Kaylee Ann

Here are a couple of pics of my new niece.

Hey Ryan, Feliz Cumpleanos!

Hey Ryan, The zoo just called. The Monkey wants his brain back.

Today is my brother's birthday. Ryan is 37 years old. (I think) He's my only older brother.

I'm going to be following my typical birthday format and share a few stories and maybe a few incrimiating photos of my hermano, Ryan.

Here we go...

When I was 17 and Ryan was back from his mission we worked together at the Silverdale on the Bay Hotel. He was the night auditor and I was on bell staff. I HATED that job pretty much every minute I was there. The highlight of my shifts there were the 10 minutes before I got off work on the nights that Ryan was working because we would work together. Everyone there loved him and I loved that I was his sister. He's actually the reason I ever got hired there in the first place.

Sometime before I was hired on there he would let me come in late at night with my friends and we'd go swimming after the pool closed to the guests. We were especially privlidged when we'd get dessert from the restaraunt before we went home around 1 in the morning.

There were some nights that he'd be working and I'd get the weirdest phone calls. One of them came from his coworker who also worked the graveyard shift. It went something like this...

Me: Hello?

Don: Hello, is this Dedra?

Me: Uh, yes.

Don: Dedra, this is Don from the Sandiego Zoo.

Me: Who is this for real? IS RYAN THERE?

Don: Dedra, this is serious. The monkey NEEDS his brain back.

Me: ha ha ha. Tell Ryan to shut up.

click Those were the good times.

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A little while after Ryan got home from his mission his mission president came home too. His President's Homecoming was to be a reunion for the missionaries from his mission. It was held in Rexburg Idaho...or maybe Idaho Falls. (We went to both places on that trip) On the ride home I was sleeping in the back seat and sometime after dark I woke up to 'What the CRAP!!' Leaving from Idaho Falls and heading towards Boise, Ryan missed his turn and we made a pitstop in Utah. Later on in the trip, when we were just passed Mountain Home, we ran out of gas. Ryan parked at a rest area, got the gun out from under his seat, loaded it, cocked it, put it in the front seat and told Katrina & I, if anyone comes to the window, shoot them. We were a little scared. While he was gone we just talked and visited and the time flew. He was back before we knew it. We got back to Bremerton just in time for Ryan to drop me off at school on our way through town. This trip was the first road trip I'd ever been on without my Mom and Dad. It was awesome.

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From the time I was born Ryan has adored me....here's the picture to prove it.

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A well known fact that nobody knew and turned out to not be true...When we lived in Meridian Idaho Ryan told me that if I put a piece of scotch tape on my arm and left it there for 4 days, it would turn to skin. IT DIDN'T. I in turn told my brother Garen the same thing. He got the same results as I did. Garen then informed Gina of a new and improved skin grafting technique. The results were disasterous...the cut she was trying to heel, got infected. Thanks Ryan! Good thing you're in finances.

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The first time I ever shot a gun was with Ryan. We went to Green Mountain (I think) and I shot a 30 ot 6, got knocked on my rear, and then we took a hatchet to the log I shot to get my bullet out. I showed that bullet off for about 3 years. I was very pleased with myself.

****

Now for the incriminating pictures. MUHAHAHA

Ryan, on your birthday, I want you to know how much I love you! I'm so glad that you are my big brother. Thank you for all the good memories and the ones where you were torturing me. Thanks for hand cuffing to the railing in Meridian until Mom and Dad drove into the driveway. Way to keep to track of us. I hope your day is amazing and that you get everything you want. I love you. Scrub

Dodge Ball and Name Changes

Today at school the 2nd graders played dodge ball in PE. I only had 2 kids to supervise in a class of 19 because the others were absent. I was watching these kids play with amazing skill and accuracy (or the opposite) and I caught site of one of the 2 kids I look after. I was on one wall, the PE teacher was on the opposite with my 2 kids. At that moment the girl (age 9) had collected 3 or 4 of the 12 balls available for the game. She was standing less than 2 feet away from the PE teacher and instead of throwing them at the opposite team, she was throwing them at the teacher. I watched her pelt him for at least 90 seconds over and over with any dodge balls she could get her hands on. It was halarious. Finally he came back to my side of the gym, threw a ball at her and she was out.

****

Tonight at dinner I was talking to my kids and Nicole told me she wishes she could change her name. I asked her what she wanted to change it to and she said Elizabeth. (I actually love this name. It is one of the girl names Ken and I have chosen if we ever have another baby and it turns out a girl. We'd spell it with an S though. Elisabeth) ANYWAY, I asked her what we would call her if that was her name and she said Liz. Just then Matthew wanted to change his name to Andrew so we could call him And.

