New Family Member

We recently I found a dead mouse underneath a set of my dishes. I also found holes in my bag of rice & holes in my fish food in my shed outside. Then there was the poop in the cupboards & the poop on the table in the shed. We tried mouse traps & didn't catch anything. So we got the best mouse trap around. Welcome to the family Gidget.

We got her at 9 weeks old & she's now 11 weeks. I've decided she's like having a ADHD 2 year old with a splash of bipolar. She either sleeping or in what we've labeled "hell cat" mode. She loves to lick my chin, bite my nose, nuzzle my eyes, suckle my hair, climb my legs & gnaw on my ears. We've started a training program with her because her behavior is so wild. She's really intelligent & taking to it well. It won't be long before I have her using the toilet & flushing.

I couldn't help myself & spoiled her with a few good toys. She loves her crinkle tunnel but her favorite toy is a fishing pole from the dollar store.

Gidget is working on her knowledge of literature. She recently studied Band of Brothers as a way to get ideas to improve her hunting skills.

She is very helpful with turning pages.

She is quite the hunter. I feel as though I'm being stalked all day, although her favorite thing to hunt is Mysha.

The great hunter in action catching a lazer.

Gidget is a cuddle monster. She loves to sleep on my shoulder when I'm sitting or sleep on my stomach when I'm laying down. She also likes to sleep between my knees or on top of my calves when I am cutting out material on the ground. She's so funny.

Mysha has handled the intruder pretty well. At first she was dejected & wouldn't let me give her love. Then she decided she needed attention 24/7. She has now made piece with Gidget & they are working on their friendship. They tend to have a morning play session each day. It's fun to see Mysha be playful.

First she darts out from her tunnel.....

......then she attacks.....Kapow!.......

.....then she's off like a shot.....

Bonk!! Mysha needs to learn to put her paw on her nose between her eyes.

My favorite.

I found her today snuggled up in her sheets cuddled up with her pink mouse. Life can be very exhausting after playing so hard each day.

Witches Night Out

Sandi Collet invited me to Witches Night Out held at Gardner Village. I had never been nor ever heard of it & I didn't know what to expect. It was so much fun! We arrived & there were hundreds & hundreds of women dressed up as witches wandering around Gardner village. There was a costume parade, dancing, shoping, food, photo booths, face painting, & lots of fun. The witches ranged from infant size to old women using rockers. All of them were dressed up. My favorite was going to the bathroom & seeing all the tall pointy hats sticking up out of the stalls. So fun!


Mmmmm....potato cheese soup in bread bowls.

I only had a few hours to come up with my costume, so I went as a punk witch. The boa isn't part of the costume.

There were so many fun costumes. Some elaborate, some very simple, but all fun.

Double click on the hats so you can see the details. They were amazing!

I saw the ice queen from Narnia walking around. Her costume was awesome. About a week later I found out that she was my friends sister & also a big family friend of the Garners. How funny.

Glenda won the costume competition. She was hilarious. She would randomely walk up to people & say "You're prettier then me," and then would bonk them with her wand & turn them into a toad.

These glasses were awesome. I wish I would have purchased them.

The village was full of witches in various forms. There was the occasional man pushing a stroller with a baby in a tiny litte witch hat. Some of the men were also dressed up in fun costumes.

Sorry this is so dark. They had music playing all night & a section where witches were dancing all night. I wish you could see all of the hats bouncing up & down. I was trying to film the teenage witches in the tiny little slut outfits with giant heels. The worst part was a lady was dancing with them that looked like their mom or their adult chaperone. I wanted to cast a spell on her that forced her to read parenting books 24/7. Muwahaaaaaa!

Mountain To Metro

I got a bee in my bonnet this summer & decided I was going to do a 7 mile trail run. I learned to run 7 miles in under 20 days. It was such a good experience for me. I really learned how to accept pain & push past it. Julie was a great inspiration & helped me to understand how to have a life despite injury. I ran with my friend Kristen who I met on a fitness blog.

It was a grueling run. Held at 3pm in the burning sun & straight up hill for the first couple of miles.

This little came out & ran the last leg with his dad across the finish line. It was so cute!

I finished at about 1 hour & 18 min. I finished 95th out of 132 and placed 4th in my age group out of 9 women. The fastest runner averaged a 6 1/2 minute mile.

My swag.

Work Gig

Jake's company had a user conference and asked a couple of their employees to play in a band for the conference. They set up a Jay Leno type show with a host, guests & a side band. They did a great job & the show was a lot of fun.




Nothing like a bunch of old guys shaking it.

Bear Lake

I got a bee in my britches this year to go on a family vacation to Bear Lake. I required the presence of the Garner family. They stomped & screamed but finally complied. I don't think we had any fun at all. ;-)



Little Jon (Natalie's boy) got bucked off the giant yellow wiener with the rest of us in tow. It was all elbows, knees, & hands for a minute in the air. He did pretty awesome & didn't even cry. His life jacket just popped him right up. However, upong returning to the boat he told Jake, "My life jacket didn't work at all!" I don't think he was expecting to actually get wet.



Jake & Jon Jon had a little jam jam together.





Pretty much the coolest swim gear ever.

Jake taking on the freezing cold Bear Lake water.

Trying to warm up.

He looks like he's getting ready for a tropical Christmas pageant.

Keith taking on the Wake Skate Board.

Little Jon LOVED the boat & probably would have slept on it had he been allowed.

The driver & owner of previously mentioned boat.

As you can tell, Cherie & Keith's baby Jayda absolutely loves her life jacket.

Mike showing some skin.

We had a slumber party in the front room with me, Jake, Lisa, & Mike. It was a real gas, if you catch my drift.

Natalie wondering how the heck it worked out that she & Shawn had to sleep in the kitchen. Hee hee. They were good sports.

Setting up for bed.

Mmmmmm......Pizza.

I don't think one slice will be enough.

My buddy, my buddy, my buddy & me.

Jayda has found her thumb. Now she just needs to put part of a blanket up her nose & she'd look just like baby Lisa.

Farewell Bear Lake. Until next year.

The Eltons Visit The Garner's

We were so happy to score some time the Elton family before the White family reunion. We got to keep them all to ourselves. Muhahahaha!




Liam enjoyed his time wearing Jake's motorcycle helmet & pulling our garden wagon around. He told Jake "I liked your old house better. It was more fun." We can't really figure that one out since our old house didn't have a yard or anywhere to play. Perhaps it is the nostalgia of it.



Serious business.

Liam found a baby snake taking a stroll in our grass.

He had it for a snack. ;-)

Anna enjoyed stirring the pond water & letting the fish suck on her fingers.

The men being manly.

Eric exploring the great frontier.

Liam has loved Jake's motorcyle helmet since he was 6 months old. When he started walking he would put it on & try to walk around. The weight usually sent him reeling backwards to the floor, but he loved it.

The Eltons greeting baby Seth for the first time.

Ah. The life of a growing baby. I wish I could sleep that well.

We spent a day at the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point.

It was scary.

Eric found a pet.

Anna found many pets to share.

I was pretty much terrified the whole time.

O.k. Here's my fun with photoshop. (Oops! Looks like I didn't finish this picture. )

I needed a wind machine to give myself some action hair.

I wouldn't want to be this guy.

Not sure I'd want to be him either. He's trying to take a Woolly Mammoth out with a rock Good luck with that.

One of Liam's favorite. Megalodon!

Afterwards we went to the Mayan for some yummy dinner & high diving.

Yes. This guy is hanging from the ceiling. He also hung from the ceiling just by his toes.