Football Final

After months and months of hard work, practice, growing, trying to figure it all out, and losing 8 games, the boys of the Cedar High School Freshmen team finally pulled it off and won their last game, with a score of 12-6.   

As you look at their faces, and the joy that is shown there, you can tell that the last game was the one that counted, the one that really mattered to them all.  They played against the other high school in our fair little city, against boys that they have played with in the past years.  I guess it was pretty much for bragging rights and the knowledge that, if they want it bad enough, they can make it happen.  They just needed to believe in themselves.

tailEnd has grown so much this past year, and so much in the past few months.  He has gained at least 6 inches, a few of those inches from the hair, and has developed muscle and strength beyond what he thought was possible.  He has pushed himself and endured the pushing of coaches, teammates, teachers, and parents along the way, only to realize that he really can do more than he thought. 

He has managed to go from a 2.0gpa, failing Honors Algebra 2 & Honors English 9th, to a final grade of 3.188gpa at the end of the season and the end of the quarter, passing all classes and living to talk about it.  He figured out he was smarter than he thought and mom figured out that he still needs her, just a little bit, even though he is bigger than her now.

We love you tailEnd and are extremely proud of you and what you have learned and endured this past football season.  We know it was hard, but you stuck with it, and you won in the end.

A special 'Thank You!' goes out to the coaching staff and the time and effort that they have put in to helping our boys to grow and to learn. 

What do you think, maybe next year we can get a girl on the team? Just a thought.

Love to All,

midRae

Or Two

 FALL?!?

I just thought I would share one more photo.  Hope you all enjoy.

Love to All,

midRae

One Word Wednesday

SNOW!!!

Not Me Monday.......

Yes folks, it's that time again, 'not me Monday'.  And I would love for each and every one of you to join us in the carnival of fun.

Sooooooo, here we go.

I did not crochet 10 new born beanies this past week.  Nope, I would never find such a cute pattern online, and proceed to make way too many, that I have now decided to donate them all, except for the three for my brother, to the nursery at the local hospital.  I would never, ever, go so far overboard.  Nope, never, not me.  And I would never choose to continue making them until I get bored.  Nope, this is so not me.

And I would never proceed to bake my brains out while I was off work this past week.  Nope, I did not bake dinner rolls twice, bake a double batch of cinnamon rolls, and then proceed to make four batches of Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies at once.  Nope, no, no, no.  Never me!!

I would also never get so bored while off work for a week, I really do love my time off, that I am really excited to be back to work.  Nope, it was not insanely quiet at my house this week.  And I did not just decide to stop doing this post so that I could watch The Amazing Race.  Nope, I would never let anything else get in the way of me typing up this post. 

Commercial break, I'm back. 

And I would never ever forget my father-in-laws birthday.  Nope this does not happen to me on each and every one of my parents and my in-laws birthdays and anniversary's.  Nope this never happens to me and most definitely did not happen this past week, on the very day of his birthday, when the in-laws just happened to stop by and visit on their way back home.  No I would never ever embarrass myself like that with the ones I love. 

Never, Never, Never!!!

Hope you all had a great week.

Love to All,

midRae

P.S.  And I did not just book my second photo shoot.  Nope, not me.  And I am not excited and scared all at once.  Never me.  And I am not going to let all of my friends know that I would love to do their photos, too.  Nope not me and I would never tell them all that, 'I am not a professional, but please please let me take your picture.'  Nope, never, ever me. 

Lately

This is some of what I accomplished this week, but honestly I did not accomplish a lot this week, I just had to pull your leg a little.  I did manage to finish this cute little afghan for my younger brother and his new baby, he is 42 and this will be his first baby, and she is due to arrive in 4 weeks.  I also found a pattern for these really cute little newborn beanies.  I love them and they are so easy, I can make one in less than 20 minutes.  Aren't they all adorable?

Love to All,

midRae

Dayton's Day

OK, I first need to start this post off with a note of frustration. See, I usually upload all of my photo's through my Flickr account, only it's not cooperating today, along with everything else in my life, at least it seems that way. I don't know if it has anything to do with using Lightroom to edit my photo's or not, but hopefully I can get it all worked out sometime this weekend or I will definitely be pulling my hair out.

On to Dayton's Day.  Dayton is my middle child and I love him so.  I always feel as if I can connect with him on so many different levels.  We are both middle children, and as middle children, we tend to deal with things a lot differently than most people.  But back to just Dayton and Dayton's Day.

