Oct 3-9th Elk Hunting Strawberry

Monday - I am a true believer in teaching your family to work together, play together and succeed together. So for FHE this week we went out and sealed the cement on our garage. Of course the kids would rather be playing together but I honestly think playing together is not something we lack. After our work was done we came in for a nice treat and went to bed early. :) I do like it when we get to bed on time. Which right now on time would be 9:00.

Wednesday - What a fabulous day today I had the opportunity to meet my sister, bro-in-law, and nephew for lunch before he went into the MTC. Todd is such an amazing person. I guess I can't call him a kid anymore even though he seems to have grown up way to fast. I love this kid so much. He is always in a great mood. He would give the shirt off his back for you and man is he smart. He is going on the Oklahoma City mission. I was told it is the mission next to the only true mission which is the OTC (Oklahoma Tulsa Mission). I have always known Todd would do great things in his life and I honestly believe this is just the beginning. Thank you Kate and Mike for letting me intrude on such a special time in your life with Todd. I love you Todd forever and ever.

If you don't understand this, you will in a few years...

When asked by a young patrol officer "Do you know you were speeding? This 83-year-old woman talked herself out of a ticket by stating..."Yes, but I had to get there before I forgot where the heck I was going."

Pretty sad but I COMPLETELY understand this lady.

Thursday - I know I have told you this before but I truly believe I have the best job in the world. I just love being a preschool teacher. I love all the different kids I have, I love their cute personalities and their fun demeanor's. Today we went on a field trip to the fire station and I learned so much. That was such a fun field trip Fireman Josh did a great job informing the kids of what a fireman does. And the parents are all so wonderful to come along and help out and drive kids there and take photos. I just am so lucky to be surrounded by such wonderful people big and small!

Saturday - We spent the day on 4 different game fields. First was Bowdee's last regular season game against the other team tied for 1st place. We went through the whole game with no points either way. So then each team had a chance from the 10 yard line to punch it in. And Lone Peak came out on top. :( So it was a close game and now we are off to the championships in 2nd place.

Then it was Tregs Soccer game so we headed to that game and man he is fun to watch play. He really has a great focus on the game. He has lots of hustle and loves to play. This is his cute team and man are they GREAT! My mom and dad came to watch him play and they were so impressed with the whole team already knowing positions and everything...

Matia's soccer game was next and this is her or should I say our team. I helped coach again this year which is always a fun experience. Matia is a tough player as well she is not afraid to get in there and fight for the ball. Her team has gone undefeated this year. They did tie one game but won all the others. What a GREAT bunch of girls!

Bowdee's soccer game was last so at least he had a break in between games. He also played with a sore throat which is never fun. So grandma and grandpa made it from the 10:30 football game until the very end at 3:30 what great supportive parents they are. My niece Karrilyn even made it through 2 of the games which is impressive.

Right after Bowdee's soccer game Terry and I took off to go on the elk hunt. We went up Strawberry over to White river where we camped with Clayton Cook, his sister Amber and Lund. What a great group of kids. I know they are not kids anymore but its hard to admit because then I have to admit I am not a kid since I am older then them all... We got there just in time for the night hunt so Terry and I went off the hillside of camp and talked to the elk back and forth but never saw anything.

We slept in the back of the truck it was COLD but we were warm all night long. I had a hard time falling asleep but once I did it was 5:30 before I knew what happened. I just laid there trying not to move and wake anyone up. We all got out of bed around 6 and hit the trail. Terry and I hiked 1&1/2 hours in to Center Canyon Willow Creek area sat for a while and then headed back we didn't see anything but sheep, coyote, badger, and a big bird. After hiking 8 miles and 3&1/2 hours we were disappointed enough to ditch hunting and try fishing.

The fishing was slow so I took a nap in the bed of the truck after a nice warm stew lunch.

Terry woke me up after about 2 hours with a fish in is hands and a smile on his face. So I jumped out of bed and had to catch me a fish as well. We both came home with nice 15" trouts, sore bodies, and revived spirits. I just can't tell you how much I love Terry without him I wouldn't be the person I am. He keeps me going that is for sure!

