That time of year

I LOVE Halloween it is one of my favorite holidays. With all holidays there is one bummer side, with Halloween it has to be carving pumpkins!!!! ughhhhh.

At my children's school they have a pumpkin patch, it is a fun day of pumpkins and parties. The bad part is the whole "best pumpkin" award. Try as we might we never win. Kenna is determined this year to win she has been brain storming all year about this. She is sooooo cute. today we carved the nasty beasts and this is our final result! I think they are all winners in my book ,but then I am the mom.

They are soo funny! I love these guys. Parker did a bleeding hatchet. Kennas is a pumpkin pie!!!get it? Haaaa! When the candles are in them you see the out lines on the pumpkin, pretty cool! we even put spices in Kennas so it smells like pie!!! Emi was just happy to play in all the pumpkin barfff.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! to all our family and friends.

Snow blower, chainsaw, and Sams Club OHHH MY!!!

This is kind of long but very funny!!!

As many of you know from my facebook that my two friends and I went to "The Big City" yesterday. I would like to share our adventure with all of you. It is guaranteed to please and entertain.

We live in a remote part of the United States. Our closest Wal-Mart is 2 hours away, in good weather,with snow it can 3-4 hours. My best friend Tye and my secret best friend Melanie( can't make all my other best friends jealous!!) both needed to go shopping. I am always up for a road trip. Give me a Dr. Pepper and some Baked Lays and I am good to go.

Tye is the activities committee person in our ward, she has our Halloween party this Friday she needs to feed the masses. She needs to go to Sams Club.

Melanie is sick of getting stuck in her driveway every winter and needs a snow blower, and since she is at it why not a chainsaw? They totally go together right?

Dani just needs stuff. The list is far too long and far too normal.

We need a way to get all of these things back in one piece. Thank goodness my Bri is a motorcycle maniac. Our van is totally set up for these things. We decide to take my van and little trailer. No problem I do this sort of stuff all the time. I am a force to be reckoned with, Ahhh Haaa, Haa, Haaa!!!!!

6:30 am the trailer lights aren't working. It is dark outside. Bri wont let us go unless we fix them. I promised him I would take care of it. " I will stop at the parts store on the way out of town." he says o.k.

7:10 am load up my kids to drop off at the bus stop.

7:15 Dani and Emi pick up Tye and Seth. Did I forget the part about taking 3 two year olds with us? Yes we are that crazy.... all the time.

7:25 we pick up Mel and Nolan

They are sooo Cute!!!! Don't be fooled!!!!

We stop at the auto parts store. Our favorite parts boy, Nick, is there. We nicely ask him if he can fix our lights for us. He said sure. I am certain it was because we were all so devastatingly beautiful when we smiled at him, how could he say no to us?

8:00 am we are out of here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks Nick!!! You are our home town hero.

Two screaming kids (Seth and Emi),two hours later, and a crazy old man with a truck full of junk metal, later we are there. We drop our trailer off at Molly's house. We don't need it until Sams and Lowes.

Yes this was scary he did not have anything tied down and check out the sides of his truck bed!!! need I say more? Its a good thing my van is as fast as a Ferrari!!!

We decided to do the important stuff first. Old Navy, Bath and Body Works,and Victoria's Secret. We go to a few other stores and then hit Wal-Mart. Now all of you know what that is like. I was totally pleased that Emi was a perfect angel and so were the boys. About 2 hours later we emerge with carts, bags, babies and tired plastic (already!) We unload our carts and get a little nervous that the van is pretty full. Hmmmmm? No problem we have the trailer!!!!!!!

We then decided to go to Arctic Circle for lunch. They have a play ground, always a plus. Molly was with us and she is the best. She is Tyes sister in law and soooo sweet I just love her!!! Thanks for the fun Molly!!We ate and Molly had to get back to her real life. :(

We hit the DI for Halloween stuff, The Dollar Store, Joanns fabrics, and a bunch of other places. It is all starting to blurrrrrrrrrrr.

Finally we go get the trailer. We head to Sams and that is where it gets a little weird. We enter the store and as usual we divide and conquer. We get our" bid nis" done call the others on the celly and find out who needs help. Any of you who know Tye, know how absolutely insane she truly is. She is great. I honestly enjoy her. She makes you want to be a better you and you have fun doing it.

