Catherine's Quirks

Island Park 2011

2011-05-09T11:46:00.000-07:00

This year for our Tanner Family Island Park/winter trip we crammed all 9 adults and 8 kids in one cabin and had a lot of fun, did a lot of skiing, sledding, cave making, and EATING!

A typical lunch line up!

Rex in his new toy that took a long time to blow up and a short time to pop, Liz pulling a sleepy little Jack!

Nate and I took our kids out, plus Cole, skiing/sledding through the falling snow in the woods behind the cabin. It was a little cold but very pretty!

We encountered some familiar faces along the trail. Paul and JoAnn heading in while we were heading out.

Baylee was a good sport, we got carried away and went a little farther than planned. She cried a little at the end of our excursion then fell asleep, what a cutie!

The kids and I were pooped when we got back, but Nate went out sledding and got a TON of great shots. I had to post all the sequence of people crashing down the hill!

Here's Cole:

He got a little turned around, but did ok!

Here's Rex:

The facial expressions are the best!
Then D.J.:

Maybe the face full of powder shots are the best!?

Liz and Rex together:

Now my favorite shots, Tanner's face at the end is priceless!:

Cute lash-cycles!!

Although our car got a cracked windshield and a broken belt that we barely made it home on, it didn't get rammed by a moose like David and Acacia's last year, so it could have been worse. We made it home with only 2 pukies, Nate and D.J., one planned car repair, but a lot of fun memories!

Happy Birthday Cody!

2011-05-02T15:24:00.000-07:00

First Nate took Cody on the Tanner Family annual New Years Day x-country ski trip by North Fork:

Here's a good wipe-out shot of Uncle D.J. trying to ski down a steep hill.

Then on the seventh Cody turned 6! I made him a paleontologist cake, complete with dinosaur bones (pretzel pieces dipped in white chocolate) buried in the mud/dirt, (cake/pudding) and a clay figurine of him digging them out, in front of a volcano spelling out his name in red cool whip lava, he loved it!

One more milestone, Baylee's first pigtails:

SOOO cute, and so hard to get out!

Dizzying December

2011-03-21T09:42:00.000-07:00

We finally had Baylee's baby blessing on December 5th. It was really neat to have so much family there to support us! Also to help with a yummy brunch afterward!

Cody lost his first tooth, he was SO excited that he didn't want to put it down, I warned him that he was going to drop it and lose it, a few hours later it was gone.

Luckily four days later he lost his second tooth which he immediately put in 2 Ziploc bags!
He also wrote a cute note to the tooth fairy explaining how he lost his other tooth, so she would bring him money for both, such a funny kid!

We had the annual Great Grandma Tanner Christmas Eve party complete with the Nativity reenactment. Neil played the role of a wise man, adding such class to the part...

On Christmas we pulled out the Jumperoo for Baylee for the first time, it kind of swallowed her.

The Watt house Christmas day, also the year of the Pillow Pets:

We got a whole Cowboy kit from Jonathan and Merry, it was awesome! As soon as Neil suited up he was in action and hard to snap a picture of, this is the best one:

Here's some really cute pictures Nate took of Baylee this month, he posted one a while back, but I thought I'd put a few more:

He got some really cute shots, and some not so cute!

Fall, Fishing and Family Festivities!

2011-02-23T08:41:00.000-08:00

Nate took Cody fishing/sailing with his dad and brother down to Lake Powell:

Beautiful views.

Cutest little fisherman!

Paul in his element.

I turned 29 and Nate went all out with an amazing dinner of stuffed mushrooms, crab, yummy salad and bread, fondue, and a birthday pumpkin cheesecake! Topped off with the best birthday present treasure hunt for birthday cash, perfect birthday, thanks Nate!

My family all went out of state and Nate's family came in state, so we had Thanksgiving dinner at his parents house with his sister Sarah's family.

Taking care of the kids table first

The next day we had a big family party with the whole Tanner clan. We did family pictures, Chris and Brittany blessed their little girl Addyson, we exchanged birthday gifts for Paul and some early Christmas presents, WHEW!

Cute little family!

These pictures were not the easiest to take, it was funner watching all the parents in the background!

All the cousins born in 1 year and 1 month: In birth order, not pictured order: Evia, Jack, Brianna, Baylee and Addyson. The 3 youngest little girl-cousins, all born in one month, thanks Aunt Liz for the cute hats!

I love October

2011-02-09T07:50:00.000-08:00

It's sad to see summer go, but I love the bright fall leaves! We tried to do some family photos up Farmington canyon's beautiful backdrop. The One that kind of turned out is on the right side of the page as our family photo, but here are some of my favorites:

Candid and more realistic depictions of our boys and us!

The red leaves were really that bright, it was really pretty!

We went with some of the cousins, Aunts and Grandma Watt on a hayride/pumpkin picking excursion at J&J's. So much fun!

Nate took the boys fishing frequently.

HALLOWEEN! I love this holiday, Nate does not. So I made the boys costumes solo, dressing them up according to one of their new favorite shows as well something suitable to their personalities! Thing One and Thing 2 from The Cat in the Hat:

Can you see my awesome pumpkin behind Cody/Thing 1?!

I made Baylee this cute Halloween bow/headband to go with this shirt I got at Target. We stayed out of the rain and passed out the candy while Nate took the boys trick-or-treating. They came back soggy but satisfied with their candy conquest. Their fun wigs had shriveled in the rain, and they looked SO funny!

