Oct 25, 2010

Permitted to have fun...

Wow, I can't believe it has been so long since I last updated this blog. I can't even say that I have been extremely busy. More likely just unmotivated, or lazy. As you can see, it hasn't been without some fun times though.
In August, Trev turned 15 and was immediately off to the DMV to get his learners permit. The test was hard with a bunch of random knowledge questions, but Trev passed it on his first try. He had never actually driven before that day, so when we got home to some safe/quiet roads we got him behind the wheel. 2 months in, and he is doing pretty good, even with the stick shift.

The next week, school started for both boys. Trev is in 9th grade, officially in High School. Tye is now attending the U of U. He drives to the Trax station on school days, and I am not quite sure he enjoys the ride, but it is nice to not have to drive his new car all the way up there. Yes, I did say new car. Finally after years of driving the Sunbird, he has his own KIA Forte.
For labor day weekend we (Brit's family and ours)headed up to Park City for some fun and relaxation. Trev and Marc did the zipline. We shopped at the factory stores. Spencer went for his first swim. The weather was so nice, it was a great weekend.

In mid-September Marc had a layover in Orlando, so Trev and I joined him. We went to Sea World for a couple of hours and then layed out by the pool. Of course getting home from Orlando is never easy, so Trev and I spent an extra night there and came home early the next morning. We missed out on the evacuation and fire on the mountains in Herriman.

The end part of September, Brit had a 2 day school trip to Evanston to work at the State Hospital. She needed someone to watch Spencer, so I decided it would be easiest to go up there with her so that she didn't have to leave him home. I only had to stay the first night and then Jacob came up for the second. There really isn't much to do in Evanston, except go to Wal-Mart, so that is what we did. Spencer is such a happy, well tempered baby.

In early October the Titans were playing the Broncos in Tennessee. Marc had never seen the Broncos play in person and Trev has wanted to go to Nashville to see the Titans play at home. Spoiled Rotten and Marc decided that it was the perfect opportunity for both of them to go and see their teams play each other. They sat on the 30 yard line, a couple of rows from the field on the Titans sideline. Sadly for Trevor, the Titans lost. (They gave the game away to a crappy Denver team.) The trip was lots of fun for both of them anyway.

Brittany is working hard in school this year and making sure Spencer is well taken care of. I have watched him a couple of times this month, and enjoyed every minute of it. He was a little sick (cold) this last week, so I got to spend 2 days with him at Brits place. Of course I have to take my camera and take pictures of his cute little face. He has a few little Halloween outfits, so I put one on and had some fun.

Do you think he will make a good pilot? Last week was reality town for Trev at school and he got to pick what he wanted to have as a career. They spend the morning doing all the things adults have to do and learning how to manage their money. He was a penny pincher, and still had money left at the end. (all fake of course) I hope that he really does that when he faces the real world. He was one of the winners for the best dressed.

Jul 25, 2010

A Marshall no more :(



The time has finally come that Trev will enter the wonderful world of high school athletics. This was our last year to play baseball as the Utah Marshalls. Everything we did this year was bitter sweet knowing that it was the last of each thing. I have enjoyed the years of watching Trevor play baseball, and hope that he will be able to continue on in high school. We have gotten to know so many wonderful families through this game, and truely will miss all of them.


Our last month together, the boys played up a division in a high school automotive league. They did very well for being 14 year olds playing 16 year olds. They also got to experience playing, and winning, a game on Gates Field. This is the field which our Utah Marshalls founder Kevin Gates built at Kearns High (where he went to school, so some KHS alumni have made good).
It is sad to know it has all come to an end, but hope for the best for all of these fine young men. See you on the other side of the field, in a friendly game of baseball.

