WHO THE HECK ARE YOU?

I picked the boys up after school today only to find Carson with this strange kid attached to his arm. He said he was coming home with us to play for the day. I thought for a moment and said to myself "heck no your not....who the heck are you?" but I didn't and in my motherly voice said sounds good. I brought the boys home and they headed straight to the artillery room looking for their bb guns. They grabbed them and walked out the door without saying a word. Where in the crap are they going I thought to myself.....and who the heck is that kid? I noticed they were heading into the canyon down from our home. It was like they were heading to WAR! All three of them with their little bb guns sticking in the air. I thought it seemed a bit strange so I packed Coop up and threw him in my backpack and headed out the door. Yup, I was going to spy on these boys to see what was going down. I made my way down the rocky path only to find this strange boy aiming his gun at a little cute bird. Watch this he said in a cynical voice. He pumped his gun up and SHOT. Holy poop crap he killed that little bird. I have always told my kids that they EAT what they kill. I don't think they would like to eat CROW for dinner. Well, I walked up on these little guys and scared the bejebees right out of them. We had a great talk about respecting animals.....even CROWS and headed back on our way home. As I walked in the door this little guy told me that he brought all of his sleeping clothes to spend the night. I thought to myself....Who the heck are you? but in my nice motherly voice said- Alright. Well, they seemed to have a great day together but I am still wondering who the heck this child is who I have never met nor heard of in my life. I am hoping I don't show up on the news tomorrow night for kidnapping a boy named ?????

SNOWBOARDING

I just love this picture of my little dudes at the mountain. Kelton just turned 4 in this picture and carson was 6. I am so excited to head up to the hills with them this year. Any volunteers to sit little Coop while we go? There are lots of poopy diapers and happy smiles in it for you. Carson and Kelton told me that they would like to do some competitions this year. I thought that sounded pretty dang fun so I think Brian and I will compete in the MASTERS division. Well, PRAY FOR SNOW!

SLEEP

So I have been a little sleep deprived lately with Cooper getting his new top chompers. He has just been miserable and making my beauty REM sleep not so pretty. My eyes are a RED and puffy, my head has this dull throbbing pain that radiates ALL friggin day, and my mind is just not working right. Did you know......

• A new baby typically results in 400-750 hours lost sleep for parents in the first year.


• Anything less than five minutes to fall asleep at night means you’re sleep deprived. The ideal is between 10 and 15 minutes, meaning you’re still tired enough to sleep deeply, but not so exhausted you feel sleepy by day.

According to the Department of Behavioral Biology at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, sleep deprivation impairs alertness, cognitive performance, and mood. Sleep deprivation also causes a general feeling of malaise and headaches. Sometimes these headaches are dull and persistent and may last all day. At other times, there may be sharp pains that shoot up from the base of the skull to the temples and even to the forehead. Whichever headache strikes, it is a warning signal telling you that you need more sleep!

I will tell you right now that I LOVE sleep. I love my puffy pillow, my new bed, and my blankets that cover my body. Oh how I love sleep. So when my alarm goes off at 5:30am to go exercise I can truly say that I don't LOVE to get up. I just wish I could THROW that thing at the wall and watch it shatter into a zillion pieces. Well, happy to say that last night I did catch up on some Zs. My headache is slowly dwindling and my eyes no longer look like I am high on some kind of serious drugs. I was happy to wake up to a well rested baby, and a hubby who is so truly supportive and AMAZING. I LOVE SLEEP, and I LOVE MY LIFE.

WHERE DREAMS COME TRUE

(collage done by mommy berta...so cute!)
As most of you know me and the boys had the opportunity to go to California with Bob and Roberta this past weekend. Bob was heading down with the high school band for competition. They would be performing at Disneyland and Riverside. I invited myself and the boys to tag along on their romantic trip. It was a last minute decision to take the boys out of school for 5 days and DRIVE down to "the happiest place on earth".....DISNEYLAND! Mom and dad rented a van, shared their room, and happily stood in line with little Coop while Carson, Kelton and I rode the rides. I had a hard time with the fact that I was leaving my hubby home to WORK all week while we went to play, but I quickly got over it. We had a great time. Carson, Kelton , and Coop all had first time experiences.

