Vegemite . . .

So Phil had to try to convert the family to Vegemite. . . At Christmas time Phil kept saying that he "hated eggnog". In trying to keep our girls with open minds and not letting them know that they really CAN hate a food, I kept insisting to Phil that he needs to just try it. Well the bet was on - he would try eggnog if I would try Vegemite. He gave me a large, heaping spoonful of Vegemite and I gave him a tiny glass of eggnog. We counted down and both went for it. Phil survived the eggnog, but I don't know if I will ever recover from the horrible, salty, icky taste of Vegemite. (Mum later informed me that you only take the tiniest amount and spread that tiniest amount over a whole piece of toast or bread). Needless to say, Phil lost my trust for some time and I am still trying to recover from the whole experience.

This morning, Phil thought he would let Sydney try Vegemite. With the older girls trying to tell Sydney how bad it was, she was happy to try.

She must have thought it was chocolate frosting (like her 1st birthday) at first with how she dove right in. Set back a bit by the different taste (but with as little on it, you can taste more bread than anything) and a yes nod in approval she continued on.

aw that was good...

...More Please!!!


Vegemite is an acquired taste. It fits, of all the girls, that Sydney is the one that likes it (Loved it).

Spring has NOT sprung

We woke up this morning to a winter surprise. We thought it was spring, but here are our flowers trying to peak thru the snow. This just is making us all that more excited to make our way south to visit Phoenix. Andrew & Camille - make sure that pool is ready and waiting, because the girls are anxious to get their feet wet. As long as its not too cold, maybe I'll even take a swim. We can't wait to come and visit family, see the new baby, go to the park, swim, and just enjoy the good ol' sunshine. -K

Another One Bites the Dust

Our sweet little Sierra is getting to be so brave. She has loved riding her bike without training wheels and she is doing great. On Friday, she was out riding with Chelsea and she was showing off (like father, like daughter) and got a little bit crazy and fell over. She jammed her chin into the sidewalk and left a quite the mark on her chin. It was examined and the vote was to take her to the doctor to get stitches. Hallee tried to prep Sierra so that she knew everything that would happen - but I think that made Sierra more nervous. Once we were in the doctor's office (same room and nurses as we had been in with Sydney and her hand), Sierra calmed down a lot. The nurse walked her thru the process and told her that she wouldn't do anything to her that she hasn't already cleared with her. Three stitches later - Sierra was quite the pro. "She didn't even wiggle or cry". Since the accident, she has been so proud and wants to tell everyone that she has three stitches. I guess that we are just at the beginning of our emergency room trips. Though we have had our fair share of visits over the past few years.

Ghost Town Friends

We just wanted to take a moment and post a link to Keni's Joint. Keni & Big K talked a lot about it when we were at NASCAR. Everyone I've talked to is excited to go and see what it is all about. We need to plan a family trip to Vegas and plan a day trip up to see the saloon and the ghost town. Any takers?http://nevadamagazine.com/index.php/issues/read/northern_exposure/

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Another weeks has gone by and I thought I should let you know what's going on in our lives.
Sierra is working hard at school and trying to accomplish a reading goal so that she can get a pass to Seven Peaks this summer. She re-learned to ride her bike without her training wheels (she had learned last fall, but didn't get enough practice in). She was terified to try again, but after a big bribe from Mom & Dad, she did it again. Ice Cream always gets it done.
Savannah is going thru this phase of crying if she doesn't get what she wants. Any suggestions on how to deal with it? I know, I know, she's only 3.
Sydney is the one sho is growing and changing every day. She is walking all over the place, and is even attempting the stairs as grown ups do (not on her hands and knees). She folds her arms when we say prayers, and she even talks up a storm. Its all jibber jabber, but it sure is cute for her to hand you something and then tell you a whole story about it. We may not understand her, but she certainly understands us. Yesterday, at church, she was having a hard day, so I went to take her from Phil and Phil took my bag from me (you know, the gentleman that he is). As soon as Sydney saw that Phil had my bag, she let him have it. She screamed at him and reached for the bag and pointed to me, and basically told him to give me the bag back. He gave me the bag back and she stopped crying. We laughed and thought it wa sjust a coincidence, so Phil took the bag from me again and there she went, screaming at him, reaching for the bag, and pointing to me. She was making quite the scene in the hallway, but we couldn't help but laugh. She sure is demanding. The other thing that she has discovered is the girl's bunk bed. She can climb the ladder and make it to the top. Her goal is to get to Sierra's bed before we catch her. Of course, at first we were scared that she might get hurt. But now it has turned into a game for all of us and she just laughs and laughs when we try to pry her little hands from the ladder.
Phil went camping this weekend with the Priests in our ward. Even though he couldn't do the hike with the others (maybe this summer he will be ready for hiking), he had fun with some of the kids who couldn't go on the hike either. From what I hear, they had fun chasing down some cattle. What did they call that? Cow Tipping?