September was kind of Big...

2011-01-30T21:31:00.001-08:00

Nate turned 31 on September 15th and did not get a daughter for his birthday. He did get grasshopper pie!

Here is my before shot of my giant belly, and Neil's head, in the bathroom mirror. It's true what they say about horizontal stripes...

After shot. I was induced a couple days past due, on September 16th, 1:30 p.m. My best delivery ever, 4 good pushes and here she is Baylee Jo Tanner, 8 lbs. 9 oz. 20 inches long, chubby cheeks and lots of dark hair!

In her going home from the hospital outfit.

Got a picture with her eyes open, not too common in those first few days.

I LOVE the sleeping smiles, makes me wonder what she's dreaming about!

So cute!

2010 Summer Synopsis

2011-01-13T13:31:00.000-08:00

I know, I'm terrible. I started doing a post to catch up the last 6 months, but it was way too long! So I'm going to do this in sections, at least that's my plan, starting with summer:

Cody and Uncle D.J. having fun on the dragon coaster, Nate fun, Neil not so much.

D.J., Cody and Nate having fun on the egg drop, Neil not at all!

Everyone having fun on Rattlesnake rapids.

I won tickets to the dinosaur park:

Snowbird: Grandma and Grandpa Watt on the zip line, the mama and baby moose walking around the condos this year, Cody with uncle Daniel about to go down the alpine slide.

We rode the tram to the top and got some fun photos.

Neil trapped, not really, in the bounce house.

Nate bought a watering trough/ "swimming pool" while I was at girls camp. The boys, big and small, loved it!

Cody started Kindergarten!!!

Baylee is Growing Fast

2010-12-22T08:01:00.000-08:00

Everyday our children grown up and get a little older a little taller and a little different. With Baylee the change is so rapid that she really looks different to me everyday. Knowing how fast our kids grow, Catherine and I decided to take some photos to remember her at this stage.

I just cant believe how adorable and sweet she is. I feel so happy when I come home and get a minute to snuggle and hold her.

Catherine was cuddling Baylee and said "Your so cute I could just eat you up". Cody burst into tears and said "Dont eat Baylee!!!"

It was a tender moment and made us stop and realize that kids take what we say so literally.

Christmas is quickly approaching and its always fun to give gifts to our boys. Cody usually has strange requests and this year was not the exception. The prior year he asked Santa for three rubber balls made out of rubber bands. I kid you not thats the one thing he asked for. This year he asked for an umbrella? I tried to convince him he wants a new ps3 or flat screen tv but he still thinks an umbrella would be the perfect gift?

In one week Cody lost both of his bottom teeth he was so proud of them he didn't want the tooth fairy to take his teeth so he wrote a funny little note asking the tooth fairy to leave the teeth.

For a little Christmas program at my parents Catherine and I used raisins to cover our front teeth to match Cody and we sang "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth."

Oregon Trip

2010-08-13T15:08:00.001-07:00

In the beginning of June we went caravaning with Nate's family: Mom and Dad, David and Acacia and kid, Liz and kids and D.J. up to Oregon to visit his sister Sarah and invade her new house/yard!

Here's Sarah with 3 out of 4 kids, (one you can't actually see because she's in her belly!) cute toe head kids, Ethan and Sylvia.

Here's our tent in her front yard on the top of a mountainside, seriously! She has the steepest driveway I've ever seen, and the coolest backyard the boys had been in! They loved catching tadpoles in her pond, and I think Nate did too.

Grandma and Grandpa Great Tanner joined the trip a bit later, here's 2 of our group shots, a happy and a realistic shot!

We left the group for a couple nights and found a campsite near the beach. The whole group met up with us there later and we had a very fun, cold-ish beach day that ended with lots of seafood eating, some good and some not so good, sorry Paul!

One of D.J.'s many discoveries, a purple starfish eating a clam, gross and cool at the same time! Cute boys walking in the beach!

We stopped at Glacer Lake, very cool and very cold! Had lunch in the top of the gift shop were the boys made a new friend, then started on the very, very long drive home! We miss Sarah, but it's nice to be back home.

Spring 2010

2010-08-02T10:54:00.000-07:00

Yeah, finally a new post! I'm going to flash through spring so I can get to our fun and crazy summer. At least that's the plan, we'll see...

At the beginning of April Neil turned 3 and got big boy underwear, which is still a work in progress! Cody made him a hat, inspired by an episode of Curious George, any other C.G. aficionados may recognize this hat?!

In May we had a baby shower for Brittney, who's due exactly 2 weeks after me. It was too bad Sarah couldn't drive out from Oregon, (or was she still in Cali at this time?) for the shower for a triple baby belly shot, she's due about 2 1/2 weeks before me! JoAnn's been in baby blanket making overload! Acacia made beautiful decorations and cupcakes and Liz did some fun shower games, we had a great time!

Nate and I went on a fun long weekend- spring vacation- Mother's day- get out of the long winter cold trip to Las Vegas with our fun neighbors! We stayed off the strip just below the red rock canyon, this is a hike we took one morning in the canyon, it was fun and beautiful! Big thanks to my sister Kim for watching our boys the whole time so we could go!

One last picture I had to add of another hat/creation made by Cody inspired by the cardboard ring that comes around the package of Costco grapes. Yes that pen is dangling from the hat by a string, because you'll never know when you need a pen, or a fuzzy propeller.

Winter Trips!

