Potty training SUCKS!

I have no idea why it seems so much worse this time. I swear Nathan is going to get married in a pull up! I have never had a kid take this long. He does really well....when he wants to. I feel like the older my kids get the busier I get and I just don't have the time to be around the house for a full day to make this happen. My mother in law always says not to stress because she has never seen a kindergatener in diapers....it will be a sad day when it's her own grandson that breaks that for her.

I really am not that worried about his age. He will be 3 in October. It's just more that he wants to wear underwear but he gets busy playing and just doesn't stop long enough to tell me he needs to go to the bathroom....then the yelling, crying and fit throwing starts....and I hate for him to see me act that way.

Oh well, we will just have the carpets cleaned REALLY well before the wedding reception :o)

I am so excited

OK, so this blog, like most, is more for me than my friendly readers. I am so excited about a triathlon sprint that I am doing in November. I, of course grew up swimming so that's an obvious interest. I spent years biking 10+ miles a day while living in Vegas. I have picked up running this past year. I am surprised at how much I love it. I have always done a little running. Like 3-4 miles but I have loved being able to put my ipod on and just run for miles. Michael is going to do it with me. Mother and son bonding :o)

I have a couple of friends who are interested so we'll see. My friend, Lucy, is running the PF Chang half marathon in January so I think I may do that as well. I have been so excited about this it's ridiculous.

If anyone has done one of these events and has any advice please let me know. Only positive thinking at this point! This seems a little more intimidating than the once dreaded 5K. Baby steps for me.

I think turning 35 this year is having some weird impact on me. I refuse to just lay down and get old.....I going to run my way unto my mid 30's :0 (even if I am the last one through that finish line)

July '08 in Amarillo, Tx.

YAAAAY! We're BA-ACK! Home Sweet Home. Mostly we were happy to be out of New Mexico! Thanks, Jenna for getting the picture as we drove across the state line.

Robin and I sitting at Robin's table with the kids. This was our first stop when we hit Texas.

AAAUUUUGGHHHHH!!!! What do you mean we are out numbered by girls?

The only way to survive a house full of girls is to pull our DS's and PSP's together and do some boy bonding. Thank goodness they each had their own toys.

Joy's house. I sure miss the good 'ol brick houses of Texas. We had so much fun. I came home wanting to trade my computer room into a guest room so that people would come visit me for the summer....well, maybe not. I am not as laid back of a hostess as Joy is. We have had 2 summers of great memories in this house. I will miss going out there each summer. Kurt got orders to Leavenworth (Kansas) while I was there. When he gets back from Iraq that is where they will go.

Brent and Robin's house. It sits on 2 acres and Michael helped Brent start a putting green. Brent also has his shop on the other end of the lot. They have a darling house....it's huge! I am jealous of the huge play room in the basement and the enormous laundry room with all of the walls lined with cupboards....and a laundry chute. I guess if I had 3 stories to go up and down I would have one, too. It makes me want to cut a whole in Jenna's closet floor :o)

The gang is back together...this is a tradition. We only bowl when we are with aunt Joy....this is what makes her the coolest! You all know how much I love bowling..... LOL

Where else could we all get shoes like these? Where else would we be willing to wear shoes like these?
Big sister to the rescue. It is so much easier on the Wii.

Princess Jenna

Princess for the day....oh, who are we kidding? These are diva's every day! Jenna had a great time, as you can imagine. Joy has 2 girls and she has 2 nieces that live in the area. Nothing but girls (now you know why Hayden opted for Las Vegas this summer to spend time with his friend, Joey....who has NO sisters)

Making their own tiaras. What fun they had!

GOT MILK?!?!

Brent's baby, Kevin.....AKA Superbaby! Popeye has spinach, Kevin has milk...it does the body good, you know.

Nathan and Craig. You will never see 2 cuter cousins. They LOVE being together

Meredith at the pool.

Joy's gym has a great pool. I joined the gym just for the month that I was there so we worked out alot and swam alot to try to get my money's worth. Joining for one month is not recommended when there is a hefty start up fee...but we had a great time.

Jack....I am not sure if he is unhappy about having to leave the pool to go to class, or if that is his martial art's face :o)

Jenna, Emily, Brad and Nathan at the pool.

Jenna and Emily. Cousins are so fun when they come in the form of a girl :o) Since both Jenna and Emily are the only girls in a family of 4 kids they were so excited to have a girl around they didn't seem to notice the age gap. They were nearly inseparable!

Joy and Stone. Yes, we spent a lot of time at the pool.


