Game Night for the Girls

Last night, Tina, Lori, Rachel and I got together for a game night at Tina's house. We had so much fun, laughing, snacking and playing games. We played Scattegories and Moods. Both games were fun and challenging but Moods brought out our most twisted personalities or at least our most twisted facial expressions. We were laughing to the point of tears and side aches. We were completely out of control. I was shocked at the competitive nature of these girls as this was my first time to join them! Tina your game face does rock though, you can stay so serious and make me have to ponder what you are seriously thinking. You never know what they are going to say or do, although they might would say more about me, I better keep the rest of the memories to myself. Tina pulled out her camera towards the end and got some great blackmail footage of Lori. We finished off the night watching the clip and teasing Lori to no end about it....we are so glad the chicks can't resist her (inside joke).
These girls really are great and I am so blessed to have them as friends, they welcomed us into the ward and helped us to feel a part of it so quickly. We tried hard to get a picture of the four of us for a momento of the evening and kinda struggled getting all of our faces in the frame. But after four attempts Rachel's arm was finally long enough. Way to go girl, your nasel hairs look lovely. I can't wait for us to do this again, I loved every minute. You girls are the greatest!

Ellie Kneviel

This is Ellie's friend Benjamin. He is a very sweet, kinda quiet and reserved for the most part and then there is Ellie who even though she fell out of a second story window, still has NO fear of heights or anything that might seem the least bit dangerous (with the exception of tubing on the lake, surprisingly). She called me outside yesterday so that she could show me something really cool and this is what she did.



She truly loves the thrill of danger...I think we will try to keep her from driving until she is at least 25! But you can't help but to love the twinkle in her eyes and after she falls from doing something the least bit crazy she always jumps up and says, "I'm okay!" with a huge smile and a giggle! I love you my Ellie Kneviel!

.

Back to School

It 's that time of year again, fresh tennis shoes, nice haircuts, backpacks and of course new school clothes. Today was the first day of school for my kids, Shelby is in 7th grade, Collin is in 5th and Dallin is in 2nd and Ellie will do one more year of Preschool. The kids have been excited for school to start and have looked forward to seeing all of their friends. Shelby was especially excited that in 7th grade they are able to have lots of different teachers and she is really enjoying her math teacher who makes it lots of fun! Collin was able to have the same teacher as he had last year as she moved up a grade with them. He really enjoyed her last year and her teaching style really matched his learning style. He had straight A's and enjoyed lots of success. Dallin has Mrs. Mair this year and he comes home beaming about how nice she is and how much fun he had at school. Ellie won't start back to preschool until after Labor Day and she is extremely bored! She will be at school 5 days a week as her preschool teacher will also be her babysitter, we have been so blessed to have so many things line up for our family. We love it here in Heber and we love the schools. I am always grateful for the routine that school provides, my clock seems to tick a whole lot better when we have structure in place. I have to believe that it is good for my kids too! Summer went by really quickly but we did do quite a few fun things and enjoyed one another as well. No getting my kids to bed early....well that is a whole nother (is nother really a word or just western slang??) challenge in and of itself.

Am I Crazy or What? It must be puppy love!

Meet our new puppy Chocolate Chip but we just call him "Chip".

It all started when Shelby came home from a bike ride on Saturday saying that the sign down the street that said {Puppies for Sale} now said FREE. I told her that I didn't care if it was free, we weren't getting a dog as they still had two in Arizona.

Two hours later....I get a phone call from a number I don't recognize. My son, Collin is on the other end explaining how him and Shelby went for a bike ride and stopped to just see if they could look at the puppy and he was just so cute....Mom can we pleeeaaaase get the puppy....he's free!!! I told him no, but after much persuading, I agreed to at least stop by there and look (fully intending to say NO!) Anyone who knows me well, knows that I am not a dog kind of person. I tolerated the other ones just cause my kids loved them!

I pulled up putting on my tough mom face and went to see this so called "cute puppy" but what I saw was a really cute puppy and deep smiles of joy on my kids faces. After grilling the poor lady about what kind of dog this was, his temperament, do they jump, chew, be obnoxious, bark a lot....you get the idea and after my kids negotiating their way through me, even telling me that they already knew what his name would be...Chip cause he's the color of a Chocolate Chip.....my tough mom face caved and I couldn't say no. They have truly been through a lot this last year and if this helps them heal and gives them some joy....I guess I can learn to love dogs or at least this one! I do have to say that he is the cutest puppy with a very sweet disposition.

So here are the facts: He is a three month old German Short-Hair Pointer known to be family friendly, eager to please and a great hunting dog (this is the part Collin likes). They are a medium sized dog and need lots of exercise.

He already has his first shots, tail snipped shorter and dewclaws removed and was still free until I had to go buy dog food, leash, collar, chew toy....... kinda like a New Car...great deal until you drive it off the lot and it automatically depreciates a ton. No I am just kidding kinda, I am not regretting the decision yet, although the newness hasn't warn off yet...we will see! We are working on training him so that hopefully that will help him be a good dog. For the meanwhile we are enjoying his soft fur, extra skin, floppy ears, paws too big for his body, big eyes, sweet disposition and lots of walks!

Dog Sitting

Saturday, Dallin and Ellie had "borrowed" the neighbors dog to play with it. I could hear giggling in Ellie's bedroom and went to see what her and Dallin were up to and this is what I had found, they were have a grand time playing dress-up with Chevette...poor dog, but she looks awfully cute!