• First time spending 12 hours in a car. (Thanks Ash for the long drive tips)


• First time going to the beach - Newport was beautiful


• First time finding shells in the sand


• First time in SERIOUS traffic


• First time going to Disneyland


• First time riding any type of amusement ride

We truly had a great time and it is something that the boys will always remember. Thanks for letting us hook up with you and drive to the place where dreams come true.....DISNEYLAND.

Special thanks to Tyler and Nicole, Grandma Alice, Bob and Berta, and Bri for pitching in dough so that we could enjoy this special trip.

Early Halloween

We celebrated Halloween this year a little bit earlier than the rest of the world. The Saturday before Halloween Harriman state park has a great party for children. They decorate all of the cabins in fun, scary decor and let the children come and go trick or treating around the cabins. It is a fun, safe party for the kids. They also got to enjoy a hay ride through the spooky forest. We had a great time with Brian before we headed out on our trip to California. Cooper dressed up as a pirate, Kelton was a dead football player, and Carson was a scary zombie. Boooooooo!

WINTER ALREADY?

KELTON IS A LITTLE CONFUSED ABOUT THE WEATHER






























You know I truly struggle with the fact that it is now snowing outside. I am looking at the weather saying to myself - what in the crap am I going to do all winter long. Well, we have decided on a few winter activities that will keep us busy.

1. Teach spinning out of the new garage/shop area.
2. Purchase a junk snowmobile and groom a cross country track around our neighborhood.
3. Set plans for a GREAT ice skating/hockey rink....in our back yard.
4. Night time brings challenges so I think I will get creative and quilt.
5. Watch many videos and drink lots of coca motion.
6. Play more board games.
7. Add more minutes to my cell phone.
8. Make many unneeded trips to Dave's Jubilee.
9. Weekly snowshoe trips with friends/family.
10. Think about quilting......scrapbooking.......anything crafty. IT'S JUST NOT ME!

Well, I can't believe another week has come and gone. Here is a rundown of our weekly activities.

• AM exercising
• Dutch oven cooking by Bri....the masta
• Taught city climbing class
• Visited with Whit, Grandma, Mom, Ty, and Nicole
• Got my eyebrows waxed - always a great moment!
• Thought about going to Utah - Coop has cough
• Worked at hospital
• Cleaned
• Saw my buddy Jennica - who is always so willing to help. THANKS!
• Brian, Jaxon, Bron, Tyler helped put cement down in shop. THANKS!

I love my life and couldn't ask for anything more. I am grateful for the hard working husband I have who works until his hands bleed so that I can stay home with our 3 little boys.

RUN FOR A CAUSE

Today was a most excellent day. I woke up at 6:00 picked up my friend Natalie at 7:00 and headed to Rexburg to pick up my bestest buddie in the whole world Jennica. We were headed to run the 5K in Idaho Falls. I was so excited to go and run for something that is so TRULY important - breast cancer awareness. There is a good friend of mine at my work who has gone through the whole phase of this and to know you are running for such an AMAZING cause was gratifying. I missed my sista and my mommy.....next year! We drove there - we ran - we conquered! That is Jennica conquered. This girl has some swift genes. Her 5k time was 22.? minutes. Now if you do the math in your head I think she is running faster than lightning. She is definitely the bunny in the race and I the tourtuse....but I had a blast being with them. We saw many great friends there, ate delicious bread, and listened to outstanding bluegrass. These are the days that I ALWAYS remember! Thanks dudes......you rock!

FLY FISHIN

Tonight me and the boys were able to get out and take the boat for a float. It was truly amazing to see the colors of the trees as we floated across the crystal clear water. In the background all you could see was the Teton Range with snow covered peaks and Kelton jumping up and down needing to take a pee. It was so much fun to hang out with Carson, Kelton and Brian. Kelton sang/yelled his way down the river as Carson tried not to get tangled in my line. We ate licorice and watched Brian's muscles grow as he rowed us down the river. This was my first official float of the year. Too bad the year is already over. My fly fishing skills have suffered due to the lack of wrist action I have had lately. I had a few bites , but no 20 pounder tonight. I truly just love being outside with nature. How peaceful and beautiful life is when you are surrounded by the outdoors. I just happened to leave my camera in the truck.......darn it was so AMAZING. Cooper was in good hands at the neighbors home. He is our home teacher and such a great man. Thanks Blair for the offer. I had a wonderful fly fishing day today.