2010-03-09T17:55:00.000-08:00

The best way to beat winter blahs is to go on a trip! The first one we went on was in the middle of January to Island park with Nate's family. We went cross country skiing, played games and more cross country skiing, it was fun and really pretty!

This is the little frozen river right behind our cabin we shared with Liz and Rex's family. Paul and Joann shared a yurt with D.J., David and Acacia and little Evia.

Over Valentine's/ President's Day weekend we escaped the cold and took a 16 hour drive down to Tucson Arizona to visit Nate's brother Chris and his wife Brittany. It was a long drive but D.j. came with us and helped A LOT with the boys in the back, and their occasional puke!

It was sunny and warm and the boys were fascinated with the red dirt and ALL the cactus!

We spent a day at "Old Tucson" which was all about cowboys and the wild west, it was fun "driving" old fashioned cars, eating pricey pizza and watching gun shows and stunt shows.

Neil wore his sunglasses like that in purpose, the whole day, he said he was a surfer!

We rode on and old fashioned carousel Cody loved it, but Neil spent the whole ride staring at the scary looking horse behind him, wondering when it was going to catch up to him!

The boys wanted to ride the train first thing when we got there and not many people where there yet, so no one else was on the train, it was like our own private ride, and the boys loved it! They thought the conductor was pretty cool too!

It was so warm and so fun to be with family that it was hard to leave, especially coming back home to more snow!

Cody Turns 5!

2010-03-03T13:10:00.000-08:00

At the January Sunday dinner with my family we celebrated my Dad and Cody's birthdays:

Jaron had made the cutest map for Cody to follow to his birthday presents!

On his actual birthday Cody had both sets of Grandparents over for his favorite dinner of shrimp shish-ka-bobs, rice and edemame, followed by his request for Dinosaur Train birthday cake! We decorated with his favorite color-green, and he even shared one of his presents with Neil, some tongue-color-changing fruit roll up, so nice.

Our new-ish house!

2010-03-03T13:00:00.000-08:00

Another thing I forgot to mention from December is the best present of all, our house! Although we'd been living here since the end of June, we finally closed on it the end of December and we became official mortgage owners again. Renting was kind of nice, but security is better!

Cody on his new bike out front.

Christmas 2009 and New YearsDay 2010!

2010-01-26T14:20:00.000-08:00

Pictures from winter, during winter, even though most are technically from last year, it really wasn't that long ago!

This was "Santa" at our ward Christmas party, Cody was excited, Neil was not convinced!

This was the annual Great Grandma Tanner Christmas Eve party, complete with the grand-kid Nativity production and an appearance from Great Grandpa Santa!

CHRISTMAS DAY! Cody got a brand new big boy bike, finally upgrading from a tricycle. Is it technically an upgrade if he's going from 3 wheels to 4?

The boys and their shark slippers from "Santa" the only thing they actually asked for, besides a cat. The shark and the uncle are Bruce!

The new cat Santa brought about 2 weeks before Christmas and left in a box on our doorstep! Mysteriously after we'd taken a drive to Layton where a family was giving away free kittens, sometimes Santa's timing is just right. We watched Muppet's Christmas Carol that night and decided to name the cat Gonzo!

NEW YEAR'S DAY! The annual Tanner family cross country ski day up near the old house in Eden, a beautiful day but really sticky snow! We were excited to get back to Joann's yummy taco soup, sandwiches and letting Rex win at boggle!

Pictures From Fall...

2010-01-07T08:24:00.000-08:00

One's again, one season behind! Here are pictures from October and November, with a promise that winter pictures will come before winter is over!

Our cute little boys at the Farmington pumpkin patch.

The cousin costume parade at Grandpa and Grandma Tanners, along with Grandma's infamous spud-nuts and Acacia's (funny?) Halloween cupcakes!

Our amazingly carved pumpkins with our neighbors and our even more amazing cell-phone message effect!

HALLOWEEN NIGHT! One cute and happy pirate and one sad dragon.

Thanksgiving, the big fancy table and the little crazy table, and the whole fancy/crazy group!

Last of Summer....

2009-11-06T09:12:00.001-08:00

Before fall is over I thought I would do a two part synopsis of the end of summer!

Starting with the Knudsen Family Reunion:

Cody had his face painted like Grandpa's sailboat, which eventually got wet and smeared a little, which I think really enhanced the overall effect!

The Davis County Fair!

The boys really liked the goats, at least until they started eating the stroller!

The wild alligator show was really cool, and so was the wild Butcher Band in sequins! That's the rarest of them all, the red-arm-banded trombone playing/singer Andrew!

These are pictures from our annual Watt Family camp-out at Lyman Lake!

Nick and Julie in Grandmas wagon, and our group hike around the lake.

That was the salamander I found, made Nate catch, and Cody kept trying to kiss! He cried when we let it go! Guess what he wants for Christmas now!?

Look at the beautiful shot Nate got of a canoe that drifted out on the lake after a rain storm! Then the next beautiful shot of a group of campers after 4 days with no showers, not too shabby!

Last of Summer Part 2!

2009-11-06T08:18:00.000-08:00

Starting on the yard! After we cleared the forest of weeds we basically flooded the yard so Nate could till the rock-solid dirt, which made a giant mud bath/heaven for the boys!

This was the Tanner Family Luau! There was lots of hula-hooping, limbo dancing, water ballooning, good food eating/wearing fun!