Have you ever seen the movie Rain Man, the one with Dustin Hoffman?....... "Kmart, I buy my underwear at Kmart, Kmart,Kmart!"This is Tye s crazed voice in our next conversation.

I am looking at the electronics stuff, Mel is in cookware, Tye is at the Bakery. I finish up and go help Mel pick out some very nice stainless steel cook ware,she has great taste!, and Tye calls " I don't know how many cookies to get and what kind and what size and what if they aren't good and what if there isn't enough and what if this whole thing doesn't work and how are we going to get all of this in the car... blaaaaaaaaa blaaaaaaaa blaaaaaaa blaaaaaaa.......................!" She was loosing her mind!!! (voice of really bad singer guy on The Wedding Singer classic!!)

She was borderline tears. Melanie and I went to find her and she was gone. I called and we finally met up with her by the avocados. "are you o.k.?" we ask? She says " Yeah I'm fine now. I just lost it a little bit, but I had a good talk to myself and I think we are good now. I think the old lady next to me was kind of freaked out when I yelled at my self!"

That is Tye. She is always making us laugh. She can get intense at times but hey.... cant we all? We help her finish up and leave the store with 4 carts 3 kids and 3 adults. Barely.

No.... we are not done YET!!!! We are off to Lowes!!!!

I did not go into Lowes, someone had to stay with the 3 screaming 2 year olds in the car.Who just happen to see the playground display set up out side and all wanted to swing!!! No freakin' way!!!!! Need less to say poor Mel had the fight of her life in there with the chauvinistic assistant manager. What a stinkin PIG!!! He totally thought she was some dumb broad. Those of you who know Mel know she is far from dumb..... This guy was going to get it!!! She called me. Tye and I traded places. Now remember the part about me sitting in the car with 3 screaming kids? Yeah I was past done. Watch out!!!! He was giving her some lame line about a warranty blaaa blaaa blaaa. So I came in and you could tell I was not, shall we say happy? We go straight to the manager. Lets just say that Mel left with everything she wanted plus her dignity. And stupid fat erring hole, bald dude was trying to cover his butt!!!!! We rule! Go Mel!! I got your back. She didn't need my help, just someone to stand by her and look really mean. I did a good job!

Now we are done. and this is how we went home.

Yes, we have mad tie down skills!! You should note, nothing got broken or fell off!!! yup yup!!

Here is a little pin up action for the farm boys!! OHHH yeahhhh!!!!

On the road again!! We got home about 11:00 pm. It was a fun trip!! We always have fun together. The best part is the conversations you get have with people you care about, and you get to share your worries and frustrations with people who you know will understand. The only thing that would have made this day any better was to have a bigger van and Kindra and her little guy Collin!! We missed you sista!!! next time for sure!

New member

So today we went to see our new puppy. There were only 2 requirements for this puppy

1- MUST be a girl. (they are alot more loyal. Can not have another runaway!!)

2- MUST have a white face. ( Brian thinks they are cute!)

Those requirements limited us a bit. They only had 2 girls and only one had a white face.

BINGO!!!!!



We sat around the dinner table and thought of names:



Chancho--- pig in Spanish

Roberta

Poopie

Bob

Queenie



As you can see we are name challenged. We decided to wait until we got to know her. We are however taking suggestions!!!

Ella is a mommy!!!

Parks is huge into animals. He wants a farm out here and he wants millions of pigs and chickens,and what ever else we can round up! He is a true boy. What he wants the most right now is a dog. About 1 year ago we had a dog named Bowser. He was beautiful, protective, and huge (he was a Gladiator Dane) Parks LOVED him. Well one day he just never came home. we searched and searched for him and he was never found. We think he was dognapped. Parks was devastated. we told him we would get him another dog once the house was done.... well......
Today my friend Melanie's Springer Spaniel, named Ella , had her Puppies!! at last count we were at 8. She called me and I was sooo excited. They will be ready at Christmas. PERFECTION!!!! so far they are all black. We were all soooo excited the whole family went to see them. They are so cute. I cant wait until they start to show their personalities. Parks is going to be so happy. what a fun Christmas he will have.
The cute part is that Mel's son is so sweet with his dog. He was in the dog house with her the whole time. Ella would not let him leave. so Mel set him up with a heater, flashlight, and walkie talkie. He gives 10 minute reports. It is the cutest thing ever. How sweet is the relationship between a boy and his dog!!!