After one long year of learning, doing, fixing, spending, hurting, bleeding, and growing, he started his car yesterday.  Now his car has not been out of commission for one year, but he has been building a new engine for it over the past year.  Two months ago he really got on it and yesterday was the day.  He started it and all is great.  We are so proud of him, he did it pretty much all by himself.  When he had a problem he would track down all of the information that he needed or he would just figure it out and make it all work right.  He for sure has the mentality it takes to figure things out.  What an amazing accomplishment!!  He rocks!!!

He also took and passed the written test for his Utah CDL license.  He can now drive big trucks, just like his daddy.  He has had quite an amazing day and I would like the world to know just what an amazing young man he is.  We love him and are so very, very proud of him.

I love you Dayt and am so glad that you are my son.

Love to All,

midRae

The Smith Family

I would like to introduce The Smith Family.

Baby Smith has the biggest eyes,

and you can get completely lost in them.

She is also such a sweetheart.

She likes to scream, too.

Just for fun.

I would like to thank the Smith family for their patience,

and their belief in my abilities.

Love to All,

midRae

Harvest of Friends BLOG PARTY

OK, so I am the late one for this Blog Party, but usually I am the early one in everything that I do, that is except for having babies, always at least 1 week over due, and one was two weeks over and he had to be persuaded to join our little family out of the womb. But back to topic, I really wanted to join and thought I would have plenty of time, because I didn't have to work today and I had all weekend to do this, but as you can all tell things just didn't go as I planned.

That being said, here is my late arrival.

1. What is your favorite thing to snack on while you're blogging? Cantaloupe. Favorite negative calorie food right now.

2. What is one thing you wouldn't want to live without? This one is easy. My family. I would be lost.

3. Beach, Mountains or Farm? Where would you live if you had a choice? Mountains, hands down. We go as often as possible and hope to build our dream cabin and live in it full time in 4 years.

4. What's your least favorite chore/household duty? Pulling weeds. Does that count, it's outside. But I do hate it!!!

5. Who do people say you remind them of? tailEnd says my mom. Nobody famous for me.

6. Prefer parties and socializing or staying at home with the fam? Love to just veg with the family. I am so not a social butterfly. I'm the worm that stays pretty much in the same square foot my whole life.

7. What's your all time favorite movie? Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

8. Do you sleep in your make up or remove it like a good girl every night? Remove it. And I bought water proof mascara by mistake. I totally hate it!!!

9. Do you have a hidden talent or a deep desire to learn something that you've never had a chance to learn? What is it? Photography!! And this week I will start the dream. Going to check out classes at SUU.

10. What's one strange thing you're really good at? We don't know. I guess I am not strange.

11. What first attracted you to your spouse? That someone else wanted him. I know that's bad but then I think it was because he was so needy. I love to be needed.

12. What is something you love to smell? Coffee, hands down. To bad I can't stand the taste.

13. Tell something about you that you know irritates people. When I want something done it better get done now. Oh and I'm really cheap.

14. When you have extra money (HA!) what's the first thing you think to do with it? Something for the kids or for midMan.

15. Are you a silent laughter or a loud laughter? What makes you laugh the hardest? Little giggle. Full out laugh when I watch AFV with tailEnd. He makes me laugh.

16. Where is your favorite place to shop? No where. I hate to shop.

17. What's one thing you'd do more often if you had more time? Read and take baths.

18. Are you a big spender or frugal? As I said, cheap, cheap, cheap.

19. Who is your favorite character of all time (from a movie or book)? (Can't be real) This is a hard one. Ummmm................I'll think on this one because I seriously do not know.

20. Would you want to be famous? Maybe a little recognition. I have determined that I need to be noticed. Not a lot but just a little bit. So maybe famous with my family.

OK, well that wasn't too hard. I think I learned a little bit about myself. I hope everyone has a great day and an even better evening.

Love to All,

midRae

Not Me Monday............

Here we go again.....that wonderful blog carnival from McKMama that we have all come to love and enjoy, "not me" MONDAY!! Come and join us, the more the merrier.

This past weekend I did not sit around and pretty much do nothing and totally enjoyed the down time. I would never do that. Nope I am always actively involved in being constructive, always! And I would never be glad to take a whole week off of work with nothing planned but a few dig in projects at home. Nope!! I would never ever want to miss work.

