The Shippen Family

Traumatized by Sandlot

2012-01-29T18:16:00.001-08:00

As we were preparing for Sunday dinner, Shay had some important things on her mind. She told me,

"Mom, I am going to be lifeguard when I get big. But when some kid jumps off something, I'm not going to help them. I want their friends to help them."

Why Shay?

"Because I don't want to kiss them. Ewwww. He was not big enough to kiss that lifeguard. I never want a boy to do that if I am a lifeguard when I am big."

I said, "Well, the good thing is they don't teach you to do rescue breaths with CPR anymore."

(As if Shay is going to have a clue what that means.)

But apparently Kysa picked up what I was putting down...sort of.

She said, "Yeah, they just whopp their belly to get them to breathe!"

Return at Fred Meyer

Shay had me busting up earlier this week. After I picked her up from preschool at Theresa Bunker Elementary, I informed her that we were going to Fred Meyer because I needed to return some shorts.

She immediately replied, “Because you stole them?”

Who does she think I am! J

Teaching Kids Reverence and Respect

2012-01-29T18:10:00.000-08:00

Ty and I had to talk in church today. My topic was "teaching children reverence and respect." After church, Kysa tapped me on the shoulder to tell me she was going home in dad's car. Ty was talking with someone in the foyer, so Raleigh, Shay, and I headed out to the car and drove home.

As we headed into the house, Ty pulled in, concerned. "Kysa's not with you?" Nope.

I thought, "Now that will teach her some respect."

When he got back to the church he found her chilling by the coat rack in the foyer, not crying, with a smile on her face. When we left the church building, Kysa told us she was looking for Shay's coat, which she didn't realize I had already found. Ty didn't see her anywhere and assumed she had left with us. But I guess if you're going to accidentally leave your kid somewhere, the churchhouse would be at the top of the list.

Living in the Hospital / Toothbrushes

2012-01-02T02:10:00.000-08:00

As we embark on a New Year, I am resolving to be more consistent about posting to the blog. Here are a couple anecdotes I've been meaning to post:

Christmas Eve Ty was talking to the kids about being grateful for all of our blessings, like having a warm house to live in. "Do you know some people don't even have houses to live in?" He asked.

After thinking about that somber fact for a moment, Kysa responded, "Yes, some people live in the HOSPITAL!" A few seconds later, as she pondered some more she added, "Oh, and the Indians don't live in houses."

Yesterday I took the girls to the Melaleuca store and I let them each get a new toothbrush. As we checked out I noticed they both had a blue toothbrush. "Girls, wouldn't it be a good idea to get different colors so you can tell your toothbrushes apart?"

They were both insistent that blue was their favorite color. What to do? I told them I would just have to write their names on the handles or something. Then Kysa decided to take one for the team and headed to the toothbrush section. Shay soon followed, much to my chagrin. I looked at the cashier and she smiled and said, "You know, neither of them will come back with a blue toothbrush."

Sure enough, Kysa came back with a green toothbrush, followed by Shay....with a green toothbrush.

Pretty much sums up what we're dealing with at this stage.

No Blabbing!

2011-11-30T13:53:00.000-08:00

As I reminded Shay about cleaning up her room for the 3rd time, she retorted, "Mom, you already said that. You are starting to be blabby like me. You shouldn't blab."

Thank you Grandma Ro for introducing her to the term. :)

Eating like a WHAT?

2011-06-15T14:27:00.001-07:00

As the kids were eating breakfast this morning, I noticed that my Raleigh
got up from sitting next to Shay at the kitchen counter to sit by himself at
the dining room table. I asked him why he moved, and he exclaimed, "Shay is
eating like a Nazi! She just spit in my cereal!"

"Bullets" and Kysa's worms

2011-06-02T09:19:00.001-07:00

Working on some projects at the house this weekend, I had the tools out and
was screwing in some bolts. Kysa asks, "Mom, can I hold the bullets?"

Kysa loves her worms. When Ty put in the garden this weekend, she put some
worms in a container. I upgraded her original little cup to a cut off
2-Liter bottle so she could have better visibility. She frequently goes and
checks on "her worms". Yesterday she thought they died because she left
them in the sun, but alas, they were fine. She should be ready for Grandpa
Jer-Bear to teach her how to thread 'em anytime now.

Why do you like her so much?

2011-06-02T09:13:00.001-07:00

It's no secret at our house that Shay is a mama's girl. To put it more
accurately, she is a mom-MONSTER. This morning as we were heading off to
school, I needed to run back into the house to grab Kysa's glasses and Shay
wanted to go back in the house with me. Exasperated, Kysa turns to Shay and
hollers, "SHAY, why do you like her so much!" I look at Kysa and start
laughing. Seriously! It makes no sense to me either Ky.

Where do you want to go on vacation?

2011-05-15T15:43:00.000-07:00

"Where do you want to go on vacation?" The cartoon character on Nick Jr.
asked.

"Vegas!" Shay responded without hesitation.

Jaden Dunking

2011-04-25T12:02:00.000-07:00

Jaden is one of Raleigh’s friends and a real basketball FANatic. Got his left handed layups down just last week. Having a little fun in his driveway here. His mom Amanda is one of my good friends.

Shay and Kysa's Gymnastics

2011-04-13T16:12:00.001-07:00

Grandma Ro is sponsoring the girls gymnastics lessons and today was their first day (since last spring).

We went and got a leotard big enough for Kysa and exchanged one they never wore for Shay and they were set. They had fun, and Shay hung in just fine in the 5 to 7 year old class.

But Shay just ran upstairs where I’m working very urgently and told me the following:

“I am angry mom.”

Why Shay?

“When I was at gymnastics my teacher told me to touch the floor with my nose. I don't want to touch the floor with my nose!

Cuz that's YUCKY!"

Letter of Appreciation from Ty to Raleigh

2011-02-10T11:14:00.001-08:00

Letter of Appreciation for Raleigh Shippen:

Dear Raleigh,

Thank you for being such a terrific son and example to your little sisters! I appreciate how thoughtful you are to those around you and how patient you are with Shay and Kysa. You are an absolute joy to have in our home. I appreciate your enthusiasm for school, scouts, church, basketball, swimming, piano, football, and life. I really enjoy your sense of humor. I appreciate you when you clean your room and help around the house. I appreciate how kind you are and how you treat your friends, family, and teammates. I appreciate the way you are responsible with your homework and how well you have improved in your reading. I really enjoy spending time with you like playing football, horse, or the wii or just hanging out watching Jimmer score 30 points. Always know and remember you are loved by your parents, your grandparents, and yes even your sisters. I couldn’t be prouder of the young man you are becoming.

Love,

Dad

From: Van Dam, Christina -D91
Sent: Wednesday, February 09, 2011 9:58 AM
Subject: letters of appreciation

Dear Parents,

It’s kind of a solemn place here at Ethel Boyes today. As most, if not all, of you know, the board decided last night on option 1 for boundary changes. What this means is that all of you that live in the Village will no longer be a part of Ethel Boyes. This saddens me deeply and I spent most of the night last night in tears thinking about the kids in my classroom that I will be losing. Your children have become a part of me and I want you to know how grateful I am for the opportunity I have to be their teacher and to love them and watch them grow.

This week, we kicked off Rachel’s Challenge. The children that signed the banner promised to practice kindness, compassion, inclusion and respect. They are performing random acts of kindness and giving chains away to those that show kindness unto them. We have talked this week a lot about what it means to show kindness and respect and that not all of our deeds will go noticed but that it is okay. Our kindness chain has started in the classroom and is growing every day. As part of this program, we are going to be talking in our classroom about appreciation and gratitude. One of the things we will be doing is writing letters to express those things. I am asking that each of you take the time between now and Thursday, February 17, to write a letter of appreciation/gratitude to your student and place it in a sealed envelope and send it to school. (You can also email it and I will print it and put it in a sealed envelope). When I see them in their folders, I will know what they are and write their names on them then so that the kids don’t have any idea what is going on. I think that this will be very powerful for the students and a great stepping stone for talking about how it makes us feel to receive letters of this nature and why we might want to tell people what we love and appreciate about them. The more letters for the kids the better so if a grandma/grandpa or brother/sister, etc. want to write a letter as well, that would be perfectly acceptable. I just need them in my possession by Thursday, February 17. If you have any questions about this, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Thanks for all of your support. I am blessed beyond measure to be the teacher of each of your children. Have a great rest of the week!

Chris Van Dam

1-3 Spectrum

Ethel Boyes Elementary School

1875 Brentwood Drive

Idaho Falls, ID 83402

Bodie and L.A.'s birthday

2011-02-09T17:49:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday to Bodie Jane and Grandpa Gillette. Giff and Mari had a baby boy a couple days ago and named him after Grandpa! How awesome is that?