How cute! Grandma and Grandpa Tanner, not David's "accident."

Check out the hula-hooping skills, Russ was surprisingly good! Notice Liz in the tongue-out-concentrating-face pose she makes fun of Nate for? I think it's a family trait, if you can stick out your tongue that is, sorry Chris.

Here's Cody's first, (and possibly last) season of soccer!

He enjoyed the group cheers, throwing the ball, most of the time when he wasn't suppose to, picking the grass and the dandelions, and crying when he couldn't stop to draw.

He really liked the medal he got at the end and his new friend!

TRAINS!

2009-10-12T10:52:00.000-07:00

More pictures from a couple months ago! When Nate's sister Sarah and her kids were in town we went to Promontory Point to see the trains. The kids all enjoyed and Neil thought it was Thomas, so he was in heaven!

Snowbird '09!!!

2009-09-12T08:37:00.000-07:00

Okay, big shock, pictures from a trip we went on 2 months ago, but that's how I do things. We had so much fun at Snowbird this summer and had some fun pictures, I couldn't pass up posting them!

We spent a lot of time and sunscreen in the pool!!! Neil loved being tossed, but was having a hard time keeping his trunks up!

Cody was climbing out and jumping in constantly! Check out his form, future Olympian!?

The kids loved the annual rides down the alpine slide and we tried out the bull-riding this year too! It was fun and a little painful.

We had to wait for a while for the slide and Neil decided to take a short nap, but he forgot to wake up for the ride! Yes that's drool down my back!

One out of 1,000 of Nate's pictures of the wildflowers, a group shot at the top of the ski lift, and the view going back down.

Good times fishing in the pond with the Jensen's!

Great photo op. on the platform at the end of the evening stroll with Grandma Wilhelmsen!

Camping and Sailing at Flaming Gorge!!

2009-08-21T08:48:00.000-07:00

In the middle of July we went camping with some of the Tanner Family up to Flaming Gorge!

Liz and Rex made dinner the first night, (a secret recipe and Nate tried sneaking a peak?)
The boys really enjoyed David and Acacia's breakfast supreme the next morning, also their cute new puppy Titan! Then after a very fun and unforgettable experience on the river in Jensen's half inflated barrel raft, we went sailing on Grandpas boat and swimming in the dam. Neil loved Tanner, they kept each other entertained!

Cody did lots of drawing, Sophie looked cute in her dresses, Neil got hurt a lot, (especially when he tried to fight a cactus patch and lost) and Cole made lots of faces. Life was pretty normal.

We went sailing again the next day, it was a little colder and windier that day and the kids were getting a little restless, so they decided to go for another swim anyway!

Watch where you're kicking Cody! We couldn't keep Cody out of the water or get Neil in it! It was a beautiful day for sailing, and catching crawdads for a late night snack! What a fun trip!

4th of July FUN!!!

2009-07-30T10:27:00.000-07:00

Grandpa Tanner set up a slip 'n slide on the side of the house and the boys had SOOO much fun!

Just look at that smile!

Nate had to join in on the fun, but he had a problem with the grass at the end. He also started bowling for Neil and nearly took him out a few times, before.... WHAM!

Then he decided bowling with kids was a better idea!

And they liked that much better too!

Cody got a few others too try it out too, Grandma, Aunt Jenny and finally Me.

We didn't realize we were crowding in on D.J.'s bath-day!

Later we got to hear Grandpa Tanner play his base in the Orchestra before the Layton fireworks, which the boys both fell asleep during, the fireworks, not the concert!!

It had been a very long and very fun holiday!

Beautiful Day!

2009-07-30T07:52:00.000-07:00

I found these pictures we took after the air show playing in my Mom's backyard on the trampoline and the new slip'n slide Nate got. The boys wanted to "fly" like the airplanes and I wanted to take some pictures from my point of view!

Look at those cute boys!

The Air Show at HAFB!

2009-07-15T09:02:00.001-07:00

Nate got some really great shots at the air show last month, so I thought I should post these too.

The smoking parachuters and stunt planes were my favorite! These two looked like they were going to hit, then they both turned, it was pretty cool.

The jets were a little too loud, we finally remembered we'd come prepared with earplugs!

The shiny one and the formation flying was Nate's favorite. I know he's going to cringe when he reads this, that I called his favorite plane "the shiny one" rather than it's make and model that I'm sure he told me 10 times that day. He might even be annoyed enough to log in and edit this himself! We'll see...

Backing up to June...

2009-07-15T08:20:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been so long since we've posted anything, I'll only back up one month. At the beginning of June we went to the Ochre Mountain Temple dedication, it was really pretty and really windy!

Cody was being very posy:

Backyard Beekeeping

2009-04-28T07:30:00.001-07:00

I explained to Catherine that I wanted to raise some bees and she said why don't you just buy honey from Costco? I have asked myself the same question on occasions when my DIY attempts didn't turn out so well. But there is something about doing things yourself that I just love. I think some of it comes from my Genes. From gardening, candlemaking, housebuilding, farming, ropemaking, boat building my Dad has done it. I blame some of my DIY energy on my dad.

I enjoy the learning, the feeling of independence and the satisfaction that comes from knowing I did it.

Bees are pretty amazing creatures and once you start working with them you never look at honey the same. In order to produce 1 pound of honey 2 million flowers must be visited.

I started raising bees as a youth alongside my dad. We worked the church welfare bees as well as raised several hives of our own.

