Scooter Speaks and E-mails

We decided to allow Scooter to have his own email account. Believe it or not, it wasn’t a decision that was easily made. This is a scary world and when you allow a 9 year old to have his own email account, I think that you have the potential for scary people to have access to your child. He is aware that I have the password and I have 100% right to check his inbox and outbox 100% of the time if I want. And he is without guile, so it’s totally fine with him. He’s not hiding anything. He just wants to be able to email his father, his aunts and grandparents. It’s kind of a grown-up thing to do, right?

Because I have access to his account, I’ve kind of had access to more inner workings of his brain. The kid makes me laugh. He writes to his dad that they are going to “break a world record” this summer. He also says to Flynn that “I’ll kiss mom for you ok?”

But in a separate email to me he says, “guess what’s on the menu, DEATH!!!!!!”

HUH?

(Yeah, I shouldn’t be surprised. This is the kid that when I asked him one day what he wanted for lunch he said in a sinister voice, “YOUR HEART ON A PLATTER!”)

But don’t be dismayed!

Scooter also sent me an email that said, “I think you are the best mom in the world like giving me food, playing games with me, buying Dagedars for me. You’re awesome!!!!!!”

But the funniest email I’ve seen him send was to my dad, who is known as Papa.

Papa is a teaser. He’s pretty funny and he likes teasing people, especially the grandkids. While Belle was scared of Papa and his teasing for the first few years of her life, Scooter has never been afraid and has always been able to dish the funny right back.

Papa sent Scooter and email that said, “Tell your muther to check her email once in a while. Pops”

When I saw Scooter’s reply, I burst out laughing and had to sit down,

“Whatever you say pops and check your spelling, okay?”

THANK HEAVENS my dad can and did laugh about that. Because I sure did.

East of Nowhere

Flynn’s interim job is East of Nowhere. It’s seriously in the middle of NOTHING. There is a fairly major city of around 100,000 people 2 hours away, but there is nothing else remotely close to the town where he’s living. I’m sure there are times that the area is pretty, but it’s not really fair to judge it right now since it’s the end of January. So I will refrain from any harsh criticisms.

HOWEVER, I have to say, Interim-ville is in a prettier location than Gross Yucky Florin was. The rolling hills and grassy plains are much prettier than the red dirt and sage brush that surrounded G.Y. Florin.

Scooter and I visited Flynn over the long weekend that leads up to what is known as Civil Rights Day or Martin Luther King Day. Our school district made the Tuesday after MLK Day a teacher inservice day, so we had a beautiful 4 day weekend! Yippee!! That’s a good time for a road trip!

It’s a long drive to Interim-ville. About 7 hours on good dry roads… in the daylight when you know where you’re going. For me, driving in the dark in unknown territory, always adds extra time, so add about 1/2 hour. I’m wimpy like that. Oh, and add extra time because the Diet Dr. Pepper I drank to help me stay awake has also kicked in and I need multiple potty stops.

Even though this town is out in the middle of rolling prairies and stubby plateaus, there is some fun historical sites to visit. If you’re into Old West, cowboys and Native American history, there are some fun things to see and do.

One of the coolest things was a place called Pompey’s Pillar. It’s a nondescript place just off the Interstate. I wouldn’t have thought to stop here if my dad, an avid Old West historian hadn’t told me about it.

Pompey’s Pillar “bears the only remaining physical evidence of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.” William Clark, on his return trip from the Pacific Ocean, stopped here and carved his name into the sandstone cliff. And surprisingly, over 200 years later, it’s still there… it hasn’t been defaced and looks as good as the day he carved it (I assume).

(Clark nick named Sacagawea’s son, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, “Pomp”, so this cliff is named after him.)

We enjoyed our time here. And we were thrilled to see that lots of people throughout the ages enjoyed their time at Pompey’s Pillar. Look at some of the dates that have been carved next to Clark’s… 1883, 1914, 1947, etc.
(You can click on the pic for a bigger view.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was also a pirogue displayed, similar to the same pirogues that the intrepid explorers used to navigate their way across the country to the Pacific Ocean. The boys had fun playing in it. I’m not sure how close to correct scale this was, but the one we saw was LOOONG!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also took the time to travel to the Little Big Horn Battlefield. For you Old West aficionados, you’ll remember that this is where General George Custer and most of his army met their doom as Chief Sitting Bull and the Lakota and Cheyenne Indians fought to preserve their way of life.