Last week we had our "Where's Waldo" activity. I forgot to grab my camera, so as soon as I get a copy of the pictures from one of the other leaders, I will post the pic. The activity was sure fun, and it was pretty cool to be found by only 3 of the 12 groups. I've been in Young Women's longer than any of the other leaders - you would have thought the kids would know be by now. And shame on my girls, my own beehives didn't even recognize me - in fact, none of them found me.

I Love Nascar

OK, OK - we are totally the definition of white trash, nascar fans. We made our annual Nascar trip to Vegas and boy did we have a great time. This was my first time enjoying the full experience - and by full experience, I mean camping with all the diehards, attending practice sessions, qualify, both races and a trip to "Victory Lane". Last year the boys camped out, but due to new babies and such, the girls didn't make it. We pulled our trailer down and had quite the experience. We were about 20 minutes from the track when we heard the loud "BANG" which was followed with a "thud, thud, thud". We thought we had a blown tire as it sounded just as a Diesel Truck tire sounds when it blows. We pulled to the side of the freeway, caught our breath and stepped out to see what the damage was. We both looked at each other with puzzled looks as neither of us could see a flat tire. Phil looked under the truck to find a strange addition to the drive train. One of the tie downs that had been holding our water tanks had gotten caught and had ripped off. The loud bang was the ratchet that had slammed into the bed of the truck (missing our window by 1/2 an inch) and the thud, thud, thud, was the tie down wrapped around the drive train. Luckily there was no additional damage and we climbed back into the truck to make our way to the track. Kevin & Kristy helped us set up camp and then we went to pick up Scott and Kristi from the airport - don't we all wish we had a plane to fly - they made it down in as much time as it took us to drive from Kevin's in Hurricane.
We spent the day shopping the trailers (Phil had to stock up on the new Jr. gear) - GO 88!, attending qualify, and going to the dirt track races (Wow! that was fun).
Day 2 began as the wind blew in some more excitement for us. Phil left our camp for all of 5 minutes to go and meet Keni when a wind storm (or should I say one gust of wind) came in, caught the awning and tore it off the trailer. Kristy and I were in the trailer and we thought we were going to blow over. It was the loudest, scariest sound (worse than the drive train incident the day before). We had the nicest neighbors who came to our rescue and jumped onto the roof to help us save our awning as Phil and Keni came back. Needless to say, I wasn't a very happy camper at the time. But with the help of our Nascar Camping Buddies, they rigged up a way to pull the awning in and tie it to the trailer so that we could make it home.

After that we were off to the races. Mom & Kristi went shopping for the cabin(and their personal shopper at The Great Indoors loved helping them fill - I mean stuff - the car with their bags - I guess you can say they were victorious in their shopping) and the rest of us headed to watch the Nationwide Series. What a fun and exciting race. That night we had this most amazing steak dinner. Props to the chef - Keni. If you didn't make it to dinner, you sure did miss out.

On Sunday, we went to the NASCAR NEXTEL CUP SERIES. We had a blast. Kevin, Kristy, Scott, Kristi, Mom, Dad, Bruce, Kim, Keni, Big K, Rob, Sasha, Hal, Kat, Brian, Phil & I (plus some additional friends) were all there - and we are sure glad the Rob made it to his seat and that we didn't have to bail him out of jail - thanks for trying with the tickets. There was some trash talkin' between us all - but all, in all, we had a great time. Dale Jr. did awesome and Carl Edwards was pretty sweet too! Since he was knocked out of the Nationwide race, it was cool to see him win the Cup Series, we've always wanted to watch his backflip. Sierra and Savannah ask every week "Did the backflip guy, Carls Jr win?" We keep reminding them that its Edwards and Jr - two separate guys, not a hamburger joint. So yes, we did get to see him win.(He is not a cheater, he will forever be innocent until proven guilty). Don't tell Phil, but secretly, I wish that Jr could have won, I would've liked to see him in Victory Lane.

After the race Kevin, Kristy, Scott, Kristi, Keni, Big K (Keawe), Phil & I made our way to Victory Lane. We saw them do the post race inspections on the top 5 cars, saw the team garages, tried to score some tires and parts (Kristi even flirted with the NASCAR officials), and got Carl Edwards autograph. Quite the experience and a fun way to end a great weekend.

Thanks again to all who came and for those who didn't join us, you really did miss out. Thanks again to Nanna and Poppa for watching our girls to make it possible for us to have a fun weekend away.