Breaking Dawn

Anyone who knows me knows that I have been a Stephanie Meyers fan. I really loved the first 3 books in her Twilight series. They are by no means in the category of "All time great literature" but I think they are a fun read, keeping in mind that they are geared for teenagers and are going to be sappy. But what girl doesn't love a good love story, complete with "Prince Charming"?
That being said, I really didn't care that much for Breaking Dawn, the fourth book. To say I was bitterly disappointed would be an understatement. I think that the author has had her fingers in too many pots and feeling the pressure to produce, gave a substandard story line. And, in my opinion, it kind of got smutty. No way would I let my teenage daughter read it. (If I had a teenage daughter that is.) It's too bad that I feel I wasted a whole week on this book.
I am still madly in love with Edward (sorry Ross!). I guess that's just the way it goes. *Sigh*

Olympic Fever

I just love the Olympic Games. Whether it be summer or winter, I really get into all the events even if they are things I am not usually interested in. I love hearing the individual stories and seeing people's dreams come true.
It gets me all pumped up over my own fitness goals and I take a lot of time reflecting. I spent the first half of this year training like a mad woman. I have tried many different things to push through the hard things and make myself better. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I realize that my biggest hang up is my brain. I quit mentally long before my physical prowess gives out. I have really been working on how to change that.
So here's my question to all of you that read my blog, what works for you? What is it that pushes you to go above and beyond what you believe you can do? So quit lurking and please leave me comments. You never know, you might be my answer!

Sunny St. George

After being tied to home because of sheep for the summer, we decided to get the heck out of Dodge before school starts. We are down here for the next couple of days just playing our little hearts out. It is so freaking hot! It has been over a hundred degrees every day. It is still that hot at about 8:30 at night too. Crazy.
We are going to go hiking in Zion's today. We love to hike. God's creations are so neat and they really put things into perspective for me. The whole plan is so much bigger than we are. There is so much going on that we don't even realize.
I found out yesterday that a dear friend of mine has breast cancer and will be having a masectomy very soon. I don't think she is even 30 yet. I can't even begin to imagine what she is facing. A few weeks ago, a family in our community had a tragic thing happen. Their 18 year old son was swimming in Pineview and broke his neck. He is paralyzed now and has a long road ahead of him.
Our heartfelt prayers are with you guys. We love you so much.
It tears me up inside how quickly a life can change. The only thing to hold onto is our faith. I can't even fathom trying to make it through life without it.

The End of the Fair

Last Saturday was auction day. It was a good day. The sheep were very calm and easy to deal with and the boys both got a good amount of money for them. Between the auction price and booster money they made about $1500 before expenses. I think that's pretty dang good for 2 months worth of work.
We made them pay for the sheep, the feed and some of the "accessories" i.e. feed bowls, harnesses. Tyson and Jaden each pocketed $340 and Corbin got $300. I remember spending an entire summer babysitting sun-up to sun-down for $200. I got rooked!
We all said good-bye to the sheep. The boys seemed to be pretty ok until Jaden came in at 11:00 that night. Rubbing his eyes, as if trying to force the tears to stay in there, he asked if I had any suggestions on how to stop thinking about the sheep because all he could think about was how to buy them back. And then the tears just couldn't stop themselves. AAWWWW. He is such a little tender heart. I totally know where he's coming from. I have shed a few over those sheep myself.
What a great experience. I am so glad we did this. We are definitely doing it again next year.

Feelin' Sheepish

I know, DUMB title but hey, I only have a few more days to do that. I am going to share a post that Ross put on our family blog about the fair.
"Wow, what a day. We spent pretty much all day at the fair with the sheep. The shows started around 9:00, but they take them into the show by weight. Yeah, thats just as bad as alphabetical order when you are a Walker with 157 pound sheep. We actually had 2 shows to do on Wednesday. The first show is called Market show. Both Tyson and Jaden got a Blue ribbon in this showing! The sheep and the boys did a great job together. There was one part where Clyde got a little anxious and jumped away from Tyson, who was assisted in the re-capture by the coolest old lady. She literally jumped at Clyde, caught his neck and brought Clyde down. The problem is that Clyde was on top, so the lady just rolled him right over and stood with with a firm grip on Clyde, she was AMAZING!

The boys were very happy with their ribbons and performance, so are we. I need to take a second here and thank our family, so many of you showed up to show support for the boys it was great. We really appreciate all that you do for them, and while they don't always remember to say thank you (without a little prompting) they do know you were there and are glad to show you their hard work. Thank you all.