I started training for the Ogden Marathon Sunday. Did 3.2 miles in the morning, 5.3 more after the Superbowl. Felt great Monday and Tuesday but didn’t do anything, ha ha. Today I did my interval workout and ended up logging 5 miles in 43:25 even with walking the 200 M rest intervals. Not bad considering I haven’t been doing much running. I did a total of 7 miles today in 1:05:00 counting the warm-up and cool down.

I am just doing a 3 day a week running program and I’ll cross train with it on some of the other days. My goal is to work out 5 days a week, sometimes 6, and follow the running program as closely as I can.

I am thinking about documenting my training on this blog, but I’m also keeping track of my miles on my Droid with a program called RunKeeper so the blogging thing might be overkill. I am LOVING the treadmill I bought with the $500 gift card I won from Play It Again sports. All I did to win it was text a word to a number after hearing a radio ad. Got a call from Play It Again about 20 minutes after getting home from TITHING SETTLEMENT that I’d won the gift card. So my long awaited treadmill purchase happened sooner than expected. I know it’s going to help my training immensely. No excuses for not running now. My weight is around 143. Hoping to drop down a bit before the marathon, but this is a good basketball playing weight. I figure basketball playing weight is 140-145 lbs for me, and marathon weight for me ought to be about 130-135 pounds.

I took Shay to the eye doc at Sam’s club today because she started going cross-eyed a couple months back and it seems to be getting worse. Turns out we’re ordering glasses for her too. She’s far sighted like Kysa but her prescription isn’t nearly as bad. We may have to patch her or use eye drops to force her to strengthen her lazy eye, but the doc is doing some research on her prescription and calling me back on Friday with a more definite plan for her. The doc is Brad Reinhart and he went to optometry school with our friend Rob Foster.

Boston Tanner montage

2011-01-23T18:56:00.001-08:00

This is a classic letter from one of Ty’s senior starters to another in the 1^st or 2^nd grade.

Kysa Sporting Her New Glasses

2010-12-16T23:19:00.002-08:00

20/200 vision....+7.00 in one eye; +7.75 in the other.

Kysa's glasses are pink...and thick.

She has been pretty good about wearing them. Just need to work on always
putting them in the same place (on her pink nightstand) when she takes them
off.

G-Ro to the Rescue

2010-12-16T23:19:00.001-08:00

Grandma Ro has been a huge help to us in this busy time of year. From a
semi-surprise visit on Wednesday for the Madison basketball game (which
Grandpa watched) and G-Ro babysat so I could film and go to the freshman
girls practice...to coming last weekend so I could do the ACT's and ref a
basketball game...it is always a blast for the kids. She manages to find
time to play with them, read to them, make gingerbread houses with them,
Skype Kirb and Bodie with them, and always throw in a load of my laundry or
two and clean up my messy house. She is truly a superhero to me and my
kids. Oh, and I didn't mention that if ever something needs mended or
hemmed, she is quick to do it on my sewing machine (that only she uses!)
Even though she lives 2 hours away she is here when I need her to be, and I
am so grateful.

(I have to comment on this one picture with the kids by the Christmas
tree...I think it's hilarious because Grandma Ro looks so cute and the kids
all look like GOONS! Reminds me of the Little Bunny Foo Foo song...the good
fairy has done what she threatened to do.)

Aunt Claire's Overnighter

2010-12-16T23:19:00.000-08:00

Aunt Claire stayed with us last week because Brittney was flying in to the
I.F. airport from Alaska at 9:30 p.m. and Claire had to teach in Rexburg in
the morning, so Dale took Brit back to Poky and Claire just slept at our
house. My kids LOVE their Aunt Claire so much because she is the next best
thing to Grandma Ro, Grandma Sue, and Grandma Rue. Kysa ended up sleeping
downstairs with her. We made Shay sleep in her own bed, much to her
disappointment.

Re-Living the Dream 2010 Part 2

2010-12-05T20:14:00.001-08:00

Jen Cannon and I recruited BYU-I students Jenny Fiso McKinney (Eastern
Washington) and Marianne Schiess Dalling to play with us in a couple games
on Friday vs. Snow College and Northwest College in Powell, Wyoming. Jill
Adams and Cady Williams along with Libbie Loughmiller Oram and Kelly Coombs
Grossman from Billings also joined us. We lost to Snow by 3 and beat
Northwest Wyoming by 8 points. It was so fun to see Cady and Jill. Cady
couldn't make it for our first game against Snow or I know the outcome would
have been different. (Cady had 32 points in the game she made it to.) Refs
were pretty poor for the Northwest game on both sides. The Northwest coach
said they were the worst she's ever had. It was ROUGH. Jill got a black
eye and I ended up getting tackled with about 10 seconds left in the game.
My jaw is still out of alignment, but it's getting better so I don't plan to
go to the dentist.

As for our travel plans, we left Thursday night and stayed in Bozeman and
then drove Friday morning. There was a semi-truck wreck outside of Powell
that almost caused us to miss the game, but thanks to some "desperation in
action" (Jen and I going car to car to see if anyone on the other side of
the wreck would turn around and take us to Powell) AND the emergency workers
who finally let us go through and then helped sandbag and push us back onto
the road when we started to slide off, we made it to the game on time! It
was quite the adventure. Jen's favorite line from the trip was mine when I
said "Go get the nurses!" (The two BYU-I nursing students) and mine was
Jen's when she said after we slid off the road, "Well, at least the two
truck will have to pull us out first."

G-Ro watched the kids so I could have my adventure. Ty took his boys to
Utah where they went 1-1 vs. Syracuse and Clearfield and then went to the
BYU v. Hawaii game in SLC at Energy Solutions Arena.

We had a couple from our ward over for dinner today because mom left us a
roast and we had plenty of food to share. Scott and Desiree Wheeler and
they have two little kids Cole and Alicia. Cole is 3 and must have a lot in
common with Shay because when they were down playing he climbed up on the
bunk bed with Kysa and then chucked his sippy cup down at Raleigh who was
playing a computer game. The sippy cup bonked Raleigh on the head and then
spilled all over the floor and Raleigh bedspread. Raleigh came up bawling.
Of course Cole's parents felt bad but it was pretty funny. I think Ty said
he home teaches Scott now. So yay, December should be done. :)

Re-Living the Dream Part 1 was my basketball trip to Snow College a few
weeks ago. If I ever get a copy of the team picture we took I'll post it on
the blog. Different team, but it was fun.

Random Pictures

2010-12-05T20:14:00.000-08:00

Kysa and Shay really like playing in boxes from an ottoman I got on Black
Friday. Raleigh read a 200+ page Diary of a Wimpy kid book yesterday, in
less than 24 hours. Yay, I have a reader in the family! (Kysa is working
on it too.)

The cheesestick picture reminds me of Jill in warm-ups for our basketball
team. A new hip-hop song is called "Like a G6" and I asked Jill if she knew
what the lyrics meant. She joked, "It's actually 'like a cheesestick"." Ha
ha

pillow talk with Shay

2010-12-01T00:22:00.001-08:00

Shay, “You’re the best mom in the universe.”

Thanks Shay.

“Universe is my favorite word.”

Oh really?

“The universe is for cats, and dogs….and kids, right?”

Right Shay.

“That’s what I learned on the ‘puter.”

“You are the best mom in the universe because you do so many things for us. You sweep the floor for us….you get drinks for us, when we say please….you get toys for us….you take us to McDonalds….you help us go to sleep….that’s why you are the best mommy in the universe.”

Wow, thanks for saying all those things Shay. That makes me happy.

“Give me your hand.”

Shay takes my hand, and kisses it.

Does it get any sweeter than that from a 3 year old?

We are just thankful that Shay CAN be sweet.

thankful for family

2010-11-12T00:00:00.001-08:00

Tonight I feel so lucky to have the family that I have. The family I was born into, the family I married into, the family that has resulted from church, sports teams, coaching, and work, and the family that calls 2292 Darah street home. The gospel of Jesus Christ has made it possible for me to be where I am today, enjoying the family relationships that make life complete. And I am extremely grateful.

Raleigh's Baptism Notes

2010-11-07T19:29:00.001-08:00

Our primary presidency handed out note cards to family and friends in between Raleigh's baptism and confirmation to write a note to him. They collected them and gave them to him in a brown paper bag at primary today. Raleigh enjoyed reading them, and here are a few of the ones that stood out:

"Hey Bud!! This decision is going to be the biggest and best decision you have and will ever make. I hope that when you get older you will resist temptations. It will be hard but me, your parents, your siblings, and god believe you can. You are an amazing, athletic, and handsome young man. You can do anything. Again, congrats on your decision bud. It will bless you forever. Love Your Cuz, Hannah Shippen

P.S. You're gonna be a good lookin' kid and lots of girls will like you. So only pick the ones with high stands and nothing less!"

