The Family Business...

Yes. I gave in and I let him mow without someone standing right there beside him. Maybe this is normal??? but not with me and my paranoid mind...
He totally ROCKED it!!! I was so proud of him! I think that my brother Michael was the most excited about this since it cut his work time in half!?! While he was mowing the front, Carter was more than willing to mow the back.
I just sat on the back porch and watched him. I watched his expressions, his mannerisms, his body maneuvers, and I watched how anal he was acting with how perfect and straight that the grass lines just had to be. Way too cute!!!
A few things have caused me to think about my kids and to think about how old they are becoming and how fast that they are doing it! I can not believe that he will be turning 8 in six months!?!

...now we just need to come up with the name of the new Family Business???? hehehe and remember...he'll be all ready for hiring out next summer so keep that in mind when you're looking for a mower!

Catching Up With My Crew...

Last week was "Crazy Hair Day" for Carter which I think is always hard when they don't have long hair! What do you do? I just found some old colored hair spray and that did the trick!

Kindra was very proud of her colored wall and even requested to have a picture taken! (my picture taking psychotic-ness must be rubbing off!) hehehe
It is so nice having Kindra in the afternoon session of Kindergarten because it gives us some free time together and it gives us the time to actually "get ready". You know me...not the girly-girl so we don't always have our "total get ready-ready days" but when we do I have to capture the moment!

I love you guys!!!
Really.

My PERMA-Grin!

So now that the wedding is over, and it was a success, but now that it's over, we can all begin to live our own lives for a few weeks until the next one (John-Charles & Ashleys...3 wks away!!!).
Life has thrown me a few curve balls within the past 7 days. Curve balls that have created a constant perma-grin on my face!
I was also asked to run/cycle in the St.George marathon so I have been concentrating my "active" time on that. Yes. I am a little nervous about the hills that I will have to climb but it will be so worth it!
Like I said...things are a changin. Within one week, when you least expect it, when you anticipate it to turn out like this....it turns out like that...and in a way that you never would have, could have imagined!
:) x 10000

T Minus 18 Hrs...

Friday evening was Jenny and Stewart's wedding dinner and they held it up at the Tyrell's home (Stewart parents). They live in the Avenue's and their home is gorgeous! It was a perfect evening for an outside social and it was great to see some faces of the past. I am still the "big sister Katie" and it always throws me off to see Jenny's friends all grown up with families of their own. So much fun!
Jared, his wife Mckell, Jenny, Raquel, Tricia (Jenny's all-time bff), & Raschell Jake and Tricia are both fluent-fluent in Spanish so for fun they were testing each others knowledge and just chatting away....
Whenever Katie Thomas (our college friend who lives in Las Vegas)whenever she is involved the laughter is non-stop. She is hilarious! She is always giving me a hard time about my blog and about my constant picture taking so the line of the night was "Is this picture/event blog-able...blog worthy?" Lyssa joined in the amusement so they had to take one of their infamous "take a picture of yourself" shots! (I warned you both and maybe one day you'll learn!!!)

I had to laugh at this picture! The two of them look so nervous, nauseous, and scared to death!!! After dinner, we were invited to share a story/memory of Jenny/Stewart and give them an object that went along with the memory....

Growing up, not matter what, Jenny would always get carsick. The zip lock bag was a must in our van. One time, while we were in Buffalo, New York, Jenny once again was sick, zipped up the bag, and instead of taking it out to the garbage when we stopped, she left it in the car. Our family went into "Denny's" for lunch, since there was not one up in Toronto, and to help Jenny feel a bit better with some type of nourishment. We finished, got back in the van, started to drive, and that's when my Mom found Jenny's barf bag. Yak! My Dad, amusing us as usual, came up with a song that went a little like this....

"Jenny's, come to Jenny's and you'll get some of her throw up....and if you come quickly, you might even catch it when it's hot"
That song/memory sums up our road trips and the memories that we have of Jenny :( and NO...I did not give her a bag of throw up!

Lyssa's story was about her snoring(Lyssa's snoring) and Jenny waking up one night scared, thinking there was a cow in their room, and then realizing that it was just Lyssa...so Lyssa gave her a miniature cow...
Jake's story was one that I had forgotten...Jake and his friends, being the hot jocks that they were in high school, and Jenny and her friends being the hot cheerleaders, were all friends. Jake was a senior and Jenny was a sophomore. One night as the guys were down in the basement, Jake kept hearing a tapping noise on the window. He went and looked and saw nothing so he blew it off. The funny thing is that he heard it a number of times, on a number of nights. Finally a few weeks later, Jake's friends gave in.....Jenny's bedroom was directly upstairs from the basement window. They had a string with a rock tied onto it. Whenever the girls wanted a "make-out" night, they would lower that down, tap it on the window, and initiate the session. The guys would wait for Jake to fall asleep and then sneak off to the destination point and meet the girls! In Jenny's defense, she ended up dating her "partner" but they were nervous to tell Jake since they knew how protective Jake was of Jenny but still....way too funny!
My Dad brought a map to remind Jenny of all of their adventures throughout the world that they have gone on. My Mom gave Jenny one of her favorite Royal Dalton dolls to start her own collection. The infamous Terry clan (minus Lyssa's hubby Joe who did not come until the next morning...and nice face Jake...you're funny???). It was a great night that was alot of fun! The Tyrell's are great and Jenny is so lucky to be marrying into such a wonderful family!

