On the move again

We have big news this week.  Rich was offered a position at a great firm in Idaho Falls and has accepted the offer.  However, this means that we will be moving, again.  This will be our third move in a 12 month time period.  Basically, we are just trying to keep up with our friends the Warners (very good friends from law school that move like once a month).  I should also note that Kinley has been betrothed to the Warners son, Jorgen, so we are trying to match them step for step I guess so that they don't call off the engagement.

So now we are in search of a new place to live and pulling out the boxes to pack.  I hate packing, but we are very excited for Rich's new job.  I think it will be the perfect firm for him.  The best part will be the firm's retreats where they take us on vacation and pay for us, yay for retreats on somebody else's dime.  I guess wish us well as we try and pack faster than Kinley can unpack!

of course Elmo is coming too.

Kinley's Easter

Hi everybody, this is Kinley. Since this is the first Easter that I was big enough to enjoy, I thought I would tell everybody what I did. The best part was that I got to see lots and lots of family. I got to see all of my grandparents, even Great Grandma and Grandpa Thompson. Great Grandma Thompson has been really sick and has to stay in a care center, but I helped her and Grandpa get to dinner. I held Grandpa's hand and tried to help push Grandma's walker, but mommy said that was a bad idea. After I made sure they got to dinner safely, we had to get back in the car and finish driving to Grandma and Grandpa Rawlings' house.

Here is a quick recap of what we did for Easter.
We all went to the Easter egg hunt in Moroni. I really had no clue what was going on, not to mention it was only 33 degrees and I thought it was strange my mom wanted me to run around in that cold weather. When they said "go" all the little kids took off and I just stared at them. My mommy and Aunt Shawna helped me and I managed to get 2 eggs and 3 suckers. My cousins did much better than I did. Here is a picture of me with Kolter, Wyatt and Hunter.
I played outside a lot. Wyatt and Hunter let me play football with them and we did some sidewalk chalk. Mommy and Aunt Shawna did bubbles with me but they made me quit when I started eating the bubbles.
Thanks to my cousin Haley, I got my fashion on. Don't I look hot in these glasses? Uncle Len was busy giving everybody fabulous new hairdo's and colors, so I had to do something to keep up.
Then it was time for the Easter Bunny to come. He is so nice, he brought me candy and some new toys. I thought it was nice of him to come all the way to Freedom to drop off my stuff, especially since I don't even know who he is. Next year Mr. Easter Bunny, I think you could just bring Smarties and Jelly Beans, they are my favorite.
The Easter Bunny forgot to wipe his feet off outside and left these footprints by the door. Hunter told me that it was his "magic dust" and it's how he can hop from house to house so quickly. We all put it on our feet and tried to jump like the Easter Bunny, but the "magic" must have worn off because we were just jumping like normal kids on a sugar high.

Then we went to see Daddy's family and we had lots of fun playing with them. Grandma Friess gave me an awesome new ball that I like to bounce off mommy's head. I even got to see my little cousin Arden. I really like her because she is the only one that is younger than me. We had such a great Easter weekend and hope you all did too. Now I have to go take my nap, all this Eastering has tuckered me right out.

Hoop it up

I think that it is common knowledge that I am lacking in the "girly" qualities, such as fashion, craftiness, and certainly dancing or anything requiring rhythm and coordination. So, with those limits, I of course had to pursue athletics since it was my only option. May I also say that being a "jock" worked out very well for me and was an incredible influence in who I am and helped me develop many valuable qualities. I will of course be encouraging Kinley in whatever endeavors she may chose and will try to get her involved in as many things as she will allow because I think it is important to be well rounded and involved in something. I must says that I was relieved when she naturally started to gravitate to a soccer ball and basketball, two things I actually know what to do with.


Now she's no John Stockton yet, but she showed some promise on defense and she throws a pretty decent bounce pass, just needs to work on her aim. Her jumping is also coming along nicely, most of the time there is actually a smidge of air between the ground and her shoes and both feet are off the ground at the same time. Now if we could just get past her fear of grass she could start working on her softball skills (mommy has her hopes up pretty high for a little softball player).

For the mocked and ridiculed

This post is for all of you that have been at the wrong end of Rich's teasing. If I have learned anything in the 6 1/2 years I have been married, it is that you really want to be careful what you say and do around Rich. Now, many of you will know that if you say or type something incorrectly, or make any sort of silly mistake in front of Rich, 2 things will happen. First, you will be mocked, teased and ridiculed for the mistake. Second, there is about a 99% chance that Rich will never forget the incident and remind you periodically of the stupid thing you did. I should mention that Rich's sense of humor is one of the things I love most about him, I just prefer not to be the "butt" of his jokes.

So, as a form of revenge, and to help more poor memory, I am posting Rich's most recent blunder. I thought since Rich rarely makes these slip ups, it was worth sharing with the masses. I was making chicken enchiladas for dinner and had just put them in the oven. We have a gas stove and oven and the oven cooks like the hottest fiery furnace in the world, so I was asking Rich about the cooking time. Rich began kind of stuttering and fumbling over his words but managed to get out, "Well, since the cookin is already chicked..." He managed to repeat this a few times knowing he was saying it incorrectly but couldn't get it out right. We got a pretty good laugh out of it and I'm thinking you will too. I just wish that Rich could do something a little more comparable to the dumb things I do, but I guess I'll take whatever I can get.*

*(Disclaimer: the incident discussed in the above post has no independent, nuetral, or unbiased witnesses who can validate its truthfulness - Rich)

*(Disclaimer's Disclaimer: please note that Rich spelled "neutral" incorrectly - Marlyce)

It's a play date

Today Kinley had her very first play date with a friend.  A friend of ours from church is getting ready to move into their new house and had another friend babysit her 18 month little girl, Hope.  So, we invited them over for lunch and a play date.  I must admit I was incredibly nervous that Kinley would seriously rough up poor little  Hope.  I should say that Hope is one of the most beautiful little girls I have ever seen and has the most pleasant, mild mannered personalities which makes her a perfect playmate for Kinley.