Tomorrow I am going to Idaho Falls with some of my great freinds. We will be running in the 5K race. It is a race for breast cancer. I am all about prevention when it comes to my boobies. Wish us luck!

TAGGED?

Alright so I have been tagged by my blogging sister-in-law Nicole. You dirty little blogger you.... I don't even know what the heck it means to be tagged, but I guess I answer a bunch of silly questions from years ago. I can't even remember what happened 30 minutes ago.

• What was I doing 10 years ago.....(1997)

I was madly in LOVE with a cute boy named Brian with very little responsibilities and a super HOT body. We were climbing mountains, biking trails, and doing whatever our little hearts desired. We were living in our small-little home in Rexburg with a minimal house payment. Oh how great life was! Madly in LOVE with very little responsibility. All this was about to change because I just found out that I am having a BABY our first, and it's due June 10th, 1998. Oh my gosh how life will change!

• What I was doing 5 years ago....(2002)

I now have 2 beautiful little red headed boys- Carson (4) Kelton (1 1/2), and I am still in LOVE with a boy named Brian. I now have to be a responsible ADULT and change my venturous ways. I no longer climb steep mountains slabs or mountain bike like a bat out of HELL, instead I venture to the toilet for a little potty training with Cheerios, and story time. My body no longer is a work of ART, but an artist out of work. We now live in a larger home only 3 blocks away from our other home. The bigger home came with a greater price tag and $$ much higher payment so we decided to subdivide our home into a duplex. More responsibilities, more payments,...... Oh how life has changed.

• What I was doing 1 year ago....(2006)

I am 6 months pregnant with our THIRD child. It is another boy! It is like starting all over again. Carson is now 8 and Kelton is 5. I am still in LOVE with a boy named Brian who has accomplished so many great things in his short life. My body now has many sagging but beautiful parts. I can walk up a flight of stairs without completely dying - maybe it's all the bon bons and Doritos I have been eating. They say that you can eat whatever you want when you are pregnant. LIVE IT UP! We have been seriously looking to buy this cool home that resides in Asthon. There is so much fix-up work that needs to be done. Can you imagine - Ashton? Who the heck would move there? Oh how life has changed.

• What I was doing yesterday.... (10-05-07)

I woke up to a beautiful baby smiling in my face. I exercised to Tony Horton (kick me baby while I'm down) with my kids. My body is in a desparate need of repair. Not only bladder repair but boob repair. I ate a delicious breakfast at our fun home in Ashton. Bigger home, more resposibilities, more payments. Who would have thought Ashton? I played with my children, meditated, dreamt of how it would be 10 years from now, thought about snowboarding, hugged and kissed my kids goodnight and thought how lucky I am to be alive. Oh how life has changed. Oh and by the way....I am still in LOVE with a cute boy named Brian!

• 5 places I would rather be....

1. Visiting our friends in Maui, relaxing on the beach in my STRING (YOUCH) bikini, surfing the waves with my 4 boys.
   
2. Climbing the New Zealand mountain scape's wearing a kilt playing THUNDER by ACDC on my guitar with my 4 boys.


3. Downhill mountain bike racing......I LOVE SPEED, and injuries LOVE me.


4. Snowboarding down the peaks of Austria with my 4 boys, sipping hot cocoa by a fire, and listening to ACDC THUNDER on my mp3 player.


5. Fishing in Alaska with my 4 boys.

• 5 treats/snacks that I like....

Oh hell....I can only name 5

1. chocolate


2. double chocolate with a drizzle of chocolate


3. triple chocolate with chocolate ice cream topped with chocolate


4. quadruple chocolate with chocolate ice cream and chocolate cookies with chocolate chips


5. Do you finally get it.....I LOVE CHOCOLATE- When I die and go to heaven I will have a conversation with God. The first thing I will ask him is why did you make me LOVE chocolate so very much? His response will be.... It was your test on earth and you FAILED misserably!

• What would you do with a million dollars....

If I had a million dollars I would save the world!

• 5 favorite t.v. shows....

1. Grey's Anatomy


2. Man versus Wild


3. Anything on Food Network- it makes me think I can cook


4. Local news 8 - how pathetic


5. Dancing with the stars - I love making fun of them.....hee, hee

• 5 people to tag....