Dallin's Winning Rocket

Dallin came home from the neighbors all excited to make a rocket to enter into the County Fair because he wanted to win a lot of money. He designed and made this all by himself with the exception of a little help with the glue gun from Shelby. His design was absolutely awesome and did win him a First Place ribbon along with $3. He was feeling rich so we went straight to the bank and opened him up a savings account. He was quite excited about having his very own just like Shelby and Collin.

Family Home Evening on the Lake

Paul and Lynn Robertson are our next door neighbors and great friends. Our first Sunday in our house they invited us over for dinner and made us feel very welcomed. They have been wonderful to the kids. Lynn has been known to bring home dresses for my girls, just cause they were a great deal and they are always looking for ways to serve. We have been so blessed that no matter where we have lived my children have always been blessed by not just good neighbors but great neighbors.

Paul has been promising Collin that as soon as his boat is fixed he would take him out on the lake. Tonight, he showed up at 6:00pm and asked if we had plans for Family Home Evening, it was a little bit embarrassing to say no we didn't :-( but good that our availability was open for the evening to go spend it on the lake with him and Lynn. We live 10 minutes from 2 different resevoirs. So we hurried and jumped in our suits and headed out to the lake. This was the first time for my kids to go out on a boat and they loved it. They were smiling from ear to ear the entire time.

Ellie loved to sit up front and her job was to raise the flag when a tuber was down. She took this job very seriously and did a great job. She was a little nervous about riding the tube. Her and I tried it together but we only went a little ways and she wanted off. She was content with jumping off the side of the boat into the water with the other kids.

Collin was the first one to test the water for sharks! He couldn't wait to get on the tube and go for a ride. He held on great and Paul had a little fun making the water quite choppy. He was graceful in his wipeouts and a great sport.

Shelby was next to test the water and found out that it was much better to lay on your stomach than to lay on your back. She was true to form with falling of the tube for no apparent reason, not able to get back on with lots of screaming and at one point and time Paul called her the "Drama ". She loved it though!

Now we have always known that Dallin can be a bit of a dare devil on his bike but he was so funny in the tube. He tucked his feet down in the middle and just held on. Paul took him over some amazing wakes and he just rode them like a Pro. He was the only one that never wiped out!

My kids enjoyed seeing me get on and let me tell you I held on for dear life. I knew that if I wiped out, it was going to hurt a lot worse than it did 15 years ago. I didn't realize how tight I held on though until the next day when my whole upper body hurt so bad I could hardly move. It was the best workout I think I have ever had!

What a fun Family Home Evening!

Kirc and Dayna's Wedding

My brother Kirc, who is just older than me, was married this last weekend to Dayna. She is incredibly sweet and wonderful. We feel lucky to have her and her daughter Cheyenne as part of our family now.

Kourtney
Kyle
Cheyenne



I lived with Kirc when Kyle was just 1 year old and took care of him during the day while his parents worked. He was so darn cute and still is, but it is hard to believe that he is as grown up as he is and still onry...someday Kyle, I will get revenge for the bug chasing night!!

Family Fun via a Wedding

This is my sister Kristi, I love her a lot and am grateful for her friendship. It is amazing how a few years out from sharing a room and all of a sudden you have a whole new relationship (I try to remind my kids of this often!) We are so grateful for the couple of years that we lived near each other or at least we were in the same state. Are kids had wonderful opportunities to play and get to know their cousins. What a treasure that time was!!
My Mom and Kyle were tearing up the dance floor. You go girl!
That is corn kernels being chucked at the Bride and Groom, could we have picked anything a little smaller...ouch!
This is Kristi's family, they lived close enough for their whole family to be able to attend.
Kirc and I enjoying a moment together.
This is my Mom and Dad
This is all of my family that was able to attend the wedding.
This is so typical of a family gathering. My brothers have been known to about destroy a hotel room with their wrestling, it doesn't matter where they are or what they are doing, they are a constant tease. This is what I love about my family, we know how to have fun. It is the norm to sit around the table wherever we gather, reminisce, tell stories...it is amazing how some of those stories seem to get a little more embellished each time they are told, but all the same, they are great storytellers and we laugh until we cry. Needless to say, we treasure the moments that we are able to get together. We don't do it nearly often enough!

My Family
Kristi, Kam, Karen, Don, Karson, Kirc, Kynan, Kory

Spencer, you are a wild man! As soon as the wedding was over and we were loading to go over to the reception, we looked over and there was Spencer on the Bull (expensive yard art) going on a wild ride.
Hey Spencer, way to take the bull by the horns!

These are my sister-in-laws Kimberly and Samantha
One of my families favorite traditions is to go out to the ranch. My children have come to treasure the time that we have out there and each time we come to Arizona this is one place we have to go. This is my grandmother, Mom Jo and she is one of the reasons that we love to go out to the ranch is to spend time with her and Daddy Bob. My kids know that she loves them and they love her too! As do I! What a sweet trip it was to spend time with her over the weekend.
I am so grateful for my family. What a sweet blessing it was to be all together again....I can't wait until we are able to have our first Wynne Cousin Renunion to get all of our kids together, they need to know each other better! And to Kirc and Dayna, I am so happy for you! Your wedding was beautiful and everything turned out so nice. We love you!