Alert the press...a picture of Michael.

Brent's baby~Kevin. How cute is he?

My nephew Brad showin' his talent. Thank goodness for a camera that takes 5 shots per second :o) Brad spent the whole time saying "aunt Trecia, get another picture of me in the air". I thought for sure he was going to break a bone every time he would find something to jump off of trying to out do the last shot. This is one of Michael's best shots, though.

Yes, another picture of Michael It is a fluke thing, but I actually got a few pictures of him over the summer. He hates getting his picture taken...plus, most of the pix were taken by him, so good luck getting the camera out of his hands. Notice the Longhorns hat. The favorite part of going to Texas is wearing his hat that spends a lot of time sitting on a shelf.

Joy and Stone. A day at the Amarillo zoo.

Nathan at the zoo. What a fun day.


You can click on any of the pictures to enlarge them.....these are so cool enlarged.

Once Michael played with the camera a little and Joy's sister Catherine showed him how to slow the shutter speed he got some great firework pix. I was pretty impressed considering he didn't have a tripod to steady his camera while the shutter speed was slowed down.

4th of July at Brent's house!

This is Michael pretending he is superman. Brent made this slip and slide and the arch over it that with a built in mister to keep it wet. He would go out every once in a while and squirt some dish soap on it to add that extra slip to the slide. The joys of owning a business that builds paintball bunkers.....it's amazing how many things can be done with that material.

Brent personalized the slip and slide for his kids.

Nathan and Craig are only 3 months apart. Craig turned 3 the day before Michael turned 15. These 2 were constantly wrestling. They are the biggest soul mates I have ever seen. From the day they were born they were meant to have fun together!

No fourth of July is complete without a BBQ. My brother Brent cooking in his back yard.


We had such a great time in Amarillo. The weather was great. It's one of the few places that I know where I can run outside at 8am in July and it's actually cool. The highs hit about 92 most days. We did get a few high 90's but not many. Mostly, though it was so good to be amongst family and friends that might as well be family.

It was pretty laid back. A lot of swimming, and some bowling, zoo, discovery centers, art classes for Jenna and Erika, several birthdays, playing the Wii with Joy's sister, Heather and brother in law, David, Michael working for Brent and just hanging out eating ice cream and making salsa. Salsa making is a tradition when Joy and I get together. We can't seem to get enough of our own salsa!

It was great having Brent and Robin in Amarillo. They moved there recently and live 4.5 miles from Joy. My baby sister, Julie, lives just outside of Amarillo so we got to see her and Trent while out there, too. It was the best of all worlds.

We went to Lubbock to witness the sealing of Joy's sister, Catherine to her sweet hubby, Jeff. That was a great session and sealing. We all helped in doing a lot of names for her family. Because it is a small temple the session room only held about 40 people and you have to make an appt. for the session so it was really neat to have it full of family and friends. It was really fun to see some of our old young women leaders who work in the temple. It was more fun to watch their faces....I think it was a little de ja' vu for them. We were reminded by some of them that we gave our leaders quite the run for their money. I always thought we were pretty good youth. To quote Dr. Phil "there is no reality only perception." Oh, well 16 years later as Joy and I sat next to each other in the Lubbock temple all is well.

Not may people are as lucky as I am to have a friend like Joy. I don't remember her not being around. There is not much we have not done together or been through together.....I am so blessed to watch that friendship continue through the years!

MEMORIES

I first saw this on my sister in law's (Hollie) blog and now it seems to be on everybody's. Small blog world huh? Anyway, it's a lot of fun to think back on these great times.



1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!



2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I will assume you're playing the game and I'll come over to your blog and leave one about you.

Summertime

Michael, Jenna, Nathan and I are in Amarillo, Texas visiting Joy (Jones) Roberts. Hayden is in Las Vegas visiting Joey Perez for a few weeks. Joe is at home working long hours to make up for the amount of time he took off for our vacation:o) Michael and Hayden will both be heading home on the 19th so that they can attend Scout camp. Jenna, Nathan and I will be heading home the end of July.

July in Amarillo is way better than July in Phoenix....we are enjoying highs of 88-95. Usually right around 90 degrees. Nathan keeps telling me it's cold outside.

Michael attended his first EFY this year in Flagstaff, AZ. Nikkolas Perez flew out and went with him while Joey and Hayden hung out with me. Michael had a blast. Good times!

I miss having Hayden around and I think he is a little homesick...but I am sure he he will have great memories of spending 5 weeks with his best friend.

I will have lots of pictures of our busy summer when I get home.