Can We take the Wii to Grandma's?

This morning as I was getting the kids ready for school I told Ryan that Grandpa Berger was going to pick him up after school so he shouldn't walk home. Both kids were curious as to why I would not be home so I explained to them that we were going to meet with a lawyer to set up our will and trust. I then went on to explain to them what all of that meant. They both seemed to be alright with the answer I gave them and they continued to eat their breakfast. As we were walking out the door to take Ryan to school, Sydney asked if she could take the Wii to Grandma's. I asked her when she would like to do that. She said, "if you die." I answered "Yes, if I die, you can take the Wii to Grandma's." Then, Ryan in his wisdom firmly told Sydney that we probably wouldn't even have the Wii when mom and dad die. Thankfully, my son can see much clearer than my daughter and he is usually around to help me come back down to her level.

DHL does not just pick up small packages

This morning at about 7:30am Sydney and I heard a very loud MEOW. We looked out on the porch and sure enough, a poor little black cat wanted to come in and shelter itself from the elements. The wind was bitterly cold and I knew I had a decision to make. I could let the cat in and try to find its owner, or I could leave it out on the porch. Sydney thought I was so inhumane for not letting the poor little kitty in the house. I however only felt 'slightly' bad. Since I didn't want to be the big meanie, I did what any good mom would do and I had her call her dad :). He did just what I thought he would do and told her 'No' to bringing in the cat. Alas, I was not the meanie after all. We were just following orders .

Well, here it is 2:30 and the DHL driver shows up to pick up an envelope that we are shipping to AZ. To my surprise - THE CAT IS STILL ON THE PORCH!!!

We now have a bigger problem than I thought. I instructed the gentleman not to let the cat in the house because it did not belong to me. So, he graciously shut the door in its face. As he was leaving he asked if I would like him to take it with him. I agreed. I'm not sure if I'm the hero or not, but I no longer have a cat on my doorstep. He assured me he would just drop it off outside the neighborhood. I guess we'll see if we end up with it another day.

A Few of My Favorite Things

Today I thought I would just post a few of my favorite things(people, etc), and things that I am most thankful for.

Ryan and I went to a birthday party of one of his friends today. Evan Williams. Evan is the son of Ben and Emily Williams, friends of ours from BYU days. The Williams' are some of my favorite people. I don't think I have smiled that much in a very long time. The kids went to Kangaroo Zoo, an indoor kids wonderland that has several blow-up things that you jump around on. They played tag and it was fun to watch Ben and Emily's sister Amy get winded while being chased. I didn't pay to get in because I left my wallet at home, so I was only able to watch. Emily's parents were also there and I have to say, they too are some of my favorite people. A tradition in their family is to put an almond in the cake. Whomever gets the almond gets a prize. Emily put several almonds in Evan's cake so that each kid would likely get one. Their traditions are some of my favorite things, and I realized that I need to do more fun things with my kids.

Another of my favorites is Cafe Rio. Last night Brett and I went to dinner together at Cafe Rio. I love their salads and fairly recently discovered that their tostada is just a miniature salad for about 2 bucks cheaper and it is plenty of food. I thank Brett for taking me there and his parents for watching the kids so we could go.

Another favorite is reading with my kids. Sydney is much less patient with reading than Ryan is and I absolutely LOVE crawling in bed with Ryan with a good book. He will sit there for hours and listen and he is at the age where he can predict what could possibly happen in the book. I love that he will take the time with me and read. That time is very special.

We recently started splitting the kids and going on dates. It works out great for us because we just have two kids. One week I have Sydney and the other week I have Ryan. We do a single date once a month with the kids, one family date, and two dates where Brett and I go out and do something. Spending our time this way has become one of my favorite things. When I am with the kids one on one, they get a limit of $10 and so far they both have spent it at the Nickle Arcade. It is very much a hole in the wall joint, but the kids love it and I'm getting pretty good at the games that give a lot of tickets so that by the end of the night we get to walk out with a small prize and a few fruity tootsie rolls (another favorite).

While none of these things are raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, my life is quite fulfilling with my family and the positive things that we are filling our time with - and that too is a favorite.

Belt of the future

The other day I was helping Ryan with his belt before going to school. The kid can't keep his pants up so a belt is a must, unless of course you can buy pants with an adjustable waist. Anyway, as I was cinching up his belt he told me that the belt of the future would not require that you cinch it with your hands. It would simply be made with electricity and you will just need to push a button and it will cinch for you. Now, if I could just help him invent this handy belt, I'm sure we would be millionaires. I'm positive that everyone would want one.

