1st Family Vacation.

This year, although busy, has started out great. On New Year's Day, we were able to go on our first actual family vacation, since before my youngest was born. (I've been to Vegas with the kids several times, but with everyone, it's been awhile!) It was so nice! Nathan wanted the kids to see where he grew up, in Winnemucca, NV., before his parents sell their house (they're moving to Utah..yay! It's about time :).

It was so nice to be able to just get away and take a break from everything,...(mainly trying to get our own house ready to sell).

The first night, we stayed at Nathan's oldest brother, Travis's, house in Spring Valley (just outside Elko). It's on the way to Winnemucca. I should've taken a picture of their driveway leading up to their house. It's not a 'drive-way' per say, it's a freakin' mountain. I didn't think we were gonna make it up. Thank goodness they chipped away most of the ice or we wouldn't have. Anyway it was a lot of fun. The kids were excited to be out of the van, and running around with their cousins. Their daughter, Alauna, & my daughter look exactly alike. They look like sisters. I called them the 'twins'. Here's a couple of pictures from their house. Thanks Travis & Belinda for the hospitality! & for letting us borrow your daughter :).




((((You want to know what's funny....I just barely realized it too. I took my camera mainly to take a bunch of pictures of his parents home, etc. in Winnemucca & yet do I have any pictures of Winnemucca.......NO, I DO NOT! What a dork! Hello!)))).....anyway..........

After leaving Elko, I thought we would hit a huge snowstorm since it started to lightly snow there. But instead it just poured rain. It was crazy! It poured right up until we got to his parents house. All I have to say, is thank goodness for portable dvd players!!!! Whoever invented them is a genious. If you don't currently have them, and you're planning a long trip with kids, I highly recommend getting one. Sanity is a great thing!!!
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I almost didn't recognize the house when we first drove up. The exterior is white, instead of yellow now. Vic's done a lot of hard work getting everything ready to sell. I don't know how he does it. He's been staying with us, while he works in Salt Lake during the week, then he drives home on the weekend to work on their house. I'm surprised he hasn't run out of steam by now. But he keeps chugging away.

Travis & Belinda let us bring Alauna, so Mikayla would be able to spend more time with her. They always play so cute together! All the kids had a blast playing with all of grandma's treasures in the basement, and drawing pictures & singing songs, etc. I brought a puzzle from home just in case, to keep me busy. And my hubby, who said he didn't want to do it, ended up putting most of it together, dang it! Right after we put it together, my little stinker Tyler reached up and grabbed a corner and knocked it off the table, and I found all the pieces but one. I still have no idea what happened to that piece. It was like it just vanished.........

Jayden was able to spend some quality time with grandpa. He got to go to the dump, behind Winnemucca Mountain. It's a tradition in their family, that the boys go with Vic to the dump. Nathan said he & Slade used to go when they were younger. Jayden fell asleep though, when they got there, so I don't know how much he was able to enjoy. :)

Nathan looked at trucks with his dad. I actually went the first day with the both of them, and Nathan test drove a couple different kinds, but didn't fall in love with any. He also studied for an exam he's supposed to take for his work. I don't know how he stayed awake. He bought these dvd's online that are supposed to help you get ready for it. But I watched like a minute of it, and was ready to nod off myself. I thought some of my college professors were bad, but I think they took the worst of the worst on this one. Sorry had to say that. Anyway, the rest of the time we pretty much just hung around and enjoyed the visit. Nathan's mom, Renea, was great with watching the kids & keeping them entertained, and keeping us fed. Thanks Renea & Vic!

Jayden

Yesterday, I shockingly woke up before my 3 kids. My Jayden actually slept in! Yay! It was so nice to actually have a few minutes to myself without having to worry about what 3 little kids were in to.
I was sitting on the couch in the room off the kitchen, when Jayden finally wandered downstairs. I motioned for him to come over. My little Jayden is very creative at making up stories. Every night before bedtime, after we do our little bedtime ritual ("I love you forever & ever, for always & always, from infinity & beyond, for all e-ter-ni-ty (usually ending in him yelling it) :), I tell him "have good dreams. Tell me what you dream about in the morning." His response, "otay, I will mama." So, after getting my 'super duper Jayden hug' :):), I sat him down on my lap & this is how our conversation went :)......