Private debate.

Brian wants our blog private. I, however, don't because it makes it harder for our family and friends to view it. tell us what you think.

This is how I feel! AHHHHHHH!!!!!

(Parkers new retainer! GROSSSS!)

My morbid obsession!!!

private.

Brian wants this to be a private site. :( So if you want an invite gmail me your address. I will switch it over this week. thanks to all 3 of my loyal followers!!! HAAA!

Family time

I have had a fun month with lots of get togethers, and parties. Its great fun for me and Brian, however the kids dont really enjoy it.(strange) So we promised them a family party. They were very excited about that. So last night we made Carmel apples and watched Men in Tights (edited version of course) we all had a fun time, and Carmel apples are easy. WOW!!! who would have thought.

Notice Emi is blurry!!! SHOCKER!!!! Kenna and Parks were very proud of their creations.

She does like her sugar though. MMMMM! they were good.

Dirty snowman!

Yes, it snows alot here. It doesn't always stay long. This particular storm was a good one we got about 4-5 inches of the white dread.

Parker was the first one out the door. Surprise. He went right out and built a mini snowman. The funny part is that we don't have grass, so his snow man is pretty dirty. Still fun though, and in typical Parks fashion, he just didn't care. it's always about the fun.

The final master piece!!

Thankfully the snow only lasted about 2 days!

Grass-ee-go-was!!!

So as some of you know we just recently moved into our new home Well it is out in

the middle of a huge field,we are surrounded by weeds, rocks, and a beautifully huge mountain.Part of the charm of this location is the fact that we can breed grasshoppers out here. I know amazing, right? I mean grasshoppers are pretty rare. (ha!) Our grasshopper farm is so successful that when you walk out side its like the red sea parting , only its a sea of brown hoppers.

We recently had a nice snow about 4" it was lovely.I was real worried about all our hoppers because they are so valuable and rare. We figured that the whole lot was gone. A sacrifice to the beautiful winter weather. Amazingly enough our hopper farm is not stinted by weather either. They were still there after the snow melted. How you ask? I'm not sure. maybe our ground is radioactive and these are mutant winter hoppers.Who knows.

Emi was quite concerned abut the few brave ones that were dead in our garage. She is so cute, she calls them grass-ee-go-was. I told her they were in heaven now. She looked confused so I said, what we always said to Kenna in these situations. "They kicked the bucket." She laughed and said " grass-ee-go-was keek bkt! haaaa." she started to pick them up and didn't understand why I mildly freaked out. "Yucky Em! yucky poo!!!" She is a smart girl and figured it out. She said, "EWWW GOSE!!"

Parker came to the rescue.The wonderful big brother he is. He has been catching them for one of the teachers at school, they feed them to the lizards in class, he had a jar full of hoppers so he let Emi hold them. She was in heaven. It just doesn't get any better than a jar of hoppers.

Earth shake

Did you all feel the Earth move this morning?? I did . It wasn't an earthquake, or any other natural disaster. I just basically threw the world off its axis when I decided to work out this morning. Not because I am a little large in the nether region, it's just because I have had 2.5 years off and I figured I had forgotten how. NOPE! I remembered everything and It felt good. I am going to be sore later but I think that is one of the best parts. I am hoping by posting this you all will hold me responsible for continuing. I think we all need a little physical activity in our lives, I am the worst. I would so much rather sit and paint or write,or read. So no more lazy mom!! WISH ME LUCK!!!

Little miracle!

Little miss priss, that is her name around here.Emily is soooooo different from Kenna as far as being a girl. Kenna is all about the science of things and hates pink. Emi---- well ,she loves pink and everything is pwitty!!