Laughter, laughter, laughter is the main thing that I love about my family! We are always laughing! We have great stories, great memories, and great parents who made it all happen! I love my bfs's and my bfb's and hope that I am teaching my kid's to love each other the exact same way!

"Nothing's Inappropriate When We're Involoved"

Last night we pulled another trip up to one of Jen's "J Chic Boutique" clothing parties. We were adamant to be there on time so that we could see/grab the absolute best before it was too picked over. Last time they were 20 minutes late and it had already been a mad house so we were not going to risk that again!

We each found some cute things but I'd have to say that Tara had the right idea in mind. She went in, found exactly what she was looking for (it had been on Jen's sight), grabbed the last two, and was good to go....and in a matter of 27 seconds! Angi got her hot boots. Sara and Nan got their jewelry. I got my awesome shirt. We all got some way cute jeans too so I'd say that we ended up getting exactly what we had gone for! (and without spending too, too much?!?) (I meant to get some pictures of our "jean testing out techniques" but I forgot to because I was laughing too hard and was way too worried about getting that dang mirror from the room next door! hehehe)

Thanks Jen! It's always fun to see you now on at least a monthly basis! Love ya lots and we'll see you next month!

Afterwards, though most of us were in the mood for some sushi, I made an executive decision and went to "The DoDo" instead. Of course we ate some great food...as always, laughed hard, "What happens at "The DoDo" stays at "The DoDo", lost track of time, but of course had to get a picture (a few times) before our great night ended!

Thanks girls for another one of our fun nights! There's never a dull moment, huh?!?

Jenny's Family Wedding Shower

Here we all are...The Terry "sisters" when we got together on Saturday for Jenny's family wedding shower. This was a first since Lyssa, being up from TX, had never met Ashley before. No big deal though...we all clicked and laughed as usual : )

We were giving Lyssa and Natalie a hard time since their hips are still the seats for their kids to rest upon. That just means that you're great Moms right and that your kids can't be without you?!? (I've said this before and I'll say it again...I LOVE BIG LITTLE KIDS!!!)
Abbi and I have acquired a funny Aunt-Niece relationship. One day, her and Colin (her bro) just decided that they absolutely love me! Every time they see me they open up their arms, yell, and run to me for a great big hug. We laugh because it's not like I did anything different but whatever it is...it's working! : )
Kindra giving me one of her "camera smile" smiles...
Jenny and Abbi...
This is Kate...Lyssa's youngest. She is gorgeous. Both of Lyssa's girls are. They have these gorgeous brown eyes and a beautiful always tan complexion. She is getting so big, so fast especially when we never get to see her, see them! : (

Jenny got alot of great stuff! Thank goodness for whoever it was who first thought of "the gift registry"! They are awesome and it takes away alot of work....both for those who have to buy the gifts and for those who receive and then have to return!

Even though I pride myself in my art of returning, I remember how bad it sucked to have to return a whole car load of wedding gifts...AFTER you had to call every possible place to see where they had been purchased!

Yeah!!!! We love the ability to register!!!

This shower was the mellow and innocent shower but tomorrow is the night of the friend shower. That's where we'll really see the GOOD and NAUGHTY stuff! hehehe : )

Why The #24?

I always get asked the question "Why do you have the #24 on everything?"...

katie242424@hotmail

katie2424 or katie24 to get into any personal accounts

hotwheels24.blogspot...

When I first started competing/running cross county while in elementary school, without fail, I always finished #2 receiving the silver medal. It just became a habit that ended up happening again during the Track & Field days of High Jump, and then again in the Western Provincial Track & Field meet in which I competed in the 1600 meter race. I did not, did not even anticipate medaling in this one but once again #2...silver medal. The #2 was meant to be.

From that time forward, every jersey # was 2 until my freshman year of soccer playing for the Lehi High School Women's Varsity team. Since I was a lowly freshman on the team, my request came "second" to one of the seniors. There was no way that I was going to let my superstitious tradition fade away so I thought of the next best possible....#24. Let me explain.....

