14 more days of LONG, excruciating battles with homework left until school is out and my stress level will be lifted greatly. Will I make it that long? Will Joey?

Wait! Then summer will begin and doing chores will take it's place.

Will I make it through summer? Will Joey?

Peggy and Spencer

We had a wonderful visit with Peggy and Spencer! They stopped on their way to Idaho for the blessing of Richard's youngest little one! If I was really smart I would have sent up a package for Ashley but I am not known for my brilliance so I had nothing. Although, with any luck, Ash will happen to run into them while they are there!!! Fingers crossed!!!
  My cousin Richard lives close to Meridian, in Boise, and my children have never met him so this will be a first!

Lots of stories were shared, none of my Dad this time, though. Lots of David, though... my favorite kind!

It's always a pleasure to see them and I must admit, I miss my favorite cousin a little bit more when they are here.

More Pics of Prom

Because Ashley gets this and we can attach as many pics as we want I am adding prom pics of Josh and Danni! 

 

 

Prom 2015

Senior prom! It was great! But in the words of my sweet if sometimes goofy cousin, words are so boring and pictures are worth a thousand words so I will bypass with words of wisdom and go straight to the pics.

 

 

You're welcome, David!

 

Oops, I lied.  Sorry, David!

 

We got this dress at Goodwill for $20! A steal! Britt added the sleeves while I was at Activity Day Girls Camp earlier during in the day. Pretty good job, I must admit! Just think what she would do with an actual pattern!!!

 

The theme was Gatsby and we had a lot of fun looking at Roaring Twenties pictures and coming up with her look!

 

 

 (Look at the hair, Ash! Great, huh?)

 

She even made the head band herself! Very proud if it!

 

Check out those heels! Ash would be proud!!!

 

I think someone is kind of excited!

 

 

 

Her date was Tarod Leib, her boyfriend. They went in a fairly large group, and Danni was even in it!

 

 

 

Their group! 

 

 

 

 Beautiful Danni!

Had to throw one of her in. There is hardly a time with one without the other!

 

 

Meanwhile, Zach took a girl to the movies!

21Pilots

Britt and Danni went to a 21Pilots concert that was free on Saturday night with Tarod and Finch. They had the time of their lives. Britt even cried (tears of joy)!  It is her favorite band!! As David would say, words are boring and pics are worth at least 10,000 words so here they are!!!

Danni and Britt

These two are closer than sisters. And they even fight like sisters too!~ They make me smile! I love them both so much! I think of Danni as so much more than a niece and I love her and the way she can bring Britt up when she needs it. The are dizzying at times, especially if you aren't used to them, but they are a lot of fun and life would not be complete without their giggling, comments coming from the corner on Sunday dinners, snarky behavior that endears them even more to your heart. So, here is a video they made of them. and it just screams Danni and Britt!!!

Dinner with Mom

Debbie came in for some school classes and we hopped over to Mi Amigos and had our pics taken. Oh, yeah, and we ate too! My favorite hostess took my pic (Britt) while my second favorite hostess (Rylee) looked on.

IT was a great night! Loved spending time with my sisters and my mom!!!

And I loved hugging the hostess as I left the building! I am so special!!!!!

For those driving by my house today at 5:30, please don't be alarmed if you hear high pitched girly screaming coming from the back yard. It is just Joey. He refuses to shower so I will have to hose him down until he comes out clean. If any cops show up, I will happily let him pour on the shampoo! After all, this is a courtesy for whole community - that boy is dirty!!!

Surprise Visit

It is 8:30 at night, Zach has returned from the play at Mesa High that Dani and Tarod were in. I can't remember the name of it but it was about the Holocost. Zach is a big history nerd so he and Britt went, except Britt went to support her two best friends. And Zach talked to a girl! And she talked back!!! (Had to throw that in!)
There is a knock at the door. And in walks my Father in law and his parents! They are down from New Mexico for a temple visit, a ride on an old airplane, and will be headed back up the next morning. We invite them in, and of course, my house looks terrible! We sit down and talk about everything. Ashley, of course, and Britt graduating, when we are coming up to see them again, and how this will probably be their last visit here. They are in their nineties, after all. We talked about Cortney and Alex, and I wish I had more time to summon them from home but I don't.
About 10 minutes later, Tarod and Britt come in. And Tarod got to meet the great grandparents! Poor boy! First boyfriend to ever have that experience! (Except Alex but by that time he was more than that!) It was a great experience!!! He was worried but the two of them are mostly deaf and they have so many other concerns. Even Grandpa did pretty good! I always get so worried about times like these, I have no idea why!

After convincing them that Mackenzie has testing the next day and cannot go live with them, they took off and headed to Travis' uncle' house. It was a nice visit and sometime this summer we are headed up north for a family visit. Just as long as we avoid the lake area, I think we will be fine!