Sept 26-Oct 2 Family Photos

Wednesday I took Matia to a girls night out. It was so fun we have this amazing leader that plans a mother daughter activity every year and she has done some AMAZING things. Of course she blames it all on the talented ladies in our ward... which there are PLENTY of. But I know she has it all together to put together a night like she did. It was themed "Don't get Tangled in the World" and we braided each others hair with flowers in them then ate dinner and decorated paper lanterns while we had an amazing talk about not getting Tangled and Mother Knows Best. While they were talking about Mother knows Best they asked us for some of our mothers famous sayings... I rose my hand and said my mother always told me "not to scowl or I will grow wrinkles there forever".

Then a few others said some fun sayings and then Tia rose her hand so proudly and I whispered what are you going to say she whispered back "stop fidgeting or I will pull your hair out" I said oh no you don't and pulled her hand down. My sweet friend teaching the lesson saw what was going on and called on Matia... I quickly mention to the group she had nothing to say... Yet my sweet friend with an enduring smile insisted on Matia to participate. So Matia tells the whole group my secret to get her to sit still while I do her hair... Everyone rolled laughing and I turned red and insisted I NEVER SAY THAT! I just love being with my sweet Matia she makes everything we do fun. Love ya girlie!

Thursday Treg had another Flag football game I was not going to miss this one because the one I missed for Matia's date he made an killer interception and almost a touchdown.. This game was fun to watch and I loved every minute of it. After the game I went for ice cream with my sweet friend Denise and Christina. I haven't seen Denise for quite some time and it was so nice to catch back up with her. BTW I love frozen yogurt and the ORANGE LEAF in highland was amazing.

Friday Terry took the day off and we pulled the kids out of school half day and we hit the lake. It felt good to be some what irresponsible... It reminded me of the days I would skip school to go skiing with my dad. Anyway it was an amazing day on the lake.

By far the best this season on Utah lake. Then we hustled off the lake showered and went to our friends house for some yummy food and a good BYU-Utah State football game. This was our first time meeting Rusty's girlfriend and she was really cool.

Saturday we had Bowdee's football game and 3 soccer games but the soccer games didn't get over until 5:00 we really wanted to go to Strawberry to see the leaves and hear the elk but we had a flat tire on the truck and had to replace all those and just didn't have time to get out of her so we stayed home and watched the Utes football game yes it was a sad game.

Sunday we went up AF canyon and took our family photos... Why we choose General Conference to go up there I will never know it was so crowded. But we took our photos and I think they turned out pretty good for a timer button. After the photos we went out west to sight in our guns again. And visit Troy for his birthday. It was a pretty ok weekend!

Sept 19-25 Girls Cedar City - Boys Strawberry

Last week I bought the kids the Pass of all Passes and explained to them that if every week they are good and do their homework and don't complain about chores that I would take them to Trafalga to reward them for their hard work. Well here they are they have all been magnificent I think I only had to give them each 1 mark the whole week. They have been getting up to an alarm and doing 15 minute rotations. Piano, reading, and getting dressed all by themselves then we run or ride bikes to school. So here they are starting the week off with a couple hours of together play time at trafalga and loving it.

Tuesday was filled with piano, soccer practice and football practice. But Wednesday now that was a special day. You see Matia's love in life is horses and we have this friend that owns a small pony named Strawberry. She let us go see her last Friday and said Wed we can come back and walk her around the farm. Matia was so excited as you can imagine. She LOVED every minute of it. Thanks Michelle and Dawson for letting Matia enjoy Strawberry!

Treg also had his first Flag Football game on Wed then another on Thurs. They were both fun and Treg loved playing but he said the game on Wed was funner because the boys they played that day were more his level. Treg could really be a great player if he put his mind to it. He is fast and really smart... He watches where the play is going to be and follows so well.

Friday I decided I wanted to take Terry on a date since we wouldn't see each other much this weekend so. Bowdee went to a birthday party, Matia played at Daisy's house and Treg hung out with Grandma. We well we watched the BYU football game, ate out at chickfilet and just talked mostly. I can't tell you how much I just love being with Terry.

Saturday well it started with Bowdee's football game at 10:30, then Tregs soccer game at 11:30, then Bowdee's soccer game at 12:30 then back to Alpine for Matia's soccer game at 1:30! Busy crazy but we love it. They all played really good and then Matia and I hurried home to head out with my mom, Kami and Lakota on a road trip to Cedar City for my nephew Todd's mission farwell.

Todd is an amazing boy. He is funny, sweet, smart and has a way to make you feel like he really cares about you. I don't even know what to call that. But I just LOVE this boy and I know he will learn so much and teach even more out on his mission. I love you sincerly Todd and will be praying for you every night.

