Holiday Fun

Today KC came home from work with an exciting little box for the kids. His boss bought him a Holiday Rice Krispy Treat kit for the kids to make. It was so much fun to see their faces all lit up with excitement. I had to post some pictures of our fun.


So a big huge THANK YOU from the kids and us for the treats. Thank you Jana!

~Ciao

Cort's School Piano Recital

So today was Cort's piano recital. It was so wonderful! I got there just in the nick of time. He did so wonderfully I just HAD to post it for family and friends who couldn't make it.




So after the kids finished up their amazing recital the teachers played a piece. Unfortunately I didn't get my camera ready in time to record ALL of it but I did get some and it was amazing.

Thank you Salt Lake City department of Justice!!! (sarcasm in type...)

Have you ever been so upset and angry about something you can't do anything about? I've reached the end of my rope. I honestly don't know what I could have done differently in my situation so I've decided I'm going to write out my feelings of frustration in hope that I feel a little tiny bit better afterward.

Let us go back in time...to about 6 months ago when my car registration expired. I went in and got everything paid for and updated at our local car shop. I got a little white paper that I was told to fold on the dotted line and put in my rear window. I did as I was supposed to. I neatly folded my little magical "I did it right" paper and placed it in my rear window. Now I needed to pay for my car insurance and was unable to do so after the cost of the registration. So as I was told to I legally parked my car in the back of my apartment building until I could pay for my car insurance and drive it legally. Now here is the kicker...APPARENTLY my sweet little girl moved said paper as she didn't know its "magical properties" and she didn't realize that said "magical properties" only worked if they were placed in the car rear window. She thought that Mommy had forgotten this paper and put it on my driver side seat as she was exiting the car so that I would see what a good girl she had been when I got back in the car later. Now I didn't go anywhere near my car for a good 3 days until KC had been paid again and he had proof of insurance. (another magical paper with special properties but this one is only magical when sitting inside your glove compartment) In the meanwhile I had been walking for about 2 hours a day. Its about a 30 minute walk to my children s school then I walk back then I walk there again to pick them up and walk back again. For those of you who know me I have plantar faciitis in both of my feet so this is a rather painful 3 days for me. I was so happy to make one final walk to the back of my apartment to place the magical insurance paper in my glove box when I got there I saw on the windshield wiper 2 blue papers. I took the papers out and to my surprise they were 2 tickets from the police department. I was rather surprised that my magical rear window paper had apparently be for nothing. Perhaps I forgot to dance with this magical paper in the pale moon light at midnight? What did I do wrong? The tickets I got from the police department had been sitting on my windshield for 3 days now in several rain storms. The blue envelope they thoughtfully provided for me had been rained on and actually bled through on the ticket itself making it illegible. Now I knew what the ticket was but was confused as to what it was for as I had a magical paper!!! So I did what I thought I should and took the mess of blue into my apartment and called the police department number I got from the phone book and expressed to them that I got a ticket and where my car was when it got the ticket but that I was confused as to what it could be for. The nice lady on the phone told me everything would be OK and that as it was illegible and I couldn't read the little number back to her that they would be mailing me something in the mail letting me know what it was for and what needed to be done. As promised about 2 weeks later I got a lovely paper in the mail telling me that I was ticketed not once...but twice on separate days for having an unregistered vehicle. I told her all about the magical paper who's properties were a mystery to me but that it should have kept any ugly blue messy papers off of my car. She actually laughed at me. She laughed at me and said "ma'am if you had the paper on your rear window you never would have been ticketed. These police officers know their job and they have done this a few times and wouldn't ticket you if had that paper in your window" After I got off the phone with her I ran down to my car (yes I actually ran...my kids were shocked too...mom doesn't run.) It was at this point that I realized what my little girl had unknowingly done. I took the paper and ran back up to the apartment and called the woman back and explained it to her. She told me I would have to take my paper down to the Salt Lake City Justice Department to take care of any disputes. Now I will admit that a few days went by before I did but no more than a week and I walked in to the Justice Department and got searched and felt up by a huge scary woman (apparently women can hide things in their bra under wire...gotta check there right?) Then I went to a huge line and pulled a number and then I had to wait in what is quite possibly the most uncomfortable chair in the world for about 30 minutes before my number was called. At this point I met the one person in this whole mess who treated me like a person and not a checkbook. The man was very kind and understanding and told me that