End of Summer Fun

July 24th marked the weekend of the Tebbs Family Reunion, celebrating what would be the 100th birthday of Grandpa Tebbs. I don't really know why my kids are healthy as horses, then when we go somewhere they get sick. It happened to Paris at Disneyland and now Berlynn at the ranch. I was up every hour of the night, in the Bathroom with Berlynn. Thank goodness we weren't camping. We were very grateful to be staying at Jeff and Dad's beautiful cabin by Panguitch Lake. During the day we hiked to the bear cave, painted, ate yummy food, rode 4 wheelers and horses, and played with the kittens underneath Danny and Karen's cabin.

Berlynn suddenly feels better, so long as it involves riding a horse.

The kids weren't very happy about having to stop the fun for one minute for picture time!
Paris and a couple of cousins stick their heads out of the bear cave for a quick picture. If you look closely, they have bones in their hands! EEEEWWWWW.
Below is Paris after falling in the stream, rolling in the dirt, and hiking. Yuck!

We had a fun weekend. Paris can't wait to go back up to the ranch next time. Unfortunately, on our way home I hydroplaned off the freeway. I did a 360 on the actual road, then went off roading for a little extra fun. Luckily my car got stuck in mud before my car went into on coming traffic! I was also lucky to have only knocked my car out of alignment, no major repairs necessary. Thank you Dad and Mom for your prayers. They had just said a prayer for our safety not 5 minutes before our incident.

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Jack Johnson, live on stage. August 19th 2008

I've been really bad at updating my blog lately. August 19th we had a girls night out and went to the Jack Johnson concert. We had so much fun, here are some of the pictures. We were crazy moms out to have a good time. The people around us must have been drawn in by our awesomeness energy because, at one point, a teenage boy even asked to have his picture taken with us, hahahaha. Good times, good times!

Tara, Charity, Christina, and Jenn are henceforth to be considered "concert sisters." We arrived bright and early to get a good spot. We squished in between a few people, front and center on the lawn, but I didn't have enough room to lay out my beach mat and pillow. The kid in front of me, who forgot something to lay on, was glad, I think. He used it for the rest of the night, with the understanding that, "kid with my mat" would be willing to take pictures of us throughout the night. It worked out well.


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HHS Class of 1998, 10 years later!


Everyone noticed that Tane Borsh shot up like a weed since high school (pictured below). To the right sit Nanette, next to hubby Trevor Jensen and they are expecting their first! Pete Bulloch is next to Trevor. They seem excited to have their picture taken! :)














Peach days came on August 29th and 30th this year, and with it came our long awaited 1998 class reunion!

I had so much fun getting to see so many of my friends from high school. Thanks to everyone who came, making it fun and memorable. It was really fun to notice how many of us haven't changed. Our lives have changed, of course, but our personalities remain in tact. I sat by Cory Ballard, Cory Ipson, and Pat McCarthy. None of them have changed one bit. They still have their funny personalities. They helped me to relax, and laugh a little bit. I was a little bit stressed, just a tad :) . Thank you Misty Lemmon and Melissa Stout (sorry I don't remember your married names) for spending your entire meal sorting through surveys for the awards. They didn't even get to eat! That was really nice of you guys. Thanks to Jackie, for doing so much to make it work. I was on the phone with her every other day, talking her into doing more and more. Jenny Lemmon, Michelle Jeppson, Kim Johnson, Kristy War to name a few, helped to get the invitations out. The majority voted to have a 15 year reunion, and Alex Chamberlin will be the "go to" man for that event. :)

During this same weekend we attended Chris and Amy's baby blessing, for little Maya, and Byron's homecoming. It was fun to meet little Maya, who has such a sweet spirit. Byron is just the same old Byron, it's great to have him home again. We missed all of his funny clothes. I wish I had more pictures, my camera battery died. We had an eventful weekend full of fun and family!


Here's one last picture of Jeremy and the girls swimming at our hotel in St. George. We stayed the weekend next to Jeremy's Mom and Sister Mary at the Comfort Inn and Suits. Berlynn has really bad dog allergies and everyone in our family has an indoor dog. :( But it was nice having a nice hotel room, it was like having a little minnie vacation.

Back Stage With Mckay Tebbs

My little brother's a big star! Mckay and his band traveled up to preform at Highland Days. What else can a sister do but be the first one there to reserve a spot!
The girls and I arrived in Highland Utah at around noon to enjoy the festivities and meet up with an old friend, Jenn Hansen Nydegger. Our girls giggled and wrestled as they filled the 5 hours between our arrival time and Mckay's performance time. Berlynn jumped in line with Paris, who had been waiting for an hour, to get her face painted. Soon Paris Berlynn, and Princess all had their faces painted. Berlynn is a butterfly, Paris an ice princess and Princess, a Cat.
The partly cloudy sky provided a nice temperature to lay our blankets on the grass in anticipation for the Mckay Tebbs Band. The two hours left before show time provided a good opportunity for Jenn and I to catch up.
When Mckay and Heather finally arrived with my darling nephew, Tobby, the kids had just about had it for the day. Paris was continually running this way and that, and Berlynn was caught with my friend Tera's son Roman, in the port a potty. Oh the innocence of youth, that would have put a strain on mine and Tera's relationship if our kids were 10 years older. Haha. Berlynn was just waiting her turn, with Roman in the port a potty.
We had such a fun day. Thanks Jenn for enduring such a long day with me, you being there made it seem a much shorter wait. Thanks Tara for meeting us there. Dinner after was so much fun.
The music, the food, the friends, the memories... life is good.