"Raleigh, I can't believe you're already 8! (Seems like just yesterday you were throwing chewed hamburgers at me, ha ha) Your whole family is very very proud of you. Congratulations, stay out of trouble, and don't forget your baptism day! ☺ Connor…. Congrats, 8 is great."

"I'm very excited to be here and see you get baptized. Ral, I hope you had a good time and always keep close to our Savior Jesus Christ. He's always there when you need him. I am very happy for you. Sincerely, Reilly"

"Raleigh, you are a great example and an awesome cousin, hoping that your decisions will be chosen wisely. Wishing you the best, Wesley James Shippen."

"Raleigh Ben, how proud we are of you! We look at you & see your Dad all over again. Always follow his example and that of your family. Heavenly Father loves you very much. Always CTR. Love G & G Emmett & Sue."

Raleigh's Baptism and Confirmation, November 6th, 2010

2010-11-07T17:10:00.000-08:00

Raleigh's baptism was great. The first talk was by a high school girl and
she was doing an amazing job, but about halfway through she started to black
out and thankfully said something so the people on the stand helped her sit,
and then they took her out to the hallway. Austin went out and helped
her--so nice to have a doctor in the house. I talked to her mom April
Spaulding today (who happens to be my online teaching supervisor) and she is
doing fine. They think she may have just locked her knees. We all thought
she might have had a seizure, so hopefully that's all it was.

We had beautiful weather and lots of people came. Afterwards we went to
Leo's, which was easy. Too big of a crowd for our house. Aunt Janie and
Uncle Mike came all the way from Boise. Meredith was planning on coming but
her flight got cancelled.

We are so proud of Raleigh and how he handles himself. His primary teacher
came and gave him a neat homemade book about baptism.

Standing in for his confirmation was G-Emmett, G-Jer-Bear, Uncles Ronald,
Shane, Troy, Trent, Andrew, Mike Conroy, Cousins Austin Gillette, Justin
Shippen, Skyler Shippen, and Bishop (and friend) Clay Murdoch.

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T21:55:00.000-07:00

We love October!

what a day

2010-10-27T00:39:00.001-07:00

Took birthday treats to Raleigh's Ethel Boyes class, went to Ral's rec league basketball practice at the Apple, broke G-Ro's pumpkin pinata in the gym with Ral's team, went to McDonald's and actually let the kids get happy meals, took Ral and Spencer to the Shamrock Park ward Trunk or Treat, opened presents with Ty's parents, went to the Rec Center to watch the Skyline boys play, took Spencer home, ate ice cream and cupcakes, put kids to bed, played pinochle, and watched an episode of Modern Family (with Ty's parents). Whew, what a day!

The Gillette Brothers' Elk Hunt Oct 2010

2010-10-18T23:02:00.000-07:00

It's nice to report another successful hunt. Damon, Giff, and I spent a couple of days camping and hunting together. I will eventually send the story of how it unfolded, but briefly we had a pretty good time. We put several miles on the boots to find the elk, but once we did it was good action.

Damon and I hunted hard on Friday morning but couldn't locate any animals. Giff joined us in the afternoon and we got into lots of fresh sign and Damon had a close call as the sun was going down, but no shots. Saturday morning our area was basically run over by moose (we saw 10 by noon) that had probably pushed most of the elk out of the immediate area. I ended up having a close encounter with a bull that morning but didn't get off a shot. Giff plinked a few grouse with my Daisy and then we headed back out for an evening hunt.

We spread out in some timber and moved relatively in tandem. A bull came over a small timbered ridge to investigate my cow calls. Another raghorn came and stood behind him. I shot him at under 50 yards and he immediately went down. I got mine about three in the afternoon and after getting a couple of pics Giff and Damon went back through the timber and Giff got his just a couple of hundred yards from where I shot mine. Mine was a 4x4 and Giff's a 6x6. It was a lot of fun and the pack out was suprisingly easy between the three of us the next morning. The weather was great and the scenery beautiful.

Anyway, I will eventually write the whole story, but here are a few pics from our hunt.

Austin

"Shay keeps licking the tv"

2010-10-09T22:07:00.000-07:00

Kysa just walked in the living room from downstairs with her whining little
sister and announced: "Shay keeps licking the tv...and I do too." Amazing
what happens during a game of Skip-Bo.

My bedtime conversations with the girls involved discussions about
electrical safety. After explaining to Shay that the tv could shock her if
she licked it, she looked at me, puzzled, and said, "But mom, tv's don't
have hands.....they can't shock us!" Then a few minutes later Kysa told Ty,
"Dad, if we get too close to the tv, it will SHOOT us!" I am a stellar
safety instructor, aren't I?

Uncle Bryce's Rocking Chair/Slide, and Skyping Grandma

2010-10-09T14:01:00.000-07:00

Uncle Bryce dropped off this awesome wooden rocking chair/slide he made for
Bodie at my request. I think Shay will get plenty of use out of it until
Bodie is old enough to enjoy it though!

When we were at Grandma Rue's last month at the same time, Uncle Bryce was
telling me about making these neat chairs for his grandkids and I asked him
if he might be willing to make one for Bodie. Well he got it done lickety
split. Just what you'd expect from him. He is great. He dropped it off on
his way to a dance in Blackfoot. He still loves to dance!

The girls sang Grandpa Jer-Bear happy birthday tonight on Skype and showed
off the chair. Then Grandma read them a story. Sometimes technology is
such a blessing.

Back in Idaho

2010-10-09T07:00:00.001-07:00

Twin Falls Airport...back to reality!

Blues Brothers, Bellagio, and Caesar's

2010-10-09T05:00:00.000-07:00

Trip to Mandalay Bay Buffet

2010-10-09T04:00:00.001-07:00

Bubble Monsters

2010-10-09T03:30:00.001-07:00

Shopping at the Outlets

2010-10-09T03:00:00.001-07:00

Relaxin'

2010-10-09T02:30:00.001-07:00

Classic Ro Pics

2010-10-08T23:39:00.000-07:00

After volleyball, G-Ro reported with a chuckle, "I've never played with a
bunch of drunks before." I loved these pictures. She is a friend to
everyone.

Swimming at Tahiti Village

2010-10-08T23:38:00.002-07:00

Swimming in the "sandy" pool and the lazy river.

Traveling to Vegas

2010-10-08T23:38:00.001-07:00

Raleigh's First Touchdown

2010-10-05T20:22:00.000-07:00

Raleigh usually plays center but used a little razzle dazzle when he got the chance to play runningback tonight and scored his first touchdown. He also scored a point after on a running play. His team is undefeated with 3 games left in the season.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arEJc5DDXSE

Raleigh's team is lucky to have a couple very dedicated coaches and they are teaching them a ton. Brad Perkins is the head coach, assisted by Eli Ames' grandpa J.D. They practice 2x/week, and I just noticed how the kids in the clip do a good job of trying to get out and block, even when he changes direction. Raleigh didn't want to fly to Vegas with our family because he was concerned about missing his football game. They are undefeated with three games left in the season. Go Grizz

synchronized

2010-09-23T22:12:00.001-07:00

Apple Athletic Club Swimming Pool Today.

Kysa is in swim club, and Shay is taking lessons, and afterwards they have a
blast together in the outdoor pool!

Skyline Missionary Jeremy Kuns

2010-09-20T22:53:00.001-07:00

We have enjoyed getting missionary emails from Ty’s former player Jeremy Kuns. Just thought I’d post them from time to time.

Hey everyone!!! Well it was an interesting week. Octoberfest opened up in München this past Saturday...and because there are so many people that go to it...there are a lot more people living in Augsburg to take refuge for the next couple of weeks. Well there´s a picture attatched...but we had the opportunity to go to "Joseph Smith, the Prophet of the Restoration" movie and the church that we saw it at was right next to where they have Octoberfest :S haha it was quite a sight (given the fact that the subway station is in the middle of it. It was a very uplifting film though...I haven´t seen it since the Missionary Training Center and I really needed the extra boost which it gave me.

I think I forgot to mention last week. But the name of my new companion is Elder Bullock and he´s from Logan, Utah. He´s pretty new in Germany...but that doesn´t really matter when you have a testimony in your heart. We´ve been working hard and have found some new people this past week...two of whom are very promising. Unfortunately as with most weeks (sorry) I am running low on time and must go. Thank you so very much for the pictures....I know I can´t keep up with Dad with all of my pictures...but I try to do my best :) I love you all...miss you...and can´t wait to see you all again here real soon.

Love always,

Elder Jeremy Kuns

Raleigh's Baptism Invite

2010-09-19T18:49:00.000-07:00

Quote of the Day

2010-09-13T14:20:00.000-07:00

“It’s also the American Way to give the single finger salute and walk away.”