since I had my magical paper that proves that I didn't do anything wrong outside of letting my daughter touch said magical paper he could take the charge of $240 off and bring it down to $25. I was so pleased I was happy to pay it and put this whole mess behind me. He signed off on my little paper and I walked over to a new line to pay for my ticket. All done right? No...about a month later I get another paper in the mail saying I owed them for the ticket and that I was in danger of being served a court date if I didn't pay it in a week as now I have wasted all this court time and caused all this paperwork for these poor poor people who sit in an office and stamp papers all day. Well of course I was shocked! I picked up the phone and called the Justice department right away. I spoke to a nice young woman on the phone and she explained to me that it must have been some kind of mistake because the man who signed off on my ticket only signed off on ONE of them and not both. So their computer said I still owed $120 on one ticket and that the other one was paid off. I told her what was done and that it should all be done and taken care of. She said to me "oh I see. There must have just been a mistake in the computer is all. I'm going to take care of this now and just delete it out of our system with a note saying that you paid for both of these on your last visit" Well I was delighted that this was taken care of and behind me (for the second time) and hung up with that relieved feeling that all was right in the universe again. I had forgotten about this business completely when I got a knock on my door about a month later. I opened up the door and a woman stood there and said "are you Karen Coon?" I said "yes" and she handed me a paper and said "I need your signature here please" I looked down at the paper and said "whats this?" she says "this is for a ticket you failed to pay 3 months ago...You have been served" Well you can imagine my shock and dismay at the complete FAILURE of the Salt Lake City Justice Department at this point. I verbalized a rather long stream of profanities that I'm grateful my kids did not hear as they were at school. The poor woman just said "don't shoot the messenger" to which I smiled and apologized for my rude outburst and signed the papers and let her be on her way. It was at this point that I pondered the fact that they have police men running up and down the streets surrounding low income apartments and not only ticketing them but coming back the following day to ticket them again. This is how they fund their incompetent search for "real criminals". I was absolutely disgusted. After I finished crying I cleaned myself up and called my husband on the phone to tell him what happened and he told me to go down and take care of it in person while the kids were in school. I drove back down to the Justice Court and got felt up by another huge scary woman (damn those under wire bra's) and took a number and got in line again. This time I was not as fortunate as to having a kind understanding person on the other side. The woman I had to speak with was not only rude but she talked down to me like I was a 6 year old who didn't understand basic English. She called me a liar told me she was"impressed with the lengths i was willing to go to avoid paying a ticket I obviously deserved" and told me that its not the police mans job to "search my car for my paperwork" I probably could have argued further with her but at this point all I could think of was my frustrations at the simple things in life that I couldn't pay for. I have been donating plasma twice a week now for months to help my poor husband who works all day long and is just as frustrated at our finances as I am. The $50 a week I get from this donating usually ends up going toward basic needs like groceries and cleaning supplies. We have had a really hard run this last year and a half and nothing seems to be going our way. Every time we get to a point where we can pat ourselves on the back and say "good job! the rent is paid" or "way to go! we have groceries for 2 weeks" something else comes our way. KC does so much for our family to get by and I try and help out but with my time restraints on being here when the kids get home from school and trying to be a good housewife (and failing) it all just seems to go down the crapper. At any rate I ended up telling the woman how wrong all of this was and I believe I said "What can I do? I haven't done anything wrong! I'm being charged a ticket for something I haven't done! I did everything right!" and I am ashamed to say I actually let that witch of a woman see me cry. I'm sure she walked in the back of the office and told everybody in the break room how she brought a liar down to tears and how awful a person I am but at the end of the conversations she said "I can take it down to $40. Can you pay that today?" Between each sobbing breath I said "no...I'm afraid I cant." and she said I had until December 2nd to pay it off. Here comes the part where I DID do wrong. I forgot about the court date. I have had so much on my mind with trying to find a new job and stressing over Christmas that I completely forgot. That part I'm willing to admit was completely my fault. So now I owe the court $150 and if I don't pay that soon ( and no...I cant) they will issue a warrant out for me. In honesty I hope they do arrest me. I hope they do so I can say "Hey! 3 square meals at the taxpayers expense? I'M IN!" You ever get that feeling that things can't get any worse? and then inevitably they do? That's me...except on a weekly basis. I've reached the end of my rope with these people!

