Flatsitis?

I'm not even 30 yet and I swear my grandpa has more pep than I do lately. :) I watched the Stepford Wives the other night. I think that's what I need. A big machine to turn me into a beautiful robot, who: cooks delicious healthy meals, keeps my home immaculate, gives my honey a hug and kiss at every chance, and never yells at my perfect kiddo's. Of course, they may need to run through the machine too. (my kids) Maybe it wouldn't be that bad. Do those robots have to exercise? hmm. Probably not. :)
My kids used to be almost addicted to the Doodlebops. They weren't to bad. I like them a heck a lot more than the dang Wiggles! Their songs where much better. One episode Rooney gets flatsitis. He got it from being lazy...........hmmm. So maybe we are being lazy lately. ??????
OK fine! I admit it, we've got the flatsitis! Thankfully, everyone else seems to be full of vip and vigor to keep us going. :)
I did have a good laugh today though. Payton, my little copycat actor, is now a school teacher. Everyday he comes home and plays teacher. His Texan accent is really starting to come in. That in itself is enough to make me smile. Normally, he counts and tells the kids they are doing all their alphabet wrong! Today however, he has added a twist to his lecture. They now sing hymns and pray. He makes a pulpit, gets his whistle, and leads the class in prayer and football cheers. I'm gonna have to video tape it, it's so wacky funny.
{ Thanks to my flatsitis or course. :) } Halle is now addicted to Dora and Diego. She now speaks in this language. "Mom, if you see a tree, say tree. And mom, when you see Payton, say Payton." She also woke up crying the other night because Swiper was trying to swipe her bum. ??????
Andy and I are currently in negotiations for the TV schedule. Paper, Rock, Scissors. Do we watch Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance, or do we play XBOX-Call of Duty 2. The trials we all face in life............
We have decided to start a diet though. We hope to lose 1-2 lbs of flatsitis in the next week. (You can find almost anything in China Town.) ha ha! This potion promises happy results within 30-60 days so we'll keep you posted. :)

"Holy Guacamole!"

Andy was so excited, he ran outside and jumped in the lake. ( I had a video but it was taking way too long to upload.)

Everyone knows that the last few months, (well 2 years, but mostly last few months) things have been stressful trying to get finished with PA school. It's been an amazing ride and it's still hard to believe that we have 'officially' finished! As Skippy Jon Jones would say, "Holy Guacamole!"
Graduation was several months ago, but Andy has spent the time since then working and studying for his boards. He took the 6 hour test Wednesday morning and from then until Thursday, all we could do was wait. All of his friends and classmates claimed they all felt they failed the test while waiting to hear their results. Andy felt the same way. You can only study so much and just do you're best. No one slept in our house Wed night. Plus, they email you your results. Finally at 8 a.m. ( I think we woke up at 4 ha ha) they came in. They just say, pass or fail.
.......................You Passed! And not just pass, but he scored awesome!
We all just started jumping up and down. Halle wasn't exactly sure what was going on but she yelled and cheered nevertheless. :) I was sad that Payton was at school to miss it.
I am so proud of Andy and all his hard work. I personally, would hate having to just study all day long.... Which is what he's done the last few weeks especially. He went back to work today and now we can finally get paid for work! ha ha. That's always a bonus. :) Great job babe! Thanks again to our family, and all they've done and continue to do to support us. We can never thank you enough. Lovin' Everybody man!! :)


I just think this picture is awesome. Boo just sits here while all the deer walk around the yard. I can't believe the deer aren't scared of her either. All our friends are out hunting and here, they are annoying and eat our plants in the yard.

Halloween Fun

The kids have had fun painting several pumpkins this year. They did mini pumpkins, BIG pumpkins and then these "not big" ( kids quote) pumpkins. :)
They started out actually putting cute faces on them but loved painting and eventually just covered them into giant blobs. :)
Halle was a Tinkerbell-Fairy-Princess. :) This is her current new picture pose. Still not sure where she got it. We'll call it Green Magnum.
Still cracks me up.