--Steven Frei

brown noser

2010-09-01T22:08:00.001-07:00

"I really like you, and you da best, and you da boss."

And then she grabs my hand and kisses it.

Shay is such a brown noser. But it works. She doesn't get yelled at when
she gets out of bed to give us compliments and hugs and kisses. Funny how
that works.

Ty and I are having a bit of a biggest loser competition before we head to
Vegas in a little over 4 weeks. We weighed in last night at 210 and 161.
Yikes! I'm not sure what Ty is doing for his diet, but I am starting Bill
Phillips "transformation" program and the Take Shape For Life diet. Bill's
stuff more for the motivation, workouts, and overall changes, and the Take
Shape For Life diet because it's working great for Steve Frei and I really
like Shawna Hodges, and I think it may be something that would work well for
Dad if he wants to do it.

Raleigh seems to be doing well after 3 days back to school. He had football
practice last night and tonight. He's enjoying football a lot and excited
for their first game on the 11th. It's looking like I will be missing the
VikingMan triathlon because we've just got too much going on that day. Ty
has the ACT's and I don't want to miss Raleigh's first game. Still not sure
what time the game is though so the verdict is still out on what I'll do.

I went up to BYU-I yesterday for a training for faculty. My online course
starts on Monday. I also went up to St. Anthony to meet with the folks at
Austin's office about marketing Austin as the new doc and an obstetrics
specialist.

I have been playing way too much tennis as I got roped into being on a
"twilight" women's team and playing mixed doubles. Six more matches to go
and it will be over, and then I'll just be doing lessons once/week with
Gretchen Maloney (a local pro) and some other ladies. Ty and I enjoyed
playing last week with Greg and Susan Ehardt. Hopefully we can do that
again because it was a good matchup. They are a little better than us but
it was quite competitive. I can tell I'm improving, thanks to lots of
singles with Ty with the kids riding around the Skyline tennis courts on
their scooters and bikes at night. It really has been a fun thing to do
this summer, and something we've never done before because I sucked too bad
to play a competitive game with Ty. I keep wondering, "Where was tennis all
my life?" Wow, I sure enjoy it. It's very addicting. Almost like playing
video games, except for the exercise part.

Back to School

2010-08-30T10:21:00.000-07:00

“Back to school, back to school, to prove to dad I’m not a fool.”

A Classic from January 2009

2010-08-27T08:34:00.000-07:00

Just going through some archives and I found this gem of Kysa and Shay reading together. Kysa is 2 and Shay is 1, just before their birthdays.

I am the BOSS! (and the mom)

2010-08-18T07:44:00.001-07:00

Last night Shay skinned her knee at the tennis courts and the combination of being tired and getting hurt was not good. As I tucked her into bed after major crying on the way home, she looked up at me and said, "Mom, you're beautiful, (paused, thinking)...AND...you're the BOSS...AND...you're the MOM!" She reminds me of that Garth Brooks song "She's Every Woman". She'll rage just like a river, then she'll beg you to forgive her.

She also reminds me of the little girl with the curl--when she's bad she's HORRID. But that's Kysa too.

Kysa took a late nap yesterday and so I let her sit in bed with me and write/draw in a notebook. Ty and I were watching her draw and she was being oh so cute. I said, “Kysa, you’re just delicious.”

She chuckled and looked at me like I was trying to pull something over on her, “Mom, you don’t eat me!”

Kysa can write her name, and so Ty asked her to write his name. She promptly wrote the T (without help), and then said, “What next?” I said, “Y”, and she said, “That’s in my name!”

Raleigh had his first football practice on Monday night after a big rainstorm. He came home muddy but had fun, and his coach Brad Perkins thought he did great. Brad has coached a flag football team for a couple years now but Raleigh hasn’t played until this year. He said he wanted Raleigh at tight end so he could block and catch, and I imagine he’ll play defensive line as well. He is one of the bigger kids but he is pretty fast. He needs to work on his catching but Brad thought he did a good job catching the ball at practice so maybe he is improving. He is playing football this year instead of soccer, yahoo!

We were able to have Breyden Parkinson (Aaron’s son) over yesterday and I just love that kid. We went to the primary activity and then to Arctic Circle. Ryker Perkins also came with us. Then the kids did the slip and slide and played in the water in the backyard.

Silly Mom / Fishing at American Falls

2010-08-08T23:18:00.000-07:00

"It must have been a busy morning".

Sympathetic words from Shay's nursery teacher Sister Nelson trying to
console my horror that we brought Shay to church without underwear on.
Naturally Shay told her teachers, but not Ty. In the rush to get Kysa to
primary on time (to give her first scripture) I gave Shay her dress to put
on. I never bothered to check her undies. Ty took Shay and Kysa and
Raleigh in the Ex while I tried to locate Kysa's scripture illustration.
I found it, and the girls were on time, only problem, no panties for Shay.
The nursery ladies had a pull-up, but Shay being Shay, she wouldn't put it
on. Little did Ty and I know or we would have ran home and rectified the
situation. (ha ha, rectified) I was mortified.sort of. I mean, she's 3.
I was more embarrassed of my parenting. I asked Shay why she didn't wear
any underwear, and she exclaimed, "Because you just didn't put any on me,
silly!"

Kysa did a great job on her scripture. A handicapped young man named Robbie
who is about 17 and still goes to primary was really impressed. On
completion of her scripture, he enthusiastically gave his approval-"Great
job!" It was cute. Kysa was proud of herself, and followed in Raleigh's
footsteps, giving the same scripture that he gave in September of 2006, his
first primary scripture. She had it mostly memorized. 2 Timothy, Chapter
1, Verse 7, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and
of love, and of a sound mind."

Yesterday we had a fun fishing trip to American Falls dam with Grandma
Jer-Bear and G-Ro. No luck catching trout, but we did catch some bass,
including a lunker that Ty said was the biggest bass he'd seen. Before we
started catching fish we had some excitement when Kysa fell off the front of
the boat as she was dipping her feet in the water. I jumped in after her.
She freaked a little bit but not too bad, and Raleigh was kind enough to
jump in and swim out to her, which helped her relax. Shay also got in on
her own accord and proceeded to freak out. Raleigh enjoyed swimming in the
reservoir enough that he was really hoping to get in a 2nd time, but the
bass fishing area was quite mossy so we didn't get in again. After fishing
we went to Pizza Hut. The American Falls trip has become an annual event.
This was the 4th consecutive annual trip with Grandma and Grandpa.

funny little girls

2010-07-26T16:52:00.001-07:00

I was randomly looking through my sent folder and saw this short email to
Gram Ro back in March. Thought it was worth posting.

Before bed, Kysa.."If I lick my lips they'll get chappy and then we'll put
more lipstick on!" (I don't even own any chapstick, so the chapstick thing
definitely comes from Grandma Ro.)

And then she said, "Mom, tell Grandma Ro to come to our house on Sunday!"

Recent funny comments from Shay:

"Poot is Bodie's brother."

I told Shay to go get her pillow. She responded, "Aye, aye, captain!"

And one of my favorites-last weekend after the Gillette reunion at
Pomerelle, Kysa got to ride back to Idaho Falls with Grandma Ro who was on
her way to take care of Bodie in Wyoming. As usual, Kysa was having a hard
time coping with Grandma leaving, and didn't want her to go. She kept
saying, "Grandma, don't go." Shay finally had had enough, put both of her
little hands on Grandma's thighs and shoved her, yelling, "Grandma, GO!!!!"
It was priceless. So, Grandma left. Kysa cried. And Shay was relieved.

Driving to Wyoming for the Jasperson reunion, Kysa asked a question about
something, I can't even remember what it was, and my answer included the
word "sturdy". She started laughing loudly, "Sturdy?" More chuckles.
"That's a funny word!-Sturdy!", she said. Then Shay and Kysa repeated the
word sturdy for a few minutes, chuckling. Apparently a funny new addition
to their growing vocabularies.

Cousin Layton's first two fish

2010-07-16T11:12:00.000-07:00

Another Gillette Cousin Blog Entry as I thought this was cute.

Tori, Layton, and I went fishing down to the river below the house for the
first time yesterday. Layton was very excited to go fishing and had been
bugging me about it all morning.

On the way there we saw the moose crossing the river. Then we waded across a
spring and made it to an S turn in the river. After a few casts Layton
caught his first fish on a worm threaded worm. He needed alot of help
reeling it in and I don't think he realized he had a fish until we got it
close. I'm not sure it is a very good omen, but it was an 10 inch chub.