#2 + #2 = #4 which is "two" "#2's"

From that day forward, it's been either #2 or #24. While trying to get my new email account, back in the day, I tried to get two "24's" but that was all ready gone and getting four "24's" was quite ridiculous (kind of like three "24's") so that is the reasoning behind that.

So now that you understand and now that you know how superstitious I am when it comes to my #, you will get why it is that I am content to have come in second place (and no...I am not so happy to come in second when it applies to any other of life's situations).

Late Friday afternoon, I got invited to participate in a 5k race that the SLC hand cycle's team was competing in for the Utah Independent Living Center. I was so excited to finally have my in (not so excited about the early time though this was nothing compared to most of their races they told me....boooooo especially since I've got the early puffy face goin on!) (notice the beginning #4 in my #? yep so happy about that one when I first realized it....I told you...superstitious!)

I've been training for the St.George Painters half marathon that a bunch of us are doing in January so I've been borrowing my bike so that I can ride outside while it's still warm. I have this "Katie course" that I ride up in Highland/Alpine and it's perfect weather right now! Seeing that I've never cycled in a real race, I'll be honest and say that I was a little nervous for the "secret" things I may not know about. (I remember when I was first told about those who bleed from their nipples while running a long distance marathon! eek!!) As we lined up, I realized that I had butterfly's in my stomach. I had that nervous/excited/competitive rush going on!

I make mental goals with myself before anything that I'm trying for the first time or that I am competing with...ok everything...so I already had those all made and I knew what I was aiming for. Afterwards I was saying to a few of my friends how surprised I was when I noticed and then realized that the competitive rush-drive never leaves you, even when you think and say to yourself "this is just a friendly calm mellow race"! YEAH RIGHT for me!

As we began the fire was lit and the race was on. Person by person, I was passing them and just talking to myself the whole time. "Go...Go...Go...Keep up your pace...Don't slow down...Don't let them catch up...You can do this". I was in my perfect element.

As I came to the end and I began to hear the positive cheers coming from absolute strangers, I got a little teary eyed. I had completed my first race and because I had successfully achieved something that I never (back in the day never) thought that I would do. I've been able to do so many things that I would never have ever thought that I would be doing. It makes me feel blessed to "live" in another type of world that others may not have the chance to live in because of my life's circumstance.

I finished #2 overall. #1 in my category. Once again, another silver medal that I am ecstatic to have in my possession. My time was 14.7 minutes so basically 5 min per mile so I now have my next goal...to again finish strong but to at least finish with a stronger per min time.

I wish that I could have stayed around a bit longer to live in the moment a little more but it was 9am and I had to be back home, ready to go, babysitter picked up, and on my way down to my sister's wedding shower by 10am so I grabbed my medal and off I went but that still didn't take away from the high that I was rollin with all day long!

See Ann Sew...

My Mom is amazing! She is super-woman right now. Planning 2 weddings, baking like a million cookies, sewing for her grand kids, keeping house, and putting up with the rest of her children's drama. Seriously. The other morning when I went up to help with some dessert baking, she had this for Carter.

"I don't want Carter to feel bad since I've sewn all those clothes for Kindra, so I quickly made this pillowcase for him."

She is the best grandma who loves and cares for her grand kids very much! They are so lucky to have her!
Some of you wanted to see some of the outfits that my Mom had made for Kindra. Here are some pics and I think that they turned out to be the perfect "Kindra like" outfits! :)

Last week was Kindra's "crazy day at school" week. She had so much fun! You would all be proud because I am actually getting all organized with the kids activities and even have them all written down on my calendar so as to not forget :)

Look how cute she is!!! This is a shirt-pants outfit that my Mom also made...and this is her crazy hair day ensemble that she came up with. We had so much fun (for once) doing her hair.

This was crazy hat day. We went up to my Mom's and looked through her costume bin and found this. She thought it would be perfect even though she was worried that it "was ruining my hair Mom" (like she even cares!) So we get to school and do you think that any of the other girls in her class have crazy hats on?!? No...of course not! They were all pretty like...not crazy like but Kindra didn't care because she was a hit with all of the boys! Their hats were actually "crazy". Too funny! That's my daughter...the tom-boy!

Thanks Mom for all that you do to help us out! Even when I try to be headstrong and not call you for help...I do. I love you, we love you very much! The older I get, the more I realize how wonderful that you are and how hard your "job" really has been.

Don't worry...we'll get those truffles made before the wedding...and I'll see you at 5 for dinner! he he he (come on...it's a Sunday dinner tradition!)

How Does THIS Happen???

We went to put these on last week but instead found this??? I thought that it was funny...how does this happen and ALL AT ONCE? I've seen the "big toe" have holes before but 4 of them all at one time? hmmmmmmm...

Caught...

Last Sunday, while we were supposed to be inspecting the flowers to see if they were going to hold up until the wedding, John-Charles came out to see where his fiance has disappeared to.