And I would never stare at my kitchen table and want to throw my arms in the air with frustration, like here. And it is so not covered with pumpkins going moldy, pumpkins drying out, school work, books, papers, and various other items that I have been to lazy to pick up. Nope I would never be frustrated or lazy over such a simple thing. Never!! That is just so not me.

And just a quick side note. midMan did not get sick last night and throw up all the way to the bathroom, including all over the carpet on the way to the bathroom (eeeewwwwwww). Nope, we as adults never have those uncontrolled moments. Never, never, never!! Just like us women never squirt when we laugh and jump. Nope, none of that ever happens to us. We are always in total control of ourselves and our surroundings, so none of this could have ever happened. EVER!!!

Love to All,

midRae

Leftovers

I decided to share a few more photos from our trip to the Grand Canyon a few weeks ago. I hope that you all enjoy them.

This is a view of one of the many parking lots at the Grand Canyon, I think it's the only one that was pretty much empty. But, as you can see, the white car picked the only available parking space, I don't think so, and chose to park right on our back bumper. We weren't mad or upset, but we sure did find it amusing that they chose that particular spot to park.

Just outside of Jacob Lake, on the way to the Grand Canyon, we spotted this Fire Watch Tower just off the side of the road. During the fire season these are manned 24 hours a day and they are located all throughout the forest in the area. I thought it would be pretty cool to spend a night or two up there checking things out, but figured out that there is a big draw back, the bathroom is an outhouse down on the ground! It's a long way to the bottom to go potty. It really would make you rethink how much liquid you decided to ingest, but hey, it would be a great workout for those buns.

This one really made my knees wobble and made me feel like my stomach wanted to fly away. As a mommy I did not like this, not one bit.

midMan and I walked real fast through this one. It drops pretty far down on either side and I could just imagine falling through that gap on the side. Oh my poor stomach is just flipping out just looking at it right now. I think I'm breaking out in a sweat!

Closing my eyes and moving on.

Last, but definitely not least, is tailEnd, not to happy with mom because I wouldn't let him get to close to the edge. What! Does he think I am, CRAZY!? He has no idea how precious he is to our family. Some day he may figure it out but at this moment, in this picture, he was so not happy with mom.

Love to All,

midRae

Football & Bacon

You may ask yourself, 'What does football and bacon have to do with each other?' Well, it so happens that I can answer that question for you. Hopefully you will be able to find the humor like I did.


Yesterday afternoon was tailEnd's second to last football game and we had a great time watching it. They played against the Hurricane Freshman team, which they should, seeing as how tailEnd plays on the Cedar Freshman team. Now the Hurricane team is the second best team in the state, as far as freshmen teams go, and our great little team has lost each and everyone of their games. During a few of their games, they made a strong and bold play to win, but alas, the prize has been elusive.


Well, last night they fought their big hearts out, thinking they would be lucky to come away with a score of Hurricane-70 something to Cedar-0, and managed to hold the Hurricane team to 35-0. Yes, we lost! And we have lost by bigger spreads this season to teams that Hurricane has beat, but this is the best that our boys have played all year, although they have played some really great second half's, which ended up being great playing, just a little late. We came away from the game very proud and really pumped for our boys, I also have a sore throat now from all of my yelling and cheering. Our last game will be next week against the Canyon View Freshmen team, and seeing as how both Cedar and Canyon View hail from the same town, same city rivals, wishing us tons of luck and lots of skill, lets win the game!!!!


Quick side note about the Hurricane team. I found out that my cousin is one of the coaches, for the Hurricane team, so it was pretty great to talk with him. I also got to have a really quick, but great, visit with my Aunt May. Gosh, I just love her. He said that tailEnd was a really big kid and he also offered us footage of the Canyon View team, but we've already got that. Anyways it was a blast!!


Moving on. After the game we went to Dairy Queen and had a really great visit with Grandma and Grandpa Munk. Both are doing awesome and Grandpa hasn't had a cigarette since his heart attack a couple of months ago. We are so proud of him. It's great to have the hope that he will be around for a lot longer. We sure do miss those guys, and wish that we could talk them in to moving to Cedar, but we'll just keep trying. They can't tell us no forever.


