Wait just a second....

Somebody pushed the fast forward button. Yesterday, I was at Costco & saw Shay & Dale walking in front of me. Shay is almost 6 inches taller than Dale.
When did that happen?
Shay also has a job, one where he pays taxes & collects a REAL check.
Is he old enough for that?
Last month, he returned home from EFY and stated that he had met some 'Hot' girls & that he had been someone's COW (Crush Of the Week).


I mean really, what are they teaching at BYU?
Tanner had a movie party the other day & wondered if I could distract the little ones.
Isn't he one of the little ones?
Today, Baylee gathered up her bag of goodies & headed off to her 3rd official babysitting job.
Doesn't she still require a babysitter herself?
Yikes!!! Someone needs to slow this train down!!

The fog is lifting...

Today is the first day that I have felt like myself again. We are getting a routine & sort of figuring out this dog thing. It really is all consuming. I was in tears on Saturday night about it, Dale kindly took me away from the house & out to dinner, where he thanked me profusely for doing this for the kids....just what I needed. In some ways it is nice because my kids are happily doing anything I ask, they know that if they don't pull their weight, Tiger will find a new home. We'll see how long it lasts. In my 'coming out of the fog' celebration, I have invited a friend over & we are going to sit by the pool all day. I am determined to enjoy this summer!!!

Dog days of summer

I caved!! Yes, we are officially dog owners. This is so NOT me, I have been putting this off for a year. Dale said that I needed to stop wishy-washing & just pick one. (Little did he know that the wishy-washing was my way of putting it off) Tanner said "Baylee, it's a good thing that I am afraid of dogs or else we wouldn't have one." He is soooooo right, that is my only reason for doing this. Yesterday I felt like I had postpartum depression. The dog yelped, whined & barked ALL night. I don't think that I slept at all, but when it seemed like morning....there was poop on the floor.
Baylee is in heaven & 'Tiger' has taken to her as well. It is a cute little thing, at least, & from what I hear, this process gets a lot easier with time. For now, I am thinking that we just had our 5th child.

Good feelings gone....

You know the scene in Finding Nemo where Dori & Marlin are following this light & Marlin is happy, when he shouldn't be happy and then all of the sudden this scary fish jumps out at them?.....yeah, that about sums up how it feels to come back to the mainland. Don't get me wrong, I missed my kids & wanted to come home to them. HOWEVER, St. George seems to be the exact opposite of Hawaii...dry heat vs. humidity (my feet were loving the big island), vacation vs. reality (can you say laundry?), high maintenance living vs. who cares what you look like when you go to the store attitude, beautiful plants & flowers that grow everywhere vs. plants that look like they are DYING for a drink of water, oh and last but not least.....feeling like your rich vs. coming home & finding out that really, you are not! I made a valiant effort to bring a little island love back home, the kids & I a put on our suits & went out to play in the pool. An hour later, I had to give it up & go start crossing things off the list. Good feeling is gone....indeed!!
I just have to share one of my favorite moments though. We went to church on Sunday & enjoyed a wonderful sacrament meeting. Did you know that they have a lei specialist that makes them for all of the visitors? Anyway, after sacrament meeting, they announced that one of their members was moving back to the mainland, they had him come to the pulpit & everyone stood up & sang Aloha Oe to him. Everyone was really into it & the man just stood there & cried. Dale wanted to move there immediately, he loved the brotherhood that they seemed to have for one another.
Well I am back home....& yes, it really is home. I love the desert, I love the desert, I love the desert.....

Aloha!

Yesterday, we swam with a pod of 150 dolphins. Last night, we sat in a hot tub & played in a pool that was surrounded with hibiscus & palms. Today we are snorkeling with Nemo, and hopefully Crush. I think I'd like to live here (even though it costs $8.79 for a package of Ding Dongs).

It's no wonder...

Baylee's teacher is retiring this year. She was so kind to let the kids take home some of her stuff. She's brilliant, actually. Of course, everything is a treasure & will produce tears if we discard. What's a mom to do?
Notice the jolly rancher wrappers...did you know that they are a collector's item? We have been collecting all year. Baylee & her friend worked hard last night to make the teacher a going away present. They took all of their wrappers & taped them to a huge piece of cardboard & crafted a beautiful thank you note. I could have stopped them...but I didn't, two can play at this game after all.

Milestone

Ok, it's official! As long as there is an adult in the car with him, he can legally drive. Just. Plain. Weird.