This stop was unplanned and about 40 miles out of our way. Sadly, we arrived only 40 minutes before the gate closed for the day, so we weren’t able to spend as much time here as we would have liked. The good thing is, that since we’re visiting in “off season” it was FREE! Woo hoo! My favorite tourist spots are free!!

Did you know there is a National Cemetery at this spot as well? I didn’t! It was humbling seeing the graves of so many servicemen and women that were buried here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’d like to visit here again and be able to spend more time reading the signs and listening to the stories (you can use your cell phone and listen to stories on many of the stops as you drive through). We didn’t have time to go inside the Visitor’s Center either. So this will be a repeat stop when we go back to visit Flynn next month. Only we’ll plan to be there longer than 40 minutes!

Red Neck Christmas Vacation

So what do YOU do during the week that’s between Christmas and New Years?

Eat?

Shop some more?

Clean?

Sleep?

Not our family!

We head to over to them hills to git us some o’dat dere target practice!

No humans or animals were harmed in the actions depicted in these pictures.

I can’t say the same about the tin cans, milk jugs and soda bottles we were aiming at.

Winter… Oh Winter… Where For Art Thou Winter?

This has been the weirdest winter I’ve seen in AGES!
The temperatures are hovering in the lower to mid 40° range.
There’s no snow on the ground in Zion.
I haven’t had to put my Tahoe in 4wd in weeks.
I’m still wearing capris.
And I only need to wear my winter coat when I go out early in the morning
(which is NEVER)
and at night when it’s dark.
Otherwise I just wear a jacket.

Now that I think about it, I probably could still have my bedroom window cracked open a bit
so I can have fresh air while I sleep.
I’ll get right on that.

Well, other than praying, I guess there’s not an awful lot we can do about the weather.
But we can go out and enjoy the beautiful blue skies and sunshine.
And we can enjoy the little bit of snow that’s in the mountains.

For New Year’s, Flynn, Scooter and I headed up to YNP and hit our favorite skiing trail.

The day started off a bit bumpy:
Scooter took a LONG time learning how to tie shoes.
And he doesn’t like doing it.
He prefers it if we do it for him, which is not the most convenient thing to do…
…tying shoes for a 9.5 year old.
And since we’re mean parents we WON’T do it for him.

This is the result of Scooter tying his own ski boot…OOPS!

Okay.
We got quite a laugh out of that one.
And yes, I helped him tie it back on.
I’m not THAT mean!

It was a beautiful day
and we really enjoyed spending time together.
I took this picture, which has turned out to be one of my favorite pictures of Flynn
EVER!
Isn’t he HANDSOME!?!?
And I love the reflection of the snowy hill in his glasses.

We weren’t in a big hurry.
We stopped to enjoy the scenery
and
whack some snow off the tree branches.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This trail has two loops on it: an upper and lower.
Most skiers were taking the “lower loop” and we since we tend to be people who
“take the road less traveled”
decided to ski the upper loop.
It hadn’t been groomed yet, so we went quite a distance breaking the trail.
Unfortunately, someone who had taken the upper loop previously
(we think it might have been a ranger)
didn’t follow the trail and created his/her own trail.
We followed this trail for a while and when we came to a crossroad, Flynn said,
“I think the trail is supposed to go this way,”
What should we do?
Continue on the course we were on, which would lead us to parts unknown,
or veer right and eventually end up where the upper trail meets the lower?
With hardly any hesitation, we decided to follow the trail we were on
-- to parts unknown --
and after dodging branching and skiing over fallen tree trunks,
(an obvious sign we weren’t on a real trail)
we ended up on the road in Yellowstone.
Surprise. Surprise.

By this time Scooter was tired, so it was easier to take off the skis and just walk to our vehicle
instead of skiing back into the forest to reconnect with the trail.

This next picture is not artistically impressive or even interesting to most people.
But to me, it’s the portal into THE BEST and HAPPIEST place in the world!

And a great place to start off
2012!

