The love of a van

Before we had our kids came along, Jason and I had a few discussions about mini vans and swore that when the time came we would never buy a mini van and we would go the SUV route. Maybe it was because we thought we were too good for a van, or maybe just never wanted to have the stigma that comes with driving a mini van. Well almost 2 years ago our little family was getting larger and we decided that it was time to upgrade our sweet Passat.

We checked out the SUV's I really wanted a Tahoe or Suburban as when looking into the cars the Tahoe wasn't the right fit. Jason talked me into looking at the Expeditions. Well we almost bought an Expedition one Saturday and just didn't want to rush into something so we just kept waiting to find the best deal. One Saturday we had a little time and since I love looking at cars, (don't ask me why but I have fond memories of looking at cars when I was little with my dad) we stopped at the Honda dealership to check out the Odysseys, and we ended up leaving 5 hours later with the perfect mini van for us, it was a great deal, the right color and I was so happy. Who would have thought I would have been so thrilled that I just bought a mini van? Well now that it's almost 2 years later I have yet to desire for a new car....which is very strange for me because I enjoy getting new cars. I love my van, it gets decent gas mileage, we can pile tons of stuff in it, and the kids have plenty of room, not to mention a DVD player for the many road trips we seem to take.

I took the van into the dealership for an oil change and some warranty work, and am now without it for 1 1/2 days and as pathetic as it seems I miss it! At one time in my life I would be embarrassed that I said that but now.....

Who would have thought I would love a van this much?

Tanner and T-Ball

Tanner is signed up for another fun season of T-ball and although I was gone for the first game, Jason said he did amazing!

He even hit the ball out of the in field....much improvement from the spring season.

This weekend was a chaotic one. Thanks to my friends that brought me dinner, and watched my kids on Friday, and helped with Kylie on Saturday, I couldn't have done it without you guys! I flew to Utah Thursday night to attend my grandpa's funeral. I felt like I was missing something the whole trip....well I guess I was my kids and my hubby. But it was nice to listen and just soak in the day without worrying about kids running all over misbehaving and being noisy. I was able to see so many family and friends it was great. But by the end of the day Friday we were tired. I went back to my mom's and we watched part of the USU vs BYU game and then ended up playing games. It was fun and a nice way to end the day. I then went to bed and slept in till 9:00 am! I haven't done that forever, I got up and got ready to head back home. I loved the weather there a great fall day it was raining with just a little nip in the air. I was able to visit with my grandma, and then headed up to the airport. My flight was late....which made me late getting home so Jason ended up missing Priesthood session of conference. That was the first time in 6 years of marriage that he missed Priesthood. I felt terrible but I can't control the weather so not much I could do about it. We had Jason's cousin Mike and his wife Rachel and 2 boys were staying with us. So we hurried home to relieve them (they were watching all the kids) and they headed to the Emmy's (he is a anchor for a news channel in Utah). We had an enjoyable night watching the kids play. Tanner was in heaven, Dylan is the same age and they played so well together. By the end of the night we had two sweaty tired boys. Jack and Kylie that is a different story they had a love hate relationship and Kylie was not being the nicest little girl. I really hope she grows out of this stage fast!!

Sunday we got up and made pancakes and eggs for breakfast and tried to listen to the morning session of General Conference. It's hard with 5 kids under the age of 5! We had a good time visiting and had a nice lunch. Once again missed most of the afternoon session....I have a lot of catching up to do! And then Mike and Rachel headed off to California for their vacation. It was lots of fun having them visit. Now on to real life and a new week!

A Tribute

I thought that since this would be my 100th post its only fitting that I pay my respect to my Grandpa Harry Startup born October 24, 1918-September 25, 2008

As we were driving home from Utah Thursday September 25 when my cell phone once again was working I got word that my grandpa had passed away. It was so surreal we had just spent the night to assist him saw him sitting there laughing at Jason's crazy jokes, and telling me that he loved me. How I will miss him! I know that I will see him again though what peace and comfort that brings me.

