the one about golfing

Quayd and Brett have spent MANY HOURS on the golf course this year. I can't ever get Brett to take any pictures while they are there, so I got some before they went a couple weeks ago.

Quayd, Uncle Gary, Spencer, Brett and Morgan

They were all very happy that I took the group picture! ;) They kept yelling at me, "we are going to miss our Tee-Time! For Quayds 3rd Birthday, we got him his own set of golf clubs. They were so cute and tiny. He played with them a little bit, but mostly just hit rocks and stuff. They are way to small for him now (besides being totally banged up and some of them lost) and this summer he has actually started to show some real interest in the sport, so we got him a new set. He LOVES them! He acts so proud and big when it is time to go golfing. Brett used to hate taking him because he would whine and get bored, but now they both enjoy it so much. I kind of enjoy it too!!! :)

the one about updates

I am so bugged. I didn't get to see Twilight. :( I got super sick on Wednesday night. I ended up going to the Doctor Thursday morning and I had a sinus infection and bronchitis. I got an antibiotic and finally last night (Friday) I started feeling a little better. Today, I am still dragging a little bit, but I can tell I am on the mend. I hate to use my "heart stuff" as an excuse and I am not at all seeking pitty... but ever since that all happened to me, when I get sick, I REALLY GET SICK! My body and immune system aren't as strong to fight off infection, and I go down... hard and fast. Then it screws up all of my other medicines and I seriously feel like I have been hit by a train. Thank goodness though, I think I have seen the worst of it.

My poor grandma is still in the hospital, but she too is on the mend. She will probably be there for another week or so. I feel so bad for her because she was chosen to be the Grand Marshal of the Christmas Parade here in town. It takes place the day after Thanksgiving. She was supposed to ride in a horse drawn carriage and now she is not going to be able to do it. She is pretty bummed about it. I haven't seen her since Sunday because I have been so sick and haven't been able to get out of bed, plus I have hated to risk her catching something. I have talked to her on the phone about everyday though and I am planning on going over this afternoon.

Itty Bitty is doing so much better on her potty-training!!! I tried new cat litter, more boxes and I have been better about scooping them every day. No accidents for awhile and I see LOTS of pee in the box. Phewwww..... She figured it out at the perfect time. Well, perfect for her. Perfect for me would have been a little earlier! ;)

So one of my most favorite things in the world is Bingo!
I really love it. The Catholic church puts on a HUGE Bingo event every fall. You pay admission and buy as many extra cards as you wish. They serve food and drinks. All of the money goes to local families for Christmas. They have awesome prizes. We never win a thing. EVER! But we still go every year. Brett, Gleneita and I have gone together forever. This year, Gary and Tara invited us to go as couples with another couple, Jeff and Sherry.
Of course, Gleneita wanted to come, so she brought a date!!! She is pretty cute, huh! ;)

Oh! So this is exciting.... I won a turkey from the local radio station the other day. That was pretty cool. They give a clue about a local business and the first person to enter that business wins! Yah, it was me. I was so excited. I actually got a gift certificate to buy one, but that is good enough for me!!!

I am super excited that Thanksgiving is less than a week away. I love Thanksgiving. I love being with our families and pigging out on awesome food. My mom makes the BEST stuffing EVER!!!!! And I can't wait to sink my teeth into it. I always make her cook a HUGE batch so I can have it for leftovers for awhile. Yummmm-O. We are pretty sure Ga will be home by then, so my mom and I are planning on fixing dinner at our houses and taking it to her house. I think it will just be Ga, Pop, my mom, Brett Quayd and I. Then later, we will go to Aunt Debbie's with the Lane's. She makes a great dinner too. I love it. And I love that it kicks of my FAVORITE time of year!!!!! I am planning on putting up my Christmas tree this week. I like to have it up before Thanksgiving. We will see if I can keep feeling good so I can get it done.