We snapped a few pictures and I made another cast with Layton's schredded
worm so I could help Tori get her line back in the water. Before I could
walk away from Layton his rod started bouncing again. Again, I don't think
he realized at first what was going on, but the fish started running towards
the opposite bank and taking alot of line, despite me having the drag set at
a fairly strong level. By the way it was running up and down the river I
thought he had snagged a 5 pound carp or something. After a lengthy fight we
were delighted to finally bring it in and see a 17 1/2 inch beautiful brown.

Anyway, just thought I send a few picks and tell the story.

Austin

Last Basketball Camp of the Summer

2010-07-04T14:09:00.000-07:00

Raleigh finished his 4th hoops camp in June on Wednesday--Joe O'Brien's camp
at IFHS. He wasn't digging it the first day but had a lot of fun by the
end. He got a basketball and three ribbons for placing in contests. It was
nice of the camp organizer to send this picture to all the participants.

Wayne's billboard!

2010-07-01T08:49:00.000-07:00

My good friend Alice Schenk is an original. Who does this?

Here is what Alice had to say:

I told my husband that I wanted to blow up a photo of him...I did a great
job huh!!! My 10' 5" x 22' 8" enlarged photo for my husbands birthday.
Yes... Wayne was surprised! You see his birthday is not until November!
Sarah invited him & grandpa to lunch but I met them instead. I was nervous
to say the least. Hey he did buy me lunch! He came to town in his
irrigating boots with the cowboy boots in the back of the farm pickup at a
last minute 'meet me for lunch request' from his daughter Sarah. I could
simply not risk him finding out via a phone call. Traffic along this stretch
of road is under construction and crawls at times! He did say I could have
called with a dead battery and he would have came right over...Ever since we
met and dated he has called me 'Lady'. He added the 'His' to it after we
wed! Just wanted to share this with you! It was such fun!

~Alice

Amy's Party at Troy Park

2010-06-26T16:21:00.000-07:00

Raleigh, Shay, Brooklyn Brizzee and I went on a 2 mile "Liberty Walk" along with a few hundred others carrying American flags from Taylor Crossing to the 1,776 Title of Liberty flag display on Broadway and Bellin. Kysa went to Pingree with Kirby, Andrew, and Bodie to see Grandma Rue and G-Ro. This afternoon we enjoyed a b-day party for Amy Loret over at Troy Park and flew a kite. Ty is in SLC for the last June basketball tounament with the varsity team. He'll be back tonight. Here is a video I put together for Amy:

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Tofino and Nanaimo Round Two

2010-06-16T09:26:00.001-07:00

Lots of stories and fun but only time to share photos for now! Love Tal Chad Bren Hay Addi and Ella

Tofino and Nanaimo Round One

2010-06-16T09:25:00.001-07:00

Great pictures from Tallan’s trip to visit Tofino.

Kaly Gillette Shippen

2010-06-14T22:21:00.000-07:00

I am excited about the chance to meet all of you! I have three kids--7, 4, and 3, with the two girls only 13 months apart. (What were we thinking!) My husband is a h.s. counselor and coach. Currently I am working part-time as the marketing manager for a commercial real estate company so I spend a good share of my time on the computer doing graphic design, web site management, and social networking. I finished my Master's in Instructional Psychology and Technology from BYU in 2006 and taught 8th grade social studies in Anchorage Alaska from 01-03. I love basketball, golf, triathlons, waterskiing, and as of this summer, tennis. This weekend I'm headed to Colorado to visit a teammate from my basketball days at San Diego State, compete in the USMS 6K open water swimming championship, and go to a Rockies game. (A trip I've been looking forward to for a long time.) Oh, and one more thing...GO CELTICS!

(This was my intro. to my fellow BYU-Idaho online learning orientation classmates. I will be teaching an online class this fall, wahoo!)

Freshman Formal

2010-05-24T09:22:00.001-07:00

I thought this was a great picture of Janaye Frei, Reagan Murdoch, Jordyn Myers, Brooklyn Anderson, and Shelby Schiess. Reagan, Brooklyn, and Shelby were golfers, and Jordyn and Janaye played softball this spring. All of them did some morning lifting with me at Skyline, some more than others. Jordyn, Brooklyn, and Janaye are very good basketball players. Janaye will be babysitting quite a bit for us this summer.

Chillin' like a Villian

2010-05-24T09:02:00.001-07:00

Kysa at her dentist appt.

Yeah, It Snowed Today

2010-05-24T08:41:00.000-07:00

Kysa and Shay went to the Hillcrest cheer camp today. I swam a mile in the
pool at Apple and then headed back to pick up Shay because she was having a
hard time. (Do you blame her? It was a cheer camp, what was I thinking!!!)
I took both girls to lunch at Café Rio (my new favorite), then took Kysa
back to finish out the camp. Shay and I went to the Ricks farm shed to
clean out the car because it was windy and it was quite a job, then to Jiffy
Lube and Kohl's, then back to Hillcrest for a little performance which Shay
jumped in on. It was fun for the girls because their favorite babysitter
from Ammon Sydney Richins is now a cheerleader, so they stayed pretty close
to her side.

This fabulous picture was taken as we arrived at Apple to go swimming with
Raleigh and Ty after the camp. You'd have thought it was mid-December!
I'm glad I was riding my bike LAST weekend. Yikes.

Transformation Quote: The best time is NOW!

2010-05-20T12:57:00.001-07:00

If you wait until everything in your life is perfect before you begin
something challenging and new, you'll be waiting forever. The best time is
NOW. -Bill Phillips

Change of Plans

2010-05-20T12:56:00.001-07:00

The weather was quite rainy this morning, but nevertheless I set out for
Rigby, dropping the girls off with Rebecca Nead and heading over to
Jefferson Hills to discover the tourney had been cancelled. The golf pro
kindly offered me a free round AND a cart, so I played 18 holes in under 2
hours for free. What a deal! I was playing well until the last 4-5 holes
when I really lost my focus. Shot an 88. (41-47)

Coach Woodland and I will try to play the tournament on June 3rd, the
rescheduled date. So it was good to play the course. It reminded me of
playing at Rupert. There is something to be said for low key courses where
you don't have to fight people.

After picking up the girls, I took them to Arctic Circle in Rigby for lunch
and oh man, they were both acting out for the first couple of minutes. I
grabbed Kysa (as she seemed to be the one agitating Shay) and took her
outside and gave her a good hard spanking and laid down the law. She came
back in after a few tears and acted like a normal human being. A grandpa
looked at me as I was bringing her back in and said, "Now that's a good
mom."

Ha! I'll take the compliment. A better mom would have just taken them back
out to the car and left! But I wanted to eat.

Golf, Cycling, Dentist, Baseball, and Tennis

2010-05-19T21:59:00.001-07:00

Ty was at state golf Saturday to early this morning. The boys team did alright but it was a tough course and they didn’t make it into the medals as a team or individually. It was a tough couple of days for Brooklyn Anderson, a freshman and only girl to qualify individually, but I’m sure it will help her for next year.

The kids and I went to Paul for the weekend and I ended up doing a Century bike ride on Saturday. It was a fundraiser for Tracy Temple and I was surprised and how good I felt on the bike and how quickly I got over the soreness. By Monday I felt pretty much normal. I rode most of it with Jan Allen and Carrie Perrigot, and the last 33 mile loop I tried to keep up with Lisa Taylor and Marden Plant. Mom was nice to watch the kids, but I think on Sunday she was definitely ready for us to go. The kids LOVE riding the four wheeler at Grandma’s. Raleigh went up to Blinko’s butte twice, once with me and once with Grandma. Raleigh was also pretty cute. I took Kysa and Shay on a ride and he decided to run through the field up to the shop to “train” for his fun run in August at Community Park. Then after we played on the tractors and combines for awhile he ran back home. The kid has some good endurance. He put in a mile.

Kysa went to her first real dentist appointment at Legacy Dental (Dr. Thuernagle) this morning and was a trooper. Thankfully her teeth are looking great. LaRelle Steele was her hygienist (LaRelle’s son Kieran has done some basketball stuff with us).

Raleigh had his first baseball practice for this season tonight at the Village park. Renae Merzlock is the coach and all the kids on the team go to Ethel Boyes. Ty went out and helped a bit with the practice. During the practice I took Kysa and Shay to the treehouse at Apple so I could go to my tennis lesson with Tollan Whitlock at the Apple tennis facility. I am playing USTA leagues on a 2.5 team this summer, and we had our first game Monday. My partner Cherie and I won 6-1, 6-1 but next Monday we play the toughest team so we’ll see what happens. I am excited to be playing and really enjoying it. My experience prior to this consists of 4 beginning tennis lessons and 3-4 pick-up matches but like most sports there is overlap. I think my volleyball background is very helpful. My favorite shot is the overhead shot at the net.