While we were at Dairy Queen, Dayton, the middle son, called and asked what we were going to do for dinner. I told him we were eating and he said, 'OK, I love you.' He is such a cutie and I just love my middle child. He is such a great kid and is always ready to lend a helping hand. He has been trying to mother us all since the day he was born and I just love knowing that he is there if ever I need him. He is such a great blessing.


Time to drive home and get ready for the next day. tailEnd's got homework, I've got housework, and midMan just needs to get to bed so he can get up real early for work. We made it home in good time and safely which is always a good thing, we even passed the team bus on the way. midMan told tailEnd to 'moon' them, which I promptly shot down. We can't be havin any of that stuff, at least not on my watch!


So here comes the bacon. Just after we got home, Dayton and Shannel decided to cook BLT's. YYUUUMMM! One of my favorites. Here we are, it's 8:20PM and I'm to tired for a shower, and they are cooking yummy food. Is this a common occurrence in life and I just never caught on, this cooking dinner really late? Not really a big deal, but I am curious. All of our kids seems to do this, I guess I just don't fix enough or I fix it to early. Who knows?


Anyways, tailEnd finally finishes his homework and I'm off to bed at about 9:30PM so that I can get up and go to work.


Get up, go to work, and I smell BACON!!!!


Why do I smell BACON?!?!? Who is cooking bacon at work and why do I smell it clear down in my office? What is the deal here?


I finally figured it out. My hair smells like bacon, lol. My boss even confirmed this for me. I guess this is what I get for being to lazy to take a shower last night and not giving myself enough time in the morning to take a shower either. So my scent of choice for the day will be Au De Bacon.


Love to All,


midRae

1st Photo Shoot

So here they are. A few examples from my first time ever doing real photography. I know that they could use a lot of work, but I think that will come in time. Amanda & Johnny are such a cute couple and they have the most adorable little girl.

In my earlier post I said that my son got me Lighthouse, he actually got me Photoshop Lightroom 2. So much cooler that a Lighthouse, trust me on this one.

I would love everyone to comment and give me their opinions. My only request is to critique me with nice words but please make them honest so that I can learn and improve. I will have more pictures to post of this cute little family in the near future.

Love to All,

midRae

Quiet Weekend

So I was just sitting here thinking about what a quiet weekend we had when I realized it really wasn't that quiet. I guess it seemed like it because we didn't go for a ride up to the mountains, nor did we do a lot at home. What we did do was......

1. Up at 5:30am.
2. Cook breakfast, and cleanup the kitchen.
3. Went to our other bank to get funds.
4. Looked all over town for the people selling red potato's, 50 lbs for $10.00.
5. Could not find the potato people.
6. Dropped tailEnd off to visit with his friend for the day, it was her birthday and they got to go eat at The Olive Garden (jealousy has reared it's ugly head).
7. Gave up on cheap red potato's and went to Smiths and got 50 lbs of russet potato's for $50.00.
8. Stopped at Lin's and picked up a few cases of veggies for my mom and dad.
9. Got a donut and a drink, for midMan and myself, for our little ride to Milford to take the 50 lbs of russet potato's and the cases of veggies to my parents.
10. Drove 50 miles to Milford and visited with my parents for a little while.
11. 2:30pm back in the truck and on our way home.
12. 3:15 back home and stopping at Papa Murphy's for pizza for dinner.
13. Headed back home and saw the potato people selling the red potato's.
14. Stopped and bought 50 more lbs of potato's.
15. Home, and making sure that my camera is all ready for the pictures that I will be taking for a really cute little family.
16. Getting really nervous about taking pictures. I've never done this before.
17. Taking pictures at Canyon Park for an hour and a half. I will post a few later in the week and I will for sure want honest opinions. Please!
18. Back home and cooking pizza and taking a shower.
19. Now we get to eat and sit for a minute or two before bed.
20. Pick up tailEnd.
21. And now it's bed time.
22. Up at 6:00am to get ready for church.
23. Cook pancakes and eat pancakes. Put together Chili for dinner and put in crock pot to simmer all day.
24. Off to church.
25. Back home and making a banana cream pie and a chocolate cream pie.
26. Laundry.
27. tailEnd working on home work, trying to keep him motivated, and seeing that it is taking him all day to get it done. There really was not that much. Just to many distractions.
28. All three kids all home, with their significant others, eating dinner. Chili, cornbread, and pie, yyyuuuummmmm.
29. Mom of cute little family came over to look at the pictures, unedited of course, and she seemed to like them.
30. Oldest son got me Lighthouse. Cool!!
31. Clean kitchen, take shower.
32. Now for me time. Watch Amazing Race (love this show, want to do it).
33. Work on a really cute afghan that I am doing for my brothers new baby.
34. Bed.