The best thing about this weekend (besides todd and angelas amazing talks) was being with my family. It was nice because we were just together nothing much that we felt like we needed to do just chillin sitting around in Kathy and Mikes nice house and talking. I love my family more then they will ever know and I miss them when they are not around! Thanks guys for an amazing weekend.

This weekend I learned a very valuable lesson... As I went with Matia on a girls weekend away... Terry took the boys to Strawberry on a boys weekend away... The only thing Matia brought back was a smile. But the boys talked their dad into getting them a water snake.

I can't tell you how bad I hate snakes and I wonder if just maybe Terry let them get a snake because I wasn't there to tell them no and it was my fault for letting them go alone. So I guess if I want a say in what happens I have to keep those boys in check and follow them everywhere.

The fall colors are changing and beautiful! The elk were calling during the night. The fish were biting. And they had an amazing time. They slept under the stars in the bed of the truck and listened to the cracking branches all night long. They were in heaven and a little part of me wishes I was there. But I am glad they had their bonding time and I got to see my family.

Sue is a darling snake if a snake could be darling. He is really docile and lets the kids pick him up with ease. He never strikes at them and is just curious about everything. So we will see how long this will last but I never thought I would say I live in the same house as a snake but as of now I do. I did tell the kids if the Sue gets out by chance then I will move out of the house until he is found and released outside far from my house. I don't know why but snakes just give me the creeps!

Sept 12-18 Workin out Lagoon

Okay so to be completely honest with you I don't remember much of what happened during the week... The reason is because on Monday I joined a gym "Anytime Fitness" and started to workout with my sister Kami. Kami and I work out so well together we are both competitive enough that we push each other and by darn will I ever call her and say I am not going. So we become VERY regular once we start working out together. So I am now waking up at 6:00 and hitting the gym for 1 hour of intense muscle building. Then I come home and get the kids ready for school and run with them to school and run home. Then the rest of the day is mine.

I just have to say I love the way I feel when I am working out regularly. I know my body won't change much from where it is now.. But that is okay with me. I am working out because I know it is what is good for me and will keep me healthy, happy and stronger for longer! I notice when I don't workout that I am more moody, self concious, and pretty much grumpier, I think that is because I know I am not giving my body all it needs to make it the healthiest it can be. I do love my body for being strong, healthy and sexy so I will continue to work out to treat it right...

Sorry about that but it explains why I don't remember much of last week. I was in so much pain (muscle soreness) and so tired that I really couldn't focus on much of anything else. I do remember it being a busy week and by 8:00 I was begging the kids to let me put them to bed so I could just sleep. They didn't fall for the 1 hour earlier bedtime.. :( Oh well, I had to try.

But Saturday came and Bowdee's football team lost their first football game in over a year. It was sad but Bowdee felt the best he ever felt about how he played and that is all that matters. Maybe it will remind the boys to always give it their all and winning is not everything. Tia played a mean soccer game and won 6-0 and Treg played a tough team but they won 2-1 so it was a good game day.

Then we headed to Lagoon just as fast as we could. We parked the trailer at their campground and met up with my mom and dad, Kyle and his family, and Kami and her cute kids. We had so much fun just playing, talking and bonding. Kye had to leave early but Kami kept Tay and Lil so they could play longer.

Sunday my family bounced back and man did we have fun! The park was empty and we could jump on any ride and only wait one time then it was our turn again. The kids went on Wicked 4 times in a row. I went once and Terry went the rest... He ended up in the bathroom for about 1/2 hour after that (hahaha).

Man I just can't think of anything better then to be with my family. They make this life worth living. I feel so blessed to have the love we have between each other. Thanks family for one FUN weekend!

You Tube - Everyone is doing it...

So when my brother came into town he made the cutest video of the girls runway tea party. So then he showed me how he makes them which is so much faster and easier then I had been doing them. So I made a few and then figured I could post them to You Tube for family that lives away from us that can't enjoy their sports in person. So here is my channel you can subscribe and it will e-mail you every time I post a new video or you can just check back whenever you want but the link is

http://www.youtube.com/user/kristitownsend

I hope you like them let me know what ya think. It has been alot of fun. But it does take alot of time so I haven't been scrapbooking lately... Not to sure how I feel about that. Someday right?

Sept 6-11 Soap Stone Basin

Tuesday was my first day of preschool. I am teaching 3 classes this year and I have an assistant for 2 of them. Christina is so much like me that it is crazy we can almost read each others minds.