Have any of you seen that movie "A knights tale"? There is a line in there where the man who plays the writer Chaucer has debt collectors come and collect on a debt after they stripped him of his clothes and everything that he had on him they then try and get the money out of his friend. His friend pays for the debt then Chaucer turns to the debt collectors and tell them "I will eviscerate you in fiction. Every pimple, every character flaw. I was naked for a day; you will be naked for eternity" I'm afraid that's all I can possibly do to these people. Write about them and hope I feel better about it when I'm done.

So here's to you Salt Lake City Department of Justice! *cheers* to you who have taken down the REAL criminals with your lies and your fake paperwork sent out to citizens in low-income apartments in the butt crack of Salt Lake! Way to go! You got another one! I'm sure there will be an extra bonus in your Christmas stockings this year! High Fives all around! You F'ing WIN!

...I'm sure in about a week I will regret posting this. But I don't think it matters...and if it does I'll delete it then. lol

~ciao

Job

WEll its been an interesting day so far...as many of you know I donate plasma twice a week to help pay for groceries. Its not much but it is an extra $60 a week and it helps a ton. Today I went in for my usual Tuesday donation and a new girl was there. She came to stick me and I was already a little worried because I'm told I have an impossible vein to find on the left arm and a decent one on my right. I always donate on my right arm. Well she comes over and sticks me and it didnt work. She then proceeds to jiggle it around inside my arm for a good 2 minute of me going "ahh...ahhhhh...oowwww" well she finally goes "gosh sweety I dont know whats up with your vein but it just doesnt wanna work with me" then she calls over another person to "fix" it. This other guy whom I know to be very good comes over and shifts it around my arm for some time all the while me whimpering like a baby cuz it HURT!!! And he cant fix it either. So then he calls over one other lady and she comes and actually shoves the needle INTO MY MUSCLE TISSUE! I was now tearing up...I'm sorry Im not usually such a baby about these things but it burned and hurt soooo badly at this point I couldnt stop myself. Well she got the blood to flow again and then turns to the original bad sticker and says "keep an eye on her during her return cycle" so now i'm actually scared. I can feel my heart racing and i'm worried to death at this point...I mean what does that mean actually?? So then I'm close to my return cycle and the little yellow light turns on and starts beeping at me...so I raise my hand and a girl I dont know comes over and was very good and stayed with me until the return cycle started. Well of course since its ME and I have horribad luck...it wont return and the blood starts pooling in my tissue. She stops the machine and had to restick my left arm. The rest went good but then she goes to remove the needle in my right arm and a huge gelatinous string of partially clotted blood comes out of the needle and plops on my arm. "ahhh theres the problem" she says. So now I'm dying...I had to take the money I earned and to go the store to buy something so we had some food to eat tonight and the whole time i'm there everybody is staring at me. I have 2 wrapped arms with blood stains all over them and iodine stains. Can't say I blame them for staring. The things I do for food. It was so awful. Now I have to ice down my arm every 30 minutes and tomorrow I have to alternate heat and cold. To top it all off I have to go donate again on Thursday. I'm scared to death. HOLD ME! And to end this whole crappy story...

Karen is currently looking for work. I need a graveyard shift position that I can go to after KC comes home from his job. If anybody knows about anything PLEASE let me know!

~Ciao

Montana family fun!

