Thoughts From a Frazzled Mind

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, Pumpkins! We love pumpkins! Our family (lead by Kim of course) really gets into pumpkin carving! Everyone at our house is expected to carve a pumpkin! And, not just a simple Jack-O-Lantern, oh no! Each must be a work of art! Many years ago Kim discovered special tools for carving the "perfect" pumpkin, and then went so far as to make custom tools of his own. We usually use pre-made patterns for our creations, but Kim often creates his own patterns. It is amazing how good everyone is getting at this art! Each year the girls choose more and more difficult patterns. But, no matter how good any of us get, Kim can carve even more challenging projects, AND, he can do two in the time that it takes us to do one! He is truly the MASTER CARVER! Bubba's pumpkin. Tasha's pumpkin Audrey's Pumpkin Shandra's Pumpkin Kim's Pumpkin (Kim was only able to do one this year because he worked late and got a late start!) Bubba usually spends Hallowee...

Last Christmas a friend gave Bubba some horses. He was absolutely thrilled with them, and still plays with them almost every day. Right from the onset he was insistent that they each had names. The first time he asked me their names, I naively thought that he would promptly forget their names, and so I just threw out the first names that I could think of. . . "Jenny" "Frank" Silly me! Bubba was very serious about their names, and has never forgotten them. Consequently we have been a little more careful of the names we have given each additional horse! This one is " Shadow " This one's name is " Maple ", but Bubba calls him " Naple " "Charlie" He is so funny, if we try to trip him up by saying the wrong name for one, he sternly gives us the "evil eye", shakes his finger at us, and then corrects us, "no, that's not _____ it is ______! Recently he has realized that we are playing a game with him by cal...

One of my very favorite things to do when I was a kid was to run through the sprinklers . I always knew it was finally summer when my mom felt it was warm enough to give into our begging and let us play in the spray. It is amazing to think how many hours we entertained ourselves with the ice cold water! I remember that we would dare each other to see who could sit on the sprinkler the longest. Yesterday was extremely hot! Very few people ventured outside of their air conditioned houses. Since Bubba and I felt cooped up from being inside, we decided to brave the heat and go outside. When he picked up the hose, I immediately began reminising of my childhood and the fun we had with the sprinklers. What GREAT memories! Summer has always been my favorite time of the year.

Today is my last day off for a long while (school starts again next week) so I invited my sisters and their cute little guys over for a swimming party! They had such a grand time splashing in the water, playing ring-a-round the rosies, and running, running, and running around! I can't believe how enjoyable it is to just watch toddlers play together! What a great way to spend my last day off!

On Memorial Day Donny did a benefit concert at Utah State University with Jessie Clark Funk and the The American Festival Chorus and Orchestra. Jodi was right on top of things and got us great tickets! We decided that we would give our husbands the opportunity to see Donny's great talent, so we planned a double date. We went to Cafe Sabor for dinner - usually a fantastic place - however, after a VERY long time, and several bowls of chips, we discovered that somehow they lost our order and we had to leave before we could enjoy our dinner. (Don't worry, they apologized and made it right.) We ended up taking our food to go, and just sat on the lawn scarfing it down and hardly enjoying it because we were late. The American Festival Chorus and Orchestra performed various patriotic numbers. They were very good. After that, Jessie Clark Funk sang for us. She is wonderful! She has an incredible voice and was very fun to watch. (sorry, my pictures of Jessie didn't turn out very good...

Is there anything greater than going to the zoo with a toddler? Yesterday Sha ndra, Kalel, and I had a great adventu re at Hogle Zoo. Bubba loves animals, and he had a terrific time watching them. He liked watching the elephants getting a drink of water. The black bears were having a fine time wrestling with each othe r and Bu bba wa totally enthralled! He was a little nervous, and wanted to be held most of the day, especially when we were right next to the giraffes! There was a little baby giraffe that was so very adorable! There was also a little snow leopard cub climbing and jumping a ll ov er his mother. Bubba thought that was very funny. He was very impressed with the big tiger - and he demonstrated his growling ability for the tiger! He really enjoyed the train ride, even though he didn't quite understand what was going on. His very favorite part of the day was in the gift shop where we got him a little bag of play animals. He played with the tiger and snow leopard mama...

This year, even though I really wasn't in shape (just got through with finals, remember), Shandra and I decided to run the Intermountain Donor Services 5k Fun/Run. I love doing this run because we do it in honor of BJ each year. The first year that I ran this race was in Salt Lake, and it was huge! over 700 participants. Because it was so large, they decided to divide it into two courses, and the last two years we have run in Ogden. The participation in considerably smaller in Ogden - I think that there were only about 50 participants, but it is still a lot of fun with very little pressure. The course starts at the stadium at Weber State University and goes along Skyline drive. It is a beautiful run. This year instead of going around the Dee Events Center, we ran down to the front of the campus, almost to Harrison, all along the west side of the campus, and then finished by running all the way back up the hill to the top of the stadium. Needless to say, the last part was a KILLER!...