Retiring a Flag

Our Stars and Stripes!

We had the opportunity to attend a flag retiring ceremony the other night and it is one night that will stay with me forever.  I have always thought of myself as a patriotic person. I have great pride in our country and insurmountable pride for our members of our armed forces.  I find myself realizing, every so often, my own ignorance of what is going on around me and have to take a moment to appreciate the safety and blessings that I enjoy by living in the United States of America.

Before this week the only time that I have been part of any kind of flag ceremony that has been emotional for me was when they took the flag off of my father's coffin, folded it, and presented it to me.  It was one of those moments when it truly hit me what he did for our country and what others do every day.  

When I was in elementary school we learned about the flag and how to respect and care for it.  It is a lesson that has always stayed with me and one that I will act upon.  Right after having that lesson I went to the store with my mom and the flag flying out front was tattered and had rips in it.  I complained to my mom what a disgrace that was and that it was wrong for them to keep flying a flag like that.  She told me to tell the store and took me over to customer service. I did tell them how I felt and by the time we were done shopping there was a new flag flying.  Over the years I have done this many more times and have never been afraid to share my feeling when it comes to this great symbol of our country.

This week when we attending this ceremony I wasn't prepared for the feeling that would assault me.  It was such a solemn moment watching each flag be folded and then reverently placed upon the fire.  The closest way of explaining the feelings that I felt while watching them burn was like losing a family member.  The man leading the ceremony was Kenny's 1st Sergeant when he was in the National Guard and he had Kenny be one of the ones to place one of the flags in the fire.  I think that was a special moment for Kenny to have that connection with someone from his Guard days again.

Witnessing such an emotional event brought very vivid images to my mind and I wish at times like this that I was more poetic and able to share my feeling better.  I am not even doing justice to the evening that we had with my simple thought that I have shared so far.  If you ever have the opportunity to attend a flag retiring ceremony I would recommend you do so.  It has helped me to remember again how dearly I love our Stars and Stripes.

New School Year

I can't believe that it is almost the end of August, we have moved back to Grantsville, school has started and both boys are so far loving it in this one stop light town.

Taylor is in 8th grade and doing wonderful.  He loves it so far. We had to drive to Salt Lake to get him his instrument for band, he is playing the trombone. He talked my ear off the entire way to the store (all 40 min.). According to T, his band teacher is awesome, his Language Arts teacher is oooold (he is 64 and this is his last year teaching).  He is able to go to school with one of his cousins and a friend and also found one of his friends that he had from 3rd grade.  So far, so good.

Kelton started 10th grade. He is taking digital photography and already had his first assignment of taking 100 pictures. He is also taking pottery, current issues and algebra II (he is the only Sophomore in the class the rest are older).  He also started drivers ed this week.  He is doing wonderful and has been so excited for school every day.  He also loves walking to and from school each day because we live just around the corner from the High School.

First Day of School 2012
Taylor & Kelton

Swimming at Grandmas'

 We were invited to my cousins' Grandmas' house yesterday to swim in their pool.  It was so nice to have the pool to ourselves and be selfish and not share.  It's one of those things that I enjoy and do well, that not sharing part :)  There isn't much to add to these pictures other than maybe who is in them.  I do want to note that I did jump into the pool (3 times exactly) for the first time since I was in Jr. High. I forgot how much fun it is. Plus, when I teamed up with Jessie we totally splashed the boys ;)  We all had a ton of fun!!  I was also reminded that I am not young anymore and am totally feeling all that jumping today.

All the boys...Kelton, Taylor, Chase, James, Seth, Jackson

James, Chase, and Jackson

Kelton chilaxin'

Kelton and Seth relaxing by the diving board during one of the few moments it was not being used.

Chase as he enters the water.  Not the best picture but I thought it was fun seeing him just as he enters.

Seth..."I am not a crook" (Richard Nixon) jump :) Seth didn't say that, it's just what it reminded me of.

Jackson jumping in...kind of has a nice Karate Kid look going.

Chase jumping off the diving board...I can't even imagine what it felt like to land on his knees like that.  To be young again :)

Taylor catching some good air and doing a nice karate kick.  He also did a nice belly flop that has his tummy still hurting today.

Kelton catching enough air to pose as the "thinking man" before he straightened out to glide into the water.

Porch Sitting

One of my most favorite things during any weather, but snow, is sitting out front on my porch with a cold drink and visiting with family and friends. This is the first home that we have had where we couldn't sit out in a yard and have a place to visit.  These last few days with thunder storms reminded me of our last home we had in Tooele. We had a great covered front porch that we could sit out on and watch it rain.  We had a few good thunder storms where we sat out and watched the lightning and listened to the thunder. For us, that was so relaxing after a long day at work and it gave Kenny and I much needed time together to just enjoy being together.

It's kind of funny that I am thinking of this now and had just been telling my boys that this is one of the things that I remember most from my childhood.  We would go spend our Saturdays at my Aunt and Uncles house.  Our parents would sit out front under the tree in my Uncle Joe's yard and visit.  There was always a pitcher of tea sitting in the sun for my Aunt Joan. Joe usually had a beer. I have no idea what my parents drank while there but it was probably soda.  My cousins, my sister and I would run wild and play all day.  I remember those days so vividly that it could have been yesterday that we were all together.

Having that family time is something that I wish my boys could enjoy and have in their lives.  It is one of the few things from my childhood that I haven't been able to pass down to them.  We have family time for just the four of us but not with their cousins or Aunts and Uncles.  We are all so busy now that one of those bonding and sharing times that were so important to the generations before us is now almost gone.  I hope that once we are settled in Grantsville and around their cousin's we can somehow make the time to just spend time together and visit.  Those times with my family didn't always mean that anything important was discussed, it was just time together to share how things had gone that week and to basically sit around and bull shit (sorry, but that's just what it was/is). Even if it isn't time spent with our family, we have many good friends out there that are like family that I would love to share that time with.  