In case I don't blog before then, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! I love you all. I am thankful for you. My blog stalkers! :) Hugs and Kisses!!!

the one about our Lagoon trip

A few years ago, Brett and I decided to take Quayd on a vacation. I know I have talked about this before, sorry, but we went to South Dakota. It was great and wonderful and we still talk about it today. After that vacation, we decided we would take a family vacation every year. No matter what. Brett's family always traveled when he was growing up and they still talk about all of the fun things they have done. My family didn't travel much, but when we did, it was awesome. Quayd is such a good traveler, and Brett and I both love to travel, so we have made it a priority. We went pretty extravagant last year when we cruised the Caribbean. This year, we knew we needed to tone it down a bit, but we still wanted a special vacation where we could make lots of memories. We decided to combine our love of camping and amusement parks and spend a week at Lagoon! They have a really nice campground right next to the park. It has full hook-ups so we had unlimited water and power. And with temperatures being in the high 90's the whole week, we loved the electricity hook-up! We ran the air conditioner at full blast all week! My sweet little nephew, Brayden, joined us as well as Gary and Tara's family, Grandma and Grandpa Galley, Braden and Mya, Gleneita and Talia and the Montgomery's. It was actually supposed to be a two day Galley family reunion, but not many people were able to make it. Gary and Tara and Brett and I decided to make our trips longer. Not everyone was there as long as us. Most of them came on Friday and Saturday. We went Tuesday to Sunday. Anyway, onto the fun stuff! We left Tuesday morning and we were SO excited to get there. Pulling the trailer made it a long drive. We were the first ones to arrive. We set up camp and went straight to the park. For most of the big rides, you have to be 46" tall to ride. With his shoes on, Quayd is about 45 1/2" tall. Seriously, he is that close. Some of the ride attendants would let him ride, some wouldn't. The first few days that we were there, they were much more relaxed about it, but on Friday and Saturday, it was tough. He was getting so upset. I know, I know. The rule is 46". But how do I explain to a 5 year old that sometimes he can ride and sometimes he can't. He did get to ride Wicked once though, and he was so excited about it! He also rode the Colossus, the white roller coaster, Spider, the Bat, Tidal Wave, as well as every other kiddie or family ride. He was hard core! It was awesome. Brett and I both love to ride ANYTHING! So we refused to have a wimpy child. We decided that one day when we strike it rich, we will buy a big fat motor home or a private jet (depending on HOW rich we get) and just travel the world riding roller coasters. Wouldn't that be cool? It was crazy though, we had been on the Colossus 4 times in a row, and the 5th time the lady questioned his height. Stupid. But Talia got in her face and told her that he was fine and he could ride. Same thing happened with the white roller coaster. He actually got so mad at that lady! He ran to his dad and called the lady a terrible name. It's not very blog-friendly, so I won't type it. ;) They never would let him back on Wicked, and he was MAD! I am proud of him for being so brave though. He was so cool. I loved watching his face! It was cute though, he would be on these hard core crazy rides, then he would turn around and go to the kiddie rides and have a blast. Brett and I had to keep reminding ourselves that he is only five. Brayden was pretty nervous to ride some of the big rides, but he finally rode most of them. He never would go on the Rocket. On Thursday, Grandpa Galley came with us to ride rides. He is so stinking funny! He is just as crazy as all of the kids. He didn't even flinch to get on these big crazy rides. The very first one we took him to was Wicked.

Shae and Grandpa waiting in line for Wicked

We also took him to the Rocket. Brett rode with him the first time on the "Launch" side of the ride.

Tara and Grandpa on the Re-Entry

Brett, Braden S., Eli and Shae

We also went to the Lady Bug Bop and Dinosaur Drop. It was so funny! One time, Garrison was taking Mya on the Lady Bug Bop. Quayd decided to go at the last second. Mya was excited for Quayd to go, so they decided to ride together. Garrison didn't really know what to do, so he just sat down. They buckled him in and off they went. It was so funny to see Garrison riding this little kid ride all alone!

