Phil Bell

Today my Grandpa Bell passed away. It's been bitter-sweet, but mostly sweet. Bitter because we'll miss him, but sweet because almost 2 years ago he had a stroke which left him unable to care for himself. Also, 7 months ago my Grandma passed away, so now he is re-united with her. Here is my favorite picture of my grandpa, this was taken on his 80th birthday, 8 years ago.


I'm heading to Washington on Wednesday to attend his funeral, which will be held on Friday. My favorite memory of my Grandpa started when he wrote in a birthday card for Curtis when I was in Jr High, or maybe it was High School. Usually my grandparents just wrote something like "Happy Birthday, we are so proud of you" but this time my Grandpa wrote "Happy Birthday Curtis, you have some fine brothers to look up to." I was so shocked that he forgot to include ME in that statement. I let him know how I felt too because every time I have seen him since that infamous birthday card he has made SURE that I knew I was special as well!

KRIS' COMMENT GAVE ME AN IDEA: WILL EVERYBODY PUT THEIR FAVORITE MEMORY OF GRANDPA IN MY COMMENTS? THAT WOULD BE SO FUN TO SEE ALL THE MEMORIES TOGETHER.

I'm completely changing subjects here, but since tomorrow is St Patrick's day, I wanted to wish everybody a happy day with this photo:


Fern may recognize the hat, it's hers! I stole it from the dentist's office where she works when I had my wisdom tooth pulled. Oh yeah, the tooth pulling went just fine, I wanted to take a picture of the tooth but it was too nasty, I guess I'm turning wimpy in my old age! Fern, I'll give the hat back to you when I see you next!!

Climbing Higher

At Carson's school they reward good behavior and academic accomplishments with a program called "Climbing Higher". For the past month Carson kept talking about kids in his class who were climbing higher and I kept saying "higher than what?" and Carson just rolled his eyes at me...but I wasn't trying to be funny, I honestly didn't know what the schmell he was talking about! Now I get it because Carson was honored today!! Even after all my stress of getting him to finish his worksheets, he was honored because he's had 100% on all his math papers! What a champ!! So, we went to his school this morning and they announced his name over the PA system, he was given a certificate and school pennant, and they took his picture to display on the main lobby's wall. It was a really fun experience. Carson was BEAMING from ear to ear.




As I type, Sam is busy trying to finish the baseboards in our room. All that will be left is caulking (he hates that part)and the framing around the bay windows. I'm very happy about that!

Tomorrow I get a wisdom tooth pulled, that should be fun for me. Don't worry, I won't take a picture of the bloody tooth and put it on my blog, I would totally wash it first before taking a picture!!

Happy Birthday To You, You Live In A Zoo...

Today is Sam's 31st birthday! Happy birthday ya ol' geezer...wait, I'm older than him...Happy Birthday you sexy young thang!!

Today was so great because Sam took the day off work. You'd think he would want to go snowboarding or something fun like that, but instead, he hung out with the kids and me all day. It was so awesome. He walked Carson to school with me and even worked on our bedroom project (get your mind out of the gutter!). More on the bedroom in a second.

First of all, I TOTALLY surprised Sam and gave him a Dewalt cordless drill, which he loves, can you tell?


Tonight Sam decided to eat his birthday dinner at Fuddruckers (Nalani, remember when I said that word backwards???)and it was dreamy good!




So here is the progress on the bedroom:
We (Sam) have painted the ceiling and walls, the crown moulding, and we (Sam) have gotten a great start on the base boards. I have filled the nail holes with everything that is hung so we're so close. We bought new blinds for the windows and Sam is going to hang moulding around the windows to "frame" them. So we just need to do the windows and the rest of the base boards. Then, of course, we need to decorate it so it looks real purdy (Thai Pan here I come!) and get a new duvet cover for our comforter because our comforter is green and that would be too much green for my brain! Enjoy our "progress report"

We started painting the room at 8:15pm on Friday night...