1. My sista Whit


2. My buddy Jennica


3. Nurse lady MZB


4. outnumbered 5 to 1 Emily


5. Cool Cuz Ali - even though Berta already nominated you.

SILENCE

I am just shocked at how fast time passes. So many things have happened the past week that it is hard to know where to start. Here are a few highlights from the week.

Cooper had a hard time sleeping the other night due to GAS issues. I don't think we had more than a few hours of sleep. I was dragging all day long! I couldn't take it any longer so I told Carson and Kelton that I was going upstairs to TRY and take a nap. They had a funny smirk on their faces as I was walking up the stairs. Time passed and I had zonked out for about an hour. I woke up and heard nothing.....just SILENCE. I peeked down the stairs and found the most amazing site I have ever seen in my life. Carson and Kelton sitting on the couch with a book and blanket reading. No t.v. was on, no loud fighting, no crying......just SILENCE. As I walked the rest of the way down the stairs all I saw was a SPOTLESS CLEAN home. While I was sleeping they washed the dishes, moped the floor, cleaned their rooms, put a load of laundry in the wash and pretty much scoured every ounce of our home. I honestly didn't know how in the heck they were capable of doing all of this. I was SO impressed that I just about fainted. The cute thing about it was they did it for ME! They knew I was exhausted and couldn't do much more so they decided to do it for ME. Oh how I love those little guys. They sure make me smile.

• Yesterday we had to take the truck down to Idaho Falls to get the plow mounted for the winter season. The exciting part was we got to spend the whole day with Brian. We hung out at home depot, Sam's club, sportsman's, game world and ate lunch at Olive Garden.....YUM. We had a great time together as a family. It is not often we get to spend the WHOLE day doing fun stuff.


• Stayed home and made some yummy cookies for the scouts.


• Played with the boys.


• Cooper gets a tooth!


• Went to the Library. And of course......went to Dave's Jubilee. YIPPEE!

With a busy week usually comes a busy weekend. I will be working at the hospital this weekend. Cam and Leah are coming to visit to purchase some land up above our place. It is such a great piece of property. Can't wait!

SLED SHED

Today me and the boys went into town to help out at the shops. It is getting closer to the winter season and snowboards will be selling like hot cakes. It is funny to think about the memories of the shop 14 years ago. We had a couple of bikes and a couple of snowboards. I remember people making bets on how long a snowboard shop would make it in Rexburg, Idaho. Some didn't think we would make a year. Well, we have officially had the doors open for 15 years and PROUD to say we are going strong. Brian is such an AMAZING business man. He has worked so stinking hard for so many years that and deserves a break. I don't think business owners get breaks. He reminds me of his grandfather Malcolm Politano who is also a business owner himself. What an amazing man he is and continues to be. We are proud of you business owners and thumbs up to your hard earned success!

VEGAS BIKE SHOW

This is a pic that the newspaper took of our little famiy back in 2005. They spotlighted Kelson. Man how things change.

Brian left on Tuesday to attend the annual Vegas bike show. He goes to get new ideas for the custom bikes he builds, and do some ordering for the shops. He seems to always have a great time when he goes with all of the sexy painted ladies on display who can blame him. This is THE YEAR for Kelson. Our friend Gheen is going to be building a website, and helping Bri with some intense advertising. We are looking forward to a good year. He will return home on Friday.


pic of Bri riding his bike at his folks place in Teasdale, UT in 36 degree snowstorm. The weather started out at 50 degrees, but as he climbed the steep mountain it got FRIGGIN cold.