Sometimes being away from Utah and my family is very difficult. I miss out on all those fun family get togethers, holidays, and miss spending time with my grandparents. My grandparents have always been very involved in my life and have supported me in whatever crazy thing I decided to try. They watched countless basketball and volleyball games, grandpa gave me a priesthood blessing when I had that terrible eye infection, were instrumental in helping me stay after my parents left for California for 2 weeks, took me to Joe's to get a cheeseburger, 4th of July fireworks parade and Stadium of Fire, Sacrament meeting talks, letting me work at the candy factory in high school, Seminary and High School graduation, visiting me in Nauvoo, seeing me off to make a crazy move to California (although made me late to pick Jason up at the airport and helped me get my 1st and only speeding ticket!), my temple marriage, and to 2 of my children's blessings, and many many other things. As I have been reflecting my thoughts and memories of my grandpa I can't imagine my life without him in it.

The main reason for me to travel to Utah at the beginning of the month was to see my grandpa as he had been hospitalized. They had found a abcess on his liver and were treating it, but in the process discovered that he had cancer. The next few weeks were difficult as we needed to help grandpa and grandma, but I found them rewarding as I was able to serve them for once. One night Jason and I were able to stay with grandpa and help get him in and out of bed and try to make him comfortable. As we were moving him from his bed to his favorite recliner he said hup 2,3,4 hup 2,3,4....with a big smile on his face. I will always treasure the time that I had with grandpa before his death. What a great example of love, kindness, generosity, and enduring to the end....I will miss you grandpa!

Canning

The one thing that I always dreaded every fall...helping my mom with the pears and peaches. I have always loved eating the finished product (my mom used to remind me of the little red hen) but this year due to my grandpa being sick, have had the opportunity to help my mom and do the canning for her. I have been quite successful even watching 8 kids 6 and under. Someone in the family has had to stay with my grandpa round the clock so needless to say we have been watching lots of kids and helping out in lots of different ways. I have been lucky to work on the canning and so far the pears are looking great only 1 mishap and I am on to 3 more boxes either tomorrow or Friday and then its on to peaches.

Scorpions, Snakes, Lizards, and......

We had our neighbors over for dinner tonight and when they arrived they showed us that we had a bat on our front porch right above the door. So after dinner the bat was still there and so Jason being the inquisitive guy he is caught it and brought it inside (in a jar of course!). Sorry mom I will buy you a new jar. My crazy husband thought that it looked cute and soft and wanted to pet it. He is so weird!

After we watched the bat for a while we let it go in the back yard. We were all inside of course except for Jason who had to let it go. Hopefully it won't come back anytime soon!

Labor Day

Our Labor Day weekend started great. Jason went to Flagstaff with his friend Brian and they went mountain biking. They had a great time and even found some jumps to go off. Needless to say Jason went off one too many!!

He said it was the last jump and he landed wrong and he fell. I was really worried because he told me he heard a pop in his shoulder. He couldn't move it much but said that if if wasn't better by Tuesday he would go to the doctor. He had a great time and loves his new hobby of biking. The rest of the weekend we just watched dad ice his shoulder and we hung out at home. It's no fun when dad can't do anything fun with us!!

Tanner's first day of preschool was today and he could not have been more excited. He woke up got dressed and asked me for an hour and a half if it was time to go yet. We took some pictures and then got in the car and headed to Ms. Laura's house. He jumped out of the car and barely waited for me to take him inside and didn't even care that I left. I was so happy that he was so ready to go. Kylie on the other hand was super sad that Tanner was gone and that she was going to have to spend some time with her mom.

While he was gone we had some fun putting together puzzles, she is getting so good! Her favorite one is a 100 piece Disney Pixie puzzle and she mainly wants to just do it herself. If I put a piece together and she wanted to do it she will take it apart and say mom don't help me. And then she helped me around the house. Then we got to go pick up Tanner and what a silly kid he came out without his shoes on (because he had to wear the new ones that grandma got him and he can't tie by himself yet!) I asked him what he did and I got the answer "I don't know".

We are off to a great start!!