My main goal in doing this is to get to the point that I can go play singles with Ty and be good enough that it’s fun for both of us. I just don’t like doing things that I suck at!

Tomorrow morning I’m taking the girls out to Rebecca Nead’s so I can play in a golf tournament with Coach Woodland at Jefferson Hills. Then tomorrow after school Raleigh has his second-to last spring basketball clinic with Barb at Apple, and then in the evening I have my second to last city league game. It’s just a four team tournament so we have to win to make it to the championship next week. Busy, busy, but FUN! The weather has finally turned nice, hooray!

Vegas Trip

2010-05-04T20:45:00.000-07:00

Ty and I didn't really take any pictures during out trip to Vegas for the Nike basketball coaches clinic, but I did get this picture taken by the Fordcares folks after my Susan G. Komen Race For the Cure 5K on Saturday morning...

We had a great trip. Steve Alford was my favorite coach at the Nike clinic. Bobby Knight and Roy Williams were hilarious. Bob Huggins had some good stories. We really enjoyed Phantom of the Opera, the only bad thing was it started at 9:30, the time Bobby Knight was supposed to end, but he went long and we left his talk at 9:37 and felt bad we didn't hear the whole thing. Our friends told us he finished soon after we left, but still--you just don't want to leave early when Coach Knight is speaking.

We stayed at Tahiti Village and loved the lazy river and the pool. We're planning a trip in early October with the kids, my mom and dad, and Kirby and Andrew. Hopefully Kelsy and Dallas can work it out to come as well. Allegiant is starting to run flights out of Twin to Vegas and our fares were only about $40/person.

Raleigh stayed at Taggarts the night we left so he could go to school on Friday, and then Grandma Sue picked him up from school, and took him to his district chess tournament on Saturday. He was one of only two first graders and played all 3rd graders. He won one, lost one, and had two stalemates. He got to spend some time with his cousins in Menan, so he was thrilled. He enjoys staying with Grandma Sue and Grandpa Emmett.

My mom picked up the girls on Thursday after I spent several hours with them out at Sandcreek Golf Course during the high school golf tournament. What a trooper to drive all the way up to get them and then head right back home. Grandpa Jer-Bear watched them on Friday so mom could run the concession stand at the Minico track meet--a big job she has volunteered for in the spring for several years.

She brought the girls back up on Sunday evening and came to get us at the airport. They were excited to see us, but I think we were more excited to see them.

Tallan Schow Family

2010-04-18T22:23:00.000-07:00

Hey fam,

This week has been beautiful other than a few windy days. Spring has arrived and things are blooming. My dogwood tree out back is gorgeous right now. We have been doing a lot of work in the yard and Chad surprised me by ordering a couple Topsy Turvy tomato growers so I planted those today. I'll let you know if they are all the commercials talk them up to be:) This weekend the girls and I tagged along with Chad and Brenner on their turkey hunt in Dayton, Washington. Spring in the mountains is our favorite. No bugs and not too hot. We saw lots of elk and deer and lots of turkeys that know just exactly where all the private land is. The locals up there like to feed them so they are very comfortable hanging out right in their yards. I would probably do the same thing if I lived up there. A couple of Toms put on quite a show for us trying to impress a hen. You can see her in the bottom left corner running away in one photo. I also had to include a photo of a grain silo we thought looked like a badminton birdie.

love-Tal

Schow Family Update

2010-04-18T22:21:00.000-07:00

Posting these from my cousin Tallan because Raleigh enjoys reading this blog and he’ll enjoy these pictures and stories about his cousins.

-------

Okay, I have to share a few more photos and stories... We were surprised the kids found three different types of frogs. One was as green as the moss growing out of the rocks, one looked like your typical mountain lake frog and we found the tan one near the lake but the kids insisted on letting it go in the water. I think it was more of a forest land frog.... Pretty amazing for the kids to find such different looking frogs on one trip. Wish I would have gotten photos of the others. Last night we experienced an exciting mountain lightning thunderstorm for about 30 minutes. We found the discarded tire and decided to make a swing out of it. The girls put Ella in it and we thought she was having fun until she started yelling in her tiny voice "Done". We brought it home and hung it in our birch tree but this evening Hailey and Addison broke the rope in mid-air. Glad we don't have any broken bones around here :)
Tal

Kysa Riding Circles Around Me

2010-04-17T19:57:00.001-07:00

Link to the Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxjd6fb20Ds

Off to the Races

2010-04-11T22:31:00.000-07:00

Yet another embarrassing day for the Shippens at church. Kysa and Shay just had to go to the bathroom about halfway through sacrament meeting. After washing hands, I told the girls as I pushed the restroom door open, "Now let's go back in and be quiet and show dad how good we can be." But what they heard was, "On your mark, get set, go!!!!"

Without warning they took off in a full sprint down the long hallway back towards the chapel, and the only thing I could do was PRAY they would slow down. No luck. They RACED in to the 3rd row pew where Ty and Raleigh were sitting, with Shay yelling, "I win, I win."

By the time I made it to the foyer, Kysa was laughing and running back out of the chapel towards me and I could hear Shay crying. Ty then had to haul her out. She was crying because he managed to grab ahold of her and wouldn't let her follow Kysa. If only Grandpa Jer-Bear or Grandpa Emmett would have been there--there would have been beatings. :)

Fish Stories

The girls were talking about the fish tonight and I asked them what happened to lucky. (Raleigh’s old goldfish that I accidentally killed while cleaning his tank.) Kysa said "He's in the sink". I reminded her that Ty flushed him down the toilet, and added, so he could go to the ocean (Nemo). Then Shay piped in, "Cuz that's where he belongs." Kysa looked puzzled, and Shay repeated "That's where he belongs, in the ocean!" Then Kysa explained her puzzled look, adding, "Yeah, with the poop and the pee." Oops. I had to tell Kysa I was just kidding about the whole toilet leading to the ocean thing.

petting the horses

2010-04-08T22:57:00.000-07:00

Kysa has always loved animals. Tonight I took her out to a dinner / rally for Governor Otter at Frank Vandersloot’s Riverbend ranch. She was NOT interested in eating her hot dog and cheetos. Ky knew she was at a ranch and she wanted to “pet the horses!” Unfortunately the wind was blowing 25 MPH outside and it was COLD, plus it was muddy. Horse petting was just not an activity her mom would entertain. On the way home we passed some livestock, and of course she urged me to stop. Finally I gave in and pulled over at Reed’s Dairy. It wasn’t good enough to look from the car—Kysa had to get out to see the cows. I don’t know how good her vision is. She was just positive the cows on the opposite side of the corral were horses.

Fairmont Hot Springs Pictures

2010-03-31T15:15:00.000-07:00

Funny we didn't take any basketball pictures on this trip, but Fairmont sure
was fun!

Bedtime with Grandpa

2010-03-31T15:14:00.001-07:00

The night before our trip to Anaconda.

Last Summer at Tal's

2010-03-08T18:37:00.001-08:00

Tal just sent me pics she took on our Washington trip...

Lava Hot Springs

2010-03-07T22:42:00.000-08:00

Ty got back from the state basketball tourney in Boise with the Menan gang, and we headed straight to Poky. Austin and Rachel watched the kids while we went to Lava with Atim and Chris. Ate at the Thai restaurant and then got ice cream. Good times!

Happy Birthday to Kysa

2010-02-27T00:52:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'm a little out of order, but here are some fun pictures from last
month.

Corn on the Cobbers

2010-02-27T00:47:00.001-08:00

The kids had a contest to see who could do the best job eating their corn.
They all did well and I had to declare it a tie. Bountiful baskets food
co-op from Arizona meant fresh, sweet corn-on-the-cob three weeks ago. I
wonder what surprises I'll have in my basket tomorrow??? I haven't got a
basket in a couple o'weeks.

Happy Birthday Shay! The Big 3.

2010-02-27T00:45:00.001-08:00

We went to Leo's for Shay's b-day. Took the Taggart kids Logan, Kadin, and
Brooklyn cuz their mom and dad had a ward function. Dave and Gretchen and
Preslee came, and Travis and Laura's gang, and Clint and Kass. What great
friends. Kelsy spent a lot of time with the little girls. Mom took the
boys to play laser tag and they loved it. Kelsy had cute balloon animals/a
sword for Raleigh made by her friend in Utah. A fun evening for sure.
Hoops tomorrow, and maybe skiing at Pebble with Kelsy tomorrow night.

Shay Likes Scissors

2010-02-27T00:41:00.001-08:00

From parent teacher conference at the Lighthouse, Ty and I learned that Shay
likes cutting, puzzles, books, and sledding. Kysa likes puzzles, books, and
eating snow. Their teachers commented about how Shay is more bossy and
demanding towards Kysa than the other way around. They also commented on
how much both of the girls love puzzles and books. "Shay would do puzzles
all day if I let her". Not that it's surprising, but it was interesting to
me that the teacher's brought it up as if their interest was above the norm.