Here's to getting back to a simple life and bringing back one of the most basic things in life; making time for your family and friends and spending that time doing something other than watching T.V. or texting!

The Tiger's Curse

My cousin Jessie bought this first book thinking it might be a good read for her son. After really looking over the description of the book, she thought that he might not enjoy it and that it might not really be for a 10 year old boy.  Now that I have read it, I agree with her.  I however have loved reading every minute of it and have fallen in love with the author Colleen Houck.  You fall in love with the characters right from the start and get sucked into their story.  The way that Kelsey meets Ren is so unique from most of the other books that I have read.  There is an instant connection between Kelsey and Ren and is one that I can relate to because that is how I felt when I first met Kenny.  Kelsey soon learns that her tiger is more than he seems and is soon swept up in helping him solve the riddle to remove a curse from him. I love the images that are described of India and of the culture.  I also love the details described of the outfits that Ren picks out for Kelsey.  Of course there are going to be parts that I don't like, but it's so easy to overlook them when the story is moving so fast.

 Tiger's Quest is the second in the series and keeps the adventure moving forward and you meet Ren's brother Kishan.  They also accomplish another part of the equation to move closer to breaking the curse that is on the brothers that makes them be tigers for so many hours per day.  It also adds in a new twist where both brothers are now in love with Kelsey.  It almost add a Twilight feel to the book.  I know that this author has Stephanie Meyer as one of her role models.  You see the connection in that one of the brothers is more controlling and overprotective and one just loves Kelsey for who she is and doesn't expect her to change anything to be with him.  As this book moves forward the challenges become more intense and pull you through the book. The challenge isn't just more challenging but takes longer and more creativity as well as putting Kelsey and Kashon in a situation where they get to know each other better.

In this third book, the emotions and relationships get as complicated as the quest that they are on. Kelsey has to make her decision as to which brother she wants to be with and doesn't want to make it because she doesn't want to hurt the one not chosen (I'm seeing a definite correlation here to Jacob and Edward, just saying).  The obstacles that they have to overcome for this part of the adventure are more dangerous and take longer than the ones before.  There is so much imagery and history in all of these books that it is hard to take it all in, that or I just read to fast to truly enjoy all of it.  I love how in each book there is so much added to the story by adding in mythology from many different cultures.  So many stories run within this one series. They each build on the one before and I have learned so much as I have read about not just the Indian culture and their stories but many of the Greek and Eastern Countries as well.

All three books pulled me through so fast and I enjoyed the adventure so much. Each came with a mythical weapon and help from so many characters from so many mythical stories.  I know I said it has that whole Twilight feel to it, but that only is part of the relationship drama, past that there are no other similarities. The complexities of this story are so diverse and keep you wanting more.  I would definitely recommend these to anyone who wants a good adventure story with passion and romance (clean romance which is nice for a change).  I can't wait for the next book to come out in November!

Ducati's and Dingy's

I'm reading a book right now where the lead character doesn't know what a Ducati is.  How does someone not know what that is?  Okay, maybe it's not that obvious that it is one of the supreme motorcycles out there.  Kenny would love one and is very jealous of my cousin's "very sexy redhead".  My cousin just got his baby, a beautiful red Ducati.

Kennys dream "red head"

There was just something about thinking about my husbands dream bike and then thinking of some of the things that I dream of and it just made me realize how high I have my sights set.  I really shouldn't think of things that are so far out of reach.  Some of those things are just normal things that most everyone has and others are out there with the Ducati.

My dream car is this:

Reality:

Still a very nice car, but no Mercedes :) However, I was told that when you pull up in this car you can look very bad ass!  I'll take that.

I'm sure we all have those moments where we just dream so big that it feels like we are falling short of even reaching the basics.  There are days when my family feels more like this:

Honestly...take out the beer and cigarettes and it really is like this :)

When in reality we really are closer to normal but not quit like this:

Could you just imagine Kenny in a bow tie? hee hee :)

One of the things that I always think of is that we are all in the same boat, relatively speaking.  Some of us get to cruise around in this:

While others are blessed with this:

 For the most part, I think most of us are somewhere in the middle. I know the trick is being happy with what we have and I am truly happy with my family and the many cars that we have owned (except for the 2 minivans, did not like those).  I love having dreams and goals to reach. I love that we all have fun together as a family and it doesn't take lots of money or proving anything to anyone.  We just can love each other and enjoy.  But, there are those times when it would just be nice to pull up in that Mercedes (Maybe at Lego Land).  

I guess my point in all of this is that we all need that moment to take a step back and take inventory of where we are at and what we have.  That moment came for me and I have to say that I am really happy with what I see.  I may not be super mom with the chocolate cake (at least not everyday) and I might not get to pull up in my little 2 seat-er sports car but I do have an amazing family that I get to spend everyday with bobbing around through this life.

New Blog

This may not be new to many of you and I have been using many of the suggestions and recipes on this blog for a while, but I just added it to my list of blogs and wanted to share how amazing this woman is.  So far, all of the things on this blog that I have tried have worked wonderful and has made me excited to do laundry, has saved some of my clothes from being thrown out (which has saved me money, always a good thing) and even made me excited to try the cleaning suggestions.  I just got done going over some of the suggestions and can't wait to go scrub my bathroom, of all things!

I know that "One good thing by Jillee" is already very successful and I'm proud to help further that success by maybe adding one more reader.  She is wonderful and puts so much work into her blog.  If you don't already know about her blog, please check it out.

http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/