This is our baby. When Parks was about 1 yr. we decided we wanted more kids so that was the goal for about 4 years. We never felt like we needed to try alternative methods (Not that there is anything wrong with that.)We just felt that if the lord wanted us to have more we would.We were thankful for the two we had,and that was that. It didn't change the fact that each month I would get more upset.

Finally, with both kids in school all day I got a job managing the fitness center in town. I loved it. It kept me busy enough that I quit obsessing over the "baby issue."Plus I got to workout everyday. I was looking and feeling good. We finally decide after 2 more years, of no baby, that we needed to "take care of things." Literally that very weekend we found out I was almost 3 months pregnant!! How on earth do you not know that for 3 months???? I guess I was just soo busy,and the exercise made me feel soooo good.So there you have it our little miracle.

She is such a blessing to us. Even with a 7 & 9 year age span Kenna and Parks just love her.We cant imagine her not being here.

She is the boss!! don't let her sweet little smile throw you off she is all business when it comes to what she wants. Bathing suits are optional in her book. (for now) And she does not hold still for anything. You will notice most of the pictures we have of her are a little bit blurry.

She is very smart and fun. She loves peanut butter on a spoon, and chips with salsa "just like dad" In fact she just plane old loves her "daddy."Our lives have changed for the better with her arrival and that is o.k. we wouldn't have it any other way.

We love you sweet girl!

Our boy

Where do I start?

Parker, he is the spice in our lives. Such a funny kid. Where Kenna is like her dad Parks is like his mom.

He was also born here, his delivery was a breeze in comparison. We walked into the hospital and he came in 15-20 minutes. NICE! He has always been hungry from day one, he still can not get enough. Especially sugar, reprocessed meat products, and did I say sugar? He is such a joy. He is so sweet and kind.With such a tender little heart.

He might very possibly be the loudest kid I have and will ever meet.(like mother like son!) He only has 2 volume levels super loud or super quiet. His talking voice is so soft, but watch out for the scream!!!!!!

Parks loves to be with his dad. He is a little shadow. He loves to do physical work, read, play video games, ride his motorcycle, and torture his baby sister.

I don't know how to rotate pics!

He is such a great kid .We are so blessed to have him in our lives.

He is also (like his mom) a little accident prone. He has his own accident policy and uses it almost annually. Ahhh Parks what fun he brings to our lives.

"Pedro can we get more nachos?"

Our sweet boy!! LOVE YOU little man!!

Our girl!

So do you remember my last comment about mentioning my family more well they agree.Makenna got after me and so did Bri. I am a bad bad girl!! Let me tell you about Makenna. This is my Bean she is a wonderful girl. I could not ask for a better daughter. She is so sensitive and kind. She has a sweet gentle heart. One of the best things about her is her ability to love everything and everyone.

She was born here. It was a long delivery and she was deprived of oxygen. She was born with Spastic Cerebral palsy. We did not know this until she was 18 months old and not walking . We got her into Shriner's Hospital for Crippled Children in Salt Lake. They are AMAZING!! we can never repay them for all of the things that they have done for her. That being said she has had several surgeries to correct things. She has had tendons lenghtened. Her tibia's broken and rotated, and hardware removed. She also does Physical therapy 4-5 times a week. Which makes her very tired, but it helps soooooo much.

She is one of the strongest people I know. A true inspiration.

Despite all of her physical limitations she is determined to be herself and not let others get to her. She is insanely smart. I know some of you are saying "How did Dani have a smart kid?" The answer is simple. Brian. He is such a wonderful dad. At age 3 Kenna could tell you how the brain worked, & name the bones in your body. Brian would sit and read his college books to her, it was his way of studying for school and spending time with her. She loves to learn and is very perceptive. She is the kid I am checking on in the middle of the night, because I know she is reading with a flashlight in her bed. She is a teachers dream student. A parents dream kid.

I LOVE YOU Bean

and don't ever forget it!!!!!

Havent changed!!

So last night we went to a party at our friends Dave and Radawn.It was Daves B-day. It is always fun to get together with adults so I jump at any opportunity. Brian enjoys it also.