Breaking Dawn

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I'm pasting my comment from the twilight group I'm in. Some women were getting really upset by this book. Issues like "teen pregnancy" especially where magazine covers read, "Babies, the Hottest Hollywood Accessory"were coming up. The Morals of Stephanie Meyer were put into question, especially when we live in a world where teen pregnancy rate is sky high. One lady said, "It's so bad that mothers can drop their unwanted babies off at a fire department, no questions asked!" Here's what I think...

It's funny that Bella's age is coming into question with teen pregnancy. Didn't everyone go through this with the first book when we found out how old Edward truly was? So we took the point with us that love is love. We had to, or we couldn't enjoy Edward and Bella's romance.

Besides that Bella was an adult, she'd graduated from HS. Everyone makes their own decisions after that point in their lives.

The trend (on a larger scale) in the world today is to wait to be financially stable with a career and home, finished with college, etc before we have children. Women all over the place run out of "time" to have kids, then regret it.

Being a mother is a big responsibility (which Bella didn't skirt) and it isn't always fun, but it is the most amazing thing in the world. I love my kids more than anything and I would do anything to protect them. I don't mind that Stephanie portrayed a little bit of the "magic of motherhood" in this book. Maybe teens will think twice before dropping their babies off at the fire department because that's not what Bella would do. Who knows, may be that's not such a bad thing.

You may think this isn't a young adult series anymore, or that teens shouldn't read this. Obviously, I'm a mom, so maybe it was written more for mom's, who knows?? Kind of like the HP books, they were children's books in the beginning, but by the last few... not so much. Too dark. But kids still enjoyed the magic, only adults complained (resulting in book burnings etc).

I have enjoyed reading all the Twilight books. Not because of the message (although it did remind me of how much I love my husband) but because they were fun and entertaining to read. I liked the unpredictable 4th book. I was way off guessing what would happen, I like that. If I could have guessed I would have been disappointed.

Do I think that teens will want to run out and have babies because Bella did? Probably the same girls that did it because their favorite celeb. did. Those would be the same that aren't taught differently at home. Let's not forget about the responsibility of parents. This book is great, it opens up a channel for parents and teen daughters to talk about an important decision in a low risk non-confrontational way. Teens are smarter than what they get credit for. We all (even as adults) do stupid things in life from time to time; lets not go out and say "the book made me do it!" That's a little over the top and takes away individual accountability. Plus, remember it's genre is fantasy. It's not real life, were talking vampires and ware wolfs.

I have enjoyed reading other posts, to see what others thought of the book. It's interesting. I enjoyed reading Breaking Dawn, but there were a few things that bothered me (loose strings in the resolution etc). But overall, I have enjoyed Stephanie Meyer and her Vampire stories!

Back Stage with Sawyer Brown

Everybody, I'm sure, has an acquaintance that likes to brag about a person they know, that knows someone important. You know, "Name droppers." Even though I don't normally consider myself a "Name dropper," I do happen to know someone who knows someone. Hahaha.

Tara, my fellow golden girl (lol), is married to Jason, or Moose, who happens to be friends with a few famous entertainers. Among those is Mark Miller, the lead singer for Sawyer Brown. Moose and Mark go way back. So when their bus rolled into town Tara invited Jeremy and I to hang with them at the concert. No problem, other than talking my date into going to a country concert. Good thing he loves me. Not only were the tickets free, as a guest of Moose, but they are probably the best tickets at the sold out Sandy Amphitheater. Here's a picture of Tara and Jason at the concert.

The fun didn't end with VIP tickets. Nope, we got VIP parking backstage. Then, on our way into the concert we ran into Mark himself. He always puts on a good show. Mark Miller is a fabulous entertainer! Tara and I danced and sang to the music while Sawyer Brown rocked the house. It was so much fun.

I kid you not, we were an audience in need of a little sun. Jeremy was almost alone in representing the minorities of Utah. Good thing Rox was there (another "someone" Moose knows, who happens to be Asian). But fun is fun... Jeremy said he really had a good time. It's hard not to when the entertainment is so amazing. Here's a funny picture of Mark in action.

After the show we went back to the bus where Moose hung out with Mark and the rest of us mingled in the rain. Jason reported that Mark didn't feel well, with a headache. The few fans with back stage passes were disappointed that Mark didn't want to come out for photo ops with crazy fans, one of whom named her son after their band (cu cu). Jason asked him if he would be willing to meet some of his friends who were fans (me!). Here 's the picture I got of Mark Miller and I, thanks Jason!

I am now that person who brags about knowing someone who knows someone. It was worth it. I got a picture with Mark and an autographed picture of the band! Thanks Tara and Jason for the night out! It's been a long time since we stayed up that late (hahaha).

This is the Place!

