Every Monday and Wednesday

For the past 3 weeks (and for the next four) our (meaning mine and the kids') Mondays and Wednesday have been spent at back to back t-ball and coach pitch baseball games. Katie and Ash are on the same team. She is helping him learn the ropes. Mainly, we are trying to convince him to run to first base after he hits the ball. Right now, he thinks it is more fun to hit it and then see if he can get to it before the opposing team.

Matthew is in coach pitch baseball for the first time. He is improving every game. I haven't had the chance to take a picture though so I will write more about him when I get a picture.

What's More American?

The kids had their annual May Day performance on May 22 (the second to lastday of school). Jer tried several times to get a good picture of the kids in their cute outfits, but this was the best he could come up with. The sun was just too bright!

The theme this year was One Nation and they sang patriotic songs and performed dances. The program was truly outstanding... very inspiring! I was so impressed with teachers who put everything together. Matthew's class danced to "Surfin' USA." (My class danced to that in 4th grade.) It was great!

Katie's class danced to "What's More American" which was also utterly adorable. I may be biased, but I thought the kindergarten and firstgraders were the cutest!

Three Cheers for Jeremy!!!

I just have to brag for a minute. Jeremy took his first test (well, in over seven years) this week and scored 96%. He only missed one question! This is especially amazing when you consider how busy he has been during this unit. It is also very important, because the hospital reimburses his tuition based on his grades. He has to get an A to get the full tuition reimbursement. He is off to a GREAT start. Yeah!!

EWWWW... Gross!!!

That is not my toilet. I couldn't bring myself to take a picture because it is SO, SO, SO DISGUISTING!!

Here is why:

Two days ago, Katie was helping clean up and found some popsicle sticks. She thought... why not flush them down the toilet to REALLY get rid of them. Well, we didn't know and kept using it and then this morning disaster struck.

Anyway, Jer has broke TWO plumbing snakes and spent 2 hours on it. He just informed me that he is going to have to take the toilet off, but doesn't have time until he gets home TONIGHT. For awhile he had me and Katie in there helping, but we weren't much help because I was trying not to throw up and laughing hysterically at the same time and Katie was telling me, "Mom, just don't look at it! Don't look!!" Well, not looking only does so much. It smells NASTY !!

So now I have to use the kid's bathroom... which is an experience in and of itself.

I don't know what is more foul... the smell coming from the bathroom OR Jeremy's mood after having his hand in the toilet for two hours.

The Happiest Place on Earth

Before I start writing about our trip to Disneyland, I have to record something Katie said when we were walking in the gate the second day. She turned to Jeremy and said, "Why do they call Disneyland the happiest place on earth?" He said, "Why not? Isn't it?" Then she said something that made my day (maybe even my year). Katie said, "No. HOME is."

Okay... now to our Disneyland adventures.... We arrived home from Disneyland at 11 pm last night after 12 hours in the car. Amazingly, we were all still happy, loving each other, and glad we'd made the trip. Seriously, it was not painful at all. We stopped for potty breaks every two hours, finished the Chronicles of Narnia (the kids were sad about that and wondered what we would read next... we started Fablehaven), played travelling games and really enjoyed the 24 hours (round-trip) that we spent in the car.

We took about 150 pictures. It was hard to choose what to include. I might add more later, but for now here are a few....


My dad and/or Steve bought Ashton and Will a treat almost everytime they were too little or scared (in Ashton's case) to ride a ride. We were surprised at how easily frightened they were. There favorite rides were the "SLOW one" (according to Ashton). Will loved Dumbo the flying Elephant, and hated every dark ride (especially Pirates and the Haunted Mansion).

Ashton and Will were DELIGHTED to meet Lighting McQueen and Mater. Unfortunately for them, there was a huge line and they couldn't fully explore the cars as much as they would have liked. They were also thrilled to meet Goofy because they LOVE "The Goofy Movie."

