What a day this is going to be!

I went to wake up Kohler this morning at 6:20 a.m. and this was the sunrise scene that I saw through his window!  So beautiful!!

It was one of those "take your breath away" sunrises that we all just had to stop and take a look at.

 I even ran out in the street in my PJ's to take a picture.

Wow - what a great way to start a fun-filled day.  After we had scripture study, the kids went to get ready for the day.  I am thinking to myself, "This is going to be such a great day!"  Until . . . . .


 Hailey couldn't find her witch costume that she wore on Saturday night to our Ward Fall Festival.

 Yes, that's me on the left.  Like mother, like daughter--ha ha!!

 SCARY!!!

 Here's Tom and Bro. Zuniga dressed as dapper pirates!

Here's Kelsey and her friends dressed as The Three Amigos!!!

Anyway, as Hailey was madly looking for her witch costume, Spencer became increasingly worried that his costume would be too "gory" for school.  He said that the teachers specifically said that anything too gory would not be allowed.  He wanted to dress up as a Zombie like he did for our ward party - complete with fake blood stains and rips on his shirt.  

Spencer is the Zombie on the left eating the cotton candy.


So, as we are tearing through the house trying to find another costume for Spencer to wear (keep in mind, it's now 8 am and the bus comes at 8:20).  I am FREAKING OUT - as a mom trying to make everyone happy and get everything together for Halloween and I have two kids who are just now needing completely new costumes since one is now "lost" and the other one is too "gory."  Yikes!  So, I madly pull out our HUGE costume box from the garage and we start tearing through it.  Spencer is trying to have a good attitude and is leaning towards being a pirate.  When I asked Hailey if she would just be Cinderella, or Snow White, Or Belle, or a Princess (since we have a ton of those costumes) she said, "no."  Then, I remembered we had a small pirate costume and when I offered that to her, her face lit up!  Now, it's 8:30 a.m. and we have missed the bus.  We get everyone dressed, take a picture and get in the car.

(By the way, it's called a "Book Parade" at their school, not a Halloween Parade.  I guess it's more 'academic' and school worthy if you call it that.  (whatever!)  We even had books to match that they can hold during the parade.  What a bonus.  So, we get in the car and head to school and I'm thinking I am doing ok.  They will get to school on time and I may still get to exercise this morning.  Then, as we pull into the school, they notice that NONE of the kids are wearing their costumes.  They were suppossed to bring them in their backpacks and change for the parade.  (I remember the note sent home now, but with all the craziness of the morning, I completely forgot!)  So, Spencer just takes off his costume and has clothes underneath.  He hops out of the car and Hailey is now crying.  She has nothing to wear underneath but panties!  ARGH!!!!!  Soooooooo, now we drive back home and get changed into another outfit, take off the costume, and drive back to school.  It's now 9:10 and she is late for school and my exercise time is shot because I desperately need to go to Costco and get back to the school before noon to help with parties and the parade.  Wow - what a day this is going to be!!

It's on to Varsity, Baby!!

Kohler's last JV football game was last night.  They went out with a bang finishing with a score of 46 to 0!!!

 Kohler is number 49!!

 He's got his helmet off and taking a break---We were super proud of Kohler because he came home from school early not feeling well at all.  He had a sinus infection and his head was throbbing.  But, he didn't want to miss his last game so he toughed it out and pulled through ending with a great game!!  Way to go, Kohler!!

 Kohler, talking to his defensive coach.  

 Kohler played on special teams and on the defensive line where he had some really great tackles.  It was so much fun to watch.

 GO COYOTES!!

  Tom and I are really sad that his season is over.  We're not sad that we get to stop driving him to and from practice (he's been practicing FB since the middle of April!!).  But Thursday nights have become like a "mini date night" for Tom and I.  We get to sit in this amazing high school stadium, feel the desert breeze blow, talk to each other, and watch our son.  It doesn't get much better than that . . .  

 At the end of EVERY game, the players all huddle in front of the crowd and sing their fight song.  At the end of the song, they all give a big COYOTE HOWLLLLL!  If you look closely, you can see Kohler.  He's just left of center towards the back with his eyes closed and mouth open!  I LOVE IT when they sing this song!