GOO GONE

Carson was getting ready for his big scout Pack Meeting on Wednesday when he had quite the run in with the spray paint bottle. He was suppose to design a car out of a box. We had just returned home from town with a couple of cans of aerosol spray paint. Whitney and Bodin were up visiting and I told Carson if he sprayed his box outside in a specific area that he could do it all by himself. Whitney and I were outside talking when all of the sudden I see this big cloud of POOF......followed by a LOUD MAAAAAMMMMMMM! I went running as fast as my legs could carry me (which is not too fast these days) and this is what I saw. ALBERT CARSON EINSTEIN WILLIAMS. No joke this pictures is such a great image of my little Carson. His hair was sticking straight up and his whole body was covered in gray/green spray paint. He opened his little eyes and all I could see were his little blues staring helplessly at me. At the moment we were all freaking out because we had realized what had just happened. The aerosol can had blown up all over him. Brian was busy working on the roof with his good friends Dave, Tony, and Chris. He jumped down and immediately started scrubbing his body and face with paint thinner and water. I kept wondering how in the world the paint can could have just exploded. Well after scrubbing him for hours the real story came out. Their was this sharp object called an AX and Carson thought it would be cool to use the end of the paint can to put on his box car. Well he took the AX to it and learned a very important lesson that day. Never take an AX to any type of aerosol can.....EVER! I also learned a lesson as an adult - Don't let a young child outside unattended with a sharp object and a very flammable dangerous can of spray paint. After running out of paint thinner I headed back down town to the hardware store. They recommended some goo gone for Carson's hair. These pictures don't do it justice. His hair in these photos is as hard as a rock. If you move it....it will break. It was either bathe in goo gone or we shave your head. Can I just tell you how amazing the product goo gone is. FREAKING AWESOME!!!! It took it right out of his hair. Cleaned his face to perfection, and he smelled like a fresh little lemon. Lessons are sometimes learned the hard way.
Here is Carson all cleaned up and smelling like a fresh little scout lemon. Tomorrow his long hair is going bye bye.

BEARS EVERYWHERE

Carson and Kelton came home from school yesterday saying that there was a BEAR wandering the playground area. "It ran right in front of me" they kept saying. As I was listening to their made up LIES of how big it was, what color it was, and how far away from them it was.......I couldn't believe what large tales they tell. That was until I got home and read the note from their principal stating the same story they told. How can this be? I have mastered my fear of mice, venomous rattle snakes, wolves, and monster spiders.....now I have to deal with bears in my back yard. What the crap is this world coming to? What will appear in the woods next week.......BIG FOOT? I am heading out tomorrow to do some target practicing with my LARGE air gun. Then I will walk my bootie down town and purchase a bear tag so in case one happens to appear out of no where.....I will be READY! Who knows the next time you come and visit their might be a very large bear rug in the middle of my living room. This is when I will consider myself a TRUE ASHTON HICK! Here is what the news said about the bears in town.


Bears Wanders on Elementary School Playground
Sep 20, 2007 05:40 PM

A baby cub wandered right onto the school grounds of Ashton Elementary. They had to go into lockdown mode. Idaho Fish and Game say the bears have been coming out of the mountains because there is a lack of food and they are so hungry they are wandering into local towns trying to get it from other places. A baby cub wandered his way onto a playground in Ashton right in the middle of the student's recess." Several students spotted a bear they notified the duty officer," says Principal Jacki Hill And the little guy didn't even seem to scare the students. "I think that the students were more excited about the fact that there was a bear out on the playground with them," says Principal Hill Children were quickly taken inside where an officer was called to come and take care of this mischievous little cub. "When I located the bear I was able to haze it out of town just by following it with my vehicle," says Officer Greg Griffel. The school took extra steps to make sure parents were well aware of the matter.

" We've also sent home notes with the students so that parents are aware of the tips that they can follow," says Hill. Fish and Game say the biggest problem they are having are people's fruit trees and they want to make sure all the fruit is picked off. "Pick up your fruit keep it picked off of the apple trees that's something that I guess that is attracting the bears to this area," advises Hill. And the most important piece of advice they had to give parents, "We've asked them to not have their kids alone out in the yards during evening or in the day for that matter make sure there is some is with them," says Officer Griffel. The bears are always a problem in the Ashton area, but never before have the bears made their way onto school grounds.

If you do come across a bear make sure you call 911 immediately. Dispatchers will contact fish and game.

PAY IT FORWARD

Over the weekend I learned a great lesson. A lesson that is rarely learned through a book. A lesson that is so valuable that Christ taught it throughout his life to all those he met. A lesson that I will always remember. PAY IT FORWARD is the lesson I learned from many family members and great friends. On Friday morning at 9:00 am sharp Tony Perkins, Dave Anderson, and my brother Cameron showed up in their work clothes to help Brian build a shop. They were ready to help in any way possible. These are people who have high paying educated jobs. People who have the heart of a lion and would do anything to help a friend out. They worked until sundown and completed so many tasks. They put the windows in, painted, did some roofing, and helped in many other ways. It was fun to watch them hang on for their lives when a 50mph microbust came through and about blew them off the shop. It was kinda like watching the Wizard of Oz ..... but with male figures.
the guys hanging on for their lives during the microburst