Free? Those are the magic words that motivated me to pack up the car with water and kids. Free entrance, free pizza, free ice cream sandwiches, free games, free pony rides, free bounce houses. Everything free! In honor of The Days of '47, This is the Place Monument Park planned a huge event, family fun day - free to the public.

I didn't think we would last long, free usually means lots of people; crying kids, frustrated moms, and Dads in line. I was wrong. There was so much to do that the girls and I stayed ALL day. We arrived at 11:00 am ready to explore, amid the crowds. Dust soon clung to our legs, feet, and sandals as we trekked up and down dirt roads, and in and out of pioneer homes. We went on pony rides, did all kinds of arts and crafts, attended pioneer school, rode the train, and walked, and walked, and walked. We were able to see lots of pioneer houses as we tried to imagine life as a pioneer. Red hot cheeks, tired legs and feet told me that it would be time to journey home soon, but the girls were far from finished. Every time I would suggest it they would beg to see one more thing.

It's funny, the smallest of pioneer houses always seemed to provide shelter for the largest of families. We would walk into a small studio style cabin, they would tell us the family that lived there had 7 children! The boys slept outside, or in the attic when it snowed. The girls slept on the floor. the parents slept on a straw bed tied together with rope. Add this to no running water or electricity... I can imagine being pregnant and having to go potty twice in the middle of the night - all the way to the out house. Or going in the pee pot. You know how hard it is to squat anyway, let alone when you have 20 lbs tacked on to your stomach. It's so easy to take for granted the seemingly small conveniences that I enjoy every day.

When we got tired, we hopped in our air conditioned car and drove 70 mph home, on the smooth, paved roads. Once home, we flopped on the couch, then went to the bathroom and took a cool shower. Our home is not huge, but it's big enough to stay in all winter, if we wanted to. How in the world can 9 people stay inside all winter long in a small hut? I bet their moms went nuts.

One thing the pioneer's had on us however, were the discipline techniques that the teachers commonly used on the naughty children in their classroom. Oh, if I had a paddle in my classroom! Hahahaha. Yeah, I'd probably never use it, but the threat...


Pictures:
#1 Paris and Berlynn compete in the doughnut eating contest. Win or lose you take your doughnut!

#2 Paris and Berlynn are my little pioneer girls for the day. Here we are in a furnature store weighting for the puppet show.

#3 Mom and Berlynn cheese it up on the train ride. Of course, Paris is sitting alone in the back. She's too big to sit by an over bearing mom like me!

#4 Paris and Berlynn attend Pioneer school where they learn about the Deseret Alphabet (did you know they used a different alphabet system, kind of like old English).

Class of '98 Reunion

Ok everyone, after checking around, I found out that no one is planning the 10 year reunion. SOOOOO, if you want to have one, let me know (you're officially a volunteer :) ). Spread the word, our 10 year reunion is happening. Everyone mark your calenders, for Peach Days which is August 29th and 30th. I don't live close, so I will run into some obstacles, if you live close to home and would be willing to help, please, please let me know.
We need ideas for what we want to do and where we want to do it (no big deal right). We can pull this off together.
Just in case no one responds I'm tagging a few people, who wont escape my annoying persistence. If you name is listed, you are tagged. Think of ideas and respond. Bridget, Sisalee, Kaylee, Michelle, Kari, Cory (Natalie, pass him the word). Jeni's already in league, Heidi, you're off the hook. If I didn't tag you, I meant too, still respond. Ok, get to work! Ideas, Ideas, Ideas people!

Tagged again!

The rules are as follows:

List 3 Joys, 3 Fears, 3 Goals, 3 Current Obsessions, and 3 Random Surprising Facts About Yourself.

Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names.

Here goes...

Three Joys:

1. My girls

2. Jeremy (my husband who never fails to make me laugh, even if it's at my self... which it usually is)

3. My career (teaching - I love working with ding dong kids, their so goofy)

Three Fears (these aren't in order):

1. Putting my foot in my mouth (I seem to do that a lot, like when I told a lady she shouldn't lift all those kids being pregnant... that's right, she wasn't pregnant. She really did look about 8 months prego, and I'm not judging because my stomach doesn't look the same after having kids. I felt really bad)

2. Something bad happening to my kids

3. Losing my husband

Three Goals:

1. Write a book

2. Build an amazing curriculum

3. Get my masters degree (and later Doctorates)

Three current obsessions:

1. Blogging (can you tell)

2. Reading, always reading (something or another)

3. Cleaning (I can't help it, I like things clean, and we're selling our house, so everything has to be perfect)

Three random surprising facts:

1. I like having a variety of friends (from people with lots of body art, to illegal immigrants, gangsters, to strong religious people. Rich, poor, in between. Young, old, in between. People totally different from myself intrigue me. People who are similar to me are fun to relate to. My life is colorful.

2. I love babies (My baby. Your baby. Any baby. Babies are just so sweet. I could hold a baby for hours an not even notice that a minute has passed)

3. I almost had my drivers license taken away once (speeding) :(

I tag Christina, Breck, Kaylee, Bridget and Heidi (you guys all have very fun blogs that I like to read on a regular basis)