Yes...we were chatting about our weekends adventures.

That was also a great Sunday that I don't want to forget about because as a family,we went and listened to a talk given by I think Marlin K Jensen? (Utah & Wasatch Counties Regional Stake Conf at BYU 09/08)

He talked about "being different" and about the ways that we should treat those who are. It caused me to stop for a moment and to relflect on my son. I thought of just how wonderful and special that he is. There is a reason why he has his difficulties and it may be a reason that I'll never understand.

Patience.

Love.

Understanding.

Those are the attributes that we should have towards those with special needs. Towards everyone.

Great talk! Great day!
...and look at how hooot we are! hehe Good job John-Charles...but that still doesn't make up for "The Amazing Race" film job :(

PS Yes Mom...your flowers still look gorgeous!!!

8's...

Here we go. It's my "great 8's" TAG...

8 TV shows that I watch...(just 8?!?)

the amazing race
the mentalist
real world
cold case
privileged
law and order's
eleventh hour
america's next top model

8 things that I did yesterday...

took K to the doctor
took K to school
voted
took C to the doctor
worked out
did some work for the hand-cycle team
watched the election play out
cooked...actually cooked a meal

8 things on my wishlist...

be debt free
backpack europe again
move to another city
take my kids to toronto
find a hubby?!? hehehe
make it to the paralympics
write a book
to walk...run

8 people I tag...

i tag anyone who wants to do this :)
thanks McKell

Horse Church...

Me... "What are you in there doing, Kindra?"

Kindra... "We are getting ready for church."

Me... "Huh???"

...as I peek into her room, this is what I find. Kindra begins to explain...

"The tan one, he's the bishop and the rest are his people learning how to share and how to make good decisions."

Clever.

Way too funny the things that this kid comes up with!

Girls Night Out To A Football Game???

I know. I know. I swore that I would never support or cheer for the University of Utah's athletic dept but how could I not when it was to become our GNO activity?!?

Sara, being a coach's wife, is at every game no matter what and decided that she wanted to liven it up a bit so she came up with a great idea.

"Let's do GNO at the Utes football game this week....? Yes? No?"

We thought that it was a great idea...(though I felt a little anger in my heart because that meant that I'd have to give in and go to a Utes football game!!!booooooo!!!)

When we went to go buy me a red shirt to wear, I had wanted to buy a red UNLV shirt just to be funny. Sadly...there was not one so I decided to screw it and to go all out and buy a jersey shirt instead. Believe me...we were laughing so hard, acting like we were in high school and getting ready for a "powder puff" game! If we were really going to do this...then WE WERE REALLY GOING TO DO THIS!
I got a little nervous since our seats were on the 9th row and we were trying to come up with a plan to get me down there. Sara came up to meet us, just picked me up, and down we went! She was right on top of it and made it seem easy. She did this 3 times! Down to the seats...down to the field gates, and then down on the field. The things that you have to go through when I'm around, huh?!?
Sara, me, Angi, & Tara "Sara??? Who is #3 again???" Like we had any clue. It was the only shirt that the store had! And yes...we know that we look like those ??????? who go out and buy the jersey shirts with pride to wear to the games and no...we were not, not, not serious at all!

...Coach Jay Hill...

"Sara??? Who is #4 again???" "Though...I'll take a lap dance from him any day!"
OK so we had to get a picture of this because earlier we had been laughing about "those kids" who try to get on TV. They just hang out behind the camera guy and look like idiots. As we were waiting, just laughing about how funny this night had so far turned out, we turned around and found this...Pretty much, we were now "those kids" who looked like idiots on Comcast TV!?!
As the night went on...the longer that we were there, the more idiotic it became. "We are in our 30's yet think that some of these players are so hoooot! Let's remember that these are kids who are in their early 20's! We are WAY TOO OLD for this!"

Then we saw him......

...and then the obnoxious and the out of control actions began! Don't even question the acts that I'll do when I am dared or when those thoughts get implanted into my brain! I feel all "like I'm in college again" for a split second....and there's nothing wrong with having a little fun, right??!!?? "Yeah...sure...I'll go grab that hottie's you-know-what!!!"
This was one of those great girls nights that we all need! It's mentally refreshing to let loose, act obnoxious, talk the girl talk, laugh hysterically, and to have those serious moments in the midst of it all to get you to become even closer as friends!

Thanks Sara for the great idea! Thanks Jay for being a coach (hehehe)! And last but not least, thanks girls for the GNO! :)

***I am dying right now because of this whole "am I grabbing junk or ace" controversy! I did not even see the whole junk view because I KNEW what we were getting the picture of. I swear. But I also swear that this is now the funniest photo EVER! The things that happen when we least expect it....