Sure I could buy a large quantity of honey from Costco for a lot less hassle but hey I would be missing out on moments like this.

Laughter is the best medicine

2009-03-10T11:04:00.001-07:00

Laughter is the best medicine from Nathan Tanner on Vimeo.

2009-03-05T06:49:00.000-08:00

My brother Bryant received his mission call to Eugene Oregon. Were so excited for him and the great experiences that await. Also my parents decided to start a blog, I think my Dad just wanted to get back at Catherine for a picture we had that teased him about the similarities between him and our son Neil.

Life has been crazy busy. Our house is in shambles as we pack and try and get ready for the move. Catherine has been much better at packing then me. I get side tracked going through stuff, oh here is a picture from high school, hey here is my mission journal... next thing I know its time for bed and I haven't put together a single box.

We have been searching for a new home and also preparing to speak in church I'm supper nervous about leaving our home and finding a new home. Catherine is more nervous about speaking in church.

Our experiences with house hunting have been a little dismal and left us with a bad impression of real estate agents. One night we went out and the first agent dogged us. The next agent showed up at a home in the wrong city and the third agent forgot his key to get into the home.

Despite these bad experiences we found an agent that handles lots of shortsales. We feel we might be able to get a good deal by purchasing a short sale. The agent was listing a property we wanted so when we went to put an offer on it he got us to sign a contract and use him as our agent. Hopefully this will be of benefit. Without an agent its real hard knowing which homes are short sales.

Photo Contest

2009-02-23T10:04:00.000-08:00

Catherine and I worked on getting a photo of Neil for a little magazine contest. We finally settled on a good shot went to upload the photo for the contest and the contest was closed. Woops at least we got a cute photo?

Cody Turns 4!

2009-01-31T14:25:00.000-08:00

On Cody's actual birthday we built an awesome snowman! A couple days later we had his party, we started with musical chairs, then played a game Nate found at the party store, pin the "X" on the map. It had the funniest mask to cover the kids eyes!

Here's Gavin demonstrating!

Then they went on a treasure hunt with picture clues that ended up at an "x" in the front yard on the snow. Buried underneath was a bag with party favors and a treasure chest pinata. That was fun, for me! Here's a clip of Cody's first attempt at it, don't worry, he didn't really hit me, but at this angle it looks like it!

The kids each got to take a swing at it, and they each knocked out one piece, then would stop. Finally we got Chase to keep whacking at it until all the candy flew, it was fun!

Then we had the treasure map cake that inspired it all. Cody saw a picture of a map cake and couldn't be swayed, that's what he wanted, and that's what this is suppose to be. It was lots of fun, the party, not making the cake! Mom is glad it's over!

I also want to thank all the patient Mom's that brought their kids and/or let them be subjected to the craziness/festivities and helped Cody have a fun birthday!

Something fun for those fellow Office fans!

2009-01-31T13:49:00.000-08:00

I should preface this by: yes I know, I'm a geek. I recently made a shirt online for the office t-shirt contest and thought I'd share part of it for all those fellow Office fans out there, I know there's at least a few!

In a recent episode Dwight mentioned the 40 rules all Schrute boys must learn by age 5, so I thought I would expand on that idea. Some are actual quotes, and some I made up!

*40 Schrute Boy Rules*

1. Keep your enemies close and your weapons closer.

2. Yellow is the color of cowardice; mustard is the color of superiority and dominance.

3. Always have a backup to your backup’s backup weapon.

4. Fierce loyalty isn’t a sign of weakness but possible domination; `E tu Brute?

5. Be able to live on the diet of an arctic wolf: caribou, musk oxen, lemmings and hares.

6. Always have an attack plan, a retreat plan, and an alternate attack plan.

7. Vanquish fear.

8. If you fall in the combine you make good compost and an acceptable sacrifice to the harvest moon.

9. Know 5 ways to cook canary.

10. We are warriors, descended from Vikings and possibly cannibals, and always will act as such.

11. Beets are one of Americas most beloved staple, provide for them and they will provide for you.

12. Animals that are suffering are better off dead.

13. Never let people walk behind you, 70% of attacks come from the rear.

14. The safest place in a car is in the back and behind the driver, who will almost always protect him or herself first.

15. Wear or show all signs of physical domination, such as purple Karate belts or the color mustard.

16. She’s not off limits ‘till she says, “I do.”

17. Never turn your back on bears, men you have wronged or the dominant turkey during mating season.

18. Continue the research of beet juice as an alternate source of fuel.

19. Find a woman with acceptably ample hip width for proper birthing of abnormally large Schrute heads.

20. Always be suspicious of everyone, everywhere, all the time.

21. Bears can climb faster than they can run.

22. Robots and humans can never coexist.

23. The eyes are the groin of the face.

24. Bats are dangerous because of their possible relation to or alternate form of vampires, and they may carry rabies.

25. Know the cycle of the moon and the women around you.

26. Keep up relations with former baby-sitter as they may make for good dates.

27. Try to become friends with a hobbit.

28. Bear attacks can come when you least expect them, be prepared.

29. Know all edible items in the forest from non-edible items.

30. A potato flying at 60 pounds per square inch can be a dangerous weapon.

31. Always be able to run faster than bears, most men, and turkeys; at least 13 mph.

32. Never let your guard down, unless you absolutely have to, even then only let it halfway down.

33. Bears eat beets.

34. Always be the dominant male, or the assistant to the dominant male.

35. A beet a day keeps constipation at bay.

36. When you smell blood, attack, unless you’re the assistant deputy sheriff on duty, then assist.

37. Know how to clean and operate 10 major weapons from each century.

38. Be able to identify and perform all local forest animals mating and attacking calls.

39. Farms also make good B&B’s and reception halls.

40. Always respect your elders, especially the ones that know witchcraft and wizardry.

Have a Very Scary Christmas?!