 Jon and Heather DeVries came to watch Kohler's last game.  They are an awesome young couple in our ward and our kids ADORE them.  How cool of them to come and support Kohler!

 Here's Chip - who broke his hand after running 70 yards for a touchdown for the Frosh team.  Wahoo!  (also Chip's friend, Josh - and Kohler)

 These last two pics are my favorite.  Conner McLeod and Kohler carpooled to practically every practice.  Conner was our amazing quarterback this year (and he's BYU bound!!)  They are great friends and it was a great photo to finish a great season.

Look out . . . it's on to Varsity, Baby!!!!

Swallowed Up

Do you know that movie that came out a little while ago about the house that ate the children?  I think it was called Monster House---

Well, that is how I am feeling today.  I've had it.....  We've lived in this house longer than in any other place in our married lives.  (it was official on September 1st).  7 years.  Not having to move anywhere has meant that no DEEP cleansing ( getting rid of STUFF )has happened in a very long time.  I feel like everywhere I turn STUFF is growing and multiplying and I am being swallowed up by my own house!!  ha ha   Kids clothes that they are outgrowing, school papers, toys they don't play with anymore, clutter--------------It's too much and it's gotta go.  We are having a garage sale on Saturday--the first one we've had since living in this house and I CAN'T WAIT!!!  Whatever doesn't sell is going to charity.  I will be one happy camper when this is all taken away.  


If I could really have my way, I would send all of these clothes over to Africa.  After seeing what little those people have and the surplus I have, it just breaks my heart.  The main problem is that the shipping is SUPER expensive and there is no post office in the village where Tom and Kohler went.  So, we told our kids that the money we make from our garage sale will go towards our Christmas as well as helping get presents for a needy family here.  They really like that idea.  I just hope I can be ready by Saturday.  It's 9 a.m. and I already feel behind . . .

African FHE

Last night, we went over to our good friends home, The Jenkins, for a FHE about their Africa trip.  Dr. Chet Jenkins is the dentist who works with Hope Arising (hope arising  click here to read about the organization)  to organize dental care over in Ethiopia.  Hope Arising is the organization that helped to bring water to the village of Dera.  They have raised over $250,000 (two LDS moms!) to help build the pipeline that brought water to their village.  Incredible!  They also organized the service opportunities, along with LDS Charities, for Kohler to help build the gardens and build watering systems for several families.  
     For Family Night, we started out playing a game of Jeopardy.  It was really fun!  They have a huge movie screen and the questions would flash up on the screen for everyone to see.  They were fun and factual questions about their trip---stuff that I hadn't heard about.  Everyone was laughing and re-living their experience there.  After the game, Jennette (Chet's wife) put together a very touching movie about the trip and put it to some beautiful African music.  It really was inspiring for me to see my husband and son in action through video and to hear them talking about what they learned the most through this experience. 

One of the dental assistants who went on this trip emailed this photo to me this morning.  Isn't it great to see Kohler working beside his father?  I love it!

Here is Tom with Dr. Dave Poelman, another dentist who came.  Unfortunatly, Dave is wearing the wrong shirt!!!!  

Here is Tom, in a pose I see quite often.  He will take kids by the chin and ask them to "open" ---then he takes a good look inside!


There are more photos to come.  I think Tom is still filtering through them to find the best ones he wants to keep (he took over 200 or so!).  This is an experience that will be ever present in our lives as Tom and Kohler continue to remember and reflect on what they were able to do over there.  To see the joy in everyone faces last night truly was a testimony to me that they each found happiness in serving others and doing for them, that which they cannot do for themselves.

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Witch?

I'm sorry that I didn't post anything last Friday.  I wasn't in the mood to write about anything.  Actually, I wasn't in a good mood at all.  I stepped on the scale, after a week of being really good and hardly eating at all (even when my neighbor brought over her amazing sugar cookies and I didn't even have one bite!) - and I had not lost one pound, not even a half of a pound . . . I stayed exactly the same.  Well, that just set me off and I was grouchy---boy was I ever grouchy.  It was as if the wicked witch from the west had come to town.  

Kelsey, Halloween 2007

Kelsey, Halloween 2007

I went to family scripture study with my grouchy mood and boy did it ever spread like an infectious disease!  Within 30 minutes, my husband was in the kitchen making all kinds of noise and upset about something, Spencer started crying on the piano and saying how mad he was at the song he was learning . . . it was like this grouchy "funk" had permeated my home and it all started with ME.  