And, we finished at about 2:15am on Saturday!


On Saturday evening, mom and dad came over and helped Sam hang the crown moulding. I think I'm so funny in this picture!

Look how PROUD Sam and my dad are of the PERFECT cut they made! Fits like a glove!!

Check out Sam's face here. That nail gun was LOUD and surprisingly, the kids slept through the whole thing.


Tonight after Fuddruckers (careful...) Sam nailed in one piece of baseboard--beautiful!!


Now, I know this blog entry is HUGE, but I have to show a few cute shots of my boys. Saturday morning Sam and Fern took the boys to their Uncle Jack's cabin in Moroni because Uncle Jack turned 80 and they wanted to have lunch with him. The kids love going to the cabin, as you can tell.


Sam: Parker, what are you doing?
Parker: Jus watchin' some bugs!


The pond was frozen solid, but that will never hinder a 6 and 2 year old from throwin' rocks! I totally want to frame one of these pictures...priceless!!



There you have it, one huge update!

Projects...

I've been a real slacker on updating my blog! Here's what we've got going on at my household these days:

We are about to embark on 3 major projects.

#1 New Countertops
We went to Aspen Countertops' showroom last night and picked out our laminate color. Of course Granite would be fun to have, but I can't justify the price at this point of my life, so instead we chose a laminate color that looks like granite.
Here is Sam holding up a sampling of our color. This picture sort of freaks me out because I can see Sam's eyeball through the little hole!

The tentative plan right now is to have Aspen Countertops come and do a final measurement on the 16th, we'll pull out the old tile countertops on the 17th, and the new countertops will be installed on the 19th.
So, if anybody is free on Saturday the 17th, come on over because Sam would love help doing the demolition!
Here is the lovely tile that will be THRASHED!! I may shed a few tears of joy...


#2 Paint the master bedroom
We've lived in this house for 5 years and we've (by "we" I mean Sam)painted all the walls on the main floor, except the master bedroom. I finally got sick of staring at the dirty white walls. I have washed the walls, repaired the little holes and dents, and taped off the parts that I don't want the new paint on and now we are 100% ready for the paint. We finally found a color scheme we both like. Of course, Eddie Bauer makes these colors because we have to stay true to our Eddie Bauer family (have I mentioned that I still wear the same EB sweatshirts from high school?)!
Here is what our room looks like now:

Here is a picture of the colors we are using. It's kind of hard to tell, but the walls will be "pine needle" green, the trim will be "honeysuckle bloom cream" and the ceiling will be "ochre".


#3 Replace the swamp cooler with (drum roll please) CENTRAL AIR!
I don't have much progress to report on this project but it will be in place before the heat of summer. I'm very excited for the hair factor alone! What do you think happens when you introduce naturally curly/puffy hair to a swamp cooler? Can we say Little Orphan Annie? So, here is a picture of the nasty swamp cooler vent that will be gone soon!


The projects never end, but I guess that comes with the territory of owning a home. I'm going to venture a guess and say Project #4 will be painting the downstairs family room... Any color suggestions??

Parker's New Talent

Parker has a new talent, or, some may call it a hobby.

Anytime he gets into a situation that he cannot get out of, he farts. It's so disgusting, but it works wonders! Just last night Sam had him pinned to the ground and Parker let one rip. Just now I tackled him down and was kissing his face mercilessly and he did the same thing to me! It really works because I backed away immediately... it's funny to watch his face because he totally knows what he is doing. He gets really serious, toots, and then looks at you like "You wanna mess with this??"

It could be worse, at least Parker is a boy because boys are supposed to be gross like that!

I Hate For You To Hear This...

After reading the title, you brace yourself for the worst, right? Well, so did I. Those words came out of Carson's mouth tonight, but the way he ended the sentence totally cracked me up: "I hate for you to hear this, but pain makes me laugh."
Of course, he said this to me right after Parker stubbed his toe really hard, and then Carson laughed a big ol' belly laugh!

