Dinner Conversation courtesy of Hayden

So I have debated all week whether I was going to blog about this or not, and I guess I decided it is too funny to keep to myself. So as we were eating cake and ice cream Sunday night we over hear this conversation between Hayden and his friends Jordan (13) and Nick (11).

Hayden: So I am starting to get hair down there....(and he looks "down there" with his eyes) You know what I am going to do? I am going to let it grow for like 2 months and it will be coming out the bottom of my pants. Then I will have to go to Cost Cutters to get a hair cut.

It was all I could do to not pee my pants, we were laughing so hard. I guess Sal and I didn't do such a great job with "THE TALK". My poor son thinks about going to Cost Cutters to get his "down there" hair cut! Maybe we better try that talk again!

My Princess Turns Four!!

Sunday was Olivia's birthday and we have been counting down the days since the middle of September. It is so hard for little kids to really understand how long 30 days is. She placed her birthday order quite early..... she wanted a princess cake.... Briar Rose to be specific, balloons and presents. We delivered on all 3 points and she was thrilled. Although the first thing she said when she woke up was that she was NOT going to stand up in the front of Primary and let them sing to her. She then decided she was NOT going to Church at all. I reminded her that she had a new dress and shoes to wear and that changed her mind fairly quickly.

Here she is modeling her dress and shoes..... and of course showing you that she is indeed 4.

And here she is after Church opening one of her presents.

We had a little dinner with the Woolley's, Evan's and Granny and Papa. Then it was time for cake and ice cream. Olivia told me she didn't want candles on her cake, but how can you sing Happy Birthday with no candles? I lit the candles anyway and she cried through the singing. Emily and Kennedy blew out the candles and once Liv had cake and ice cream all was forgotten.

Thanks to everyone for the presents and the good food. We are still enjoying leftovers.

Hayden's First Camporee

Hayden and Sal went on their first Scout camporee this weekend. Hayden was SO excited to go... honestly he is always excited about anything that has to do with Scouts and/or camping. Unfortunately, neither Sal or I are huge camping fans. I love to camp as long as I am in a trailer with heat/ac, running water, and a toilet. Sal is always a good sport and he goes because he knows Hayden loves it.

When they returned home the first thing I hear about is the scorpion Hayden found under their tent. Luckily it wasn't IN their tent. Sal said they were packing up their tent and saw something moving on the ground. As they got closer they realized it was a Desert Hairy Scorpion. Sal quickly caught it in a plastic cup that he had and they brought him home. Lucky us!! In the 24 years that I have lived in Arizona I have never seen a scorpion let alone one this size. He was huge. Here is a picture of him glowing.

I know this isn't a great picture, but here is the scorpion eating a superworm. It took the scorpion about 4 hours to eat the entire worm. It was quite a sight let me tell you!

Sal took the scorpion to work and is going to cast him into metal and add him to his collection of bugs. I will post a picture of the casted scorpion when Sal gets home tonight. Other bugs in Sal's collection include black widows, beetles, praying mantis, and wolf spiders. The neighbor kids know that if they see a cool bug, to bring it to Sal for his collection. I will try to get pictures of his bugs and post those too.

Our First Date and First Kiss

I was reading Jessica's post today and it made me think of Sal and my first kiss and first date.

Most people know that I have known Sal since the first day of 7th grade at Kino Jr. High. We were in Mrs. Ernst's math class. I think he sat behind me and he can even remember what I wore the first day of school. I guess I was oblivious because I can't remember what he was wearing. Anyway, we spent the next 2 years trading notes and waving hello in the halls.

In the 8th grade he told me he was going to marry me one day and I thought he was out of his mind. It really wasn't until our 9th grade year that we really started hanging out. He played football and I played volleyball so I rarely watched him play. I do remember when he hurt his knee and had to walk around on crutches for a while. During softball season he would come and sit behind the backstop while the team practiced. I wasn't good enough to make the team so Wendy Stowers and I were the equipment managers. If you want to get a rise out of Sal ask him about the time he taped my hair to the backstop. That was not pretty!!

It was November 23rd that he finally got the nerve to ask me out.... you know that, "will you go out with me?" even though there was no where to go at 14? I of course said yes. I think it didn't mean anything except we would hold hands in the halls on the way to class. ROMANTIC isn't it?? We did secretly meet at the Mesa Library once and I guess that was our official first date. Instead of studying, Sal took me to Steve and Charlie's (a restaurant across the street) where we both had a Coke. Sal paid and everything. Sal still has the straw I used that night. I think he wanted to kiss me that night, but he never did. We held hands and walked back to the library.

The kiss came a few weeks later when we went to the Boys Basketball team vs. the Kino Faculty annual basketball game. During the 3rd quarter we went outside to the football bleachers. It was early December although I can't remember the exact date. From the bleachers we could see some red lights in the sky. Sal told me they were Christmas Tree lights (I later realized they were the radio tower lights on South Mountain) and I told him that Mormons didn't celebrate Christmas. I believed him and he believed me. After a few awkward seconds which seemed like hours, he kissed me. It was perfect! We kissed quite a bit before going back into the game. EVERYONE in the stands knew exactly where we had been and what we had been doing. I was SO embarrassed!

After that Sal and I were inseperable. We talked on the phone, wrote notes, spent one Saturday watching Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl, and one Saturday at the Kino Christmas dance. That was the BEST night. Sal and I joke all the time about how we went out to dinner with 3 of our teachers after the dance. Today that would NEVER happen and the teachers would be fired for even thinking about it. Kino was the best time ever and I will always treasure the memories I have of that time of my life.

So there you have it, our first date and first kiss...... of course I have 23 years worth of stories about Sal and I. I could go on and on and on, but I won't. I will stop there! I only have 11 years of memories without Sal so I can't imagine my life without him. He is truly my best friend!

A Change of Seasons

The weather has been so nice here lately. (I won't mention that we are expecting record heat later in the week..... yup back to 97 degrees!) We are even sleeping with the windows open. Early in the morning it gets fairly chilly in the house and I love that Sal tucks me in when he leaves for work.

This change in season means time to replace all the plants that were scorched by the summer heat. The kids were so excited to help their Dad in the yard. They dug holes for the new plants, and helped him plant winter grass. I love watching the baby grass grow and looking at the deep green that covers my yard. I love everything about Fall and the relief from the summer heat.

I do long for Salt Lake as I watch conference or the BYU games. I tell Sal every week that all I want is to live close enough to BYU to have season tickets and to sit in LaVell Edwards Stadium every few weeks.

I miss the bountiful fruit and the hours we spent canning when I was little. Luckily, I have found a way to get Utah peaches and pears to can, but somehow it isn't the same.

I miss the mountains and the colored leaves. The Sunday drives into the canyons just to see the changes.

I even miss the snow.... Hayden is our only child that has been skiing or sledding and that was on a family trip to Wyoming. What a shame that my kids haven't owned "Moon Boots" or walked to school with their pants tucked into those boots with their tennis shoes in their backpacks.

Sure they have experienced all that Arizona has to offer, but after living here for almost 25 years, I am ready for a change..... now if I could only find Sal and I jobs and sell our house.......

Loved this article in the NY Times.....

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/05/opinion/05krugman.html?_r=1

Why do we have to be "against" one another when we need to be "FOR" America?