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It's 7:41 CST and my kids are in bed and asleep. Life is good.

I'm an Aunt!...again!

I just got off the phone with my brother, Adam. He is a DAD for the first time. Here are her stats. (From my brother)

size 13 shoe
'big feet and hairy' (LOL! Only from a Dad)
Kaylee Ann
21 1/4 inches long
8 pounds 5.7 ounces
alot of hair on her head.

CONGRATULATIONS ADAM AND CASSIE!!

Did we REALLY get 16 inches 2 days ago??

According to AccuWeather we are currently at 59 degrees with a 'real feel' of 64. It is BEAUTIFUL out. You wouldn't believe we had so much snow only 2 days ago. On the other hand, I hear Pennsylvania got HAMMERED last night!

We should probably put that snow shovel away now. It looks kind of funny.

This one is for Jess

Royalty

A couple weekends ago my friend Ashley and I went to Salina so she could purchase fabric for curtains. After we went through JoAnn's we decided to go check out the fabric at Hobby Lobby too since we were in town and she didn't find exactly what she was looking for at JoAnn's.

While we were there we found a crown and decided we needed our picture taken with it. Here are the pics. I'm sad to tell you that I didn't have the video going when Ashley dropped it, but that's okay. We got a good laugh.

Random Thoughts...probably not very much substance.

I was sitting down to type this blog and my eye felt funny. I blinked a couple of times and my contact FELL OUT OF MY EYE!! Never had that happen before. (this post was started 3 days ago, it's in firm right now)

Something I never thought I'd have to say..

*How come you painted your nails clear to your first knuckle?

Is there really no such thing as a dumb question?? !!!

*Can I pretend Animal is a snowball and throw him into the snow?

Next, here are a few more pictures from the snow. Apparantly we got 16 inches of snow during the last 36 hours, according to a reliable source. (Jess who said the National Weather Service. (Both of them are reliable)) I measured snow drifts in our yard between 30 inches and 5 1/2 feet. It is now melting rapidly.

For my last bit of information...Look what I can do!

I have built all of our bookshelves, fixed the vacuum and changed out a toilet seat. In cars I have added most major fluids and replaced the windshield wipers. None of these things listed are amazing or difficult, but I didn't know that until I did it myself. I am actually embarrased that I didn't know how to change my flat tire the other night. BUT I will learn. Anyway, for my latest 'nonamazing' nor 'difficult' act, I replaced the weather strip on our front door. You can see from the picture below that it obviously needed replaced badly. I didn't know there was a 'part' available to fix this problem until my Dad gave me an inservice yesterday. When we hung up, I went to town, picked up the supplies, pried off the old one with my handy dandy pampered chef spatula (Who needs a chisel or a screwdriver!) and then replaced it with a lovely white one.

I also fixed the draft on the french doors leading outside from the kitchen. I'm going to redo it though. I didn't understand exactly what to do and it looks pretty 3rd class right now. I'll post some pics when I redo it, after it warms up a little more. The make-shift job I did is working fine for now.

Lastly (I know I said the door was last, but while I was typing it, I got a new piece of info to share) Lastly and definately LEAST...our cat, Baylee, is pregnant. UG!

Taste of Home and Flat Tires

Thursday when I got off work I picked up Nicole from school and my friend Liz at her house, then we left for Lyons and the Taste of Home Cooking Class. When we got to Lyons we went to another friend's house, Angie, and picked up her and her daughter, Cameryn.

We went to dinner at a Chinese Restaraunt that was NOT a buffet. (a rare thing in this part of Kansas) Next we went to the Celebration Center in Lyons for the Taste of Home Cooking Class where we met 2 more friends--Ellen and Leo.

From L to R, Nicole, Cameryn, Angie, Dedra, Liz, Leo & Ellen.

The Class was tons of fun! We learned some cooking secrets, got 2 new Taste of Home Magazines, and had some good laughs. There were 2 women sitting in front of Angie and I and they thought the cook was speaking directly to them. It made for some good laughs.

After the show Angie, Liz and I along with our little girls said goodbye to Ellen and Leo, then we went our separate ways.

When we got to our car I was glad that we backed into this muddy space because I thought we would have gotten stuck. We made our way out of the parking lot and just as I pulled onto the main road, I heard a noise that I've never heard before! I said, What is that?! Angie said, Either you have a flat tire or there is a ton of mud stuck in your tire. At that very moment I thought (and spoke outloud) it better be mud!!

I pulled off the road about 100 feet from where we got on and parked the car. As I went around the corner, I was sad to see that it was not mud.