Speaking of big people on little rides... I have to tell you this story. Unfortunately, though, I don't have a picture. We had a camera tragedy right before this. Anyway, on Saturday night, Quayd was upset that they wouldn't let him on the big rides. So some of us were trying to be nice to him and offered to go on Puff the Little Fire Dragon. (It's just a mini-coaster.) The riders were Brett, Talia, Brayden and Shae. The ride attendant was making the seating assignments and it was just weird. Quayd and Brayden were going to go in the back, but he said Quayd needed an adult with him to sit in the back. So they were assuming that Shae was his mom I guess because the guy told Shae to sit with her kid in the back. Then they put Brayden alone. And here is where it gets really weird... they put Brett and Talia in a car together. They were crammed in this little tiny car! It was so funny! Well I was sitting on a bench with Gleneita, Gary, Tara and Amelia. When we noticed how they were seated, we were cracking up. Then Brett starts yelling, "Mommy!!! Look at us! We are on Puff!!!" Then he started cheering and screaming at everyone. "Look at me Aunt Tara! I'm riding Puff!" It was so funny. And strange. Lagoon has a new ride this year. The OdySea. It is a fun family type ride. The kids loved it. I rode it a few times with Quayd. But when he knew Grandpa was going, Quayd couldn't wait to ride with him.

(I am so glad I got this picture! Isn't it cute? I felt so bad that I didn't get a picture of these two on Father's Day. I got Quayd with his other Great-Grandpa's, but not Grandpa Galley.) We did a lot of waiting in line. I mean... ALOT! And holy cow... was it ever HOT!!

Brett, Brayden and Quayd waiting to get on the Bat.

Braden S., Shae, Garrison, Brayden, Amelia, Me and Grandpa waiting to get on the Spider

Waiting for the train to start

We went to Lagoon-A-Beach on Friday. Quayd was thinking he was Mr. Brave so he did the lazy river alone with out a life jacket. He was actually mad because they wouldn't let him sit in the hot tub. So he decided he was gonna show everyone and he hopped in the river. Thank goodness Garrison was there! He jumped in right behind Quayd and went with him a few times around. Thanks Garrison! You rock!

We rode a ton of other rides, practically every ride in the park. We did go carts and Brett, Talia and Gleneita did a drag racing thing. You have to pay extra for it and the three of them were super excited to do it. They have 3 drag racing cars, so they were able to race each other. They got three runs. It was actually pretty cool. Brett won once, and Talia won twice. I know this entry is getting really long, but I have to share just a few more pictures. We went to Pioneer Village and had pictures taken. We were able to buy the CD and have the copyright, so I will post a few poses. We ended up buying the one of Brett and Quayd, and the funny one of the family. The funny one was just so... US! We love it. Look at Brayden's funny hat. It has a face and evrything. I saw it and begged him to wear it because it was so funny. He is so awesome!

And here are the last few pictures.

It's always fun to go, but it sure is nice to be back home.

the one about our fun 4th of July weekend

We had SUCH a fun 4th of July weekend! It was so nice and relaxing and we got to enjoy some of the best company we know. The Galleys. We usually camp quite a bit in the summer, but we haven't been yet this year. We decided that since the 4th fell on a Friday and most people had a long weekend from work, we would jump on the opportunity. I seriously worked all week getting our camper ready. After it had been winterized last fall, we hadn't even been in it, except when I realized I was out of something and had to steal from the camper! Needless to say, I had a lot of re-stocking to do. Also, Brett had to check and make sure everything wintered well and was still in working order. We are actually having a little trouble with the hot water heater so we will have to get that fixed before our next trip, next week. It's frustrating to have something not work since we just bought our trailer BRAND SPANKING NEW two years ago. It is so nice and new though and we love it so much. It still has that "new trailer smell." Anyway, enough of that. Lets talk about the fun weekend had by us...

We got out of town on Thursday evening. It was a nice drive up the mountain and we were greeted by millions of mosquitoes! Don't worry, we had the OFF Deep Woods spray and we were swimming in it all weekend! I am a little freaked out by West Nile Virus so I spray this stuff on myself and Quayd everyday. Really. Anyway, some of our fellow campers were already there. We set up camp quickly, ate dinner and waited for the rest of the group to arrive. It was starting to get dark and Gleneita hadn't made it yet. We had talked to her so we knew she was ok. Quayd had fallen asleep on my lap and we were just starting to roast some marshmallows when Talia's phone rang. This is what we heard..