Amusement Parks and Ice Skating Rinks

Have I ever mentioned that I HATE skating? Last night we took the youth of our ward to the Ice Skating Rink. I detest skating. I'm not good at it. I have horrible balance and I have a huge fear of falling on my knees and making my knee problem go from somewhat getting better to being much worse. If you're wondering what all of this has to do with amusement parks, I'll tell you. It's the same feeling of being completely out of control. I don't like the sensation of a roller coaster, and I hate not feeling balanced on my feet.

Here . is a picture of Ryan. Too bad I didn't have the camera when Brett had the boys with their heads down on the ice.

Bib number 1515 and 1516

Ok, so by now you should know something about me.... I am pretty good about getting people to sign up for things that they think they might like, but in all honesty, they're not very sure about it. To illustrate my point, let me share a story. In July Brett and I participated in the Burley Spudman triathlon. It was great fun. Well, it would have been even better fun if I would have finished my run before Brett finished his. After all, he only beat my by 11 seconds....the race is on ladies and gentleman. Anyway, we came home and talked it up to some friends, and family members. Usually registration begins on December 31st at midnight. This year, a few days before that, we received an e-mail stating that registration would begin on January 7th at noon MST. So, I did what any good friend would do and started calling and e-mailing people. I had numerous dreams that I would not get in to the race and that all of my friends would. Well, the day is finally here. Just before noon I got a phone call. I politely told my friend that I needed to get off of the phone because one of the most important events of the year was about to begin and I needed to be online. I logged on to www.active.com and started the registration process. I tried an hour early and it didn't let me in, so I thought for sure it wasn't going to be turned on until 12:00 sharp. At about 12:07 give or take a few seconds, I got another phone call from a friend that had already gotten in. Her bib number was in the 700s. I not as politely got off the phone because dang it, this was important. When I got to the end of the screen asking for payment, I realized they did not take Discover. CRAP!!! That's the only card I have memorized. So, I tried calling Brett and of course he didn't answer either phone and so I had to run around trying to find my wallet. I found it where it should be...in the van and ran back in the house and entered my payment information. I clicked the submit button and it said "Please be patient, this process could take up to 3 minutes." So, I PATIENTLY sat here staring at my computer screen 1 minute, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 4 minutes, 5 MINUTES, 6 MINUTES, 7 MINUTES, Oh please, don't let my dream come true MINUTES, 8 MINUTES, NINE MINUTES, Do I refresh the screen? MINUTES - 10 STINKIN' MINUTES!!! - Congratulations, your bib number is 1515 - WHEW! Now the training begins. Next year, I won't be answering the phone, and my credit cards will be near. I think for sure I had an angel watching over me. I don't think she wanted to see me cry today.

Temporary Vacation

For New Year's, our family went on a "temporary" vacation. This, opposed to the other permanent vacations that we normally take. Ryan thought that we needed a winter vacation. I told him that we had spent our money on Christmas and if he wanted me to take his things back, I would and we could go somewhere. He said, "well maybe we can just call Grandma and Grandpa Berger and see if we can stay the night. It will just be a temporary vacation." So, needless to say, we called Grandpa Berger and he agreed that it would be fine if we spent the night at his house in Springville, a mere 8 miles from our own home. The 'temporary' vacation was a good one indeed.

New Brother or a Vacation

Yesterday the kids and I went to Sandy to meet a cousin of my biological father. She took us to lunch and we visited for quite a while. We then went shopping for clothes for Sydney as she has a few pair of pants that actually fit. It was a very long day and by the time we got to Lehi, Sydney was crying and saying mean things to Ryan. She told him that she wanted a new brother. He said - "A new brother huh - well, you can't have a new brother because Mom can't have more kids." He continued to explain to her that there wasn't a possible way that she could have a new brother no matter what. I told him that I'm sure that he had done enough explaining and he said, "Well, maybe I just need to go on vacation." I giggled to myself and asked him why he would want to go on a vacation and he said "If I go on vacation, Sydney will miss me and want me for a brother." I giggled a little more as I've said before to him that I needed a vacation so that when I came home he would be happy to see me. Funny the things they pick up on.