I look forward to our visit to my Dad's cabins in Montana every single time. We try and get up there at least once a year but lately its been pretty tough with gas prices being what they are and trying to save up the cash to buy what we need to get there.

It was soooo much fun this year! We started out our drive on Wednesday the 30th at 12:30 as the kids only had a half day of school. So we picked them up and headed north without delay. The kids have been absolutely giddy waiting for Wednesday to come. Tatumn actually wrote out a calendar on her new easel she got for her birthday just so she could count down the days until we left. Cort would help her each day by helping her remember to cross of a new day before they went to bed.

It so nice seeing the kids get so excited about something. Some days I feel like we get into a routine of just school, homework, cleanup, bed...and who wants that for their kids? There has to be a little fun thrown in there right? I remember when I was little my sister used to think up the funnest games for all of us to play. One time she gathered up a whole bunch of old toys and collectibles and such from wherever she could and did a game show type game where we could all "win" things from behind the counter. I couldn't have been much older than 8 or 9 but I still remember it well...who knows? Maybe Cort and Tatumn will have fond memories of trips up to Montana.

Not to mention poor KC who works all day every day comes home just in time for dinner, some homework, maybe a show and then bed just to do it all over again. He needed a break more than any of us.

So we headed up after school Wednesday and drove for about 6 hours. (It should have been about 5 but I swear my kids bladders are smaller than normal) We got to the cabins with the help of our good friend "Ken Ken" (its really the Tom Tom my mom got us for Christmas but we renamed it Ken Ken cuz we have the voice of "Ken from Australia" on it...we still giggle when he says in that thick aussie accent "You have reached your distination") haha see? it made me giggle just now...

When we got there we unpacked and headed to our cabin that was all ready and waiting for us with the heater on and everything. It was wonderful! My Dad has made some amazing improvements on them since he has been there. I looked forward to that amazingly wonderful shower each and every night before bed.

Here is the front of our cabin we stayed in. Lucky number 9!

Charice, Carissa and Cade and Chancy, Tanya, Bridger, Aspen and Emery got there in the wee hours of the morning so the next day we all saw each other and there was at least a good 4 inches of snow on the ground so what do we do? Make a snowman of course! Check out the kid's masterpiece.


Here is Uncle Chancy helping Tatumn get the eyes and nose on straight.

And we tried to get Aspen to do the Charlies Angels pose with Carissa but she wasn't having it. haha

Later we realized that they made too many balls for the snowman so they made this fellow here...

Poor fella...didn't have a chance with those buck teeth and goofy hair.

But we love him anyways...it was really snowy the next day...May he rest in peace.





OK this made me laugh. So the next day we decided to head up to Ennis where there is this fishing pond just for kids and its free and you don't have to buy a fishing license so we try to get the kids up there each time we go. On our way there traffic was stopped so that these cows could be rounded up and crossed the road. And this rather serious cowboy was yelling at cars so that we didn't spook the cows. He did eventually clear the road for us though.

Thank you mister cowboy man!

So thankfully Mom and Dad brought our fishing poles up from their house and we took them up to the pond in Ennis. We decided that Tatumn has graduated from her "princess fishing pole" and let her use Cort's old one so that Cort could use KC's "Manly Fishing Pole".

We headed in to town to gather some supplies from a sportsman's store and then headed to the pond. We waited a good while until Cort got his first nibble. Then it got exciting for the kids. They would sit and stare at that bobber for hours. I've never seen them dedicated to one task for so long. Then after a while Cort landed a big one!
I'm so proud of myself for getting a picture while he was reeling him in.

So now Cort was having the time of his life.




Now it was Tatumn's turn. Now don't tell the rangers but I was casting in the line and holding the pole for her...OK I was hooking the fish too but SHE reeled it in! So I don't think I was realllly cheating....right? She was so excited to pull that monster up too.

OK so we couldn't get her to hold the fish for a picture but Daddy was very brave for her and held it for her.