Whew, I may be a little glad that the work week has started. I think I might need to catch my breath a little bit here.

OK, I know it wasn't that busy but sometimes it just really seems like it. I hope you all had a great weekend.

Love to All,

midRae

Upstaged Part 2

I just wanted to share proof that I was definitely upstaged this past weekend taking photos. These are the best that I got, and yes they have been edited, and you can count on the fact that tailEnd will no longer be sitting by the door, it's the middle of the truck for him from now on. Even if he does need to be popped out with a crowbar.

I wish I was holding my midMan's hand,

just strolling down this lane,

taking it all in.

And I do have to say, this one is for sure a favorite.

I love the fall bokeh.

And yes, I promise to share my camera with tailEnd and his brothers. All three have shown an amazing amount of talent for taking photos and I need to play nice and share my toys.

Even when I do get UPSTAGED.

Sometimes it may be under protest but I promise, with all of my heart and all of my motherly instinct, to share.

Love to All,

midRae

Growing Old and Growing Up

As our kids mature and grow, and as we grow older and older and older, which we definitely do not like to admit, we find ourselves getting smaller and weaker as they get bigger and stronger. tailEnd has grown at least 6 inches in the past year, to a height of 5' 8", an inch of which my be because of the hair, and can squat lift 265 pounds (did I say that right?). He still has a lot of growing to do, but his shoe size alone can give you an idea of how tall he should get, he wears a size 11 1/2 at the age of 14. Although height and shoe size did not ring true for our oldest son, he wears a size 12 shoe and is 5' 7" tall.

We wage many battles as we get older and as our children gain maturity. We want to give them freedom to make their own choices and pray that we have given them all of the information that they will need to make informed choices. We do not always like or agree with the choices that they have made, but I personally find that if I have given them choices I had better be ready to accept their decisions.

Sometimes, things can get a little out of their control and they need us to step in and help. I am not saying that we need to take their consequences away, but sometimes we can help them to see what may have been a better choice or help them to see a pathway out of whatever it is they are in. But then again, sometimes they do not want our help and we just need to standby as parents and be there for our children when it is warranted. I feel that even when we do not agree with their choices we must always support them in their decisions, when it is not a danger to them or society.


I guess what I am trying to say is to teach your children well, and then believe in them.

And then there our times when we just need to sit on them and show them who is really the boss, at least for a little while longer and while we still can.


Love to All,


midRae

Upstaged!

Yes, I said upstaged, upstaged by a 14 year old.

tailEnds contribution to the photography world.

No editing, straight out of the camera.

I refuse to sit in the middle of the truck any more.

I want the window so that I can get the great shots.

He's stealing my thunder.

But man, am I proud of him!

Love to All,

midRae

Not Me Monday........

Here we go again.....that wonderful blog carnival from McKMama that we have all come to love and enjoy, "not me" MONDAY!! Come and join us, the more the merrier.

Here we go........

I would never take two of my four wonderful guys to a place in the mountains that has a CAUTION sign posted, at sunrise, with the temperature at 28 degrees. Nope I would never do that. And then I would never let them do this.......

And then proceed to freak out when tailEnd wanted to go out onto the little walkway with a drop off on each side. Nope, I would never do that. And then I would never turn my back and walk off promising them both that I would make sure to have a really great funeral for them, just to get them to come back to safe ground. I definitely would never do that.

And I would never ask myself, 'Why do you keep taking those that are most precious to you to places that are very scary to you? Why oh why do you do this?' Nope I would never ask myself that.

Moving on.........

I would never attempt to bake the 7-UP Cake, for like the thousandth time, in the hopes that it would work out this time. I would never do that. Nope not me.

And I would never grab my camera to document the rise and fall of the great and wonderful 7-UP Cake, and then cry my eyes out and swear that I will never try this again. Nope I would never do that, ever.

And I would never show the pictures to the world so that they could see what a failure I am at baking this most delicious cake. Nope I would never do that. Never, never, never!

Love to All,

midRae

P.S. And I did not take a break from blogging for a few day. I promise, I didn't. I would never ever do that.