Yet we compliment each other like crazy and when I forget something she usually is there to help me out. So having the best assistant in the world and 27 amazing children I consider myself to have the best job around.

I just can't tell you how excited I am to get to know each of these kids. They all seem so cute and I know we will have one fantastic time. And better yet the parents all seem to be on top of it and excited for the year.

Since the elk hunt is not officially over we decided to go to Soap Stone to see if we have any better luck up there. Of course we had to wait for games to get over so we didn't get to leave until later. But we got up there and it was a beautiful drive. Then we had time to throw off the 4-wheelers and take a quick spin. We found this pond that had baby frogs hoppin around so the kids loved catching them and letting them go. I consider these to be priceless memories I hope they will remember FOREVER!

Terry went again in the morning and was suprised to come back to breakfast ready for him at 9:00. Usually I sleep in or go hunting with him but today I got up and going. So then we took a longer spin on the 4-wheelers and went back to the pond to look for fossils and stuff. After the ride we went back and Terry made me brownies while I took a nap.

During my nap Treg comes running in the trailer with a blood curling "Dad come quick" so Terry runs out to find a dead tweety bird. Treg had shot it with his bbgun. Then he wasn't sure what to think of it he felt kinda bad... So that is Tregs first killing experience. I don't think he will be shooting at any living thing for a LONG time...

Aug 29- Sept 5th Skyline Elk Hunt

This week we added Treg's Flag Football practice to our schedule and his crazy coach wants to practice twice a week (crazy coach = his crazy dad). So that has just added to the fun, Bowdee is co-coaching Tregs team the Extreme Cobras. We have a fun bunch of boys it will be interesting to see how the games go.

Then this weekend we decided to go to Skyline up Spanish Fork Canyon for the first weekend of the elk hunt. It was crazy up there I didn't think we had a chance to get a good spot because we left late after Bowdee's football game. But we learned if you just keep driving and if you drive far enough you will find a spot that is nice and pretty remote.

Terry went hunting Sunday morning and saw an elk but he was alone and it was gone before he could get off the 4-wheeler. But then he found us a really good camp spot so he came back to camp we ate then packed up camp and moved to a new spot. Which we would have never done if we were tenting it.

We spent the rest of the day hunting w/ bb guns and bows and arrows and just playing around did the night hunt and our dutch oven got smoothered so we had to wait a little longer to eat.

Monday morning Terry took Bowdee hunting with him and he LOVED every minute of it. They talked to a guy that has pictures of bear at his game camera right in this area and a cougar. Then they had a buck and an elk call back to them. Then after they got back we packed up and headed home. We really didn't want to get stuck in traffic and sometimes it is nice to get stuff cleaned up before the new week.

Aug 22-28 School Bells a ringing!

Monday was my birthday, I had a lunch with my mom and dad and Terry at Marleys Sliders it was yummy but I just loved being w/ my favorite people and visiting. Then my dad invited me to go horseback riding... Well I thought it was me he was inviting but I guess it was my kids. Even though it wasn't my yearly birthday horseback ride it was fun to watch my kids love the things I love.

I remember when we moved into this house thinking how can I really send Bowdee to school? He is such a sweet boy will kindergarten ruin him and change him? Then I thought... man when Bowdee is in 6th grade, and Matia my sweet toddler will be in 4th and then my sweet unborn child will be in 2nd... Now that will be one crazy day! But of course that was years and years away. Well those years and years have gone by in a flash and here we are ready to begin Bowdee's final year of Elementary.

Bowdee got Mrs. McGee for 6th grade. I am really excited about her, you see she was a first grade teacher last year and I noticed how fun she seemed to make everything for the kids. She really seemed to have it all together. But he is sad his friends are not in his class.

Matia has Mrs. Durrant for 4th grade. I have heard FANTASTIC things about her and her teaching. So I am very excited. Yet she is sad that her friends are not in her class as well. She was really hoping for a teacher named Miss Udy but oh well I think this will be good for her.

Treg has Mrs. LeBaron who seems super nice he is also sad he has none of his friends in his class. But I keep reminding them this is a great opportunity to meet new friends. So far at the end of the week all of the kids are happy as can be.

Saturday was our first football and soccer games. The kids all played there best and won all their games. I just love being out and about and watching my children participate on a team. I feel like they are getting so much from it.