I'm not going to lie to you, the first 2 words out of my mouth were not Christ like or lady like. Then I asked Angie to call her husband, Ben. None of us had ever changed a tire before. After Angie called Ben, we got back in the car and I called my Dad. The conversation went like this...

Dad: What?!

Me: I have a flat tire.

Dad: Change it.

Me: I don't know how. Angie just called her husband Ben.

Dad: Dedra Charlet

Me: Did you just call me by my middle name? You've never done that before!!

Dad: Yes I did. Charlet. (this time calling for my mom)

Mom: What?

Dad: Your daughter learned how to change a tire from you.

Me: I never changed a tire. Mom just signed my paper in Driver's Ed.

Dad: (talking to Mom) She says you just signed the form for her.

Dad: (talking to me) I've driven to Boise, Meridian and many more miles to change a tire for your mother. (what a good husband he is!)

Dedra: Can you change mine?

Dad: Goodbye Dedra.

After I hung up the phone, Liz suggested we try to change it ourselves. We were up to it. I think that was when I realized that I had a ton of stuff (crap) in my trunk that we had to empty out before we could even think about changing the tire. It took all 3 of us to get this giant box of fabric out of the trunk that Liz's husband, also named Ben, put in there on Sunday. Under that I found our missing and very overdue Library Book (it's still in the trunk). We pushed everything back and got the tire and jack out. Then I got back on the phone to ask my Dad what part of the car (in front or behind the tire) to put the jack.

My dad answered the phone by saying, "I don't have my tools with me!" Then he asked me what kind of jack it was and I told him a little black one. He wasn't happy with that answer. (I don't know why!) Then he asked about a scissor jack and I said it was a triangle with a base. He explained where to put it, then we went to work. Angie working on the Jack.
Me working on the jack, still getting instruction from Dad about lug nuts.
Luckily before we ever had to become acquaited with the lug nuts, Benshowed up to save our lives and change our tire. THANK YOU BEN!! I'll build you a cake or something.
Here are the little girls enjoying their left over chinese while we worked on the car.

It ended up working nicely. Ben took Angie and Cameryn home so we didn't have to drive out into the country to drop her off. I dropped Liz off at her house around 10:45-10:50 and Nicole and I were at home, in bed, and praying for a snow day by 11:00

The next day when I was talking to my Dad he told me I needed to learn how to change a tire when it wasn't flat so I'd know how next time. I'll be practicing after the snow melts.

SnOw DaY...YaY!

Today was the first snow day of the school year, less than 1 week AFTER Spring Break. It started snowing last night around 10 and it's still going strong. They called school this morning at 6:40, but since I didn't hear the phone ring, I got the message 5 minutes before we were going to leave for work when I sent the kids down to check and see if I missed a call. I'm actually glad it turned out that way because I was already ready for the day. Here are a few pictures of the weather.

21 hours of snow and ALOT of wind.

Here is a video of the area around our house.

The Church. The parking lot was perfect to do a few doughnuts.

Driving down Broadways

The school is work at...not sure why they canceled! haha

That's all folks! Since we don't have any big plans this weekend, I say BRING ON THE SNOW! Keep it coming. Maybe we can have Monday off too!

HALLELUJAH!!!!!

10 more minutes...

Me: Colie, go get in your bed. I'll be there in 5 minutes to tuck you in.
Nicole: Can I have 10 more minutes?
Me: Why?
Nicole: no answer

I went in to tell her to go get in bed and this is what I saw.

Nicole, I love you so much! thank you for being such a good example to me!

a few more things to add to the list...

Yesterday was my Mom and Dad's 40th Wedding Anniversary! Here are a few things about them that I'm thankful for.

1.Technically they've only be married for 38 years, I don't count their 2 year divorce in the time line. However I will count the fact that remarried as a blessing since I was born a year later! I'm thankful I grew up in a home with 2 parents and that my Mom was a stay at home Mom.


2. They taught me how to work. When I was in 2nd grade we started selling home-made suckers to businesses in downtown Boise, Idaho. We continued selling them clear until I was married. They quit when they didn't have enough kids at home to form a team. Because of this experience, I have learned how to accept no as an answer. I'm not afraid to speak to anyone. I actually LOVE public speaking and confronting new people and challenges because of this experience.