Mom: What'd you dream about?

Jayden: Dine-sores playin' a game.

Mom: What game?

Jayden: Heepone

Mom: Heepone? What game is that?

Jayden: (blank stare)

Mom: How do you win?

Jayden: You jump in the hole.

Mom: How do you get to the hole?

Jayden: You push the big button & jump in with all the other dine-sores, crocodiles & spiders & dose t-rex, the red one. The dine-sores come.

Mom: What dinosaurs?

Jayden: T-rex, the red one, & the "e-dorus." The other dinosaur by the other one. That was the orange one.

Mom: Oh. To do what? To eat the dinosaurs?

Jayden: No0000, not the dine-sores. Their fff-ooood. A little rolling balls...lots of rolling balls came... I mean big rolling balls like 'dis (making a circle with his middle finger on top of his pointer.) :)

((Just then his grandpa dunn walked past on his way to the pantry in the kitchen. He's been staying with us.))

Jayden: There's bompa. Hi bompa. Where you are?

Grandpa: Did you say how am I? good.

Jayden: (leaning in close to mom's face, with a look of exasperation on his face & shaking his head), whispers "no I didn't. I say where you are."

So unable to help myself, I laugh out loud. It was too cute. Vic (grandpa) asks what's so funny, so I tell him & he starts to chuckle. Jayden in turn, growls at mom & grandpa, thinking that we're making fun of him, and walks out of the room sulking. After a minute of coaxing, Jayden & his famous scowl come back into the room. After a quick tickle torture, everything's right with the world, and the conversation continues :).....

Mom: You have good dreams don't you.

Jayden: Yes.

Mom: What's your favorite? Dinos? Animals? What?

Jayden: All different kinds. My friend Jay.

Mom: Jay?

Jayden: No Jake-uh.

Mom: Jake? Who's Jake?

Jayden: You know. My friend Jake.

Mom: No. Who's that?

Jayden: You know. At my friends house far away.

Mom: (wracking my brain).... Ohhhhh, you mean Josh (cousin).

Jayden: Yeh! Josh.

Mom: You had fun with Josh huh?

Jayden: Yeh. He lets me, and I let him.

Mom: What do you mean? You mean play with him?

Jayden: Yeh.

Mom: I love you Jayden.

Jayden: I love you too mama.

(((((((Awe! The joys of motherhood :):):):))))))))

Family & Friends

Being able to re-connect with all of my: family (cousins, etc.)...(yes I know sad)..., childhood, Highschool, College, etc. friends has been an awesome experience. I've deeply regretted over the years not keeping better in touch, and yet have been clueless about how to find everyone. So when my sister-in-law told me about Facebook, although skeptical at first, I decided to give it a try. What an amazing tool! I am so glad that somebody thought up such a wonderful concept. Where else can you get in touch with so many people, so fast!?

On that note....I just wanted to say to all my friends, and family who I have unintentionally hurt, or offended in any way for reasons stated above. I am truly, truly sorry. I'm sorry for falling off the radar. For not keeping in touch, for not keeping better track of what everyone has been up to. For not being more involved in your lives. I really do miss everyone. I hope that someway, somehow we can re-connect and form those bonds again. Thanks to everyone who has been such a wonderful part of my life! love, jo

Liza

Since it's almost my friends birthday, 4 days to be exact, I wanted to give her a shout out. Here's to you Eliza. :):) Yes I know it's been awhile :), ...but since you're going to be over the hill in a few days, I just wanted to remind you of the good old days, just in case you're memories not what it used to be. They do say, the mind is the first to go with age. :) And yes, I do realize I'm older than you. My minds already halfway gone :).