He takes after his Mom!!!

In fact, this afternoon Carson was trying to do a cartwheel, and he sort of over-extended his leg, and kind of pulled his groin muscle. He was grabbing his inner thigh and crying and I felt bad, but I had a hard time not laughing.

Here's a photo I took of the boys a few days ago, as you can tell, I had to step on their chests, just to keep them still enough for the picture! I honestly don't know what Carson was eating either...something orange and it was NOT cheetos.


Here's something that did not make me laugh: (This is just for my good friend Natalie Service!)

In the winter time I never pay attention to Carson's toenails because he always wears socks, but the other day he was running around the house and I SWEAR I heard his toenails clacking on the kitchen floor! GA-NASTY! They look much better now!

Remember Carson's sticker/chore chart? Well, it took 2 weeks, but Carson finally finished every task, every day, for the entire week. So, just like I explained in the previous entry, Carson didn't want to go through the dinosaur museum, he just wanted to get one of those cool stretched pennies. Here he is, in all his glory:


And, here is a TRUE story, I promise!!!
Carson was practicing his counting-by-two's skills. He was really fast up to ten and then he started getting a little shaky. "2, 4, 6, 8, 10...12............14
............................" Just then, Parker whispers to Carson "16". Sam and I started laughing our guts out! I know it was totally by chance that Parker got it right, but it was almost freaky!!

Now, I need to get serious for a minute:
Since this is basically my journal, I have to tell you about my trying week. A member of my ward died this past Tuesday. It was really sad, he was only 23 years old. He left behind his wife, 3 year old son, and 1 month old son. It was heart breaking. His name is Jason Walker and here is his obituary. But in the middle of the sadness, I had a whole new level of frustration: Before this week, I had only met Jason's family once. They were not active members of our ward and while I was out doing Relief Society visits about 3 weeks ago, I met them, very briefly because they had just gotten home from the hospital with their baby. Imagine my surprise when my Bishop emailed me last Tuesday and said "Jason Walker died today". After the funeral on Saturday, I was telling my Bishop and Elders Quorum president that after hearing about Jason's life, I was convinced he seemed like somebody Sam would have loved hanging out with. Today in church, Sam told me that the Elders Quorum president (Davis Strong) bore his testimony and said "Obviously at a funeral, people are going to honor the best of the individual, if Jason was one-tenth of what was said, then we missed out on a great opportunity to know him. Who else might be living in our neighborhood that we haven't taken the time to get to know?" I totally echo what Davis said. Let this be a lesson to us all! Don't let somebody's feelings of the church get in your way of getting to know them. I'm fortunate because my calling has forced me to knock on lots of doors of people I've never met. Yes, there are a lot of uncomfortable conversations, but I've also met a few people that I can honestly call them my friends, and no, they don't come to church! But, if they ever do, they will see a familiar, friendly face.

Okay, I will get off my soap box now. Thanks for "listening" to me.

Presidents Day Fun

We didn't make any big plans for Presidents Day, but that is nice sometimes because we can do whatever we want. We woke up to lots of snow, so Sam and I started the day by shoveling our driveway and sidewalk. Then (Nalani can appreciate this), we decided to do a deep cleaning on our house. It rocked! Sam even mopped the kitchen floor on his hands and knees! What a fabulous husband I have!!!

While I was busy with laundry, Sam and Carson went outside and made a cute snowman.




But, here is the difference between boys and girls--girls like to keep their snowman looking nice for all the neighbors to see. Boys make the snowman, pose for a picture, then TRASH the snowman and stab it with sticks!


Besides my husband and son, what is the greatest thing about this picture?? That's right, those are tulips growing in the dirt on the left!! I can hardly wait to start digging in my flower beds again...


Oh yeah, good news...we got our taxes done today...Central Air, here we come!!!

Happy V-Day!