Yesterday was a great day. We just relaxed as a family. I spent quite a bit of time online trying to find a heart rate monitor. The one that has all of the bells and whistles that I like is called the Garmin Forerunner 305.
Unfortunately, it is $100 more than I want to spend on a heart rate monitor. There are a bazillion reviews on this one though and many of them are positive. I received an Amazon gift card from my parents for Christmas so I am somewhat stuck on where I can purchase my little gadget. I also found a Polar Heart rate monitor the F11 version and it looks nice too.



It doesn't have the software that come with it though so I would have to purchase that separately, which then puts the price up to what I would pay for the Garmin. I did find another monitor on a different site that is within my price range, but again, I am somewhat stuck with Amazon as a large portion of the price is held up in a gift card. I hope to find something soon as I will start my workouts pretty heavily within the next day or so as I plan to participate in at least two triathlons this year and Brett and I have the goal to do at least one Century ride this year.

New Leaf

I think from time to time it is important to turn over a new leaf. So, today is the day. I find that I really enjoy reading other people's blogs. So, with that I am going to try and do a little more blogging and a little more of taking pictures of the kids.

We had a great Christmas. We try to keep everything low key, and then of course come Christmas Eve we see that we have way more under the tree than we should have. We purchased a game for the Wii called Rayman Raving Rabbids II. The kids love it and I actually get a kick out of watching us all. There are several mini games that make me laugh. They range from throwing paper balls at a teacher while he is trying to write on the board, to using your cell phone in the middle of a movie, all while trying not to get caught. I think my favorite part is watching Ryan and listening to him giggle. I think out of all of the purchases we made this Christmas, this was by far the best one.

Yesterday Brett and I went to Park City to buy clothes for the kids. Sydney desperately needed some pants so we went to get some for her. It was freezing to say the least. The prices of clothing weren't spectacular, but we were able to at least get her some jeans for $10 a pair. Not the best price, but better than paying full price somewhere else. It was really nice to be able to spend the time with Brett. That doesn't happen very often. Brett's parents watched the kids and I was very grateful for them doing that.

It's been a while since I have written. Life right now is great. Last night we picked up a tradition that Brett used to do when he was a kid and we made sugar cookies on a Popsicle stick. We then decorated them and put them on plates for the kids to take to their friends. We drove to several houses and I guess last night was a leave the house FHE night as everywhere we went we were left yet another plate of cookies. We are going to try to deliver them again tonight.

Christmas is a week from today. Each year it seems like it comes so quickly. I am happy to say that I am done shopping and that I have just been able just enjoy the spirit of the holidays. This year I am especially thankful for my family. I hope that I tell them enough. I am so grateful for a husband that supports me in all that I do. He has been such a rock for me the past couple of months and I have realized more than ever how fortunate I am to have him in my life. We have been through some rough times together. He is ever forgiving and loving to me regardless of the circumstances.

I am also very grateful for computers. I have been able to keep in touch with my family and send pictures back and forth recently and I am grateful that I have our computer at my disposal. We are a very blessed family.

More than all of this, I am grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It's healing power has lifted me to higher heights. I have been so comforted in ways that I never thought possible. I am truly grateful for the blessings I have received by way of the gift of the Son of God. May all who read this know that I know that God LIVES! I know that he sent His Son as a gift to all mankind. How truly grateful I am for that knowledge. It is know longer just a belief. I KNOW IT!

My Sister

My blog is turning into a dang dreary read. I didn't think I could pass on sharing my feelings about my sister though.

Azure Dea Starkes was born on June 9, 1983. She went to heaven on October 13, 2007. Azure was so special to me. She was as special to me as she was to everyone else too. Yesterday we had the services for Azure and the church was filled to capacity. There were people in the library, relief society room, young women's room and in the halls. I have never seen so many people at a funeral before. They estimated that there were about 1200 people there. It was a very special day.

Azure was killed in a rollover car accident. At first we all thought she didn't have her seat belt on because she was ejected from the car, but Kati and I were able to spend some time with her at the funeral home and saw the bruises across her chest where her seat belt was.

Azure was 24 years old. She has a 6-month old baby boy named Eric and a husband named Brian. It has been so hard to realize all that has gone on this past week. The community has really rallied behind this family. It is so wonderful to feel the love of so many people who loved my sister.