At this point I very am happy with the school. I am not the best
stay-at-home mom and as much as I think it would be great if I could do all
the neat things with the girls they are doing in Montessori, I know I
wouldn't get-er-done. I feel like they are learning correct principles that
will help them be successful in their lives and their interactions with
others. The biggest thing is I know they are learning a lot of personal
responsibility. How many 2 year olds zip up their own coats? How many 3
year olds wash and put away their dishes when they are done eating? Simple
things they learn at school are helping them (and me) do better at home. I
keep trying to remind myself not to do things for them that they are capable
of doing for themselves. I also think it's great that they get outside
play time in the winter. They have their snowpants and warm clothes and get
30 minutes before lunch and 30 minutes after, plus carpool time at the end
of the day. (As long as it's above 20 degrees.) When it warms up they have
trikes and bikes to ride around. Shay loves the sledding hill, and as I
mentioned earlier, Kysa loves eating the snow. :)

As for Raleigh, he says, "Mom, I wish I could go here!" Sorry, Ral, you're
a public school kiddo now.

Parent Night at Lighthouse Montessori

2010-02-27T00:30:00.001-08:00

Kysa showed us her favorite "works", but the highlight of the night for her
was letting the bird bite her little fingers.

Sleeping Beauties

2010-02-27T00:27:00.000-08:00

Visiting Grandma Rue--An Interview About How She Met Grandpa Bud

2010-02-22T13:25:00.000-08:00

I took the girls to Grandma Rue's after church and taped her talking about how she met Grandpa and a few other things. She says she hasn't written down much of her personal history so maybe we'll do more of these...

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Magic

2010-02-18T09:25:00.001-08:00

Kysa just came upstairs and exclaimed, “Mom, I want to make toys disappear! I want to do magic!”

I said, “Kysa, I don’t know how to do magic. It’s not real.” Kysa, angrily, “But I want to!” Then she ran off. hmmmm…

She just came back with her "magic hat"! No wonder.

More Pics of Bodie

2010-02-16T23:04:00.001-08:00

A Good Night--Bodie and BBall

2010-02-16T23:04:00.000-08:00

YAY! Skyline wins. I am so happy for Ty. One game closer to state. I am praying this is their year...

After dropping two games to the Tigers in the regular season, Skyline came out on top at the Tiger Den Tuesday night, defeating Idaho Falls 66 – 54 in the first round of the district tournament. Skyline had five players in double figures–Abreo, Jensen, Miller, Berger, and Smith. Michael Berger set a career mark with ten boards. Zach Smith had a game high six assists and was perfect from the free throw line, along with Berger and Scrogum. Both teams shot well from the stripe. The Grizzlies were 22-30 for 73%. Idaho Falls shot an exceptional 85%, going 18-21.

Skyline will face Madison in Rexburg on Thursday night. (Madison defeated Highland in OT 51-46 in Pocatello.) Highland will travel to Idaho Falls to play the Tigers in a loser-out game.

A Funny From Family Home Evening

Ty hit the hot tub at Dave's last night with Trav after practice, and me and the kids decided to watch home videos for FHE. Well, Kysa was struck by Shay's short, straight hair (at about 8 months old) and commented, "Shay, when you were a baby, you were a BOY!" Shay exclaims, "Mom, I was a BOY!" They both start laughing hard, along with their mom and their brother.

We got to see Bodie tonight, a week old, as Kirb and Andrew were headed to Grandma Rue's and then to Paul for a few days. The kids were very excited to see her. Kysa said, "I love her" a couple of times.

Why I love the Sunnyside Ride

2010-02-12T11:54:00.000-08:00

Biking is on my mind today. Shelby and Joel Whiting came over last night to pick up Aunt Nancy’s old specialized bike for Shelby’s sister to ride on an indoor trainer. I got out my prized possession—my lightspeed tri bike—to show Shelby because she hadn’t seen it. So today as I was searching for pictures for our web site, I came across this gorgeous shot on FlickR that is probably taken somewhere on the Sunnyside-Lincoln bike loop that I love so much. The loop starts with a very long hill up Sunnyside, and as you reach the top of the hill you see a windmill appear on the horizon. The first time I rode up Sunnyside I swore I would never make it to the top—but I forced myself to keep on pedaling and did not stop, and it was a great feeling to make it. (My neighbor John Wood led me, Jen Cannon, and Nancy Archibald on an early morning ride the first time we did it. We had no idea what we were in for!)

Once you’ve reached the summit, the route then takes you down a steep decline that is exhilarating and somewhat frightening, but absolutely beautiful. At the intersection of Bone Road you head north, mostly downhill with a few rollers. The windmills and the mountains to the west are breathtaking, a great reward for making it up the Sunnyside grade. The entire loop is around 26 miles, about the same distance as the Spudman bike route. I felt like doing that ride several times last summer really prepared my legs for race day. Looking forward to spring when I can do it again.

Bodie Jane Walker

2010-02-10T09:27:00.001-08:00

So proud of Kirby and Andrew. Bodie was born around 7:45 last night,
weighing 6 lbs 15 oz. and 19 and 3/4 inches. She looks just like her daddy
and is getting cuter by the minute. She was posterior so it was tough for
Kirby to push her out and her little head was elongated. But wow, what a
little doll.

Seeing what Kirb went through I am incredibly grateful that I had all
c-sections. Not for the pain side of it, but for the emotional side. With
the c-section you pretty much know exactly when you are going to have the
baby. There's so much more time to get worried with a natural birth. I was
worried because Bodie got distressed and they had to slow thing down for a
bit, and she was posterior and they were maybe going to need to use forceps
or a vacuum. But it is cool how they monitor everything so closely so at
least you know if the baby is having trouble.

lesson learned

2010-02-03T18:57:00.001-08:00

The Question: Kysa, what did you learn today?

The punchline: “If we put the really ball next to the heater, it will blow up our house!”

The background: This morning my awesome 65 cm exercise ball that mom gave me when Raleigh was a toddler was destroyed when Kysa decided to see what would happen if she held it against our cadet heater in the living room. Raleigh tried to tape up the hole that she melted in it, to no avail. Raleigh and Kysa were crying about it this morning.

When we got home from work/school I asked Kysa what she learned, and that was her answer.

Kysa Just Burped

2010-01-31T18:44:00.001-08:00

Ty commented on the burp, and Kysa said, “No, my mouth FARTED!”

Doppelganger Week

2010-01-30T15:26:00.000-08:00

by posted a picture on her facebook profile of Natalie Maines for "doppelganger week"--you're supposed to post your celebrity look alike. Well, I have only been told I look like one celebrity in my life. One of the track athletes at BYU would always tell me that I looked like Sarah Michelle Gellar. I didn't think so. But I uploaded a picture to the MyHeritage thing that uses facial recognition to tell you which celebrities you look most similar to, and guess what, he was right! Funny, she was my top match at 82%, however you figure that. Hilarious.

Now I'm gonna upload ty's picture and see if NBA bball players are in their database, because Peja is most definitely Ty's look-alike.

So I just uploaded a picture of Ty, and this is hilarious--these are his top five matches, in order. Whaaaaat?

But we all know who Ty really looks like. When he was playing at UAA a few times opposing fans would chant "Peja, Peja!" at his games.

Bountiful Basket Saturday

2010-01-30T14:27:00.000-08:00

My friend Jenna Ware Foster (who lived in I.F. for awhile but has since
moved back to Southern Utah with her husband Jeff), told me about a food
co-op called Bountiful Baskets. I tried it out today. $18 for all these
fruits and veggies, and they are fresh and delicious! Totally random, but
I'm kinda excited about it. I'm hoping to get 3-4 neighbors to order each
week so we can take turns picking up our baskets. Check it
out--www.bountifulbaskets.org You have to place your order between Noon on
Tuesday and Wednesday morning. (The very first order costs an extra $3, but
after that it's just $15.)

We had a fun morning at Apple with games at 10 and 11 a.m. Raleigh was a
little goofy today for some reason. Did better in the 2nd round of games.
Afterwards we went to Godfather's with the Jenkins and then I took the girls
for a long ride to Firth to get my basket. The pick-up site will sometimes
be in Idaho Falls, and I'm hoping if I can get some friends in on this we
can just take turns picking up each other's baskets.

Our Snow Man

2010-01-01T21:59:00.000-08:00

We got a lot of snow today so we went sledding at Troy Park this afternoon and then made this giant snow man. Raleigh is tied for 2nd place in Skyline's huge Bowl Game pool so we are watching the college football games intently as Ty charts where he's at on a grid with all the entrants and all the picks. He went 4/5 today. We enjoyed the Ohio State vs. Oregon game. I let Shay come to Albertson's with me to get groceries just before we took this picture. I enjoy taking the kids one-on-one. Taking all of them to the store...that's another story.

