Preston's Pinewood Derby

We had a great time at our first Pinewood Derby. What a big deal it is here in Utah. The track that they had was all hooked up to a computer so that all results were accurate. Those cars were racing at around 180mph! Can you belive that!? It was lots of fun to watch all the boys race their cars. Preston's car was called "Shark Attack". Unfortunately I didn't get a picture before it was dropped or banged and lost part of it's fin (spoiler). After the accident Preston actually liked it more because then it looked like it had been in a shark attack. It's hard to see the detail in the photo, but it has lots of scary teeth toward the front and a dorsal fin in the middle. Although Preston didn't win first place, he had a great time. We learned lots of tips from our friends and we're already planning for next year. Tip #1, start a lot earlier than the day before the race on your car! ;o)

Paris...Idaho that is!

We just had another fun weekend in Paris, ID for the Bolton family reunion. It is so fun to see everyone again and catch up on the last year of events. I really enjoy visiting with Gilbert's Aunt Kay and his cousins and their babies. This year was cool because there were 5 generations there. Gilbert's grandma MaryLou being the most mature :o) and little Riley at 3 mo. old being the youngest. I thought it was so cool. Thanks to our friend Bret Boyer we were able to borrow his motor home for traveling and lodging. Ok, so we had one little incident where it almost overheated but other than that it worked out great. the worst part about overheating was that I had to run to the back of the motorhome, fill a bowl of water from the melted ice in the cooler and pass it up to Gilbert so he could douse the radiator with it. While I was doing this, with a starburst in my mouth, I managed to snort a little bit of candy up the back of my throat in to my nasal cavity. Just what you wanted to hear right? If any of you think this might be a cool trick to show your friends, I don't recommend it. OMGosh, my nose and throat burned for over a half-hour. My throat continued to hurt the next morning. At some point the next day I sneezed and when I blew, it was pink! okay, a little too much info. but it was definately an event.
Something else that happened: we found out Preston is allergic to mosquito bites. The poor kid is a magnet for them. He's been bit before and sometimes they go unnoticed, but this time is different. Gilbert told the kids about making mosquito's burst. Well, preston had one on his ear and his cousin Tommy decided to squeeze the mosquito. I don't know if this allowed a little more venom than usual to enter into his skin or if it's just because there's not a ton of tissue on the ear but Preston now looks like Wil Smith in 'Hitch". I kid you not, his ear is so swollen. I wanted to take a picture but he's really senstitive and embarassed about it. After a couple doses of Benadryl and some cream on his ear the swelling hasn't gone down (it may even be worse) so tomorrow we're taking a trip to the Dr. to have them take a look at it. And if anything else, give us some info. incase it happens again. Right now Preston thinks he can never go outside again (he probably just wants to stay in and play PS2) but he's going outside if I have to dunk him in a vat of OFF!.
Ok, other highlights......We played in the lake which is so cool beause the water is so shallow for so long that it is warm and the kids can walk out quite a ways. Paris had a blast walking with Grandma and having people swing her into the water. Of course the boys had fun too. The boys also had a great time sliding down the "big [grassy] hill" on sleds. Also, my niece Courtney won a beautiful flower arrangement during the raffle that I had been wishing for and she gave it to me. "What is it for?" she asked in a very teenager-like way. I laughed and said, "Someday when you're old like me and have a house you'll want silly stuff like this to put on a table and look at." She just smiled.
Well, we made it home in barely enough time for me to take a quick shower and head off to work. Not a lot going on in the hospital tonight. I guess that's a good thing! ;o)

Computers

Just about everyone can rant for hours about an encounter or two they may have had with computers. Well, here's mine. So our computer is a few years old, which in terms of computers is ancient. Rencently I've been getting a warning on my computer that we're running out of hard drive space. This I can understand due to the loads and loads of pictures on here that I keep meaning to burn to a CD. Now I know I was playing with fire when I ignored the warnings, but I had no time to deal with it now. So today I'm working on more patterns and need to burn a couple pics to a CD to go have copies made. I load 6 pictures into the comp. to burn and the comp. tells me that there's not enough space to create a back-up to burn these to CD. Fair enough. It also tells me how much space I need to create: 63MB. SO I go into remove programs and decide to get rid of itunes mostly because Gilbert told me to. Anyway, half-way through the uninstall process it tells me that the computer doesn't have enough memory to preform the task. Ummmm. Does that make sense to any of you, or is it just me? Why do I need more memory if I'm deleting a file just to free up more memory? Argh. So then I had to remove my Medical Terminology program so that I could remove itunes all so that I can load some pictures, burn them to CD, then remove them from my comp. Well, obviously I lived to tell about it so it wasn't too bad but it took up an hour of my day that I really needed. Now it's time to make dinner. Yea!