"Hi."

"What?!?!?"

"You hit and ELK!?!?!?!?!?!?"

Brett jumped up, grabbed Talia's arm and lead her to the truck and they were gone. We had no details. It was a couple of hours before they got back to camp. We had called a few times and found out that Gleneita did hit an elk and it pretty much totaled her car. Luckily, she was ok. They had to wait for the tow truck and get all of the stuff out of the car before they could get back to camp. She was only a couple of miles away when it happened. It was crazy. We had already planned for her to stay in our trailer with us, so I had her bed all made but she was restless all night. I felt so bad for her! I am sure she was so rattled, but she was trying to be so tough. Anyway, that wasn't a very good start to our weekend, but it got better, I swear!

The next day, the 4th, we decided to go to Flaming Gorge and swim. Marcie has a big water trampoline so they blew it up and the kids were able to play for awhile. Tara was in charge of lunch that day, so she brought sandwich stuff to the lake. It was so yummy! The adults just sat and visited while the kids played in the freezing water. Quayd didn't like swimming in the lake. He said it was too squishy. I don't blame him, I HATE swimming in the lake. I really need to see what I am stepping on. That dirty nastiness is just too much for me! So Quayd pretty much played in the dirt by us. He did go out to the trampoline a couple of times but he made Shae, CJ or Ty carry him.

That night, because we were on the mountain, we missed fireworks. But on the 5th, in Dutch John they do a pretty good fireworks show, so we headed over for that. It was only about a 15 minute drive from our camp. I had bought glow sticks for the kids to play with and Gleneita bought pixie sticks for everyone. The kids had so much fun playing around in the grass waiting for the show.


There was also a band playing so we wandered over with Gary, Tara and Shae and listened to them for awhile.


Before we went to watch the fireworks, we stopped at the store in Dutch John to get a treat. Quayd wasn't with us because he wanted to ride with Drake, so Shae rode with us. We saw a guy that Brett works with and he asked us if Shae was our daughter. I was SHOCKED! I know I look old, but do I look THAT old?!?!? Technically, it could happen I guess, but she is 15!! I am 29!! So we were laughing about it at the fireworks so we decided to take a family picture. Shae is so funny... look at her face in the second picture!
The little stinker!! She is LUCKY to have cool parents like us!!!!

Here we are waiting for the fireworks to start.

CJ, Ty, Amy and Rhonda

Scott, Shala and Dalex

Jason and Alise, they are still newlyweds. Can you tell? ;)

Brett and Quayd

Brett, Mandy, Shae and Talia

US!

Talia and Gleneita

Grandma and Grandpa. Aren't they cute!!!

Talia and Shae

Me and Shae ... Then I was asking Shae why all of the teenage girls pull that weird face in their pictures. She didn't know why, but it sorta looks like this.

Shae pulled it off alot better than I did.

Finally, the fireworks started.


Back at camp that night.... Quayd and his hero CJ at the campfire...
The next morning as were packing up camp, we discovered that Brett ran over Quayd's bike the night before. We knew Quayd would be devastated and we didn't know how to tell him. But after much thought, we decided to approach like any good, honest parent would... The conversation went something like this... ;)

"Hey, Quayd! Guess what?!?!?! We are going to let you pick out a new bike!!!!!"

He said, "COOL! How come?"

"Because dad accidentally ran yours over."

"Oh, that sucks. When are we going to the store??? And can I get one with a kickstand?"

EASY PEASY!

It was such a fun weekend. I love camping, especially with the Galleys. It is always an adventure! I want to finish with this picture... The kids had so much fun "fishing" from the back of Scott's truck. It kept them entertained all weekend. We would take treats out there and they made up games and played the whole time. I am sure the mess in the back of the truck was unbelievable, but at least they had fun! Right?