3. My parents introduced me to good music. I love Neil Diamond, Barry Manilow, Elton John, and Billy Joel. I tolerate the Beatles, but I know their music. I don't love the Rolling Stones or Johnny Cash. (soory to their fans!) Everytime I hear Saturday Night by the Bay City Rollers I'll see myself in the blue room of our house in Meridian Idaho singing with my Mom and sister, Wendi as the record played over and over on the giant stereo. Each time God Bless the USA comes on, I'll think of the Miss Meridian Pagents my parents helped out on. Ditto for Daybreak by Barry Manilow.

4. I grew up knowing I would get married in the temple. Period. There were no other options.

I'm thankful for my parents. I love them so much!

A L E X A . C H A R L E T . J A M E S

Yesterday was my Niece's Birthday. Here are a couple of facts about Lex.

*When she was born, I became an Aunt for the first time. I was 18.
* She is 13 years old.
* We have the same middle name, named after my Mom, her Grandma.

Happy Birthday Lex! You're an old woman now!! If you turn your age around, you have my age. That makes me an even older woman!

I love you!

Oklahoma City...Day 3

When Ken and I were living in Utah, I took the kids and visited my Mom and Dad in WA for about a month. I drove the car there with my brother, Adam. When it was time for me to go home, Ken flew to WA, then we drove back. We typically took 2 days to get home. On this trip, we slept in Boise. When we got up that morning, while I was taking a shower and Ken was brushing his teeth, shaving etc, our kids got a hold of our keys. Their favorite button was the bright red one...panic. We aren't sure how long they had the keys, but after both Ken and I were out of the bathroom, we heard the honking and immediately found our keys to make sure it wasn't our car. Sadly...IT WAS OUR CAR. When we went to check out of the hotel, we apoligized to the front desk, and we really did feel bad. As we were walking to our car, a man who was staying in the hotel came up to us and proceeded to tell us how rude and stupid we were for allowing our kids to interupt the sleep of all those people staying in the hotel. I responded by telling him we didn't know they kids had the keys, we took them as soon as we noticed, and although we feel really bad, there is nothing we can do now to fix the problem. It was over. The man didn't stop verbally abusing and I actually had to stand between him and Ken because Ken was going to punch him. My purpose for telling this story on Day 3 of Oklahoma City? Watch the following video please...

This is what we woke up to. It only lasted 30-45 seconds...EACH TIME. I think the horn went off 3 or 4 times. Each time it went off, I laughed. I can't imagine how the owners felt, if they found out what was going on. I also hope that the guests at the Sleep Comfort Inn in OK City are kinder than the man we met in Boise.

We were checked out of the hotel by around 10:15, then off to the Oklahoma City Temple. Although Ken was with us, he didn't want to take picture before the session and then our plans changed, so once again, I'm a single mother in the photos. BUT we did get some!

We had youth baptisms going at the same time our session was scheduled. Ken and Ben were needed for baptisms, so Angie and I watched the kids while they did baptisms, then we took a later session while they guys took the kids to lunch. Below are some pics of the kids waiting at the temple.

This is Luke. He is 5. I LOVE HIM. While other kids were throwing a bottle of water back and forth because they couldn't find a football, this is what he was doing.

We arrived home last night at 9pm. It was an awesome trip!

PS, this is my 200th post. Thanks for reading!!

Oklahoma City...Day 2

Today we went to a couple of parks, we toured the State Capital, and we also went to the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial. Angie's kids were sick all night and all of them, including her, were throwing up. We were able to get all the kids out for a little while. Most had fun, but it was a rough day. Here are some highlights.

This park is right off of Route 66. It was really fun, and VERY windy. I actually love the wind though.

I got a picture with my mom and my sister and I going down a super slide this summer when I was visitng WA. It was the first pic in my life I have with my mom at a park or fair. I think she was always having a baby and didn't participate. We took this pic to start a tradition so that my kids will have pics of us as they grow older.

Me with the kids

At the park there was a xylaphone/piano toy. I am a sucker for these types of toys. I played you a song...kind of. Try to get past the wrong notes and name my tune.

The Bates'

A vacation isn't a vacation without either a slurpee or a starbucks steamer. They probably wouldn't be as cherished if we could buy either where we live. We opted for the slurpees this time.

Next stop was the capital. I brought Cameryn with me and my kids because the 3 younger ones were still sick. Here they are on the correct side of the rope.

Here they are making a memory!!

Have you ever wanted to run down ALL the stairs at the capital? 2 of the 3 kids I took today did too! Watch this video and try to guess which one wasn't into it. LOL

Our last stop was the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial. Words can not tell you how touching this memorial was. All I can is show you a few pictures and tell you that you need to make a trip here to see it for yourself. It was beautiful.Nicole, Matthew and Cameryn

When we were walking on the sidwalk outside of the memorial, there was a short roof. The kids climbed it.