On Saturday morning bright and early came the Boice clan. There was Cameron and Leah who came all the way up from Salt Lake just to help out for the weekend. There was Tyler, Nicole, Griffin, Shawn, Carter, Father, Mother, Grandmother (84), Carson, Kelton, Cooper, Brian and I all ready to work. I couldn't believe how one family could kick it into gear and clean house.....I mean build house! We kicked some serious trash! Mom and Grandma cleaned, cooked, and cared for Cooper all afternoon. The rest of the clan accomplished more than I could have ever imagined. I can't even begin to explain in words how TRULY grateful we are for those of you who came to help, or called to say you would love to be here but couldn't. Thank you to those who live so far away and wanted to be here but also could not. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Now for the rest of my waking years I will dedicate myself to others. I will PAY IT FORWARD. Thank you family and friends for setting aside your busy day to come and PAY IT FORWARD to the Williams. We are beyond grateful!

“If someone did you a favour, something big, something you couldn't do on your own – and instead of paying it back you paid it forward to three people. And the next day they each paid it forward to three more. And the day after that those 27 paid it forward to another three.
And each day everyone in turn paid it forward three more people… in two weeks that comes to 4,782,969 people...”









Pretty amazing isn't it.







*The master chefs in all of their glory*

LOVE SICK

So yesterday I get a call from Kelton's school saying that he has this horrible tummy ache and a fever. "There is some strange bug going around the school." So I head down town to pick him up - expecting the worst. "Great" I say to myself "I get to clean up barf and poo all day today." I head to his class and find this sad little boy who just wants to go home.

He rests most of the day until he can't take it any longer and all of the sudden he feels just FINE. No belly ache, no diarrhea, no fever - just FINE. I figure that I am lucky and his little fever bug is gone.

I left to work this morning at 6:30am. I went to check on Kelton and put my hand on his head before heading out the door. He looks and feels great. So off to work I go.

I call Brian at about 8:00 to check on things and he just dropped Carson off at school. Yup, Kelton had a belly ache again. So Brian stayed home with the kidos and made sure that Kelton got the in bed SICK treatment. Bed, bathroom, and food - no t.v., no outside, no TREATS.

I left work early to check on the situation. Kelton and I had a great little talk. He finally told me that when he goes to reading their is this GIRL there who keeps kissing him. At recess the girl wants to play kissing tag. What the CRAP! He is only 6 years old and these FREMONT horrors are trying to make out with my little buddy. He told me in his cute little voice that he just wants to be her friend NOT her girlfriend.

When I went to pick Carson up I talked with Kelton's teacher about what was going on. She said the problem will be solved by tomorrow. Wow, I feel pretty sad for this little girl who is just LOVE SICK over a cute boy named Kelton.

THE HAUNTING

Over the weekend we were hit with some serious smells. One that will haunt me for the remainder of my life. We were getting ready to leave town and Kelton was walking out the door from the house to the garage when all of a sudden he comes charging back in and says "mom, there is something out in the garage." Well, I just kinda laughed and said to myself yeah right it is just a little spider or something. So I approach the door calmly and walk down the stairs to the garage. Max our dog follows behind. I peak around the corner to see a MONSTROPULOUS skunk eating Max's dog food. I immediately turned around and threw open the door and ran with all of my might. I slammed the door behind me saying holy crap it's a skunk. The only problem was Max was still in the garage. He didn't want no stinking skunk eating his only food source. So he attacked the little bugger. Yup, in the garage! And can I just tell you....it was a tie breaker! Max got sprayed, and the skunk got attacked. I forgot to mention that Max was sprayed about a month ago and finally started smelling like a dog again. So now we have this dying skunk in our garage, a stinky dog, a stinky house, a stinky truck, a stinky couch, and haunting memories of nasty smells.

Brian and I headed to Idaho Falls to find some de-skunk shampoo, and any type of candle or air freshener available. We purchased dog and cat food containers, bowls, and a dog tag. Along with those small purchases we bought a large air gun. Brian thought the stinky skunk would still be in the garage, and sure enough when we got home it was still there......half dead. For a moment I felt sad for the little guy. He was just trying to eat Max's delicious dog food. But a few whiffs of the smell and all of my kind thoughts turned to EVIL. I now wanted him gone. Brian being the AMAZING man that he is took care of the situation. Now from this time forth our home will be haunted by terrible stinky creatures.