Okay, are you ready :):):) Going back in time.......................................:):):)

1. The beginning of our friendship?: The first time we met was at a softball tournament for the Rebels in Brigham City. We stayed at Janna Knudsen's grandparents house in their basement. You have since informed me that when you first met me you hated me....How rude ;). Well we ended up staying in the same room together with our mutual friend Janna. We were supposed to be going to bed, and I tried to turn this lamp on that was right next to the bed I was laying on, so we could turn the main light off. This happened to be right after the wonderful O.J. Simpson chase on t.v. (so exciting!). Well, the freakin' lamp would not turn on. I kept flipping the switch back & forth wondering what was wrong with it. And you came over trying to get it to work, also without success. Well, come to find out the stupid thing was only unplugged. Uh duh!!! We both dropped to the floor & laughed so hard my sides literally ached. We ended up staying up all night talking and laughing 'til my sides literally ached, while everyone else was sound asleep :). Okay I think Janna kept telling us to go to bed, because we had a tournament in the morning, but everyone else was sound asleep. :) I knew right then we were going to be the best of friends! (Thanks for your input Liz :). I told you my memory was already 1/2 gone!).
I think it was the same tournament, that everyone thought I'd got my neck hung up on the fence? I went to catch a fly ball, that was going to land on the other side of the fence (right behind first base), & I fell right before getting to it. From my teams angle, it looked like I landed on my neck, and hung myself. (Nope, just a bunch of lovely scratches down my arm from the jagged edges of the metal fence.) Half the team, literally came running out to see if I was okay. I was like what's going on....

Let's see, what else?.......

2. Going to the 7 eleven just down from your house, for a chile cheese nacho run. :) And on 3 occasions, cleaning up those said nachos off of the floor & side of your van, after you took a corner too fast :). I thought your mom would kill us.

4. Watching X-Files in your basement. I think you had like every episode? I didn't want to watch it the first time you made me :), but then you got me hooked on it.

4. You, Carri, Roshell, and I decorating your younger brothers room with balloons, and about 3-4 (probably more) huge garbage bags full of shredded papers from their moms work. There might have been some streamers involved also, can't remember...but we were literally wading in paper past our knees. :):) Your brother wanted to kill us at first, and then he thought it was the coolest thing ever. Didn't he keep it for like 2-3 weeks after?

5. Driving to & from Rebels softball games. And on one occasion, getting pulled over by a cop in A.F. , at about 1 a.m. after heading home after a softball tournament in Clinton, UT. Having him shine a light in your van like he thought we were up to no good.

6. Hitting that dog, that jumped out from the bush (that went all the way to the the road, I might add), the first time you let me drive your van. I felt so awful. it was close to sundown, and it literally jumped out of nowhere. Don't worry it lived!!!

7. Pretty much living at each others houses. You were like part of the family. :)

8. Going to softball tryouts up in Logan for the Aggies.

9. Back then, I always kept the Score-book and Score-board for basketball games at the P.G. Rec-Center, & for the softball & baseball games down at the Rodeo grounds. I'm thinking of that one time you came to help me at the Rodeo grounds. In between one of the games we ran down and found a bat and ball (softball) to play with until the next game started. Me...pitching, you... up to bat. You kept telling me, you better not hit me. 'Oh, I'm not gonna hit you, come on stop being a wuss.' Lo & behold...speed ball right at the upper thigh. (I honestly didn't mean to stare right at you by the way.) :) You just got me laughing too hard. I still remember the expression on the peoples faces around us, after it happened. They looked at me with pure horror, like I was the worst person in the world. I still feel bad about that, by the way :). j/k :)

10. During regular season, we were playing Provo (your team), on our home field in softball. I was the pitcher at the time, and you were up to bat. Everyone knew we were best friends, so they just kept telling me to concentrate, cause we kept smiling at each other like dorks, and razzing each other. So I lean down to get the sign from Sunny D (my catcher), and I made the mistake of glancing back at you, before I started to pitch, and you were grinning at me like a goofball. :) So of course, that got me grinning again. But...... instead of regrouping like I should have.....I went for the wind-up, and let's see if anyone can guess what happened next?........... Yep, you name it! Fast ball in the upper back, just below the left shoulder. I swear you could hear a collective gasp from both sides of the field. I remember you threw your bat down and pretended to charge the mound, with an expression of 'oh I'm gonna get you for that,' as you painfully made your way to first base. Your team was ready to string me up. Both coaches were like, come on girls back to the game. I remember laughing nervously cause, in a way it was slightly funny (o.k. not really), and I couldn't believe I had done it again. Note to self: 'Never, ever look at the batter, before pitching a very hard softball. Especially when that batter is your friend.'