We played a game called would you rather. Well if you know me you know that I will do pretty much anything for a laugh. This is a fun game you are given 2 choices like (would you rather) have a perfectly round head with normal features?, or perfectly shaped feet the size of a shoe box? you pick your answer and write it down. The rest of the group collectively tries to guess what you would guess. It is fun. How ever if you get a challenge you may end up looking like this!!! Caution what you are about to see may be traumatic to young viewers.



Yes it says DORK on my forehead. Thanks TYE! I had to let the others put makeup on my face for 90 seconds, then leave it on for the whole game. When it started to itch they showed mercy and let me wash it off,however I still have lipstick stains around my mouth. I mean who really has that color laying around the house?? (Radawn) It was a fun night. And for those of you wondering.... Yes I will blog my kids one of these days, I am pretty self absorbed though!! HE!HE!
Isn't he cute!!!

Jon and the giant truck!!

So my brother Jon just left :( It is always fun when he visits! Miss you already. He showed up Wednesday night in this GIANT semi -Esq truck. I guess I should explain his visit first.


My mom and dad are renting out their house in Arizona, so naturally they need to clean it out. They can't just move it all to Texas with them because they live in a fifth-wheel trailer. Due to the fact that dads job has him moving ALOT!!! Anywhooooo-- Jon had alot of stuff in their house, because it used to be his house. Long story. So mom and Jon were in Arizona for about 1 week cleaning out stuff etc.. etc.. Well naturally mom is giving away all her stuff, and naturally being the dutiful daughter I said sure I will take whatever you want to give. :) Matthew did not want anything. Because that is how he rolls. He is a very great person (for a liberal! Love you. Don't be a hater!) anywhoo Jon just wanted his stuff, dads tools, and dads furry hat. Which in my opinion is going to be the source of brotherly contention, they all loved that hat (even Matthew). T.J. got the totally sweet washer and dryer, the picture of Christ that is beautiful,and ALL the camping gear!!!! (who's the favorite now!!) I got all of the Christmas decorations, ( if you know my mom you will understand when I say my garage is FULL of boxes! and alot of old stuff. which is cool because I LOVE OLD THINGS!! (I did marry my Brian after all! he! he!), I also got some real nice furniture. No complaints here.


Those are some sweet Hats!!!!


So Jon shows up in this truck and I'm sick. "Where in the jack frost am I going to put all of that!!! Brian is going to kill me." Jon informs me it is only 1/3 full "SHEWWW!"

Thursday we unpacked it all. That didn't take us too long .We filled the garage and now I have alot of work to do.The rest of the stuff in it went to T.J. this morning. The thing that is sooo funny about all of this is that Jon HATES to drive. He is a pilot so traveling in a vehicle is like slow motion torture.He has been driving since Monday!!!! HAAAA! Poor guy.

After we unloaded all the stuff we went to Heggs for lunch. Jon likes this place because it has "cute" help. Whatever, I don't see it. No offense. Their California burger kicks BUTT though and I have no problem eating there( or anywhere else for that matter). On the way back I showed Jon where Kenna and Parks lock their bikes up in the mornings to get on the bus. He decided to move Kennas lock because she would notice and freak out. Which she did. The joy we get out of torturing our own??? Hmmmm strange.

Then Jon generously shared his media collection with me. I now have 7412 songs, 16 movies, 3 seasons of the Office, and some South Park. Yeah I am set. For those of you wondering that is 21 days of 24/7 music non stop no repeats. Can you say "life is good?" This could possibly be the most perfect music collection known to man. it has EVERYTHING you name it its there. I am a happy girl. Jon is sooo going to hate this picture but it was him in his true rockingness. He is a funny guy!!


OHHH Crap!!! Tye just showed up to help me and I haven't even showered yet I AM IN TROUBLE !!!! more later skaters.


AMENDMENT::: Tyralee Packer Larson was present and a part of all work and previously said mischief!! (just givin her props so she will quit whining!!!)

Mad cooking skills baby!!!