2008-12-20T22:57:00.000-08:00

When we pulled out the Christmas decorations a few weeks ago Cody made a new friend, but Neil was terrified of our Nutcracker! Maybe because it's bigger than he is!

I should probably have been a good mom and been sympathetic, but it was too funny, so I teased him a bit with it, okay and chased him a little too! If our kids don't get screwed up it will be a miracle!

He was fine with it, even amused from a distance, but when it got closer his mood changed so quickly!

Why I Can't Shower...

2008-11-20T14:39:00.000-08:00

At least before the boys have finished eating breakfast. I thought that they'd be so occupied with eating that I could slip away for a quick shower, but apparently not:

Neil takes after his mom, we've gotta have our cold cereal!

Wyoming...

2008-11-12T16:13:00.000-08:00

Should be the windy state! We went there this last weekend to visit Nate's brother Chris and his wife Brittany, there 2 dogs and 2 cats. Nate and Chris went fishing and had good success!

While the rest of us, minus the pets, went shopping, without success. Apparently there is not enough toddlers in Rollins to have a need for the 2 stores in town to carry any undershirts. So Neil got to wear one of Cody's for a couple days, it only hung out 3 inches past his shirt, which came in handy for wiping his nose!

We had fun playing guitar hero world tour, keeping the boys and the cats from destroying each other, relaxing watching movies, and eating at Sanford's, watching Neil demolish his spaghetti!

He ate that whole bowl of spaghetti, plus some of his breadstick, a side of applesauce and some ice cream! Good times, good times!

Halloween

2008-11-12T15:35:00.000-08:00

The boys were very fitting wild animals for Halloween, and Nate documentd the process of painting Cody's face as a tiger. Neil's face job was so fast and furious that it could not be documented. It was done with my eyeliner in the blink of an eye, so all you get is the finished product at Grandma and Grandpas house!

Here's some of the clips from Cody's transformation:

Neil thought Cody's face was funny!

Here's the cheetah and tiger with Grandpa Tanner. The tiger's face was already starting to peel off!

Trick or Treat!

Vegas Baby!

2008-11-12T15:05:00.000-08:00

The week before Halloween we went on a quick 2 night trip with our friends, Nate and Malia Bond, to Las Vegas. They had the trip planned and pretty much let us tag along, but we had so much fun!

We almost didn't make it though, the van we were in, (Bond's Mom's van) broke down just past Arizona and we were stranded on the side of the freeway in the middle of the desert! Luckily we got a tow truck and a rental car and continued on our way! We had alot of fun doing Wii Fit competions, played in the pools, had an amazing buffet, and one far less than amazing buffet.

We also played around at the M&M factory. It was so fun and very warm, and we only lost $3 on the slots between Nate T, Malia and me!

Few Fun things in October...

2008-11-04T13:06:00.001-08:00

We went with my family on a tracter-pulled hay ride to a pumpkin patch where all the kids got to pick a pumpkin, This was out in west Layton at J & J's. It was alot of fun, untill I tried carying Cody's giant green/very heavy pumpkin and I dropped it, on his head! :( It cracked it, the pumpkin that is, but we still took it home!

They were so fascinated with all the different pumpkins!

Earlier in the month we had fun with the boys at the Ogden Dinosaur Park! They weren't scared at all by the creatures, even the moving ones!

Cody, look out behind you!!!

Nate Posts (hope you dont mind Catherine)

2008-09-21T19:16:00.000-07:00

Hey Catherine and Friends,

Hope you dont mind me posting here. I have tried blogging and have never managed to get past a few posts. Catherine is keeping up a good thing here so rather then trying to keep up a blog of my own maybe I can tag along and post a few here or there.

Im sitting in a hotel in Atlanta on a business conference. Im wishing I were home with the family eating breakfast for dinner. Being away makes you appreciate what you have. Man I love my family! Anyway I was bored and as I was looking at Catherines posts I wanted to comment on what was going on. I thought I might as well just make this a family blog :)

Here is a picture from the flight to Atlanta. Its amazing to be in the air looking down at how small and insignificant everything seems.

Here is an addendum to things Cody doesnt like to eat. His DINNER and surprising as it seems... Cotton Candy?

Cody and the Praying Mantis...

2008-09-20T14:44:00.000-07:00

Nate got some good pictures of Cody making a new friend... untill it jumped on his head!

Camped Out!

2008-09-15T14:18:00.000-07:00

In August we went camping as a family 3 weekends in a row, 4 for me because of girls camp, and I think I am done camping for the year! The first camping trip was to Bear Lake for a weekend of fun on the beach, but it was a little cooler than we'd expected, luckily we were prepared!

It was a lot of fun, and the next weekend was the elders quorum camp out at Perception Point. We had fun playing volleyball with everyone, and making super messy smores. Not so much fun listening to our boys cry half the night.

The next weekend was our annual Labor Day camp out with my family in the Uintahs. We went to my parents' stakes property at Lake Lyman. We got to do some canoeing, hiking, fishing, napping, playing with cousins, chasing squirrels, and a lot of chasing the boys around and wiping the dirt off them!