So the day went pretty well.  Kinley was able to share with Hope and they played very well together.  One slight problem, Kinley is a very big teaser.  I would say Kinley can you give Hope one of your baby dolls.  She would then walk over, hold it out and wait until Hope could almost touch it, pull it away and bust up laughing.  Hmm, I wonder where she learned that???  Could it be that Rich and I do the very same thing to her?  I was waiting for Hope to slug her in the gut and call her a jerk, but luckily she didn't seem to mind.  By the end of the day, Hope was following Kinley around like a little puppy dog and basically doing whatever Kinley wanted to do.  

We had a lot of fun on our play date and we are sad to see Hope move, she was just the perfect little friend for us, and thank heavens she survived the day without even so much as a scratch.

I guess I am it

So I was tagged twice and decided to just pick one of the formats. So, here goes:

Regarding me and my husband:
How long did you date? This is a topic with some uncertainty and disagreement. I would say we started dating in November-ish and were engaged on Feb. 24, 2001 and married on Aug. 3, 2001...you do the math.
How old is he? 28
How old are you? 27
Who eats more sweets? Hands down, me. Rich hates cake and all other cake-like treats and would rather have more "dinner" than treats.
Who said I love you first? Rich
Who is taller? Rich by a few inches.
Who can sing better? Tough one, can 1 tone deaf person sing better than the other??? Rich does however know the lyrics to every song ever written, so in that sense, he is much better.
Who is smarter? Really, I'm suppose to answer that? Rich is much better spoken, has a better memory (for things that I did not say to him) and made it through law school, so I'm going with he has the superior intelligence. Plus, I had Kinley and my brain fell out, so that isn't helping my cause either.
Who does the laundry? Mostly me, but Rich can fold with the best of them.
Who does the dishes? It's probably more me, but he will help out whenever asked.
Guilty pleasures? Mine would be Diet Coke and currently Peeps (love those things) and Rich's would be ties and dress clothes, I'm sure that's not what people think of, but you can't help what your passions are.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do, it's closer to the door and for some reason I like to sleep facing the door.
Who mows the lawn? Some really loud men that take care of the townhouses.
Who cooks dinner? Me or McDonalds, Wendy's, etc. Once a week Rich cooks and will rotate through his specialties, breakfast, tacos, and stroganoff.
Who is more stubborn? Yet again, another hot topic. I think the fair thing would be to say that we are both stubborn in our own ways and working on our negotiation process.
Who kissed who first? He kissed me first.
Who asked who out first? Again, some serious dispute in this area. The beginnings of our relationship are under a "do not talk about" agreement we have because it becomes a contentious argument. Rich did ask me out on our first "real" date to see the movie Bounce. It was $3.00 night at the Ephraim movie theater...can't beat that.
Who proposed? Rich
Who has more siblings? I do with 6 and he has 4.
Who wears the pants? Well, luckily we more than just the one pair, so we each get to wear pants, whew!!!
What is your favorite thing about him? He's such a great dad. He loves to come home and play with Kinley and always has her laughing. He is funny and is always so patient with me. And he always does the nicest things for me, like surprise me with gifts and nice notes. He is always willing to help and helps me see both sides of an argument. I am so grateful that I switched into a crazy science class at Snow College and managed to pick the seat behind him and suckered him into marrying me, I couldn't have a better husband.

Rather than tag somebody (I know, I'm a rule breaker) I'll just let anybody that wants to pick it up.

You get what you wish for

I have an adorable, sweet little girl who happens to not be extremely affectionate.  We get hugs and kisses, but they can be few and far between, and we never get to just snuggle with her.  This situation led me to our latest problem.  About a month ago I said to Rich, sometimes I just wish Kinley would get sick enough that we could just sit and snuggle on the couch all day.  I now truly regret this statement, and let me tell you why.

Saturday morning at about 3:30, Kinley woke up and was acting a little bit strange.  She'd had a bit of a cold for a few days and getting some new teeth, so I got up and got her a little bit of milk and some tylenol.  We had been staying in Wyoming at my sister Nicole's, so I was trying very  hard to keep her quiet and not wake everybody up, so I just put her in bed with me.  About 15 minutes later, with her lying right on top of me, of course, Kinley proceeded to throw up all over the both of us and our bedding (sorry Aunt Nicole).  I was frantic to get us out of our puke clothes and some how assess the bedroom situation and enlisted the help of my dear mother.  As mentioned in a previous, I may be well on my way to "disgusting", but I am dragging somebody with me.  

So, the poor little thing puked for the next 6 hours. I guess I sort of got my wish in that I was the lucky one that got to "snuggle" her while she puked which just meant I got to get puked on every 20 to 30 minutes.  We did a lot of laundry that morning, a huge thanks to Grandma for the help.

Once she quit throwing up, we hurried to get ready and jumped in the car to head home.  Kinley managed to take a five hour nap which made the trip much easier than I had thought it would be.  By Saturday night she had diarrhea and was just one sick little girl.  This was our first big flu with her, she's had some bad colds and throw up before, but I have never been power puked on like that.  So, we're now on Day 6 of this flu and just having a little bit of the runs, much better than the diapers that resemble newborn blow outs I've been cleaning up all week.  And I was lucky enough to catch the flu on Monday, and may I say, it is one nasty bug.  

So, the moral of the story: If you are going to make ridiculous wishes, be very specific, because it just might come true.