Jeremy, Levi and my dad are MIA in this picture. But here is the rest of us on our first day. You can't see it very well, but the boys were all dressed in matching Jedi costumes (for Jedi training camp) our neighbor made. They looked so cute!!

Katie fought Darth Vader during Jedi Training Camp.

Matthew fighting Darth Maul. He was VERY into this.

All of the characters hugged and kissed Grandpa and Grandma Heslop. I think they thought it was cute to see 88 and 87 year old people visiting Disneyland.

My dad and Steve bought the kids their first (and probably only) cotton candy.

Favorite Rides:

• Jer- Tower of Terror
• Jill- Pirates of the Caribbean
• Matthew- Screamin'
• Katie-Splash Mountain and Space Mountain
• Ash-Astro Blasters (Buzz Lightyear) and Autotopia
• Will-Dumbo (and sitting in the fire engine in Toon Town)

Oh and my mom is a Disney pin trading queen. She got me and Matthew into and both she and I collected an entire 7 pin series while we were there. Exciting!!

No Training Wheels!!

Katie had never been taught to ride a bike without training wheels, because when I'm outside I have to watch Will like a hawk (or he tries to walk to the park or Grandma's by himself) and Jeremy doesn't get home from the farm until bedtime.

But, yesterday she asked Levi to take her training wheels off her bike. He did and gave her a pushing start and she took off. That was that! She suspected she could do it because she rode the neighbors' little mini bike with out training wheels.

This morning she asked when she can start riding her bike to school. Maybe next year.

School Days... School Days...

Those are Jeremy's textbooks. They just arrived by FedEx today and with them came a lot of excitement and anxiety.

For those of you who don't know, Jeremy is going back to school to get a second bachelor's degree... this one in Clinical Laboratory Sciences. (Which is basically the people who run the tests on in a medical laboratory.) The Gunnison hospital is currently fully-staffed, but wanted to have a back up person in case someone quits/retires/etc., so they offered to pay for Jeremy's schooling on the condition that if the need arises he works for them for three years. If they don't end up needing him, he gets a free education. It seems almost too good to be true! The application process for this was very competitive (especially since a free education is involved) and I am so proud of him for being selected.

Now, that he starts school in 10 days though, we're getting a little nervous. Not about his abilities (have I mentioned before that he is a genius... seriously), but about juggling his busy schedule.

I am so excited for him though! Science is his forte and he finally gets to study something that he enjoys and is good at. I'm a little jealous too... Doesn't pathophysiology (one of his courses this semester) sound interesting? I guess I'll have to get my pathology kick from watching House re-runs online.

Hero Worship

Will has a little hero worship thing going on with Ashton. It is also a bit of a love-hate relationship. Will's favorite color is green (because so is Ashton's). He loves to do anything Ashton is doing and shares his obsession of anything with wheels. They are great buddies, as long as they don't want the same truck at the same time.

In the pictures above, they are sitting in the rocking chair, playing with their trucks together

Easter 2009 (better late than never... right!?!)

So... I just found these pictures on my camera and realized that I hadn't ever posted them. Here is Easter in all it's unedited glory.

Because of an April SNOW-storm (darn Utah weather), the fields for the Easter egg hunt were wet and muddy. So the kids just waited in line and had their baskets filled. It was very quick.

Susan Boyle

I don't know if there is a person in the Western world who hasn't heard of Susan Boyle, the surprising singer from Britains Got Talent. (We don't even have TV and we've heard her name at least once a day for the past week or two.)

But... just in case you haven't seen this amazing singer, you must see this youtube clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY.

For a very sweet post on Susan, you can visit my friend Amanda's blog.

Rome... Out and About

Our trip to Rome was amazing and while we enjoyed seeing many, many, many important works of art and historical sights, some of our favorite times occurred when we were just out and about exploring Rome.