Ya'll know that I'm not a girly girl, so it should come as no surprise that Valentines Day has never meant much to me. Sam pretty much feels the same way, if you ask him about it he'd probably say something like "we like to celebrate our love for each other all year, so we don't need a certain day set aside..." Right Sam? Well, this year we surprised each other by actually doing valentine-ish stuff.

Last night Sam went to bed pretty early. I waited until I thought he was in deep REM sleep, and then I got to work. I put sticky notes all over the house that said "I love you". I knew he would immediately see those and think "oh, that was nice of her".

Then, I wrote a really nice card and tucked it into his backpack with a big ol' bag of M&M's. I know his routine...that same pocket is where he puts all his electronics before he goes to work (cell phone, blue tooth, PDA, headphones, CD's, memory cards....) So, I knew he would find this just as he was ready to head out the door. He would certainly think "OH, that WAS nice of her!"


Next, I made a funny card about how we go together like chocolate and peanut butter, and I taped it to a box of Reese's PB cups and placed that on the front seat of his car. I knew this would be the last thing he would see and think "OH, THAT WAS NICE OF HER!!"


And finally, I waited until it was exactly midnight and sent him an email to his work saying "Happy Valentines Day". I thought I was being so tricky because he had no idea I was going to do anything for him....and then I woke up to this:


That tricky Sam-I-Am had already brought home roses on the 13th, hid them in a downstairs bedroom, and put them on the counter for me to see when I woke up!

OH, THAT WAS NICE OF HIM!

Happy V-Day, I hope it was special for everybody!

My Three Boys

My three boys are Sam, Carson, and Parker. You want to know what they've been up to?

Sam:
Saturday morning Sam had a ward basketball game at 7:00am. When he came home I could tell he wasn't a happy camper! Apparently, the refs were not calling any fouls on the other team, so Sam's team took the brunt of the opposing team's constant physical abuse. So, when Sam told me this, he ended his story by saying "Just so you know, I'm going to be in a bad mood all day". I knew he couldn't stay in a bad mood all day because he's just such a happy guy, but I suggested that we could do something for his teammates to make everyone feel better. That is all it took--Sam went down to the computer and made this tag:



Then we went to the store and bought "blow pop" suckers and some sour candy called "screaming sours" and tied the tag to the suckers and candy. Sam delivered these to each of his teammates. The reactions were hysterical! By now it's about noon and some of the guys were still in their basketball clothes and they were still steaming mad! I think the candy helped the situation, as candy always does. Although one guy answered the door and said "Phew, I thought you were going to ask me to be your valentine!"


Carson:
As many of you know (because I complain about it all the time), Carson has a hard time focusing in school. At first he talked to his neighbors too much, but when the teacher moved him across the room, he just talked to himself instead! Many days he comes home from school with unfinished worksheets. Today I asked him what he would do today if he had his choice. He said "I'd go to the dinosaur museum (at Thanksgiving point) and buy a penny!!! (Much needed explanation): the museum has those little machines that stretch a penny and puts a picture on it. It costs 50 cents, plus the penny, and you can choose what dinosaur picture you want on your newly stretched penny. Now mind you, he doesn't want to go through the museum, he just wants a penny! So I said "let's make a chart of things you can do this week. If you do all your chores, all week, we can go get that penny!" Words don't quite describe the joy that filled his face at this point. So, we made the chart:


Just so you know, "diaper duty" doesn't mean he has to change Parker's diapers! He just takes them out to the garbage can in the garage for me. And, what do you know, he came home with completed worksheets today! All over a penny...where have I gone wrong?? Hey, I have some blank areas on the chart, so if you think of other chores for Carson, let me know and I'll add them to the list!