Car problems

This has been a very interesting week!
We got the van back this morning. Everything is working except it misfires in low idle. There is nothing they can do about it. We chose to get the head replaced instead of the whole engine and apperantly  the odds to it working are 20 to one and we got the one. It will be fine except it will not pass emissions when it is time. So we will need to shell out another $2000 to replace the engine in the next little while. I have not checked out tags yet to see when that will be. We chose to only replace the head because money is kinda tight and you can only pay for what you can pay for. Did I mention how much  I love cars?
But it has been fun walking Mackenzie back and forth to school. I have not done that is so many years! The mornings have been cool, and it has been nice to talk about whatever is swimming around in her head. (Joey has band so whizzes by on his bike after school so we don't even see him, although Tuesday I walked George, the cello, home while we walked home with the Schneblys. I am going to miss that big guy! Joey also borrowed bells from Mr. Higgins and he tried to take them back to school on his bike and almost tipped over! It was one of those moments where you wish Heavenly Father had a hidden camera somewhere because that moment is one I would relive every time I was in a bad mood and laugh and laugh until my sides were sore! And yes, I took pity on the poor lad and carried them for him.)
The big kids had to walk too.
My mom and I went to the bookstore. (No, David, I did not push her all the way there. WE used my Dad's van. But I could do it!) And I gotta say I ran a few errands with Tami and that was a lot of fun! Really need to do that more often!!!

And now it is Thursday morning and it is all back to normal. The big kids are conspiring about how long they can sleep in and be to school on time. Every last second counts, of course! Mackenzie is contemplating which cartoons she can watch when the big kids go to school (it is so rough being the youngest and the only one home and having to wait!) And the car pool kids missed us!
Yep, It is going to be a great day!!!

Some Grad pics!!!

With graduation coming up we have been busy with Graduation announcements! And they are ready to go and now I can share some pics that are not being used!! I am so proud of this girl! She has been through a lot and will be graduating in about 6 weeks and I love her like crazy!!! She is not planning on going away anytime soon so the fun has not even begun yet!!!

Mackenzie, the Chef

Mackenzie is looking to be a cook when she grows up! My little cook is starting off right!
With help from mom, she made her own birthday cupcakes!
Pretty good for the first time!

Dear, sweet Joey-

Your medicine does not go in a candy dispenser!

love, Mom

Joey Moment #61

As I sit here cleaning off fried chicken grease from the mouse after kicking him off the computer so I can share my latest Joey story, I think to myself, I need to get ahold of Laura and have her do another Joey Adventures. And then I really need to collect them and definitely keep them as blackmail because really, truly I owe that kid!!!

In an attempt to avoid homework AGAIN, my little man found his roller blades and slipped them on. (I think it was because his room was clean and they were no longer buried under a pile of dirty, stinky clothes). I told him to take them off. We compromised and he only took off one with the knowledge that the other was waiting for him after he finished his homework. (Rule #42, never compromise when it comes to homework!)

Well, it was our Mother-Daughter date night and I was so preoccupied with that and I let my guard slip on the homework. NEVER LET YOUR GUARD SLIP, I tell myself a thousand times! And yet I still don't listen. My little man found the other skate, put it on, and proceeded to ride his skates up and down the hallway.

Did you know it takes a lot of work to skate? And it gets hot? Well, Britt and I left without noticing him turning down the thermostat....to 45*!!!!! You could freeze water in that, or is sure feels like it!!!

We got a call from Travis about an hour later notifying us of the major climate change in our house. I could just picture Joey in his winter parka, gloves, and whatever nonsense he had attached somehow to his body and he is riding back and forth, down the hallway, homework undone sitting on the table, happy as you please!!!!!
So, after mutual, my sweet, adorable, monster finished his homework by 9:45 pm, promising he will NEVER, NEVER, NEVER touch the thermostat again.  (Yeah, just till next time!!!!) And I am sitting here, wondering what kind of damage that has been done to our electricity bill and what I am going to do with that KID!!!

But, after all is said and done, you gotta give the kid Kudos for his originality!!

 

What am I saying?!!

 

No I really, really don't!

Mother - Daughter Date Night with Britt (and Ash too!)

Britt has a job and she decided to take me out for dinner. Because she loves me!

We decided to go to Chili's since that is Ashley's restaurant and we also took her with us! Yep, we have our date buddy with us.

 After we were seated, We realized our favorite principal was seated behind us. Britt was not happy! She kept raising her voice about how unhappy she was that the seniors had to go to school for the AZ Merit tests, hoping to get her attention. NOT ME!!! No, I was trying to calm her down and help her change the subject, but not until we photobombed her! Yes, I need to work on those skills, too. LOL

 

Apparently Sis Clawson has a drinking problem. Luckily it's just Diet Coke, but still, Sis. Clawson!!!

 

It ended up being a great night. And we were done just in time for Mutual and my Presidency Meeting. Next time we will go get that movie too, if we find any time. She's a working girl now, after all!

11 Years!!!

My last little one was born 11 years ago! What a joy!

She always has nice things to say and can put you in your place at the same time!!!

She loves pink, Barbies, and My Little Ponys but can wrestle and pin her brother down in a heart beat.

She loves to read and sing. In fact, her life is a musical and we all have supporting rolls in it!

Her hair is a cross between strawberry blond and auburn and she gives the best hugs!

She is an angel and I can't imagine life without this sweetie!!!

Happy Birthday, Love!

 

Note to Ash- We need to teach this girl to take more selfies like you and your sis!! LOL