I enjoy making things but don't really do it very often. I was so proud of myself for her little fairy tiara. Lame, I know. ha ha
Once again, Halle's new pose.

Payton was a cowboy!! He was a little reluctant to let me put a beard and mustache on him but eventually decided it was funny. Too bad it didn't stay on very long.
We had a really fun night at Andy's sisters. All the surrounding cousins came for yummy dinner and trick or treating. They have an awesome neighborhood and we are always going to head over there for candy I think. :) The kids haven't really got to do trick or treating before. Well, more than a few houses anyway. Payton is finally old enough to understand what is going on. I was remembering that for Halle's first Halloween, she was very little and we lived in NY. There were no kids in our building so we went to the concierge and got a treat and that was it. ha ha. Last year they had a little ward party which was fun but I felt like this year was the 'real deal'.
We had a whole group and they just laughed and smiled the entire time. The ran quickly from house to house. Amazingly I didn't hear one complaint about being too tired to walk. (I did today though on our walk down the street and back.) :)
All the kids had great costumes and we really had a fun time. BIG Thanks to Andy's sisters for such a great night!!

Cows and pigs and bears, Oh my!

This week was Fair Day's here so Payton got a day off of school. That alone made him very happy. But the fact that the next day was Halloween just made it a fun weekend for the kids.

Most of the week had been cool and rainy. Actually, a lot rainy. :) Thursday night we received a little over 6 1/2 inches of rain. It was nice though and I enjoyed pulling out a few sweaters and Halle's boots. Because of the rain, the fair rides were shut down. The kids enjoyed seeing some cows, sheep, chickens and a lot of big fat pigs! We were all a little disappointed about the rides so we hopped in the car in set of Adventure. Didn't know where til we got there. :)
We decided to go to the mall and see what movies were playing. Nada! On one of our 'wanders', we saw Build a Bear. We were just checking it out and decided it would be fun.
Payton chose a scruffy dog. (so cute!) The dog "DR" let him put the heart and voice in and then push the pedal to fill it. It was fun that he had a doctor costume. Afterward, he let Payton check the make sure he had a heartbeat.
Halle chose a polar Bear. I think normally she would have wanted a regular bear (here, that would be one with only two paws, not four to buy for!!) :) BUT, they had one on display that had roller skates on and a leash to pull it around. She loved it.
After "life surgery" they get to clean and bathe them. It basically blew a lot of air and was fun.
Payton first found a football costume which was sweet, until he saw a fisherman one.
Totally cute moment. I caught him cuddling his dog. :)

Of course they were very clean after being bathed 5-6 times. :)


Payton named his "Boo". Don't know where he got that one. :) Check out those shades. He actually has a killer hat too. They are so fun, even Andy and I wanted one.

After Several shoe and outfit changes.......Halle had a pink clad polar bear (Sophie) with roller skates and a Helmet.
Thanks Grandma Lori for getting them the bears. Well, Halle's bear barks and Payton's is a dog but they are equally Awesome!!

School Fun

Still can't believe that my son is old enough to go to school. He started his first day in Utah. He got to go with his friends and cousins and just loved it. I heard several of the moms comment how sad they were to see their kids go. I must be a terrible mom cause I didn't shed a tear. I was so excited for him (and not gonna lie that it's nice to get a little break during the day.) :) After a few weeks, we moved to Texas and he started Kindergarten here. He was very excited about the change until he met his new teacher. They didn't hit if off too well and we had to literally drag him out the door screaming to get there. The principal at this school is amazing though and quickly moved him to another class and he's doing great! He's still adjusting to being gone all day. He's learning a lot though and we are so proud of him.
A while ago, the elementary got to join the football team and sing their fight song. That morning was 'muffins for moms' day so I got to go and watch the early pep rally. Every morning, the first 15 min of school, they have 'Celebration'. They sing, dance, do the flag, etc. It's pretty cool. This day, the high school band came with the cheerleaders and put on a fantastic show. It was loud and crazy with all the kids yelling but I think Payton loved it, especially all the drummers.
At the game, the kids cheered and let off balloons while the team came out.
This was my kids first time at a football game. It was fun to see their excitement.