The second show is the hardest one, its called Showmanship. This show is all about the kid, how he handles the lamb, his ability to make it pose and stand correctly. Its a HARD competition, usually the ones that win this part are the ones with 3-4 years experience. The boys/sheep actually did even better in this class than they did in the first one, but with the stiif competition they did not get a ribbon. Still, they felt how great they did and were very happy. The judge was the same in both competitions and he quickly became friends with Jaden. The mohawk is a great ice-breaker for people to talk with him. As the judge goes by each kid he asks a question of them about the sheep, usually about feed, weight or something. He asked Jaden "How much hair gel do you use?" Jaden replied "Just a little". The few people that actually heard it quite enjoyed their conversation.

The last showing will be this Saturday and its just to show all the sheep to the auction buyers. We are all very excited to see how much the boys sheep will riase. There have been many of you who also 'boosted' thier work with your financial dontations, thank you! Just so you know... all auctions proceeds and booster funds will: 1- Pay for the cost of raising the sheep 2- Be divided by 3 (yes, even though Corbin did not show he did A LOT of work to help his brothers) 3- Pay tithing 4- invested into savings accounts and then 5- wasted in only ways that boys can think of.

Thanks again for all your support and if you get a chance head over to the fair and say hello to Bonnie & Clyde, the greatest sheep ever!"

For the record, our 60 pound kids had the 2 biggest sheep in the fair, 157 and 155 pounds. That is a small horse, people! We are tickled pink with the boys. I have a tear in each eye. One for my kids and one for my sheep. I have become quite attached to them I realized.

Of Sheep and Men

So it's fair week. Yes, folks, that means in a matter of hours, nay, minutes, I will no longer own these 2 beauties. And not a moment too soon. It has been a total learning experience. I think it's been more good than bad. I have grown quite fond of Bonnie and Clyde. They really are quite gentle animals. Unless you forget to feed them. A lot like me!
We had the pleasure, if you can call it that, of washing and shearing them last night. Let me tell you, you have not lived until you have washed a sheep's bum and nether regions. I think we were all quite disturbed by the experience. Let's observe a moment of silence for my family's twisted mental pictures.
It was all quite interesting. It took 3 grown men holding our two sheep to get them sheared. They have grown quite a bit. They are very beautiful and I know someone is going to look at them and think, "It's lamb chops for dinner tonight sweetheart!" Thankfully, that is no one in MY household.
I get a little teary thinking about what's going to happen to them soon but I know that they are fulfilling their mission in life.
On to other things, my cousin Steve's wedding was beautiful. His new wife is a total cutie and you can tell they love each other a lot. It was fun to kind of relive memories of being a newlywed and remembering how deluded we were! It's so crazy to think how little you actually know someone when you marry them. So glad that I got one that is so much fun since apparently normal was out of the question. Love you honey!
Life is good. I will post about the fair later.

P.S. Congrats to my cousin Shelby and her hubby Jason. They are expecting a baby early next year.

Busy Busy

We have been so busy lately. It feels like we have been going a million miles an hour. Our good friends from Clinton, The Canovas came up for a barbecue one weekend. It was really good to see them and catch up a bit. Corbin has had swim lessons going on since last week. They are in North Ogden so it has been a lot of time and fuel:( He has been doing great though.
On the 24th, we had a BBQ with some friends up here in the Valley and then our family went hiking at Snowbasin Ski Resort. It was very beautiful. Our kids are quite the hikers. Near the middle of our hike, Tyson challenged anyone who wanted to participate in a race up a VERY steep hill. I accepted, as did Jaden and Corbin. Jaden made it about halfway, Corbin ran most of it, as did Tyson and I. Even Ross joined in the fun.(is that the right word for it?!?) Tyson beat all of us. We all made it but I had a nasty pain in the ol' lungs by that time. Hill running does not work for me but the point is, we did something hard and we had fun. The hike back down the mountain was much more leisurely.
In between all of this, my dad had a birthday. Happy B-day Dad! You're one in a million. We also had a fun sleepover with a family that lives up here in the Valley. Normally, we don't allow sleepovers. But Ross and I have been friends with the parents for over 13 years now (crazy!) and they were participating in the sleepover as well. We had a great dinner, climbed the rock wall, made home made ice cream, watched movies and played games. We went to bed at about 1 that night. It was a riot. I have to plan this kind of thing with more families we are friends with. It was fun to have the grownups with the kids.
We have a lot more to do coming up here these next couple of weeks, what with birthdays and weddings and the Weber County Fair. I will post when I can. I have to let you all know about some good books I have been reading lately to add to your piles of must-read-books.
Cheers!