This is the picture Nate got of the squirrel that was protesting our camping by chucking pine cones at us the whole time we were there. Mostly at my Dad's truck, which was really loud when they hit! You can see the pine cone it just released during one of it's assaults!

We hiked and Neil napped, shots of the fishermen, Uncle Daniel in the hammock with Cody, Neil chasing Bradley, and the view in the evening of Lake Lyman!

Snowbird 2008

2008-09-09T15:38:00.000-07:00

We went to Snowbird in July with my family and had a lot of fun! We swam alot, went on the Alpine Slide, the ski lift, and the tram! I also climbed the wall outside the Cliff Lodge, a 20 story building, and made it to the top in just over 9 minutes! That's good for me, last time I climbed that wall it took me almost 30 minutes! It takes my little brother Daniel between 3-4 minutes. My arms were so sore for the next few days! This is me going up the wall and Daniel repelling back down. Yeah, it's a big wall!

Here's Cody having fun in the pool getting tossed around, and Neil and Grandma Watt having fun at the playground, Grandma getting tossed around!

This is Cody and me going to the top of the alpine slide, and coming back down. Luckily there's no pictures of us waiting in the line at the top for an hour! Also brother-in-law Andrew Butcher riding to the top with his daughter Abbi, my sister Angie, her husband Bruce, and son Bradley Floyd, my other sister Kim Butcher with Jaron Floyd, and bringing up the rear, Karlee Floyd, all riding down. Karlee doesn't look like she's having much fun!

Cody went again another day with Nate, my Mom and Dad, definately all enjoying the ride! What was wrong with Karlee's ride?

This is the group in our annual pose outside the condo on the way out, saying goodbye to Snowbird and each other.

Neil needs a haircut.

2 Things Cody doesn't like to eat:

2008-09-09T15:25:00.000-07:00

Pop Rocks and sand. We got some really funny pictures while discovering both of these this summer, the second courtesy of the new sand in Grandpa Tanners sand box. Notice the quick recovery in both instances!

We also made another discover over the summer, an uncanny resemblance...

Summer Fun with Grandma Great!

2008-09-09T14:44:00.000-07:00

Great Grandma Tanner had a summer- fun Great-Grandkid, (plus parents)- party at the end of June. It was fun to get all the little cousins together to hang out and relax, eat and swim! It was SO funny to watch Neil, he couldn't get enough of the sprinkler, and Cody couldn't eat his popcicle fast enough. Really, he didn't. Half of it melted/ fused with his hand and it was stained orange for a week!

Congratulations!!!

2008-09-09T14:33:00.000-07:00

On June 21st, 2008 Nate's younger brother David Tanner married his sweetheart, Acacia. I know this posting is a little late, but now that I finally finished my Hawaii post/novel, I'm trying to go back and catch up on the rest of the summer!

Grandpa Tanner did a wonderful sealing, the bride was beautiful, the weather was great, the reception was very pretty, and lots of fun! Again, congratulations David and Acacia, and good luck!

Two Tickets to Paradise!!!

2008-06-30T19:50:00.000-07:00

I know we've been back for a while, but life and laundry didn't pause to let me post about our 10 days in heaven. Now that weddings, reunions, girls camp, and some of the laundry is done, here are the highlights from our trip to Hawaii!! This is a view from the plane of the first island we went to (if you don't count our half hour layover on Oahu): Kauai!

This is our first morning and our first rainbow, also the "ocean view"
from our condo deck. If you squint and look really far you can see it above the foliage to the right. We were actually in Princeville on the north shore, right next to some cliffs that dropped down to the ocean. There was an awesome (and steep) trail right out our backdoor leading to the ocean, a secluded small beach and cave. Too bad we found it on the last morning here, just after we'd packed to go to Oahu. Oh well, we saw many other amazing sights! The first was a short but beautiful, as well as muddy and steep, hike to a place called Queens bath.

There was a small waterfall to the side of the trail and lots of volcanic rocks and boulders with tidepools and many creatures, especially small dark crabs, scurrying around the rocks. We were right on the edge of the ocean, got splashed on, watched a few others snorkel, and decided to go find us a sandy beach to be our first ocean dip.

So we went to Tunnels beach, infamous for it's snorkeling, and experienced the ocean's coral reef and it's inhabitants up close and personal! It was a little unnerving at first, okay, I was scared finnless, the fish would swim inches from you face! But after a while you realized they couldn't care less if you were there, and I was able to relax and really enjoy myself!!! Then Nate got after me for getting too into it and wandering too far away, but I couldn't help myself, it was like being the plastic diver inside the dentist fish tank, but better! And sitting on the beach felt like sitting in a postcard!

The next morning we went for a breathtaking and beautiful hike at the beginning of the Napali coast, about 2 miles, to a semi-secluded beach. The hike had the best views, was through amazing jungle foliage and smelt like maple syrup, don't ask me why, it just did. When we were approaching the beach there were signs warning of killer waves and it numbered 80+ deaths on this beach. Nevertheless, we went on and found a picturesque beach with moderate waves that Nate and Chris found perfect for bodysurfing, and Brittany and I got quite a few laughs! (Chris is Nate's younger brother and Brittany is his wife.)

Wow what scary waves! Our hike back, we were dripping sweat and sick of Nate taking pictures!