Of course, Andy and I are ecstatic too!
Everyone around us kept laughing at the kids. They kept cheering for BYU!! Luckily, we didn't get kicked out. :)
School spirit!!

This last week, the school had 'Character Day'. They are really trying to get kids to read so they all got to bring their favorite book and dress up as a character from it. Payton thought this was so cool. I'm an idiot for not getting a picture but he dressed up as a cowboy. His favorite book is, "Mom says I can". I highly recommend this to everyone. It's written by Judy Cooley. It's about a boy searching for the worlds greatest treasure. Each day he pretends to be something else while searching. In the end, he finds the treasure, his mom. Totally cute!

No work, all PLAY

We are staying and Grandpa and Grandma's house while saving money to buy our very own house. Since they live on the lake, you can imagine what we do most days.
The kids have finally learned that life jackets are good, hence, drowning is bad. They wear them happily and are getting to be good swimmers. Halle is fearless and is constantly causing me stress, but thankfully she is actually a pretty good little swimmer. (and the water isn't too deep)
Some of our good friends came out to visit for Labor Day and we had fun tubing with the boat. Payton was smart and opted not to let his dad pull him on the tube. Halle, of course, was all for it. Except I love the look on her face. ha ha. Uncle Jim was a lot nicer to them than Andy was to Debbie and I. He tried hard to throw us off, but being the super moms we are, we prevailed!! Heck no am I gonna put a pic up of me in a swim suit. :)
At least every other night daddy goes fishing. Sometimes we just fish off the pier though. This one was a 7lb catfish. Not too bad.
We caught a bunch of Shad to cat "the big ones". Halle used the Shad for her pole. She threw it in and then pulled it out saying she'd caught a fish.

Andy was so happy we had a boy so he'd have someone to go fishing with. However, Payton would rather pretend to drive the boat. ha ha :) Halle loves to fish though. She likes touching them, netting them, putting the bate on. One the mornings daddy is home, she and Boo go out with him. We have to keep yelling at Boo to not jump in and catch the fish!! dang dog.
Payton holding Shad (the bait, remember). They kept 'catching' these on their poles. Luckily we had a lot cause Halle kept losing them.

Posing with her fish.

Last day at Utah fun

We had a great summer in Utah visiting family and friends. We decided to head to Texas earlier than planned so our last day there was full of lots of fun.

Braeden, Payton, Halle and Sadie

Our neighbors and good friends came over to play and were even so nice to bring a going away present for the kids. We miss our evening walks with them and eating Popsicles in the back yard. Thanks again Cherri for the fun times!!

Every day we went to visit Great Grandpa and Grandma Huntsman. The kids just loved to go there. Grandma new to have crackers and candies for them. :) Wish we could have got pictures in something other than our pj's. I love that they could be close to them and know them the way I did as a kid. They would crack Grandpa up and of course he'd do his belly laugh where you can see that he's laughing but you can't really tell if he's alive cause there is no sound coming out. :) Halle says his cheeks get all rosy like Santa too. We really miss them!

And of course we worked hard in the garden. We had a fun time learning about how things grow. They loved picking beans and especially 'popping' them. They were good little helpers, even though they couldn't do it without getting exceptionally dirty.
Our garden turned out well this year, except our corn. We had a lot of bugs in it, but still managed to get plenty to eat. The kids found quite a few caterpillars. Halle instantly, "loved" them yet kept dropping them and squeezing them.
The began to get very disappointed when we found good corn that did not have any sort of bug in it.....