Now at this point we figured we were probably done for the day as we were actually planning to eat these fish any more would be a waste. So KC and Cort took a last trip to the bathroom while me and Tatumn waited at the pond. Well while they were waiting I landed another one and tossed the pole to Tatumn to reel it in. Well she is so excited she starts throwing her hands all over the pole and reeling in just as fast as she can. I'm watching the bobber and its getting further and further away...I was a little confused until I realized Tatumn in her excitement had hit the release button on the rod so the fish was just swimming away with it haha. Well I fixed the rod and handed it back to her and she started just a reeling away for quite a while so that I could get to the net. By the time I got the net and got to the edge of the pond she had it right up to the edge. I stared at it for a while and just wondered...how the heck am I gonna get this on land? ITS TOO BIG FOR THE NET! It looked like Monstro the Whale from Pinocchio. So I sort of scooped its head into the net and kinda had to fling it up on land. Perfect timing cuz right as I did the hook came off of the fish. So I keep pushing it up further and further until KC and Cort got back from the bathroom. Tatumn was doing a little dance she was so excited to show Daddy what she did. Well as I was getting the fish into our bucket I realised that this thing had another persons hook in its lip that must have snapped the other guys line cuz all you could see was the hook and a swivel. That's right...she caught the one that got away. I couldn't really do this fish justice with just a picture so I had Tatumn lay down next to it so you can see...its actually the size of her leg.
See here you can see it is almost as tall as her from her knee up.


And here she is laying down (well..as close to it as we could get her to) and its about from her hip to her toes.



We headed back tot he cabins after that bit of fun. Then we got to start the dirty work of gutting and cooking. So I made some before and after pictures.






Mmmmm Fried fish...it was delicious. We froze the other two and took them home. I'll be making them for dinner tonight.

So the following day we headed to West Yellowstone to see what kind of trouble we could get into. KC found this really fun place. It was a reserve for Grizzly bears and wolves. So we had to check it out. This statue was in front of the place so Tatumn decided she needed to have a picture in front of it.


We learned all kinds of interesting facts about bears and wolves and the kids got to play in a wolf den.


Then we got to meet this monster. She weighs 918 pounds!!! And the funniest part was that she had dug out a hole for her to recline in and basically sat there and swatted at the raven's and stared at the humans. At the end there was a play area that Cort and Tatumn had some fun at as well.


This was a photo op if ever I saw one.

So then we headed back to the cabins to hang out with the Family and try and stay warm. How better to stay warm then a bonfire? My dad's cabin camp has a HUGE area set aside for people to set up tents and there is a huge fire pit there that we always have to set up a big fire and then cook tin foil dinners. If you have never had one of my moms tin foil dinners...you havent lived. Its like a whole pound of hamburger, onions, potatoes, salt, pepper, bacon, cheese...lots of gooey delicious cheese...mmmm



Rissa's orange hat...need I say more? I'm so jealous.

All in all it was a great fun trip! I'm looking forward to next year already.

~Ciao

Parent Teacher conferences

Does anybody ever actually look forward to these? Parents or students? ever? *sigh*

Well today is the big day for it and I get to go meet up with Cort's teacher today at 6 and Tatumn's teacher today at 5. KC is even going to try and get out of work early so he can come along. This just brings back memories of my parent teacher conferences...ugh! I remember my English teacher telling my mom that "Karen isn't one of my brightest students (insert that whiny irritating laugh of his here)" and my mom coming back with "Then you aren't paying attention to her." (insert my high pitched giggle here) I always thought my teachers just wanted to tell my parents how horrible I was even when I had good grades. I don't remember any good things coming out of these stupid things and I know that I will not tolerate it well as a parent either.

So I've been trying to get everything set up for Tatumn's big birthday party. She wants to have it at Chuck E Cheeses. I looked online and their birthday parties go for like $150!!! Holy crap!!! So yeah....wayyyy out of my budget. Were compromising though and I know she will be very happy. Thankfully she is still at the "easy to please age" and will be thrilled with anything she gets.

Well I'm off to go get them from school now and forcing them to clean their room...YAY!