11. Playing basketball at your neighbors house (with the huge basketball court in the back yard overlooking the freeway), when we had that huge freakish wind storm, that knocked the power out all over Utah County. It was crazy! Never happened before, that I know of. A bunch of trees were uprooted at the park on center street in Provo, because the wind was so strong.
The wind kept carrying the ball to the other end of the court, whenever we'd try to make a shot.

12. When me, you & Carri & Roshell & my sister Loni were dancing & singing like total dorks in the basement of your house. I know there's a video & I want a copy :). It was hilarious!!! I can't remember why, but Carri grabbed the front of her shirt with both hands, and said "I'm a little girl," not realizing until after we all stopped dancing and looked at her like 'what the crap,' and then we all busted up laughing again. Oh good times....good times. :):):)

Alright that's all that I'm coming up with at the moment, but we had many a good times, didn't we?! If there's any other memories you can think of, let me here em' girl. Hopefully they're all good ones :):) Love ya, Happy Birthday!!!! We need to get together.

Early riser

Okay, sorry... I'm not going to be so serious this time :). Oh & please, ignore the punctuation :). I know it's probably bad, but who cares right?. (Man I'm so glad I'm out of school.)
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Why is it that when it comes to actually writing something down....say in a journal, it seams like such a daunting task? Yet, when you type on a computer: blog, e-mail, i.m., whatever...you don't even think about it, words just seam to flow easily. I don't know about anyone else, but that's always been the case with me. (Probably why I haven't written in my journal for almost a decade. So sad.) And yet, every single calendar we've had, since I've been married (& yes I have every single one :)is covered with important events or notes about what went on each month. So in a way, I guess my calendars are my journals...right?! I count it.

Anyway, one thing I've always wanted to do and, of course, have never gotten around to it, is make a book of all the cute, random, hilarious things my kids say or do. Most of the time I do remember to write it down, but it's usually on some random piece of paper I find. If you asked me exactly where those papers are today, my response would be 'somewhere in the millions of papers I have boxed up.' Not good, I know.

So starting now, I'm going to do a much better job.

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I don't know if anyone has children who are early risers?, but my 3 year old, Jayden, is just that. (He definitely takes after his dad in that department. Mom...not so much a early morning person.) No matter what time that kid goes to bed, he is up before the butt-freakin' crack of dawn. Sorry...best way I know to describe it :). And if the sun ain't shinin,' and people are still in bed, he figures he needs to turn every light in the house on, and WAKE THEM UP! If he's awake, he figures so should everyone else. So as you can imagine, when I stay up late, I can always count on an early morning. Yeh me! If I'm not actually up & about, I'm usually in bed wondering why oh why my Jayden can't just sleep in for once. (Okay he did once, and I even checked on him, to make sure something wasn't seriously wrong. That's how unusual it was for him.)

Anyway this morning was no different. I ended up staying up way too late last night, and lo & behold the next morning, the boys come bounding into our room bright & early. (At least it was past 7 this time.) Tyler, my baby, had a full diaper, so I changed him and laid back in bed, with Tyler right next to me hoping against hope he would go back to sleep, so I could catch a little more shut eye before my alarm went off. (Mikayla, my 6 year old, started back on track today.) So of course, Jayden feeling left out, hops in bed next to us and scoots next to Tyler as far as he can go, almost literally on top of him. In turn Tyler plasters himself to me, thinking he'd get some space from Jayden :)...but, to no avail. Jayden, immediately scoots over to fill in the gap and reaches over and grabs Tylers hand, squeezing Tyler even more. So if you're picturing this, my poor baby is now literally trapped between the 2 of us, and trying to wiggle out of Jayden's grasp to get free. (And yes I would've moved over, if I wasn't already on the edge of the bed.) So anyway, Jayden tightens his grip on Tylers hand and leans over to his face so Tyler can see him, and says "It's just me, like me.""It's just me, like me Tyer.""It's just me, like me."

At first I was like what in the world is he saying. Then I realized; he thought Tyler was trying to get away from him, because he was scared & didn't know who was lying next to him (because it was dark). Not that he was being literally sqooshed to death. I busted up laughing, I couldn't help it. It was so funny. Maybe you had to have been there.

I love the innocence of children. They are so funny!!!

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(((Sorry, if I tend to jump around a lot, it's only because I have so many thoughts going around in my head. Not because I have a.d.d. :))).