Kids Don't Make No Sense

I have to mention what a crazy, fun, bossy, lovable girl I have. I can't believe how fast she is growing up. I need to remember to start writing down all the crazy concoctions she comes up with.
Today we took Payton to school. The road is very bumpy and she seems to think it's me 'bumping'. She tries to tell me when I can and cannot 'bump'. Such as when she's taking a drink. (Like I have a choice)
We came down by the marina and she said,
"Mom!! Don't bump the road here! You are going to make us tip over into the water! There are alligators in there. And not happy ones, mean ones, and they will get us and then daddy will get mad and have to hit it with his shoe! "
"Fine Halle" :)

Almost There

Our Internet is finally running well enough to post, yahoo! Sad news is, I somehow lost my brain and left the cord to my camera at my moms. I can't download any pictures!! ugh again! And since I've only asked her 6 times to mail it and she still hasn't, I can only sit here and wait. ... .... Mom, I love you!! Mail my package please. :)
Anyhow, things are going pretty well. Many of you thought we were in a house and we are, just not our own. We're in Texas and staying with Andy's parents for a few months. We're saving and the goal is to be in a place by Christmas!!
Andy is working at a pediatric clinic and really enjoying it. He's excited to have his own office, which has yet to be decorated. :)
Payton started Kindergarten and is doing OK. He had a rough week his first week. We had to literally drag him out the door crying but things are going better. Can't say I really blame him. The teachers are pretty rude if you ask me, the way they talk to the kids. He's being brave though and slowly enjoying it more. He's gone all day, which is hard for him too but we just take it one week at a time.
Halle and I are still trying to figure out our routine. We basically walk the dog everyday and just play. I've been trying to run early in the morning before I get the kids up but so far I'm only 4/7. Still having to teach myself the old "Early to bed, Early to rise".
Still can't believe it's October. Halle, Boo and I went swimming in the lake yesterday. It was fun to let Halle and Boo splash each other as much as they wanted. We made sandcastles but Halle kept yelling at the water to stop 'sneaking on them' on knocking them down. She would yell at the water and then turn around and kick it. :) I had to laugh.
All the family was up here for Conference weekend and it was great to just play and have fun. Payton is finally learning to play the Wii. He loves golf and bowling. He's getting better and better every day but gets very frustrated with Halle. Again, Can't blame him there. She is so slow on the Wii. :)
I stink at golf too. Maybe I should go and practice before he gets home? Is it wrong that my Wii me is much better looking than the real me? :)

computer probs ugh

So yes, we are still alive and having a great time. We just moved to Texas and the internet has been down for a while. Not sure exactly when it will be up and running again. Just think of our next blog post like waiting for Christmas......Only not I guess. :)

Five

Today Payton and I were doing his homework. We got to the number 5 and I was telling him that is his number. He is 5!
Payton "But I can't see my five? Where is it? "

Me "It's not actually on you honey, that's just how old you are."

Payton "Well is my five inside of me?"

Me "No, it means you have been alive 5 years."

Payton, "No mom, it's somewhere, it's just hiding on me."

Huntsman Reunion '09

Every 2 years we have my Grandpa's family reunion. This year we went to King's Creek Campground up near Tropic Reservoir. I've never been there before, but it was nice and we had a great time to say the least.
This is a typical picture of Halle during the reunion. There was a lot of dirt and so of course, they played in it. And not just play on it, but lay in it, roll in it, throw it, (then sit in time out for throwing it), pile it, pretend it was make-up, you name it, they did it.

One night we had family program. There was a large number of people who couldn't make it but I think we counted 127 for this reunion. I think we've only had one reunion where EVERYONE was there. Hopefully someday.....We all have matching shirts, awe..

Nicki, Nicholas, Jay, Halle, Jenny, Payton, Isabella

We all took turns performing a song, poem, or whatever. My kids of course stood there and wouldn't sing their song but I didn't feel too bad because they had at least sang it for Grandpa at his house a week before. That's who this was for anyway. However, they sure had fun singing with everyone else!! Nice, make me look dumb but oh well! It was cute..

Yep, my kids, covered in dirt. They had just put these shirts on maybe and hour and a half prior. :) Big thanks to our aunts and uncles who let them go for endless rides on the gators. They had so much fun!

This is my Grandpa Huntsman. He is one of my hero's and is also the best looking old man in the world!! He turns the big 100 this September and he doesn't look a day over 80! Everyone says Payton looks just like Andy and Grandpa Huntsman.