~ciao

Ahhhhhh

You know I feel so much better now. I think sometimes you have these really really bad days and you almost just have to wade through the crap to see the light on at the other side of the tunnel. We took another lovely trip up to the library for some "free fun" and the kids ran straight to the computer games. I took my book I've been working on now for almost a month and sat down and read a HUGE chunk of it. I can't remember if I've said this before so at the risk of repeating myself I highly recommend the sword of truth series. I'm on book 2 now and it is AMAZING AWESOMENESS!! *echo..echo......echo* I'm completely entranced by it.

My family every year due to a HUGE family now draws names so we only buy a Christmas gift for one person each. Well this year my Mom did something quite fun that I'm really excited for. She wants to switch up the rules a bit. This year our gift must be home-made and supplies costing less than $15. I drew my sister Charice's name and I've thought up some pretty fun idea's that I've started working out the kinks on as of late. I don't want Christmas to come and me not be prepared. I mean I'm a procrastinator by nature but last minute Christmas shopping isnt a issue but last minute Christmas MAKING is. KC already has some fun idea's for Levi too. I have NO CLUE about what Cort and Tatumn would be interested in making though...

Well I've run out of things to talk about...I guess that means I'm done. lol

~Ciao

Deep thoughts...by Karen Coon

Now that I'm at home with the kids I have all this time to think. Thinking can be dangerous I've decided. Ignorance is bliss right? Its true. Ignorance IS bliss. I think sometimes not knowing something is happening makes it less painful even if you have a pretty good idea that it is. I haven't been myself lately. I don't know if I know who I am anymore.

It reminds me of a quote...I can't remember who said it though. "When things are bad, we take comfort in the thought that they could always be worse. And when they are, we find hope in the thought that things are so bad they have to get better."

I took the kids out for a walk today to take my mind off of things. I like to take random pictures of things I find uplifting and pretty. Check out these beautiful flowers.
They were so beautiful. Every shade of my favorite color at once. Like a rainbow of purpleness =)

They still make me smile. They remind me of my wedding flowers. I had the most beautiful flowers....they were a very special hybrid of rose made to be a light shade at the bottom and dark dark purple at the tips.

My kids are so amazing. They love spending time with me. It makes me feel so good about who I am. They are just happy sitting here with me on the couch watching our favorite cartoon "Avatar: The last airbender" just because they love me for who I am.

Sometimes its nice just knowing that everything you do isn't just I dunno...Wrong. Cort and Tatumn are so amazing. So full of fun and life and energy. They can find the simplest joys out of something like a walk to the park. We walk down to this favorite park of theirs and lay on the grass under a huge tree and I'll read a book while they show me everything. They have become very excited about Halloween as of late and are telling me all about their costumes and what they want to be. Cort wants to be Avatar Ang and Tatumn wants to be the warrior Suki. We keep talking about how were going to make it obvious who they are. Tatumn wants her fans and makeup to be just perfect and Cort refuses to shave his head lol



Here is avatar Ang as Cort wants to portray him. I tried to convince him his hair would grow fast but he wants nothing to do with shaving his head lol



And here is Suki as Tatumn wants to portray her. She used fans to fight with so I think its a fun excuse for Tatumn to get some hand fans lol

Well I think I've spent enough time thinking. I'm going to go and do something mindless like folding laundry.

I'll leave you with one more quote from an unknown author.

"Depression is nourished by a lifetime of ungrieved and unforgiven hurts"

~Ciao

Girls weekend!

OK...for those of you who have not actually been to one of my Mom's yearly girls weekends, you will never understand how amazingly fun they are! But, I'm willing to try and show you on my blog how much fun they are.

I can't remember how many years ago my Mom started these but it's technically a birthday party for all of the girls in the family age 12 and up. We used to drive south to see a play or two at Tuachon each year but this year Mom decided to try something a little different.

So we all met at my Mom's house on Thursday and I was greeted in the driveway by my Mother...I have no words to describe her so I will just use a picture lol

HAHAHAHA!!! I nearly pee'd my pants at the sight...no folks for those of you who don't know her my Mom doesnt usually walk around in a hot pink moo moo, a lai and flamingo sunglasses. I knew from this very moment I was not going to be too dissapointed at missing a play in St. George.

