love Easter because of Mom.

SBD

Stunt Rider

This post is just to tell everyone how utterly cool I (Shannon) really am....just in case you weren't aware. Last weekend I was lucky enough to become a motorcycle stunt rider and I was so excited about it that I had to share the story.
Justin's 7 year old nephew got a little Honda 80 dirtbike for his birthday so we decided to take him out and teach him to ride it. We loaded up Justin's motorcycle, Chance's motorcycle (for me to ride) and Tegan's motorcycle and headed out to the little track were we planned to play. We parked on the side of the road and were happy to see that we were the only ones there so we had the track to ourselves. Justin unloaded all of the bikes and fired them up so they'd be ready to go once we got all of our gear on. He had to push start Chance's bike because the battery was dead so it took ALOT of energy to finally get the bugger going. Now, just a little insight as to how advanced a rider I am...I have only ever riden a motorcycle by myself one time and I was still able to do the following all by myself. After giving me a quick refresher course, Justin helped Tegan onto his bike and the two of them headed off the pavement onto the dirt track. Wearing my brand new full-face pink dirtbike helmet, 3 jackets (kind of a windy day) and my snowboarding gloves, I sat atop the bike and said to myself "ok, here we go". I slowly let the clutch out, gave it some gas and the bike died. I looked back to motion to Justin that I needed some help and saw that he was busy pulling Tegan up off the ground, so I thought to myself "I'm not an idiot, I can start this thing up by myself" so I did and the stunt riding began! Rocks and dust shot out from the back tire and there I was riding a wheelie, leaving a patch of scratch behind me on the pavement. Once both wheels were back on the ground I reached for the brake and am so skilled that I was able to crank the throttle without meaning to and once again I was riding a wheelie. This time when the front wheel hit the ground I did an AMAZING manuver, much like something you would see at the X Games, and bailed off of the speeding (possessed) motorcycle. As only a Kay could do I rolled out of it and got up to see the possessed motorcylce still ghost riding 20 yards down the road until turning slightly to the left and running into an embankment where it finally stopped. I brushed myself off and turned to walk up the hill where Justin had previously been helping Tegan only to see him flying down the road towards me. He stopped in front of me and asked if I was ok. Unable to answer either from still being amazed by my own skillful riding or the fact that I thought my elbow, butt, and both knees were broken, he asked again. Once he knew I was ok he took care of the motorcycle. Much to my relief nobody saw my awesome stunt. Justin was still helping Tegan out of the hole he'd ridden into and the next time he looked up I was walking toward him in a flurry of dust. Anyway, I've decided that movie magic is amazing since they make it look like anyone can jump from a vehicle that's burning down the road at 50 mph and not have a single scratch. I'm going to contribute to the magic by offering my skills to the stunt man industry.....I'm sure there are movies to be made that would require the dirtbike skills of a blonde girl, right......?

Proud of my (smart) man!

So...I just had to post and tell everyone how proud I am of Whit. This summer (May - August) Whit has been handed the opportunity to go to NASA GLEN to work. This is an excellent way for him to get his foot in the door and acquire some valuable knowledge.
I am super happy for this because I get to tag along with him. I thought, at first, that I would just stay home for the 3 1/2 long months he was gone and work my tail off and save, save, save $$- but I decided that I was going to be a part of the experience and go with him (and it would keep me from being a lonely grouch). It seems everywhere Whit goes he is loved for his work ethic, attention to detail, and knowledge he gains from the experiences! It is a 98% sure thing we will be taking the long trek (driving by the way) to Cleveland, Ohio for this summer, which we decided we would make a road trip out of. (Taking some detours to Nauvoo, church history sites, etc.) I think it will be great for us to be out in our own little world with just each other to hold on to- surviving on love (LOL-hahaha). I'll keep you all updated with the details. Let's just say I can't wait! :)

Frustration Station

So I have a confession. I am a terrible mother. Rhett is almost 20 lbs and still sleeping in a bassinet! His head touches the top and his feet touch the bottom. I try to convince myself he must like it since the confining space surely reminds him of the womb. A lady in our ward gave us a crib long before we welcomed our sweet boy. My wonderful mother even had the bedding ready to adorn it. The crib was light oak and we of course, being picky, decided we wanted a nice cherry finish. We made the trek to Home Depot and bought all the gear required for the transformation. We then purchased a dresser/changing table in a matching finish. The tedious sanding began. This stage took two weekends. Then the process of staining began. This is over a month in progress. It looks terrible. Actually, worse than terrible. I honestly believe it is the wood's fault, not ours. We have stained, resanded, stained, resanded and stained again. No matter what we do it is just pathetic. Today was the last straw. We have thrown our paint brushes down and are on a permanent strike from staining. Monday we will make the trek to the store and purchase a crib. Perhaps there are veteran stainers out there that will be able to offer some advice in the event we ever put ourselves through this misery again. We are keeping the "pathetic" crib and might one day decide to paint it a lovely white...until then it will be an eyesore in our garage.