Rome is interesting. It truly comes alive and night. And the piazzas... wow, it is hard to describe the way entire neighborhoods gather at the piazzas (kind of like an old fashioned town square) in the evening to eat, socialize, play/listen to music, kiss, or even just sit there. The piazzas all featured amazing works of art like the Trevi Fountain or the Four Rivers Fountain (both by Bernini) or the Pantheon (commissioned by Emperor Hadrian in 120 AD). Rome is truly a unique place.

Eating our first true Italian pizza in Piazza Novella. The pizza was delicious and CHEAP!

Susan Anderson, us, the Shropshires, the Hinds, the Broadbents at the Vatican

Here are a few of the MANY pictures I took of the designer stores. We saw shops for every famous designer we've heard of. Italy is truly the fashion capital of the world.

Relaxing (along with hundreds of other people) on the Spanish Steps, which lead to the Spanish Embassy. We saw the French, Brazilian, Spanish and a couple of other embassies while exploring Rome.

The President is a CELEBRITY in Italy. A street artist was selling a painting of him and as a group of school children walked by they all pointed and said excitedly, "Barack Obama! Barack Obama!" We got a kick out of it.

Me inside the Pantheon. The dome that inspired all the Renaissance domes, including Michelangelo's dome at the Vatican. In the Pantheon we saw the crypt of Raphael as well as Victor Emmanuel, Italy's first modern king.

Outside the Pantheon.

Recognize this famous fountain? Think Audrey Hepburn and Roman Holiday. That water was delicious! Almost as good as our Rocky Mountain water in Ephraim.

All the cars, homes, scooters, etc. are TINY. Romans don't have to parallel park. They can just back up or pull straight into a spot. The cars are so tiny, it's all the same.

Pompeii & Earthquake!!

It took an entire day, but we could not go to Southern Italy and not visit Pompeii. The Usborne Home Office had arranged a day trip for those interested so it was an easy and affordable way to venture out of Rome itself. It was a great way to spend my birthday!

Pompeii was AMAZING. The frescoes, tiles, and structures were so amazingly well preserved. It did not take any imagination to visualize the ancient city. (Which was built on a block plan similar to Utah cities.)

Jer said we also got a better understanding of "fire and brimstone." As our tour guide (whose father and grandfather and helped with the excavations... most is still unexecavated by the way) told showed us the many brothels and explained their lifestyle many people commented, "No wonder God destroyed them."

Still it was sad to think about the loss of life in such a terrifying way. The casts or people and animals struggling to breath or find shelter from the gases (which killed them... not the ash and lava) are heartbreaking.

We bought a book about Pompeii while there and the last thing I read that night was about how before Mount Vesuvius Erupted there was a big earthquake that destroyed part of Pompeii. That was all I could think about at 3:30 am when we were wakened by our own earthquake. We couldn't believe we left Utah where the "big one" could come at anytime, travelled 1/2 way around the world and ended up in major earthquake. Obviously we made it home unscathed and it added to the adventure.

One of several casts of the residents (and pets) of Pompeii in the positions they died in. Also pottery, fountains, and other artifacts they archeologists have unearthed.
Poor doggy!

Fresco on the wall in near perfect condition. Rainwater fell through that hole in the ceiling where it was collected in the main part of the house.

Mosaic entryway.

Mosaic and marble tiled floor.

This is where the rainwater was collected. Every house had one.

Our tour guide, Mossimo, showing us one of the many fast food places in Pompeii. Fast food is obviously not only a modern convenience since Pompeii was destroyed almost 2000 years ago.

Some ancient lady's kitchen.

Jer took this picture of me heading off to one of many potty breaks. The reason he took the picture is because he thought it was fascinating that they built the restrooms in a room of an ancient ruin.

The origional 2000 year old+ streets. Those large stones in road are stepping stones because Pompeii flooded everytime it rained. Also, it is pretty cool, you can still see chariot tracks in the streets. Chariot Tracks! Now that is something I never thought I would see.