perfectly fine day for a round of golf
perfect weather
perfect company
hubby kicked my not- so- perfect butt.
maybe next time i'll kick his not-so- perfect butt.
not likely gonna happen
but one can wish.
gladstan golf course
elk ridge, utah

school carnival and life's ups and downs........
the littles school and the PTA put on a fabulous carnival this year,
some of the woman in my ward were in charge
and they ask me to help out a little bit.
everyone involved worked hard
and the hard work paid off
we earned lots of money for our school
and the kids had a blast
we had lots of blow up toys to play on
tons of games
pizza and treats
my kids are old enough to go and not stay "right by mom and dad"
so they roamed around with friends
which led regan and me( or is it "I") to ask....how can our little kids be this old?
and where has the time gone?
the answer we both gave is.....we have NO IDEA!
anyway,i had wanted to take some fun pictures of the kids at the carnie
but they were off running around
so these are the only ones i got of them....(SIGH).
the picture of mckray jousting
reminds me of how i have felt as of late
getting jabbed,sucker punched and feeling like life is beating the H*%%  out of me
all while im trying so hard to stay standing up
you see, stress has gotten the better of me
and i am having to really fight to keep stress at bay
stress can really take its tole on you if your not careful
i have lots on my mind
questions like:
will we ever be able to pay off regans student loans?
will we ever  have more money coming in than going out?
its hard to believe that once upon a time we did.
will i be able to find a better job? ....yeah i got a job, its not glamorous or what i want to do forever, but its a job.
am i doing a good job as a mother,wife, friend, sister,daughter?
am i living the life i want to?
am i floating.....or am i really living?
anyway........ you get the picture
i guess it comes down to having FAITH
having faith in myself and having faith in god
having faith in myself is the one i REALLY, REALLY struggle with
believing that all is well and that all will be well
if i am doing all that i can
and working hard
and having faith
it will all work out
when i stop and think about all that i have
and all that i have to be grateful  for
the stress seems to LIFT 
but, when i focus on the "crap" of life
well, then everything seems
CRAPPY
right now i need to focus on what i DO have
instead of what i DON'T have
focuse on the postive qualities that I DO have
life is as EASY or as HARD as i want to make it
its really all about ATTITUDE isn't it??
heres to happier days
and
better attitudes

the alpine loop

nothing brings me more joy,

 than to pack the family into the car and head 

for the

mountains

 on a lovely fall day.

the beauty is breathtaking

and

 it makes me feel like my chest will burst wide open from all its awesomeness.

i wish fall could last forever

15

is the magic number

bridger turned 15 on the 15th

pretty cool eh?

he is a pretty chill kid and wanted his birthday to be the same way

CHILL

and that is exactly what he got

we hung out

went to the mall and bought him a few things

came home and

  made him a coconut cream pie ( his favorite)

thats right...from scratch...yep including the crust.

i loved that i got a smile out of him

with his pie.

that is a rare thing lately

must be the age.

he is now old enough to get his learners permit

SCARY

i always thought that i would be really good about being in the car with teenagers

when they first learned to drive

guess what???

im not

it freaks me out

BIG TIME

so regan gets all the fun

of teaching them

he is sooooo good and doesnt freak out

unlike me

i guess its win win for all of us

LOVE YOU BRIDGER

&

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

loving this delicious fall weather

delicious popsicle's from the ice cream man

delicious kiddles

IT'S THE FALL

IT'S THE FALL

IT'S THE FALL

punkins
every fall we go with the  preston's (my other family) to the pumpkin patch
the lil's go up and down every row in search of the "perfect" pumpkin
this year at the patch they had a small petting zoo the lil's thought it was pretty awesome that they had a baby kangaroo.
i love fall and i love my preston family
thanks for the pumpkins mom and dad

CLASH DAY

not only was it clash day at the jr. high

but also lots of clashing going on at our house

you know parent vs. teenager

you know that age old battle

i remember doing the same thing with my mom 

except

 i was MUCH, MUCH worse

than my teenagers have ever been 

he is a great kid (most of the time)

and we are great parents (most of the time)

but sometimes during these lovely teen years

we are

just gonna clash!

him not liking rules and regulation

us not liking the attitude.... oh the attitude.......
im sure we will both survive

*************

on a brighter note

he is away competing with

100+ other schools

at the Shakespearean festival

midsummer night's dream

he plays the part of demetrius

he is a great and very talented kid

he sent me a really nice text when he arrived

made my day

dang teenagers

one minute you are just over the top frustrated with them

and then the next minute

they are melting your heart

at least there are moments of him melting my heart...right?

conference

normally we get together with my mom, sister and her family and watch conference on t.v at one of our houses.

this year we thought it would be fun to head  up to the conference center and watch it live.

we couldn't get enough tickets for us all to go together

so, my mom and my lil family went to the saturday afternoon session

and my sister and her family went to the sunday session.

we have never gone as a family

it was fun to get  dressed up and spend time together

juju slept through half of it and was snoring just a wee bit..tee hee

the boys were perfect

we missed aubrey and wished she could have come

i took lots of notes..like i always do

i have set some new goals for myself

and am going to work harder at becoming the woman that i want to be

love conference

LIONS PRIDE

it was a tough season

their first win came on the very last regular season game

the new found confidence helped them knock off the 3rd place team in the play offs

they lost in the next round

but still had a great finish to the season

we are proud of all the boys for not giving up and fighting hard till the bitter end.

GO LIONS!!!

thanks uncle bob for coming and supporting the big mac

your the best uncle ever!!!

webelo's woods campout

regan and the man cub headed for the woods

 to earn merit badges

and

to do manly things

like

knot tying

catapult

g.p.s and compass skills

bb gun shooting

archery

first aid

soap carving

and

sling shots

 (mac's favorite)