WANNA-BE-PHOTOGRAPHY

Lately I am infatuated with good photos. I feel like I want to be a professional photographer who gets paid big bucks to take AMAZING pictures all day long. I guess I could just ask my brother Cortney because he takes AMAZING pictures for $$. Well, for right now I will keep practicing with my self portraits.....it's too bad I can't figure out how to get the whole head in the shutter. Oh well, practice makes perfect!

THESE ARE WANNA-BE-SELF-PORTRAITS -

by: Heather Williams

INSPECTION DAY

coming soon

PAP SMEAR

Yup, it was the day I have been looking forward to for 364 days. I am always excited the day before a pap smear because I know what to expect. It is always such a BLAST to have all of your dignity taken away from you once a year.

The Pap technique was developed by and named after a MAN George Papanicolaou (1883-1962), a Greek-born MAN and scientist MAN who moved to the U.S. In 1923, while looking at vaginal smears from women with cervical cancer, Papanicolaou saw cancer cells. After two decades of research on this subject, he reported in 1943 that both cervical and uterine cancer could be detected in their early stages with this test that has, since its inception, saved innumerable lives.

I TRULY wanted to personally thank George for the development of the Pap, and let him know how completely comfortable this test is. Thank you for inventing that balloon thing that gets shoved up your vagina and pumped up until you BLOODY explode! Thank you for inventing the BIG ASS paint brush that scraps the lining of your cervix like FRIGGIN Edward Scissor Hands. Thank you, thank you, thank you for the invention of the pap smear! All women are completely impressed by your ability to TORTURE.

Actually, we are blessed to have such a modern day marvel to be able to detect cancer early on. It would be great though if a women would have developed the pap. I think it would be 100% less grueling.

FAMILY FUN

Last night after working like dogs all day long we decided to beat the heat and head down to the reservoir for a COLD dip. The boys spent most of their time wading trying to catch minos. It was great just to get out of our 90 degree home. MAN IT IS HOT AROUND HERE! After cooling off we headed to the local mexicano restaurant to eat. Happy to say I didn't even have any after effects from my cheesy FRIED burrito.

For the longest time Carson and Kelton have been bugging to go to the local football field to play ball. I always seem to have an excuse, but today Kelton and I did the hand shake. I guess if you give a child your word......you better live up to it. We headed to the field all geared up and played some serious football. Those kids know how to tackle and take down their prey. We had a blast! Cooper was our little cheer king just sitting their like a good little mascot. It was a great end to a LONG, HOT day.

LOST LABOR DAY

Did someone once say that Labor Day is a day to rest from all of your LABORS. Holy crap it took me how many years to figure that out. I always thought it was a day to LABOR. Well, I was unable to explain that to Brian this morning as he walked out the door for Rexburg to LABOR at the shop. He is going into town to work on some electrical issues, clean, do tax work, fix bikes, and whatever else he can think of doing while the doors are CLOSED. Being in business for yourself is a challenge. You never have a day off no matter what holiday it is.

LABOR DAY
Labor Day weekend has become the unofficial end of summer and a reason to cook hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill. But we should never forget the real reason is to celebrate one's own work, whether or not you carry a union card. We must always treasure and appreciate the daily grind, no matter if you're a million-dollar corporate attorney or the plumber unclogging the bathroom toilet. I ask that we refocus our reason for the holiday.

Labor Day was the brainstorm of Peter McGuire, a fiery red-headed cabinet maker who became the first president of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America in 1881. The first Labor Day parade was held in 1882 in New York City with as many as 10,000 workers attending. Workers from various occupations and backgrounds came together to celebrate this first Labor Day even though they were warned by their employers not to attend. Despite stern warnings of firings, these workers showed up singing songs and being proud of their own contribution to our country's economic success. Twelve years later, President Grover Cleveland, a staunch foe of organized labor, signed a Labor Day holiday bill.

This Labor Day weekend, as we have our burgers, and potato salad, let us never forget what our forefathers did so we could enjoy rights in the workplace. Celebrate your own contribution to society and enjoy a day to relax and contemplate work, country, faith and your family. BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH!

Well, the William's family will NOT be celebrating this holiday season. No burgers, no potato salad, and definitely no hot fudge sundays......we will just be WORKING like frigin pathetic business owners. HAPPY HOLIDAY.