Wow. I should just call this blog, random thoughts by Jodi Dunn instead, shouldn't I?!

Family

Ever since I was little, I've always wanted to be a mom. Crazy I know :), .....but it's true. Most of my friends had all these great aspirations that they wanted to obtain, and yet w/ me the thought always remained, ...'I just want to be a mom," plain & simple.

Growing up, family was always very important to me... (it still very much is). It seams we did everything together. Whether it was going to visit our grandparents in southern Utah, going to the park for our family get-together's, going to some sporting event we were involved in, or our annual family reunions, and so on and so on. I could go on forever. But no matter what it was, family was always top priority. (okay...that & sports :).

Anyway, for as long as I can remember my parents were always actively involved in our lives. From chauffeuring me to & from work, (keeping the books and doing the scoreboard ,for the rec-center games {basketball, softball, baseball}, before I got my license); to & from practices . Taking me to Softball clinics. Practicing pitching with me in the backyard. To cheering me on at my softball & basketball games; to my little sister's tennis matches; and to my 3 brothers wrestling matches and football & baseball games.

To be honest I don't know how my parents did it!!! That wasn't even including, taking us to our friends houses, to dr./dentist apointments, to the store, etc., etc. I'm surprised they didn't lose their sanity. (Although a couple of times we did question it :).

But with all that craziness going on, my parents made sure that we knew how important each one of us was to them. That they were there for us no matter what. That we could go to them with any problem, with any question, with any heartache and they would do their best to help fix it, or help us to get through it. That's the type of parents I had (still have) and that's the type of parent I've always wanted to be.

Mom & dad if you ever read this, I just want to say thank you for everything!!!. For always being there for me, for always believing in me when I didn't believe in myself, for your constant encouragement, your strength, your love, your example. You have lifted me up more times than I can count. I want you to know how much you mean to me. I love you very much!
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I myself have been blessed to be able to be a stay at home mom to 3 beautiful children...1 girl & 2 boys. Even though some days I'm ready to pull my hair out :) and question my sanity :), I love being able to be at home with my kids. To watch them grow and develop their own unique individual personalities. To watch them grasp new concepts with such innocent amazement. To watch their whole faces light up with pure joy, when something makes them happy.

But especially, for those special moments, amidst all the chaos, when you're asking yourself what else can go wrong?... When without warning those same beautiful children who created that chaos :), come up to you and give you that special hug, or that little peck on the cheek, and they wrap their little arms trustingly around your neck and just melt into your arms....and in that split second everything else just fades away, and you know without a shadow of a doubt that it's worth it.

I don't know if my kids will ever get to read this, but if they do, I want them to know how very much I love them. My life is full, because I have them in it. I feel so inadequate at times, when I think of what a huge responsibility I have in helping to shape the kind of people they will be. I know I'm far from being the best mom in the world, but I want my kids to know that I will always love them, I will always be there for them. I'll always be their #1 fan. Whether they want to play sports, play an instrument,...heck play chess, :) I don't care. I will love them no matter what.

When I got married to my husband, I thought I knew what love was. It felt like my heart was bursting at the seams. I was so happy! Then when my daughter came, and I held her for the first time, I was so overwhelmed with how much love I had for her. I couldn't believe how much I could love someone I literally saw for the first time. I was so afraid, when my second one came, that I wouldn't be able to love him as much as my daughtert. (I know, sounds stupid.) But it couldn't have been farther from the truth. I felt the same with both of my boys. With each additional child, the love just got deeper & deeper. (If that makes any sense.)
I want my husband & kids to know how very much I love them!!!

I want my entire family to know how much I love them as well!!!

My kids :)

Okay, so I'm very new at this. My sister told me to get a blog a while back, but I just brushed the suggestion aside, not giving it a second thought. That is, until lately. I've noticed a bunch of my friends now have blogs, and I am amazed at how great they are for Journaling. Plus it's a great way to keep in touch.
I keep kicking myself everyday for not keeping a journal of my kids growing up, and that alone is what actually convinced me to start my own blog.
I am so bad at forgetting things. Things just get so hectic, that if I don't write it down I tend to forget too easily. I really do want to cherish the moments I have now with my kids when they're younger, because they grow up way too freakin' fast!