Parker:
Parker has a crazy tag obsession. They have to be silky slick and he reaches back and rubs the tag between his fingers all the time! He goes to sleep with his arm behind his head, and sometimes, sleeps all night like that! Sunday we were at my parents celebrating my mom's birthday (happy birthday mom!)and I think it was Shandy who said "you should turn his shirt inside out and backwards and see what he does!" Well, we did, and it was so funny! He still kept reaching behind his head, I couldn't stop laughing!!

He eventually figured it out, with some encouragement! It was a great suggestion because I SWEAR he's going to get carpal tunnel if he kept reaching behind him like that!


That's what is up with my boys.

As for me--the only news I have is a trip I tentatively planned today. My former boss has a house in Las Vegas so I called Nalani today and asked her if she wanted to go to Vegas with me and we would go see the musical "Mamma Mia". Nalani agreed so hopefully the last weekend in March we'll be heading to Vegas! I better start brushing up on all my ABBA songs!! VIVA LAS VEGAS

8 Years Later and I'm Still Laughing!!

Do you know what I love about Sam? I've been married to him for over 8 years and he still makes me laugh!!

Here is an example:
Tonight we decided to drive our van through an automatic car wash at the local gas station because it was Ga-Nasty. Sam rolled the window down to punch in the car wash code and then we got the green light to pull forward into the car wash. Well, ya know how water sprays out from either side of the entry as you drive by? It is a serious blast from each side so most of the dirt and mud on your vehicle gets blown away. Well, Sam forgot to roll up his window as he entered! Fern can testify to this because I was on my cell phone with her at this exact moment. All of a sudden I get sprayed with freezing cold water and I have no clue what happened. I turned to look at Sam and he is so wet that water is dripping off his nose!!! I couldn't stop laughing! The best part was an employee of the gas station was standing just outside our van, emptying the trash can and he witnessed the whole thing. I'm sure our story was told more than once tonight.
So, the whole time the van was getting washed on the outside, Sam and I were furiously wiping down the inside of the van with tissues and napkins we had stashed in the glove compartment from various trips to fancy fast food joints.
When we thought we were finally done, we drove away. Sam kept turning on the windshield wipers and they were not getting rid of the droplets of water on the windshield...oh, those droplets are on the INSIDE. DANG, get out some more McDonald napkins!

Road Trip vs. Having Babies

What's the difference between having a baby and going on a road trip?

NOTHING, you need lots of time between each event so you can forget about the pain!!!

Seriously, I love my boys dearly, but they can be a handful on a road trip.
We went to St. George on Saturday morning because my nephew was being baptized at 5:00pm. We left West Jordan a little before 7am. Between 7am and 11am Carson and Parker must have said my name 500 times. Guess how many times they said "dad"? ONCE and that's because I asked them to say it JUST so I could hear how it sounded!

Phew, now that I've vented, let me tell you about beautiful St George!

First of all, a HUGE 'shout out' to my brother-in-law, James. He seriously hooked us up with a great Trendwest property on a bluff in St George. Fern, Aaron, and my family stayed there. It was a great 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, full kitchen, living room, and dining room condo. I opened the sliding glass door onto a patio that looked right to the pool! Now, I know it's the beginning of February, but DANG you can swim outside in February, in St. George, and not be cold! It was a very fun trip (once I got there), great company, and packed with just the right amount of festivities. The only downside-it was too quick. We turned around the next morning and drove home.


Why do I have a sudden urge to listen to U2? Get it, get it? I was obsessed with taking a picture of a Joshua Tree. It was funny because we were going about 89 mph when I took this picture.


Here is the view from the patio. I learned that the grass in St George isn't as soft as West Jordan grass! It was VERY prickly and poky! I couldn't believe Parker didn't cry because once we got to the sidewalk he was pulling all sorts of pokey things out of his toes!


Like we need a sign to tell us this!


Cool trick!


Look! No smoggy, disgusting, SLC inversion!! I was laying under this palm tree at the pool. Did you know palm trees were so hairy? This picture reminded me of my "morning hair" photo from my last blog entry!


My boys!


Here is Sunday morning before we left.