Santa Claus is Comin' To Town

2009-12-31T06:54:00.001-08:00

Wild Child #2

2009-12-31T06:51:00.000-08:00

It's been well established that Kysa is a daring little girl.

Her sister is following in her footsteps...and then some!

I did NOT intentionally encourage this monkey-like behavior. I did my best to scold them while I took these pictures and then removed them from the ledge and sent them to their rooms. Unfortunately kids are smart and they saw right through my attempt to discipline. All I can say is that when we moved into our house I never imagined this ledge would become a jungle gym!

Our Very Own Reindeer

2009-12-31T06:41:00.000-08:00

If these two look like they are up to mischief, it's because they are!

transitions

2009-12-18T11:45:00.000-08:00

I am transitioning to working at the office 4 days a week. It's a pretty momentous change as Kysa and Shay will be starting at Lighthouse Montessori in January, so I thought I'd better write something about it. Mom has been helping me this week so I could train before we lose our awesome office manager Mitch Transtrum who has been holding down the fort at NAI Commerce One for the past couple of years. He's going to grad school at U of U in an industrial hygiene program to eventually come back to Idaho Falls and work at the site, and his wife is having baby #1 on Monday. He does an awesome job at NAI so Alison Frei and I have big shoes to fill. It would be nice to continue to work from home but it's not just feasible right now, largely because of the uncertainty with the economy. The girls attended a 3 hour class session at Lighthouse and did really well. They have a lengthy application process but I honestly couldn't be more pleased. The only bad thing is that they are located across town. I have committed to NAI and the school through May. We will be evaluating things in March to see if I will continue my commitment.

It seems that we can't do without the $1200/month I've been making working from home, but the bottom line is I can't continue making that unless I help man the office because the dynamics have changed with Mitch leaving. I've worked it out with them so that after paying for the Montessori school I will be making a couple hundred more than I have been making. My hope is that I will be able to be more engaged at home because I will be getting my work stuff done while at the office and only using my computer at home on the weekends for personal stuff like blogging, projects, basketball stuff, videos, etc. The rest of the time the laptop will stay at work.

Speaking of my laptop, I joked to Mitch yesterday that I hoped it wouldn't miss me overnight, and I even patted it and talked to it. So this morning I came in and it wouldn't turn on no matter how many times I tried. It would sputter and then turn off every time I hit the power button. How's that for starting things out right with my new responsibilities? It's had problems in the past, and luckily it's still under warranty until March. Mitch took it to Best Buy for me to be sent in. I won't get it back in time to make the annual Shippen Christmas video, but maybe I can find a way to improvise and do it on another machine.

Ty has a ball game tonight vs. Bonneville and again tomorrow @ Rigby. I'm excited as the boys haven't played since last Friday. I've actually only been to two of their games so far as I missed the game @ Bountiful and I went and scouted other teams when we played Clearfield and Blackfoot.

Shay cracked me up last night. She woke up in the middle of the night and wanted me to tell her a story. She said, "Tell me the one about Olivia and Emma in the tree. Tell me THAT one....and Emma gets stuck in the tree...now it's your turn..." She is so bossy. Her vocabulary seems to be exploding. I told her I wanted to go to bed, and she said, "Not in Kysa's, or Daddy's, or Raleigh's bed. They are sleeping. You can't bother them!"

Neat Church Magazine Article by my friend Amanda

2009-12-15T00:58:00.001-08:00

A little inspiration from my very inspiring friend Amanda:

Amanda Dierenfeldt, “To Perfection,” Liahona, Mar 2009, 8–9

Growing up, I was always inclined to perfectionism. So when I received my patriarchal blessing, one admonition in particular seemed natural: to complete the tasks I was given “to the best of [my] ability, to perfection.” Only later would I start to realize how little I understood perfection—or the role of grace.

In 1998 I returned home early from a mission due to health problems. I felt a tremendous amount of guilt because I felt I had not completed my mission “to perfection.” Added to this sense of failure was uncertainty about my illness. So far, doctors had been unable to diagnose it.

In spite of my health challenges, I knew I needed to move forward, so I enrolled in a university to continue my education. After only two quarters, however, I returned home again, in pain, for urgent surgery. It was at this point that doctors discovered I had an autoimmune disease.

While I was recovering from surgery, I began working part-time at the chocolate store where I had been employed as a teenager. Even though I was doing what I could, I didn’t feel that I was pursuing anything worthwhile, much less completing it “to perfection.” I began to compare myself to others, especially to my friends who were completing their college degrees, serving missions, or starting families. I felt left behind.

Then I met Stephanie. She came into the candy store one day wearing a black scarf around her head. As I pointed out to her my favorite chocolate, I felt impressed to inquire about her situation. She smiled, removed her scarf, and, pointing to her bald head, told me she was going through chemotherapy. That exchange was the start of a special and candid friendship.

Stephanie came by the store regularly to enjoy a treat and talk about life. I learned that she was a member of the Church and that she had struggled spiritually as well as physically. She told me about some rebellious choices she had made and about her efforts to repent. She was working toward being sealed to her husband in the temple.

One day I shared some of my own challenges. I confided in her how discouraged I was by my circumstances. “I am scooping the same ice cream I scooped in high school,” I explained. “I didn’t complete my mission or college, and I don’t know what to do now.”

Stephanie responded, “Why do you have to finish the race of life in a set time? Why not just run the race?”

For the first time, I realized that the efforts I was making were my best, and my best was enough. The Savior loved me, and His grace, through His Atonement, was sufficient for me, for my deficiencies. Although I felt I had been looking to Him all along, until Stephanie shared her insight with me, I had somehow missed an important lesson about His role in my life.

Ether 12:27 says, “My grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.” As I have been able to humble myself and have faith in the Lord, I have seen over and over again that He does indeed make weak things become strong. My increased testimony of this truth has helped me face my challenges with greater faith and hope.

A few months after that conversation, I left my hometown to start a new job and lost contact with my friend. One day my mom called to tell me that she had seen Stephanie’s obituary in the newspaper. I came home to attend her funeral and learned she had been sealed to her husband just three weeks before her death.

My heart sighed with gratitude for having had Stephanie in my life and for what she taught me about running a perfect race. I don’t always need to sprint. Occasionally, it will be all I can do to simply face the finish line. Doing our best to move forward—no matter what speed “our best” is—is OK. Our efforts can be made perfect because the Lord’s grace is sufficient for us all (see Moroni 10:32).

Check out Amanda’s blog at: http://flopbott.blogspot.com/

Grandma's Birthday Song and Silliness

2009-12-13T20:14:00.001-08:00

Raleigh's 12/5 Swim Meet

2009-12-09T23:40:00.001-08:00

Kysa's Christmas Dress

2009-11-24T08:30:00.001-08:00

Not the best quality picture as I took it with my cell, but I love it.

Snowfall, Crazy Eyes at the Festival of Trees

2009-11-22T13:08:00.000-08:00

I took the kids to the Festival of Trees Friday night as Ty was at Skyline
late distributing uniforms to all the teams. It was really crowded and it
took a lot of help from Raleigh to keep track of both of the girls. We
won't be doing that again for a few years! The Rupert festival is much more
our pace. It snowed a lot today during stake conference. President Russell
M. Nelson was our visiting G.A. It was neat to hear from him, although I
didn't hear all of it. I went last night to the adult meeting and then came
late with Kysa and Shay today. Raleigh and Ty went on time. Couldn't hear
well in the nursery room. The girls are full of it, still.

Cookie Monster & The Lion

2009-11-22T13:02:00.000-08:00

Magic Hats!

2009-11-10T14:57:00.000-08:00

Raleigh wanted the tree up yesterday, so I told him I'd put it up if he'd
clean up the house, which he did. Ended up going a little nuts with the
patriotic theme as I found a container full of good 4th of July stuff in the
garage. Kelsy would be proud.

Today the girls found two 4th of July hats in the same container, which Kysa
said are "magic hats". After donning her hat, she promptly requested a
magic wand, which I conveniently had two of in the basement thanks to a
recommendation from Grandma Ro that I withhold them from b-day presents last
year.

A few minutes ago as I was uploading pictures to our blog, Kysa came in the
room and very despondently reported, "Mom, my magic wand don't work....I
need to practice."

On another "magic" note, last night I was quizzing Kysa on the location of a
bracelet I had made for her. She said, "Mom, it's gone. It got magic-ed."
Apparently magic-ed means it disappeared. :)

Happy Birthday to Dad!

2009-11-10T14:45:00.000-08:00

33--Yikes!