When I realized it, my first thought was, "OK, aren't I entitled to have one bad morning?"  But the repercussions of my "bad morning" spread to make everyone else in my family have their "bad morning" as well.  So, that totalled out to 6 bad mornings!  -not acceptable.  The phrase, "If mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy" really is true.  I learned that the hard way.


So, it's Monday morning and I have a choice to make.  Should I starve myself again and try to lose weight only to find out at the end of the week I may face the same outcome?  I don't like the other choice because obviously that isn't working if I am gaining weight.  So, I will give it another go.  (I don't starve myself - mom, don't be worried :)  But, really the only way to lose weight for me is to hardly eat anything.  I hate it.  But, with the holidays QUICKLY approaching, I have to do something . . . and now.  


The one thing that always makes me feel better is to count my blessings.  So, that's what I will be doing today . . . all the way to the gym!

Smirky, but Cute

This morning I went to drive Kohler to school and since it's a game day, he is wearing his football jersey.  The entire team does it to show team spirit.  He just looked too cute and I asked him if I could take his picture.  He laughed and said, "Aw Mom---" then gave me a serious and smirky pose.  You gotta love it!

Who wouldn't want to drive him to school???  ha ha  I love him to death!!

Fight the Bear!!!

Spencer has worked really hard in cub scouts and has earned his Bear patch and some arrow points.  Last night we went to his pack meeting, but before he can receive his Bear patch, he first must FIGHT THE BEAR!  This is a fun ritual that our scouts do---they go behind the curtain and their dad roughs them up a bit, pretends to throw chairs, growls, etc.  Tom even downloaded a growling bear sound on his phone that Kelsey played over the sound system to make it seem more real.  We also took an old shirt of his, cut it up, rubbed it in some dirt, and put red food coloring on it to look like real blood.  It was awesome!!

 Everyone laughed when they saw his shirt.  It looked so real!

 I think Spencer had a blast doing it.  He is such a little actor!

 I LOVE getting "mom" pins!

 I love you Spencer, my 'sunshine.'

 We are super proud parents!

 After the awards ceremony, the kids were able to play some fun Halloween games!

 Here is Hailey with one of her best friends, Hallee Prusse.  

After pack meeting we headed over to watch Kelsey play in two softball games for her YW group.  She hit a triple!  Yeah Kelsey!

Run, Kelsey . . . Run!!!  (Isn't this a cool picture?)

Finally, we came home and gave the kids a bath.  Hailey and Spencer always love watching the softball games because they have free nachos and red licorice.  Last night, they even had cotton candy!  Hailey was SO exhausted that she came right out of the tub, curled up on the couch with her towel, and fell asleep!  So cute--

Our Little Squirt

 Can you guess who this cute little squirt is?  (Kelsey did her hair by the way!)

 It's our little Hailey Girl!!

I can't believe she is almost 6 years old and is in kindergarten!

She makes us all laugh, she can color really well, and she is SUPER FLEXIBLE!!  She can do the splits and it makes Kelsey and I really jealous!

The one thing Hailey truly loves is to play the piano.  She has such an incredible ear and can play many of the songs that her older brother and sister are learning.  She astounds everyone with her ability and she just can't help but play on our piano for hours at a time.  

This morning she was trying to figure out a primary song that she is learning for her primary program.  It's a really tough song and I got the music out for her.  She can't read music yet but listened to me  tell her how reading music is like reading words.  It helps you to understand the song so you can play it on the piano.

We are going to start very slowly but I think she is ready to have me start notes on the staff.  This will probably be very challenging for me as a mom because she is a perfectionist and doesn't have much patience.  (plus, she's only 5!)

Last night, she taught our Family Home Evening lesson on Jesus Christ and His Resurrection.  She read a story then helped us all play a game afterwards.  She even lead the music.  We could tell she was really proud of what she did.  Then this morning, as she was giving family prayer, she said, "Thank You for helping me give a good lesson at Family Night so we could all learn about Jesus, that He lives."  I looked over at Tom and smiled.  What a great way to start our day our right.  I don't know what we would do without our little squirt!!!