My aunt Marie put together a book about his life and we were all able to get copies. It was nice to see pictures of him and all our family when they were young and hear the stories of growing up. Grandpa then autographed each of our books. Mine of course said, "you're my favorite!" JK

Steph, Shalee, and Kris

This pictures was from our last day there. The kids were smothered in sunscreen and I have no idea what they were doing to get it pasted on their faces. Sadly, most of the time I had no idea what they were doing because, basically my kids would rather live at "Aunt Jodie's camp". They spent most of their time there playing with their "new" cousins. In truth their camp was right next to ours but they mostly came to me if they needed to go to the bathroom....lovely.

Halle's version :) They were so dirty that I had to just take off their clothes and have them ride home in their underwear. Everything else was packed. They didn't seem to care.

Every night we, of course, roasted marshmallows. They also wanted to roast hot dogs every night but that gets old quickly. Besides, Halle was the only one who'd eat them. They loved to roast them but then they just wanted to give them away and roast another.

This was Payton on the ride home. Nothin but a hat!

Halle and McKyla looking for sticks.

Grandpa Huntsman and Halle

If Andy looks surprised, it's because we all were. Our first day there he went fishing. After blowing up his tube, (not with a machine) he spent a few hours fishing in the lake. He came back with a terrible headache and spent the next two days literally in a sleeping bag with a terrible migraine. I was ready to take him to the hospital the 3rd day when he just woke up and came outside smiling, but a little weird. JK :) We all were happy to welcome him back to life and he then ate and went out fishing!!

Halle, Kris and McKenzie

Ok, so yes I have a doo-rag on in all of these pictures, but hey, we're camping!! Everyone else did too. I didn't want my fav hat to smell like smoke ok. Anyhoo, it was so great to see everyone there. Kenze here, I maybe get to see once a year if I'm lucky. I used to babysit her all the time and feel like I helped raise her. Unless she gets into trouble, that's her moms doing. :) Now she's a teenager...ah, I feel so old!

For all you faithful blog followers, this is me and my cousin Leslie. I did the Avon Cancer Walk with her and her sister Nicole. Once again, our lovely rags. :) Apparently all of my cousins have made a plan to go visit her since she lives in Hawaii. Luckily I made my appointment first!

Belle, Aunt Jodie, and Payton

Payton has always been fascinated with four-wheelers and tractors but has never dared to get on them before. I was so happy to see he finally got on. He had so much fun.

This picture just cracks me up because of the story behind it. This was our first day there. It was raining and of course our cheapo tent was leaking from the few little sprinkles. The men started putting up the tarps and of course us ladies watched and suggested how they could do it best. :) Finally Jesse said, "Look you guys, I know how we can do it if someone would just go get me some pine cones!" We all of course immediately start laughing, not knowing what he's talking about, while Aunt Jodie just walks over and gets him some pine cones. Being the out door's man he is, he suggested tying the two tarps together with pine cones, so not to get any creases or leaks. Sure enough, it worked out perfectly!! Who knew? Not me. :)

The almost finished product. We had no leaks after that!

Belle, Aunt Jodie and Halle

Just wanted to tell everyone how much fun we had. The kids keep talking about all their new friends and new cousins. It was great to see you and catch up on all the interesting things in your lives. Staying up late making fun of each other, reminiscing of the old days, moving cars and tents all over, sharing treats and especially for smiling for all the pictures you didn't want me to take. We love you all and can't wait to see you at the next reunion!

The week before our family reunion, we had a small get-together with lots of the family at a pool party to celebrate my cousin Annie's wedding. My kids just love cousin Karen, her pool, and especially their dog Rocco. She's been kind enough to let us swim there several times this summer and each time we leave exhausted but with smiles on our faces.

Don't know why Dustin had this but he let Payton try it on. :) Payton said he'd look like 'Moe' if only it was red. :)

School is starting now and our summer fun will have to slow down. Thanks to all of you who made it so much fun!!