The Empty House

There once was a house that was nice.
For 5 people it did suffice.
Vacationers came
It was such a fun game
and now it is empty and lame.

okay, there's a good reason I'm not a poet. We had so much fun with extra family in town for Preston's baptism. I can't believe the week went by so fast. We kept pretty cozy with 14 people under one roof, but it wasn't too bad. I could've used another table though. Meals got a little crazy. Now that everyone is gone my house just feels empty (and not in a good way.) I miss everyone already. If I could get good paying jobs for everyone I'd invite them all to move in. :o) I had a couple neighbors comment on having family visit and offer their condolences about the mess that I'd be cleaning up for the next few days. Can I just say "I have the best family ever!" My mom and sister-in-law helped keep things tidy the whole week and wrapped everything up the night before they left. It was awesome. Thanks you guys! We miss you all a ton already. When can you visit again? ;o)

Payson Quilt Show

It's finally over. It's not hard work, but takes lots of time. When I lived in Payson it was not a big deal, but now that I have to drive 20 minutes (and not to mention the price of gas!) I went down this morning to pick up my quilts and a few quilts that belonged to friends that I entered. I was really excited to take my camera and get a picture of my display. When I got there everything was already taken down, except my display. Whew! Thankfully someone remembered that I wanted to get a pic and left it up. I made sure everything looked good, got out my camera, pressed the button and...nothing. Because I'm so smart and waited until the last day I forgot that the battery was in the wall charger and not in the camera. So, the purpose of this long drawn-out story is to explain why I don't have a pic of my quilt show display. However one cool thing did come of it. When picking up my quilts I realized that I'd won another prize: Honorable Mention for my Monster Mayhem quilt. I didn't even look at the quilts after the ribbons were placed because it wasn't a big deal to me. I was really surprized. It made me so glad that Sharon helped track the quilt down and send it to me from Boise. Thanks Sharon!

20 YEAR TAG!

This is for Janell. Thanks for making me realize how old I am! ;o)

20 years ago I:

1. Was almost 11 and not as cute as I thought I was.
2. Still wondering if I would ever have a sister.
3. Loved going to slumber party's
4. Was dissed by some friends because I didn't have a 10-speed
5. Played almost everyday with Rachel Reed.

10 years ago I:

1. Was almost 21 and was cuter than I thought I was.
2. Working at Johnston & Murphy and loving it!
3. Going to Solano Community College and changing my major every semester.
4. Was figuring out how to tell my Mom I got a tatoo. (thanks again, Zach)
5. Loved going to "Glow-n-Bowl"

5 years ago I:

1. Lived in Payson, UT in our first home.
2. Barely made it through each day with a 3 year old and a 1 year old.
3. Was really getting into quilting.
4. Was afraid of buying our business.
5. Worked on finishing our basement.

3 years ago I:

1. Loved taking care of my 2 month old baby girl
2. Sent my husband to work each morning at our business.
3. Won "Best of Show" for my first entry in the Payson quilt show.
4. Enjoyed relaxing in our finished Family room.
5. Did scrapbook page samples for Scrapbook Central
6. Had no idea we would move to Springville next year.

So far this year I:

1. Finished my second semester at Weber State online.
2. Started volunteering in Radiology at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center.
3. Agreed that selling our business would be a good thing.
4. Made lots of improvements to our new home in Springville, UT.
5. Started a quilt pattern business with my friend Margie.

Yesterday I:

1. Called my Mom and Dad in anticipation of thier visit next week.
2. Smiled when Gilbert came home from work early, only to find out it was to go biking.
3. Made hot ham & cheese sandwiches for dinner.
4. Finished caulking the board and batten in the family room... ready to paint!
5. Talked to Margie on the phone at least 5 times.

Today I will:

1. Start painting the family room.
2. Beg Gilbert to bring home Cafe Rio for dinner.
3. Sort toys in Paris' room so cousins can find the right toys next week.
4. Finalize plans for Preston's baptism next week.
5. Try to go to bed by 10pm.

Tomorrow I will:

1. Finish my latest quilt sample.
2. Enlist the help of my children to "get the house ready to Grandma & Grandpa" aka "Clean up this house!"
3. Eat the yummiest ribs that Gilbert makes on the smoker.
4. Snuggle Paris and cover her ears during fireworks.
5. Get ready for my fishing trip with Gilbert on Saturday... without the kids! YEA!

Next year I will:

1. Be accepted into the Radiology Program through Weber State.
2. Have 2 kids in school all day. (I can't wait!)
3. Go to Hawaii for our 10th anniversary.
4. Sell TONS of quilt patterns.
5. Buy a pool! (after we get a fence, of course!)

I want to tag MELANIE!!! (now you have to start a blog! ha ha ha) ;o)