A Lifetime

Today was one of the most influential days of my life. Over the past few weeks I have spent some time at a good friend's home. Her husband has suffered from severe depression and I had a deep respect for him, and her so I took some time to visit often. Well, this past Tuesday, September 11, 2007 her husband took his life. His funeral services were today and I must say I don't suppose I have ever been to a funeral that got me thinking as much as this one. Keven's family spoke about his life. I think the best part about it was that they all shared spiritual insight along with words of wisdom that we all can benefit from. My heart hurts that he took his life, but I know that God is merciful and he will ultimately heal us all. As his wife said at his funeral "I am going to do better." Well, so am I. If anyone is Christlike, it is Annette Holm, and if she is going to do better, so am I!

You Go West

This past week Brett spent several days at youth conference with the young men and women of our ward. I was a little anxious to be alone at first, but the kids were great. They both said some things that I think are worth noting so I don't forget someday.

Thursday night I made chicken and rice for dinner. I haven't really made that for them, maybe once in Ryan's lifetime, but surely not enough to know whether it is a yes, I like it or no, I don't. Well, we were sitting at dinner and Ryan wasn't eating. At first he didn't want to eat his corn on the cob because he said it would break his tooth so I cut it off the cob for him. After a few minutes of him sitting there he said "Mom, I can't eat this food. It tastes so unfamiliar to me." I had a good laugh and told him he could either eat the food or go hungry. He chose to go hungry. As I was putting him to bed that night he said "Ahh, I wonder what's for breakfast." I kind of felt bad that he was hungry, but had to follow through so he would know to eat his dinner. At 6:10am the next morning he came in to my room and said "Mom, I thought I heard the sound of cereal bowls on the bar." Poor kid really was pretty hungry.

Sydney also said something funny while Brett was gone. I was cleaning the kitchen and she was telling me about a friend that she met at the park. She said - "Mom, that girl at the park lives a mile away. We need to get in the car and then go west and find her house." I got a good chuckle out of that too as I'm sure a 3 1/2 year old has no idea where west is.

Slug Bug

The other day Sydney and I were playing the game 'Slug Bug' in the car. It is a game that you yell 'Slug Bug' every time you see a Volkswagen Beetle and then the color of the car. Then you add up your points (1 for every bug) and see who wins by the end of the trip. Well, we had been driving for quite some time and she didn't see a Slug Bug so she said - "Mom, let's play 'Slug Bug - Jeep'. When I see a Black Jeep I yell Slug Bug Jeep." I smiled and let her play Slug Bug - Jeep. A few days later I was riding my bike in Salem, UT getting ready for the Salem Triathlon and Sydney was riding along in our bike trailer. I was concentrating and all of a sudden I hear "SLUG BUG - JEEP!" I looked over and sure enough there it was a Slug Bug Jeep. Now we play Slug Bug with many types of cars. It has been a fun game to play with the kids in the car.

Laffy Taffy

Today we were getting ready for church Ryan brought in a Laffy Taffy and said - Hey Mom, we could make these - the ingredients are right here on the wrapper. I smiled and explained to him that we didn't have the recipe and that even though the ingredients were on the wrapper, we wouldn't know how much of each one to put in so we wouldn't be able to do it.

A while later I heard Sydney crying and I went in to see what was going on. Ryan didn't want Sydney to have his last Laffy Taffy and of course she was throwing a fit. I asked Ryan why he wouldn't let her have it since he had already had one this morning. He said "Well, I want to call and get the recipe." I said - how are you going to do that? He said, "Well, there is a phone number on the package that says to call if you have questions and I want to call and ask them for the recipe because that is a question." I smiled and just let him know that the phone number was for complaints, etc - Funny the things they think about

Closing the Gap

For those of you who know me, you know that my mom was divorced when I was young. Her x-husband (my biological father) was never a part of our lives. When Brett and I had been married about a year we got a surprise visit from my mom. She came to UT to tell us that Mike (the father) had taken his life. During that time I called his family and spoke to them, but that was about as far as it went.

Well, this year our family is having a reunion in Texas and it just so happens that Mike's family lives there. I contacted my grandmother (Grandma Nelda) and told her we would like to meet her. We scheduled July 1st to meet her and the family. Last week, Tuesday night, my Grandma Bowers called me and asked me if I had heard from Texas. I said, no but if you're asking that then there must be something wrong. She said, "well Nelda went to the doctor last week and found out she had cancer". I said, "OK, well then I will give her a call". She said "Well, she died last night." I was a little shocked. I was on the other line with my sister Lori so I let her know. After a few phone calls and finding out when the services were, I called Brett. He said I should go if we could make it work. So, instead of swimming like I should have, I went straight home. Brett was working on getting the best flight for me. After a few phone calls and a gracious uncle, we booked a flight to Texas.