When I pulled in the driveway I was followed in by my sister-in-law Heather and my other sister-in-law Tanya. Let me first just say this. I am one of the luckiest people in the world when it comes to family. First off I have the funnest and coolest parents but they are still parents not "I want to be your friend" parents but "I want to have fun with you but still teach you right from wrong and I WILL tell you when your being stupid" parents...this is important to me as many of my friends have moms who want to be a friend not a mom. Then as if that wasnt cool enough God saw fit to send me here with 3 awesome brothers. Chancy, David and Levi. I don't get to spend as much time with them as I would like to but I do know they love and care for me and would back me up no matter what. If I had a problem or was in a fix I didn't know how to get out of they would help me out if it was in their power to do so. Then my sister Charice who has got the be the FUNNEST sister in the world! She has always got something exciting going on at her house. I think she must never have any time to just "sit" but I think its because she wouldnt want to lol. She's also got my back even when I don't deserve it haha. OK OK I know what your thinking...Wow, Karen really lucked out on the family side of things...how did she do this? BUT it gets better!!! Each and every one of my brothers married some amazing women. I consider all of them to be just like a best friend to me. They are so much fun to hang around with. Oh but theres more! What do we have behind door number 3? OMG a Neice who is just like her Mom!!! (Carissa this means you) and of course Alicia too! I really look forward to these weekends just to have some time with "the girls" and be completly myself with no worries or thoughts of day to day stress's. Once again I have to thank KC for watching the kids for me and taking friday off of work so I could go and do this.

OK so back to day number one. We walk inside the house and go in the basement to find that she has completely done up the basement kitchen and living area to look like we were living in Hawaii!





So of course on night number one we were reminded of our youthfullness with a birthday cake with our combined ages....ouch lol



Yes folks...that says 252!! it says "Happy Birthday From sweet 16 to one foot in the grave" and no...I wont say who they meant. But I'm like right in the middle so I don't think it was me Muah ha ha ha!!

OK so then we had this really fun luau in the backyard and the citronella candles said that bugs weren't invited but check out the WTF bug of the day we found



I have no way to describe it except to say there were a lot of people there and none of us has ever seen it before. It had wings like a queen ant does where they go the length of their body and it had a stinger like a wasp but it was black. Creepy to be sure. I think Carissa threw it lol


Here we all are blowing out our birthday cake with our cool new glasses and flowers...cuz were cool like that.

MMmmmmm dinner was soooo yummy. But then again dinner at moms house is always yummy.











So at one point were all in the basement having fun just talking and hanging out and out of nowhere there is a loud bang and I turn just in time to see Tanya hit the ground. Me being the sweet, gentle soul that I am didn't run to see if she was ok...I got the camera out. Sorry Tanya! hahaha



Here I am enjoying our "Midnight Margarita's"

Carissa brought along her supply of glitter stuff to do glitter toes for all of us! It was so much fun. I got a lovely color of Lime green on my glittery toes.











Here is a picture of all of our toes done. Carissa did a fabulous job.














You just never know what might happen when your having the girls weekend. So at one point my Dad comes home and says "Hey Sue, I need some help moving the cows" LOL!!! My Dad has cows now...and we got to herd the cattle from one field to another...YAHOO COWBOY!


Then we went to go for a motorcycle ride. All the girls have one but me so my Daddy let me take his 4 wheeler for a spin. It was a lot of fun cuz the girls let me try their bikes out too. Ahh I do so miss my motorcycle racing days. But then half way through our ride the clouds started rolling in and it rained and not just rained but it rained so hard it felt like hail and it HURT! I had Alicia on behind me so I took her back to the house and then went back just in case anybody needed help. We were soooo soaked. We got in the garage and then we all took a picture for laughs at how soaked we were.

Yes...we hung out the bra's to dry. Wanna fight about it? :P

So all in all it was a really really good time for all. I already miss them all and I can't WAIT until next year!