2011: It Was A Year

I have two desserts to totally fix and prepare for tomorrow night’s reception. I still need to buy the supplies for that. I haven’t eaten breakfast yet, and I guess I forgot to eat dinner last night. I’ll get right on that. In the meantime, I decided I’d rather look back on the year that was. Let’s see:

January
Oh yeah. January was the month I decided I DON’T want to be a wedding photographer. It was hard work and I don’t have the skills yet! But the trip to Arizona was amazing and fun…minus the fact that our airplane landed at the wrong airport and our rental car was 15 miles away. So we had to take a taxi ride that cost $70 to get the car… fun times, fun times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

February
Scooter ended up sick with the influenza. Poor kid. Maybe because he puts random sticks up his nose. ^^
Scooter also baked and decorated his first ever chocolate cake. What do you think? Did he lick the beaters too?
.

We spent as much time as possible in the mountains and snow. Teaching our nephew from the Midwest how to properly glide across the snow before serving a mission in the highest baptizing area of the church… SLC.

March
A seriously GREAT experience was going to the Alfie Boe concert – TWICE!
Who is Alfie Boe? Dude! He’s only the guy that sang the Jean Valjean part in the Les Mis  in the 25th Anniversary Concert! I went twice -- the second time taking Flynn and Scooter along. We were surprised, when Alfie picked Scooter out of the audience and sang and talked to him during the concert. During intermission, Scooter was called up on stage and given a huge handful of chocolate and candies that Alfie wanted him to have.

Alfie can sing to me any time he wants. And believe me, he does. Every time I turn on iTunes and listen to his album… which is ALL THE TIME!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April
Scooter and I traveled to Gross Yucky Florin (change from New Florin) to visit Flynn. We saw a S.W.A.T. team taking down a house that was just a couple doors down from Flynn’s rental.

But on a much higher note, we were able to get tickets for General Conference – our first ever. Scooter was able to “reconnect with” and see his old friend, President Monson.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I took this picture, which is one of my favorites:

May
Flynn whisked me away for a lovely Mother’s day weekend for just the two of us at our favorite place ever: Yellowstone Park! We got our second flat tire of the year there (shredded is more like it). A happy park employee helped us change it in the pouring rain and I – amazingly enough – didn’t take a single picture of the event.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wicked happened too. Flynn and Belle loved it. It was just so-so for me. And yes, I’ll admit out loud that I felt that way about it. I loved it the first time I saw it. And only enjoyed it the second time. What a brat I am!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

June
Max ends up in the ER with severe abdominal pain. Betty is diagnosed with multi-nodular goiter. We have our SIXTH flat tire of the year. We find out the health insurance isn’t paying for any of our medical costs because we had our medical treatment OUT OF NETWORK.

But the highlight was that summer FINALLY arrived! And we were able to take a fun trip to Portland to visit Flynn’s family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

July
Was the month of wanting more…more gruel, more stage time and more singing and dancing. Can you say OLIVER!

It was also the month that we were introduced to Beast and realized that he and Belle liked each other A LOT! By the end of the month they were engaged.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

August
More trips to Yellowstone. More tire problems. Wedding dress shopping. More things in noses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

September
Played “redneck” at my parent’s cabin practicing our target shooting with pellet guns and archery. No humans, dogs or targets were hurt in the taking of these photos. But we sure had a relaxing, fun weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

October
Kicked it into full-gear as we prepared and planned and baked for Belle and Beast’s wedding reception. I had one blog entry in the month of October. Hmmm…. stressed possibly?

Bridal photos were taken, bridal showers were given and one last trip to Yellowstone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scooter practiced his “snot rocket” skills. They still need work.

November
The month I became a mother-in-law. Bell and Beast were sealed for eternity in the Temple just south of Zion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

December
Flynn loses his job and moves back to Zion. We stress. We cry. We get MAD. But finally end up with feelings of peace and comfort. Flynn finds an interim job, which puts him back on the road. He is only able to come home twice a month now. But we’re grateful for the employment, even if it is only temporary.

Flynn tries to grow a beard in his time off. It comes in GREY!!

Christmas is beautiful and simple. The way it was meant to be. And for that I’m grateful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And A Happy New Year!

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Update:
Flynn and I are not going to be grandparents as soon as we thought we’d be. Poor Belle had a miscarriage this week. She’s fine. Sad and a little sore, but she’s recovering well.