I know I just wrote this morning but I had such a weird day, That and I am addicted!!!morbidly (Thanks Kelsi)
So this morning as I am blogging Tye calls me " what are we doing today" she says. "I have beets do you know how to pickle beets?" I ask "Yeah ,come over and we can sew bags too."
So I go over about 1 hour later. Emi is being a boogie and wont stop crying. Finally Seth distracts her and we get to work. About 1 hour later the beets are done and beautiful!! TA DAH!!!
Then we started sewing. We do a craft fair each year to earn extra moolaa. This year we are adding bags to our line of jewelry. SOOO SOOO CUTE! I will blog that later. Anyhow we got started. Things went good there too. Tye is learning the pattern (my mom sent it) and I am teaching her. She has mad skills in sewing,unless she is talking. She had to undo a few stitches but that was no big deal.Unless you are Tye. HA HA!! We got alot accomplished today it was great.All of the sudden it was 3:30 and I had to go get Kenna from Trumpet lessons. Her teacher loves her.He said in all his 35 years of teaching he has never had a student with such natural talent. GO BEANER! She is so excited and thrives off the positive feed back.Then I went to Tye's and cleaned up my mess.
This is where things got weird. I don't know where the time went but all of the sudden Brian was on his way home and I hadn't even started dinner. So I threw some pork chops on the grill, And started to prepare the veggies.
My sister in law and her husband have an organic farm in Bedford and we are shareholders in it so we get beautiful yummy veggies from them.I took out the spinach, washed it and put it in the steamer. Washed the green beans and snapped them, put them in the steamer. Put water in and started the stove. The next thing I know Kenna is all " Uhh mom the pot is breathing!" I look over and it was BREATHING!! AHHHH
Yes ladies and gentleman I BURNED WATER!!!! How does one do this? I'm not quite sure. But as I stated in the previous blog I'm not much of a cook.Oh well I try. And Brian and the kids are still around.

Whats my age again???

Yeah, alot can happen in life when you start a blog.



First things first.....I won couch gate 08!! (Sort of) I got to keep the couches,however I had to put them in the kids play room instead of my living room. That's O.K. its all about small victories. hee hee!!!



And finally.........




I had my "rockin old person party" for my b-day. No theme just us old people hangin out and playing games.




I have an amazing group of good friends. Kindred spirits if you will. Most of them are alot like myself, which in my opinion is pretty darn great!! As old people we find a diet of health food is required for optimal late night party mode performance!!! nothing but the best for me and my friends.



My gift from Tye is this B-day cake. it is not the prettiest cake. But holy cow you should taste this bad boy!!! WOW!! , German chocolate and devils food separated by this carmely pecan stuff mmmmmm and the frosting is like divinity oh yeah can you say butt expander!! I can. Tye can cook, its the presentation she lacks sometimes, that's why we get along sooo well. I can NOT cook but I am all over the pretty part.However in her defense on this particular day her 2 yr. old Seth decided he wanted a bite of cake!! HILARIOUS!!!! and so thus we have it. The perfect birthday cake!! Thanks TYE!!







This is some of us in my kitchen.My other friend Carrissa is great too. She came over with taco stuff ,not just any tacos, real tacos. She is 1/2 Mexican and man is she in tune with her Mexican cookingness. yummmmmy!! They were sooo good. She is like the mom always taking care and giving I just love her. VIVA LA MEXICO!! (just for you Carrissa)



Wow check out the glow!! and the cheese ball smile! yup it was fun fun fun!!


Thank you to all my friends and family for the phone calls, gifts and for just being you!! and most of all loving me for me!!!(sometimes that's hard to do ask my Bri.) It was the best birthday!



Brian will not like this picture, how ever it was a cute moment.



Conference is hard for kids. period. So Brian developed a spoiling system at our house. for every thing you do good you get a certain amount of points. Then those points are attached to a big prize. This year it is a wii. So during conference the kids take notes and Brian gives them a quiz after each session.Its not hard he tells them what to write down on their notes. And sometimes they will say"hey that's a good question dad"They love it. Kenna more than Parks. They get things out of it, and they do listen. They have to score 80% or better to get their points and there were 40 points on the line today. Kenna got a 96% and Parks squeaked by with an 84% You can tell who they each take after!! HAAAA! I love my kids and my man they are sooo wonderful. What a great way to start each day with them.



My big brother Jon is coming this week for a visit. That is always a story to tell!





Case and point!!! Love him.




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LEARNING!!