Jun 30, 2010

N-OmaHA


The keys words in the title are No and Ha, cuz I am pretty sure it was a laughing matter trying to get us to and from Omaha and play No baseball (or very little). We had quite the adventure for our last travelling tournament as the Utah Marshalls. First of all, we decided that a 14 hour drive was not on our can-do list so we decided to fly. The flights looked good, so there should be no problem, right? NOT! We never actually got to fly in or out of Omaha. Instead we had to fly in and out of Kansas City, MO and drive 2 1/2 hours. (we did have a pretty sweet ride though in a Mercury Marquis) Trev thought we were going to die from all the tornado warnings we heard on the drive. Once in Omaha, feel the humidity, and here comes the rain. It poured all night, making the fields unplayable. We lucked out that our fields were the only fields playable that day, although we did start late. We won 1 game and lost the other one. Now the problem was all the other games were canceled and needed to be made up the next day, so now we didn't get to play on that day.
All the boys went to the last college world series at Rosenblatt stadium, which will be torn down after the games are over. They watched they eventual champions South Carolina Gamecocks play. More rain came that night and the rest of the tournament was canceled. As always the boys had fun, regardless of baseball.
Making our way home, was of course not any easier. We had to drive back to Kansas City and try to make it home for Trev to get back for his summer PE class. We had the chance to drive around a while before our flight. We drove down to where the KC Royals and KC Chiefs play. The stadiums are back to back and share their parking lots. Luckily we made it on our flight and Marc got on the next one after us.
So the short answer is.... NO I won't be going back to Omaha any time soon.

May 26, 2010

Arrivals, Depatures, and near misses...


It is official, we are Grandparents. Little Spencer arrived on May 20th at 12:07pm, weighing in at 6 lbs 13 oz. and 19 1/2 ins. long. It was a bit of a long labor for Brittany, but she is grateful for epidurals. He is so cute and tiny, and a little yellow. He is having to do a bili-suitcase to help get his jaundice under control. Britt and Jake are doing well with the little guy, just trying to figure the whole parenting thing out while getting very little sleep. We are so excited to have him here, especially Trevor. He is already planning all the things he will get to teach Spencer as his uncle. I am sure that our gas bill will be going up a bit with all the trips to Ogden that we will be making now that he is here.
Sadly, Marc's Grandpa Clay passed away on May 24th without getting to meet his first great-great grandson. He was always a great guy to be around. He had a sense of humor that kept us laughing all the time. He never was one to let anyone get away with things that they shouldn't and told you how it was. I am sure that is why I got along with him so well. Marc always reminded me of Grandpa Clay with his big hands, a trait that Trevor shares too. I always heard the stories of Marc having to help Grandpa in the fields or clean the seminary buildings in the summer. He spent a lot of time up in Heber with his Grandparents, something I am sure he hopes that we can do with ours. (I just hope it is a lot of trips and not work that we are doing) We will miss Grandpa Clay, but know he is in a better place with Grandma Lola.
Our poor little kitty Mayo has been a bit sick lately. At first we thought it was just a simple bladder infection that we treated with medication. After almost 2 weeks of treatment, that we thought was going well, he took a turn for the worse. Now his bladder had produced crystals that were blocking his ability to pee. He was spending a lot of time in the litterbox, but not able to go. Or else he was hiding in dark places, something animals do when they are sick. A urinary blockage can kill an animal in 24-48 hours if not treated since it shuts down their kidneys. So off to emergency care to get him taken care of. (we must really love our cat to spend that kind of money on him) They had to insert a catheter to unblock him, and currently he is still at the vets for observation. He has to wear the cone so he won't lick the catheter out of place.
Needless to say the last 6 days have been quite eventful. They say things happen in 3's. So I think we should be good for a while.

May 8, 2010

Some lost...some found

Lost.... My mind? It has been a busy time at our house lately. Trev of course is knee deep in baseball, which means mom is too. Trev was in a bit of a hitting slump and struggling with his pitching. School for both boys has been a constant battle, except Tye is now done and has his associates degree. (He is planning to go to the U this fall) I can't wait for the next 4 weeks to go by so that Trev will be done as well. Of course that just means that it is time to stress and get all the work done before then. Brit came and spent about 4 days with us while Jake was in Virginia for work. We had a shower, at my house, for Brit at the end of April. She received many nice things for baby Spencer, who is going to arrive any day now. Trev had his I-pod stolen. My sister is here visisting from New Zealand for 3 weeks. And will the rain and cold ever go away? I have been trying to start my garden. Could Trev play some games that don't require me to bring my heater and bundle up like it is winter?