I arrived in Texas at 1:30 pm Texas time. I got my luggage and then went and got my rental car. I took a wrong road, but didn't go far as I didn't want to get lost. I called Aunt Denise and she helped me get to the road I needed to and I was on my way to Gilmer. The drive was absolutely beautiful. I told Brett I want to move to Texas. It is so amazingly beautiful there. I arrived in Gilmer at about 5:30 or so, maybe a little earlier. I went to Uncle Larry's and Aunt Denise's house. We visited for a few minutes and then we went to the funeral home. I was a little nervous because I didn't know what to expect. I was afraid they wouldn't want to meet me, but I knew I needed to be there. When I walked in with Aunt Denise Mike's cousin Ricky noticed me right off. He gave me a hug and then the introductions began. It was a very tender moment for me. I shed a few tears and then payed my respects to Grandma Nelda. She looked beautiful. I stayed at the funeral home with the family until Denise and Larry came back at about 8:30. I felt like I took a little bit of the attention away from Nelda as so many people were surprised that I had come. It had been 28 years since they had seen me. Much has happened in 28 years.

Thursday afternoon we went to the funeral. It was just a small graveside service. It was very different than one that we would have in our religion, but we paid our respects. I took pictures of some headstones and then laid a rose on Grandma Nelda's casket.

We left the cemetery and I took Aunt Denise home. I changed my clothes and went to Grandma's house. Jeanette and her husband were there along with Scott, my cousin and Robin, a nephew of Nelda's. I visited just for a small time and left as I was starving.

This trip was a blessing to me. I was able to visit Grandpa Bowers' grave and take some pictures of the house I remember visiting most with Grandma and Grandpa. I have such a history in East Texas. I miss being there already, but I know that my place is here. There is just a lot of love there.

I can't believe it has been so long since I have blogged. I thought it was just a couple of weeks ago, but no - it was months. Oh well, isn't it about time? This past week has been pretty crappy and because it has been crappy I have made some pretty darned good excuses for not exercising. Ah what the heck, why not just stay in bed? One of my goals is to be stronger on my bike this triathlon season. I am scared to death to start over and I just want to be able to do a tri again without pain. I'm afraid that I won't make it. I feel alone. I need a good support group, but I don't know where to look. Every month we pay for a gym membership and darn it, I am wasting it. I think I'll go and then I make excuses not to. So here I go publicly making a goal to spend more time in the gym. I pledge to go to the gym 3 times a week. At least then I won't feel so guilty about letting the money just slip away.

U Turn

Well, today I make a U-turn. I had a pretty lax weekend. While I didn't eat more than I should've other than the 4 chocolate chip cookies I had yesterday (and I went to Red Lobster on Friday with Brett), I didn't exercise. So, I'll do that today and hopefully get back on track. I have been reading fitness articles from Prevention Magazine that I get through my e-mail and I think I would love to be a person that helps others lose weight. We have a young woman in our youth group that is overweight and oh how I would love to help her lose it all. I don't know how to go about doing that though. I have read so many books on weight loss and being healthy that I just feel a need to help those around me. There is a lady in our ward that just moved in that I adore. She is a good 150 lbs overweight. I often wonder how she would feel if we exercised together and lost it all. Again, I don't know how to go about changing her life. Granted, I could use a little bit of changing myself, but I am not obese. I just don't want to get that way and I have a genuine interest in helping those around me.

Yesterday we had a long presidency meeting that was much needed. I think we were able to get out in the open all that is going on around us and hopefully stop the gossip. We have years ahead of us in this calling so I hope we are able to come together and to bless the lives of the young women.

Day Three

Well, today is day three of what I hope will be a lifestyle change. I just finished reading "YOU: On a Diet" and I have to say I enjoyed the read. It is a book about the science of the human body along with ways to make changes in eating habits etc. I told Brett on Tuesday that it was time that I make a lifestyle change and do it for good. I figured I would start by giving myself 90 days. So far I have eaten properly and walked for 30 minutes each day. I plan to start swimming, etc next week when Brett isn't in training from 7am - 6pm, but for now I appreciate the treadmill that I have downstairs. The kids play Nintendo and I walk. It works out great. If there is anyone out there reading this, keep checking back. I intend to update my progress here.