After the hike we drove up the coast to the National bird refuge and lighthouse, really pretty! Later that day we found a very steep path to a beautiful, nearly secluded beach Right in Princeville. It had lots of small sand crabs. Then we tried to go to bed early because we had an early morning the next day, but it was like Christmas Eve, the night before our trike flight and ATV rides! We finally managed to get some sleep, despite the anticipation and sunburns...

Chris trying to catch a crab, and Nate trying not to fall off the trail!

Bright and early the next morning we arrived at Birds of Paradise and signed our life away for a 30 minute view of the south end of the island, the way the seagulls see it! Here's our attractive, prison-like jumpsuits, and our trikes! It was a blast, though I got a little queezy!
Then we drove through the nearby CANYON. Also known as the Grand Canyon of the pacific, or something like that. It really was a lot like Zions, only green.

Then we got to our hands-down ,favorite activity of the whole trip, the ATV's!!!! The money spent was well worth the tour, driving your own ATV's through the barely seen land on a private, once royal, ranch. We drove through wild plants and animals while learning a lot about the culture and heritage of the ancient people that lived there. It was so fascinating! And so much fun for a first time ATV-er, they took us on some pretty bumpy trails, and when they weren't bad they let us go pretty fast, Nate couldn't keep up with me!
We got to stop and pose at some famous scenery in movies that had been filmed there: the backdrop to Jurassic Park scenes and the rope swing from Indiana Jones! After it was all over we compared our dirt lines! Too bad Nates best tanline was about to wash away!

The next day we went to a beach and tried our hand at some more boogie boarding, and Chris obtained the worst injury of the trip! Then later that night we decided to take dinner to the beach in time to finally watch our first sunset from the beach! It was breathtaking, and quite romantic!

When we got back we had an exotic fruit tasting party with some fruit we had bought at a street market earlier that day, it was very... interesting! Quite educational, we liked pineapple best!
The next day was Sunday and after church Nate and I took a drive around the island waterfall hunting. We found a few pretty ones and had fun posing with them:

The next morning was when Nate and I found the coolest cove by the beach right below our condo, with tidepools and views!! Of course the day we're leaving the Island! Good excuse to have to come back someday!

So we left Kauai and went back to Oahu, going first to Pearl Harbor while we were on the south end of the island by the airport, before we drove to our place up north at Turtle Bay. The tickets to go out and see the Arizona were already sold out, so we went to the "Mighty Mo". It was the ship with the big guns and also where the treaty was actually signed. It was very cool!

The next day was Tuesday, Brittany's big day at the temple, and Nate's small day, since he forgot his recommend had expired 10 days before. So the rest of us had a neat experience in the Hawaii temple, and Nate got some good pictures outside.

The next day we got in a little trip to the beach at Turtle Bay before we left for another fun filled day! First, Geovanni's Shrimp Truck, for a famous shrimp plate lunch, messy but delicious! Then the rest of the day at the Polynesian Cultural Center!!!

The PCC was awesome!!! It was neat to learn about all the different cultures among the different islands, play games, and get temporary tribal tatoos. We got fresh flower lei's entering the banquet dinner, and Nate and I got to dance on stage with (with alot of others) for celebrating an anniversary (6th). Then we had a fabulous buffet with some authentic island food, and then the high point of the night, the big show at the end of the night showcasing all the islands, and the FIRE DANCERS!!! It was definately a great finally to our trip!

All the different islands came through dancing on boats: Hawaii, Tahiti, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga and Fiji.

The last day in Hawaii :( We had some time to kill before our late flight out so we first went to an amazing Buddhist temple. It's entirely built without nails, and home to the fattest and most aggressive coy in their pond. That first part's a fact, the fish part is just my opinion. We also got to ring the gong, that was cool!

Then we wandered through Chinatown. Saw some rats running through crates of seafood, ate some really good Thia food, and did a little shopping. Then we hit a beach to play in the Hawaii sand one last time, and say Aloha and goodbye, before flying back home!

I Did It!!!

2008-05-19T08:44:00.000-07:00

So my goal was to finish under two hours and I did it in 1 hour and 38 minutes!! The first event was swimming 300 meters, which was the hardest for me, especially since the pool there was twice as long as the one we'd practiced in. I did that in 13+ minuets, then the first transition took 4+ minutes to the bikes. The bike course had a killer uphill, then a long flat/ gradual incline stretch, then a great downhill at the end, we did that loop twice for a total of 11.4 miles, which I did in 50+ minutes. Then transition #2 in 50 seconds, and back to the loop for the run, which was half the loop, still including the killer uphill at the beginning, and great downhill at the end, for 3.1ish miles, which I ran in 29 minutes, a personal best!
So I'm still alive and ready for our well earned trip to Hawaii, in 15 days, not that I'm counting, Aloha!!

What Did I Do?!

2008-05-13T14:36:00.000-07:00

For some, who might not have heard, I let my insane friend Emily talk me into signing up, paying for, and training for a session of pure torture, also known as a triathlon. It's the Women of Steel tri, this coming Saturday in American Fork, and i am SO nervous!!! At first I thought if nothing else it would help me loose post baby weight and get me swimsuit ready for our Hawaii trip in 21 days, not that I'm counting down. Any way, I haven't lost weight (which is apparently normal when training for a triathlon, but I have lost inches! :) and now I'm just hoping I will be alive to go to Hawaii! Nate, if I die on Saturday, you have my permission to take any of the widows in our ward, over eighty, in my place.