Found... Good things come to those who wait? So Marc flew the Red Sox a few weeks back and got to chat with Trev's favorite player Dustin Pedroia. Marc was wearing some of Trev's Red Sox gear, so Dustin asked him about it. Of course Marc told him that is was Trevs and all about Trev and playing baseball and his aforementioned woes. Dustin took Marcs phone and texted Trev a little encouragment note. It seems that since then, that Trev has been doing better. Thanks Dustin. Yeah school is out in 4 weeks. Trev is going to be doing some extra school for 3 weeks in June so that he can clear some room in his schedule next fall. (3 hours of PE everyday won't be a bad thing right?) Having Brit home for those few days made me miss having her around. All the laughter that her and her brothers brought to the house was so much fun. Trev earned his first paycheck by umping some little 8 year old teams. He wants to use his money to go golfing. That money will run out fast. It was either that or buy a new I-pod, but as luck would have it, we were able to recover the I-pod. The weather has been better the last couple of days and I am finally starting to see some sprouts in my garden. (too bad some more cold/rain is on the way). My sister leaves back to New Zealand in 4 days. It has been fun getting to know Joshua more since he was just 1 when they left. As of this posting Brit is due in 2 weeks, although her Dr. says it should happen sooner. As excited as I am to get him here, Brit is trying to take her nursing boards next week, so I guess I could wait a little longer for him to get here.

Apr 3, 2010

We're having a BALL...






It is amazing how we lose track of time and all of the sudden it is April. So I guess that I will attempt to recap the things we've been up to. In early February Marc took Trev to a Jazz game. They got to sit in the Delta Suite and order lots of yummy food. The Jazz won, so that made it even better. For Presidents day we headed south to "sin city" aka Las Vegas. We took Brittany and Jacob with us. Marc had to see the dancing water at Bellagio and we all just took in the sights on the strip for an afternoon. We relaxed and hung out and just enjoyed being in the warm away from cold SLC. Trev finally finished up Jr. Jazz basketball on the Saturday before we went to St. George for March Madness. His basketball team was a lot of fun and they had a pretty successful season. As for baseball, Trev is still playing for the Utah Marshalls. This should be his last year in super league. Next year he will be able to try out for the high school team. His team has a couple of new faces and we were sad to see some long time friends leave. They have gotten off to a great start so far, they won the March Madness tournament. Trev is still struggling a bit and has his ups and downs on the field, but he has a lot more instruction this year from SLCC players and coaches and we are slowly watching him work out some kinks. I no longer have to keep the score at every game, so I have been able to enjoy visiting with the other parents.
Up next on our agenda is of course more baseball, getting Trev through the last quarter of school, Tye will be graduating with his Associates Degree from SLCC in May, and most importantly waiting for baby Spencer to arrive sometime mid to late May. Of course Brittany needs to finish her spring semester of nursing school before he makes his debut.
Next time I post on this blog (since I do it so frequently), I may be a grandma bragging about how cute my grand baby is. Don't take it personally, but it will probably be true.

Jan 31, 2010

January THAW, Orlando Style!



I love the fact that sometimes we can just pick up and go last minute. The weather had been kind of a downer lately, so some sunshine was in order. We had to decide between Hawaii and Orlando, (I know that is tough) but ended up in Orlando since we could get a place to stay last minute. Tye was not able to make the trip with us since his new semester had just started, so it was just Marc, Trevor and me. We had planned on gong to SeaWorld since we have not been to the one in Orlando before. As a surprise bonus to our trip, we had some awesome friends that were also in Orlando for a couple of the same days, and had some extra Disney tickets that were going to expire, so they let us have them. We relaxed as much as we could, and didn't stress how long we were in the parks, with the exception of the one day in Disney. The weather was so nice, much nicer than last year. The only bad weather we had was one night it literally poured rain for most of the night, it woke us up many times, but by morning the sun was out and beautiful again. We enjoyed the Dolphin show at SeaWorld the most, and the 2 fun roller coasters too. There is no doubt that Trev is a little spoiled, and he soaked it all up. He was even nice enough to bring some gifts home for some of his friend girls. It was so much fun to get away, that we really didn't want to come home. Can't wait to get away and do it again.